Events of the War
On October 11, Boer forces crossed into Cape Colony and Natal. The Boers attacked the town of Dundee, or Glencoe, in Natal. They did not capture the town but eventually forced the British to evacuate it and to retreat to nearby Ladysmith. In this battle and other early actions, the larger and better-equipped Boer forces had the advantage over the British. Using their superior strength, the Boers put Ladysmith and the Cape Colony cities of Kimberley and Mafeking under siege. The British were defeated at Magersfontein in Cape Colony and Colenso and Stormberg Junction in Natal.
The military reverses brought a swift change in the British army command. Sir Redvers Buller, commander in chief since the beginning of the war, was replaced in 1900. His successor, Lord Frederick Roberts, brought in heavy reinforcements, with the total number of British troops in the war eventually reaching 400,000 to the Boers' total of 60,000 to 75,000. Roberts appointed as his chief of staff Lord Herbert Kitchener.
In February, 1900, the British army pushed inside Boer lines for the first time. Kimberly received aid and Ladysmith was able to repulse its attackers. By March Lord Roberts had entered Bloemfontcin, capital of the Orange Free State. Mafeking, which had withstood a 217-day siege, was relieved in May. In June Roberts moved into the Transvaal and occupied its capital, Pretoria. President Kruger fled as organized Boer resistance ended.
In September, 1900, the Transvaal was claimed as a part of the British Empire. Lord Roberts, seeing the Boer forces apparently crushed, returned to England. However, the Boers continued fighting, resorting to guerrilla warfare. Their raids were so effective that Kitchener was forced to erect chains of blockhouses, sectioning off guerrilla-infested territory. His forces then moved through each section, defeating the guerrilla bands and putting women and children into concentration camps. Boer resistance finally collapsed, and on May 31, 1902, the Boer War was ended by the Treaty of Vereeniging (also called the Treaty of Pretoria).
