ANGLO BOER WAR MAP

Framed photo-lithograph with fold marks and ink markings suggesting active field use.

Compiled in Surveyor General’s Office, Pretoria under direction of MAJOR H.M. JACKSON R.E. June 1900

From Transvaal Farm Surveys & Survey by No.1 Survey Section R.E. altd Field Intelligence Dept Oct. Dec 1900

Scale: 2.35 English Miles to 1 Inch

Capture of Pretoria

After being forced to delay for several weeks at Bloemfontein by a shortage of supplies, an outbreak of typhoid at Paardeberg, and poor medical care, Roberts finally resumed his advance. He was forced to halt again at Kroonstad for 10 days, due once again to the collapse of his medical and supply systems, but finally captured Johannesburg on 31 May and the capital of the Transvaal, Pretoria, on 5 June. The first into Pretoria was Lt. William Watson of the New South Wales Mounted Rifles, who persuaded the Boers to surrender the capital. Before the war, the Boers had constructed several forts south of Pretoria, but the artillery had been removed from the forts for use in the field, and in the event they abandoned Pretoria without a fight. Having won the principal cities, Roberts declared the war over on 3 September 1900; and the South African Republic was formally annexed.

British observers believed the war to be all but over after the capture of the two capital cities. However, the Boers had earlier met at the temporary new capital of the Orange Free State, Kroonstad,  and planned a guerrilla campaign to hit the British supply and communication lines. The first engagement of this new form of warfare was at Sannas Post on 31 March where 1,500 Boers under the command of Christiaan de Wet attacked Bloemfontein's waterworks about 37 kilometres (23 mi) east of the city, and ambushed a heavily escorted convoy, which caused 155 British casualties and the capture of seven guns, 117 wagons, and 428 British troops.

After the fall of Pretoria, one of the last formal battles was at Diamond Hill on 11–12 June, where Roberts attempted to drive the remnants of the Boer field army under Botha beyond striking distance of Pretoria. Although Roberts drove the Boers from the hill, Botha did not regard it as a defeat, for he inflicted 162 casualties on the British while suffering only around 50 casualties.

The set-piece period of the war now largely gave way to a mobile guerrilla war.

In December 1900, De la Rey and Christiaan Beyers attacked and mauled a British brigade at Nooitgedacht. (See bottom left corner of map in third photo.)

Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Boer_War