Editing John MacBride (section)

==Participation in the Second Anglo-Boer War==
MacBride took part in the [[Second Boer War]] on the side of the [[Boer Republics]], for whom he raised the [[Irish Transvaal Brigade]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Macardle |first=Dorothy |author-link= |date=1965 |title=The Irish Republic |url= |location=New York |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |page=62-63 |isbn=}}</ref> What became known as MacBride's Brigade was first commanded by an Irish-American, Colonel [[John Blake (soldier)|John Blake]], an ex-[[US Cavalry]] Officer. MacBride recommended Blake as Commander, since MacBride himself had no military experience.{{sfn|Jordan|2006|p=13}} The Brigade was given official recognition by the [[Republic of Transvaal]], and the commissions of the Brigade's officers were signed by State Secretary [[F.W. Reitz]]. MacBride was commissioned with the rank of Major in the [[Boer commando]]s and given Transvaal citizenship.

The 500 Irish and Irish-Americans fought the British. Often these Irish commandos were fighting opposite Irish regiments, such as the [[Royal Dublin Fusiliers]] and the [[Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers]]. From the hills around the besieged town of [[Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal|Ladysmith]] to the plains of the [[Orange Free State]], MacBride's Brigade first looked after the [[155 mm Creusot Long Tom|Boers' "Long Tom" gun]], then fought in the [[Battle of Colenso]] and later held the rearguard, harassing [[Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts|Lord Roberts]]' cavalry as the Boer Commandos retreated.

A Second Irish Brigade was organised by Arthur Lynch.{{sfn|Jordan|2006|pp=60–61}} The arrival in the Irish camp of an Irish-American ambulance corps bolstered MacBride's Brigade.{{sfn|Jordan|2006|p=70}} [[Michael Davitt]], who had resigned as an M.P, visited MacBride's Brigade. When Col. Blake was injured at Ladysmith, MacBride had to take sole command of the Brigade. Though Blake later returned for a short period, he later left the Brigade to join another commando.{{sfn|Jordan|2006|p=76}} In Ireland pro-Boer feeling, informed by [[Arthur Griffith]] and [[Maud Gonne]], formed the most popular and most fervent of the European [[pro-Boer movement]]s. However, more than 16,000 Irish fought for the British against the Boers.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McCracken |first1=Donal P. |title=Forgotten Protest: Ireland and the Anglo-Boer War |date=2003 |publisher=Ulster Historical Foundation |isbn=1903688183 |page=108 |edition=updated and revised |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZYB0RiqcidIC&pg=PA108 |access-date=11 April 2019 |archive-date=3 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803224539/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZYB0RiqcidIC&pg=PA108 |url-status=live }}</ref>