Editing Second Boer War (section)

== Imperial involvement ==
{{See also|British Army during the Victorian Era#Second Boer War}}

The vast majority of troops fighting for the British army came from Great Britain. Yet a significant number came from other parts of the British Empire. These countries had their own internal disputes over whether they should remain tied to London, or have full independence, which carried over into the debate around the sending of forces to assist the war. Though not fully independent on foreign affairs, these countries did have local say over how much support to provide, and the manner it was provided. Ultimately, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and British South African Company-administered Rhodesia all sent volunteers to aid the United Kingdom. Troops were also raised to fight with the British from the Cape Colony and Natal. Some Boer fighters, such as Smuts and Botha, were technically British subjects as they came from the Cape Colony and Colony of Natal, respectively.{{citation needed|date=June 2013}}

There were also many volunteers from the Empire who were not selected for the official contingents from their countries and travelled privately to South Africa to form private units, such as the Canadian Scouts and Doyle's Australian Scouts. There were also some European volunteer units from [[British Raj|British India]] and [[British Ceylon]], though the British Government refused offers of non-white troops from the Empire. Some [[Cape Coloureds]] also volunteered early in the war, but later some of them were effectively conscripted and kept in segregated units. As a community, they received comparatively little reward for their services. In many ways, the war set the pattern for the Empire's later involvement in the two [[World war|World Wars]]. Specially raised units, consisting mainly of volunteers, were dispatched overseas to serve with forces from elsewhere in the British Empire.

{{Main article|United States of America in the Second Boer War}}

The United States stayed neutral in the conflict, but some American citizens were eager to participate. Early in the war Lord Roberts cabled Major [[Frederick Russell Burnham ]], a veteran of both Matabele wars but at that very moment prospecting in the [[Klondike Gold Rush|Klondike]], to serve on his personal staff as Chief of Scouts. Burnham went on to receive the highest awards of any American who served in the war, but American mercenaries participated on both sides.{{sfn|Farwell|1976}}

=== Australia ===
{{See also|History of the Australian Army#Boer War 1899–1902}}

{{Main|Military history of Australia during the Second Boer War}}

[[File:Boer War officers P03206.001.jpg|thumb|left|[[British Empire|British]] and [[Australians|Australian]] officers in South Africa, {{circa|1900}}]]

From 1899 to 1901 the six separate [[self-governing colony|self-governing colonies]] in Australia sent their own contingents to serve in the Boer War. That much of the population of the colonies had originated from [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Great Britain]] explains a general desire to support Britain during the conflict. After the colonies formed the [[Commonwealth of Australia]] in 1901, the new [[Government of Australia]] sent "Commonwealth" contingents to the war.{{sfn|Wilcox|2002|p={{page needed|date=August 2019}} }} The Boer War was thus the first war in which the Commonwealth of Australia fought. A few Australians fought on the Boer side.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/boer.htm|title=Boer War}}</ref> The most famous and colourful character was Colonel [[Arthur Alfred Lynch]], formerly of [[Ballarat]], Victoria, who raised the Second Irish Brigade.

The Australian [[Climate of Australia|climate]] and [[Geography of Australia|geography]] were far closer to that of South Africa than most other parts of the empire, so Australians adapted quickly to the environment, with troops serving mostly among the army's "mounted rifles". Enlistment in all official Australian contingents totalled 16,463.<ref>{{cite web|year=2008|title=Australian Military Statistics|url=http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/statistics/1885_1973.asp|publisher=[[Australian War Memorial]]|access-date=10 May 2008|archive-date=15 May 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515210917/http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/statistics/1885_1973.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref> Another five to seven thousand Australians served in "irregular" regiments raised in South Africa. Perhaps five hundred Australian irregulars were killed. In total 20,000 or more Australians served and about 1,000 were killed. A total of 267 died from disease, 251 were killed in action or died from wounds sustained in battle. A further 43 men were reported missing.<ref>{{cite web|year=2008|title=Australia and the Boer War, 1899–1902|url=http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/boer.asp|publisher=[[Australian War Memorial]]|access-date=10 May 2008|archive-date=22 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722175202/https://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/boer.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref>

When the war began some Australians, like some Britons, opposed it. As the war dragged on some Australians became disenchanted, in part because of the sufferings of Boer civilians reported in the press. In an interesting twist (for Australians), when the British missed capturing President Paul Kruger, as he escaped Pretoria during its fall in June 1900, a ''[[Melbourne Punch]]'', 21 June 1900, cartoon depicted how the War could be won, using the [[Kelly Gang]].{{sfn|Wilcox|2002|p=103}}

The convictions and executions of two Australian lieutenants, [[Breaker Morant|Harry Harbord Morant]], colloquially known as 'The Breaker' for his skill with horses, and [[Peter Handcock]] in 1902, and the imprisonment of a third, [[George Witton]], had minimal impact on the Australian public at the time despite later legend{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}}. The controversial [[court-martial]] saw the three convicted of executing Boer prisoners under their authority. After the war, though, Australians joined an empire-wide campaign that saw Witton released from jail. Much later,{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}} some Australians came to see the execution of Morant and Handcock as instances of wrongfully executed Australians, as illustrated in the 1980 Australian film [[Breaker Morant (film)|''Breaker Morant'']].

It is believed that up to 50 [[Aboriginal Australians]] served in the Boer War as trackers. According to Dale Kerwin, an Indigenous research fellow at [[Griffith University]], such is the lack of information that is available about the trackers it is even uncertain as to whether they returned to Australia at the end of the war. He has claimed that at the end of the war in 1902 when the Australian contingents returned the trackers may not have been allowed back to Australia due to the [[White Australia Policy]].<ref name=abc>{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2010/s2914322.htm |publisher=ABC News|location=Australia |title= The Full Story: Claims 50 Aboriginal trackers left behind during the Boer War |date=31 May 2010 |access-date=19 September 2014 }}</ref>

=== Canada ===
{{Wikisource|Canadian Appeal for the Widows and Orphans of the South African War}}

{{See also|Military history of Canada#Boer War}}

[[File:1908 Toronto SouthAfrican War Memorial QueenSt.jpg|left|thumb|The unveiling of the ''[[South African War Memorial (Toronto)|South African War Memorial]]'' in [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]], Canada, in 1908]]

A total of around 8000 Canadians arrived in South Africa to fight for Britain. These arrived in two contingents: the first on 30 October 1899, the second on 21 January 1900. A third contingent of cavalry ([[Strathcona's Horse]]) embarked for South Africa on 16/17 March 1900.<ref>Chronicle of the 20th Century by John S Bowman</ref> They remained until May 1902.{{sfn|Webb|2010|pp=75–90}} With approximately 7,368<ref name="Boer War Remembered">{{cite web|last=Marshall|first=Robert|title=Boer War Remembered|url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/macleans/boer-war-remembered|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130204014742/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/macleans/boer-war-remembered|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 February 2013|work=Maclean's}}</ref> soldiers in a combat situation, the conflict became the largest military engagement involving Canadian soldiers from the time of Confederation until the [[Great War]].{{sfn|Webb|2010|pp=75–90}} Eventually, 270 of these soldiers died in the course of the Boer War.{{sfn|Webb|2010|pp=75–90}}

As one of the country's first major wars, the arrival and movement of troops was widely documented by early war photographers. English-born (and later Canadian) Inglis Sheldon-Williams was one of the most notable, documenting the movement of hundreds of troops between North America and Southern Africa.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brandon |first=Laura |url=https://www.aci-iac.ca/art-books/war-art-in-canada/preface/ |title=War Art in Canada: A Critical History |publisher=Art Canada Institute |year=2021 |isbn=978-1-4871-0271-5}}</ref>

The Canadian public was initially divided on the decision to go to war as some citizens did not want Canada to become Britain's 'tool' for engaging in armed conflicts. Many [[English Canadian|Anglophone]] citizens were pro-[[Empire]], and wanted the [[prime minister]], [[Sir Wilfrid Laurier]], to support the British in their conflict. On the other hand, many [[Francophone]] citizens felt threatened by the continuation of British imperialism to their national [[sovereignty]].<ref name="South African War">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Miller|first=Carman|title=South African War|url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/south-african-war|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120123090113/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/south-african-war|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 January 2012|encyclopedia=Canadian Encyclopedia}}</ref>

In the end, to appease the citizens who wanted war and to avoid angering those who oppose it, Laurier sent 1,000 volunteers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel [[William Dillon Otter|William Otter]] to aid the confederation in its war to 'liberate' the peoples of the Boer controlled states in South Africa. The volunteers were provided to the British if the latter paid costs of the battalion after it arrived in South Africa.{{sfn|Granatstein|2010|p={{page needed|date=February 2017}} }}

The supporters of the war claimed that it "pitted British Freedom, justice and civilization against Boer backwardness".{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Canada & The South African War, 1899–1902 |url=https://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/exhibitions/boer/boerwarhistory_e.html |website=Canadian War Museum |access-date=26 October 2022}}</ref> The French Canadians' opposition to the Canadian involvement in a British 'colonial venture' eventually led to a three-day riot in various areas of Quebec.<ref name="Boer War Remembered" />

[[File:HaroldBorden2ndBoerWar.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Harold Lothrop Borden]] – son of the National Minister of Defence and the most famous Canadian casualty of the war]]

Commonwealth involvement in the Boer War can be summarised into three parts. The first part (October 1899 – December 1899) was characterised by questionable decisions and blunders from the Commonwealth leadership which affected its soldiers greatly. The soldiers of the Commonwealth were shocked at the number of Afrikaner soldiers who were willing to oppose the British. The Afrikaner troops were very willing to fight for their country and were armed with modern weaponry and were highly mobile soldiers.<ref name="South African War" /> This was one of the best examples of [[Guerrilla]] style warfare, which would be employed throughout the twentieth century after [[Set piece battle|set piece fighting]] was seen as a hindrance by certain groups.{{sfn|Webb|2010|pp=75–90}} The Boer soldiers would evade capture and secure provisions from their enemies therefore they were able to exist as a fighting entity for an indeterminate period of time.<ref name="The Guerrilla War">{{cite web|title=The Guerrilla War|url=http://www.anglo-boer.co.za/intro/the-guerrilla-war.php|work=Anglo–Boer War Museum}}</ref>

The end of the First part was the period in mid-December, referred to as the "Black Week". During the week of 10–17 December 1899, the British suffered three major defeats at the hands of the Boers at the battlefields of Stormberg, Magersfontein and Colenso. Afterwards, the British called upon more volunteers to take part in the war from the Commonwealth.<ref name="Black Week">{{cite web|last=Rickard|first=J.|title=The Black Week|url=http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/concepts_black_week.html|work=History of War}}</ref>

The second part of the war (February–April 1900) was the opposite of the first. After the British reorganised and reinforced under new leadership, they began to experience success against the Boer soldiers. [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] soldiers resorted to using blockhouses, farm burning and concentration camps to 'persuade' the resisting Boers into submission.<ref name="History of the Boer War">{{cite web|title=Canada & The South African War, 1899–1902|url=http://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/exhibitions/boer/boerwarhistory_e.shtml|work=Canadian War Museum}}</ref>

The final phase of the war was the guerrilla phase in which many Boer soldiers turned to guerrilla tactics such as raiding infrastructure or communications lines. Many Canadian soldiers did not actually see combat after they had been shipped over to South Africa since many arrived around the time of the signing of the Treaty of Vereeniging on 31 May 1902.<ref name="The Peace of Vereeniging">{{cite web|last=Cavendish|first=Richard|title=The Peace of Vereeniging|url=http://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/peace-vereeniging|work=History Today}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Notable Canadian Engagements
|-
! Battle !! Description
|- valign="top"
| [[Battle of Paardeberg|Paardeberg]]
| A British-led attack trapped a Boer Army in Central South Africa on the banks of the Modder River from 18 to 27 February 1900. Over 800 Canadian soldiers from Otter's 2nd Special Service Battalion were attached to the British attack force. This was the first major attack involving the Canadians in the Boer War, as well as the first major victory for Commonwealth soldiers.
|- valign="top"
| [[Battle of Zand River|Zand River]]
| On 6 May 1900, the Commonwealth's northwards advance to the capital of Pretoria was well on its way. However, the British soldiers encountered a position of Boer soldiers on the Zand River on 10 May. The British commander felt that the best course of action was to use cavalry to envelop the Boers on their left flank and infantry would therefore march on the Boer right flank to secure a crossing. The Canadian 2nd Battalion was the lead unit advancing on the right flank. However, due to disease and casualties from earlier encounters, the 2nd battalion was reduced to approximately half of its initial strength. The Canadian battalion came under fire from the Boers who were occupying protected positions. The battle continued for several hours until the British cavalry was able to flank the Boers and force a retreat. Canadian casualties were two killed and two wounded. The skirmishes around the Zand River would continue and more soldiers from various Commonwealth countries would become involved.{{sfn|O'Leary|1999}}
|- valign="top"
| [[Doornkop]]
| On the days of 29–29 May 1900, both the Canadian 2nd battalion and the 1st Mounted Infantry Brigade fought together on the same battlefield for the first, and only, time. The Mounted Brigade, which encompassed units such as the Canadian Mounted Rifles and the Royal Canadian Dragoons were given the task to establish a beachhead across a river which the Boers had fortified in an attempt to halt the advancing Commonwealth before they could reach the city of Johannesburg.<ref name="Wessels2009">{{cite web |last=Wessels |first=Elria |year=2009 |title=Boers positions in the Klipriviersberg |url = http://www.knra.co.za/history_articles/boer-position_TB.htm |work=Veldslae-Anglo–Boereoorlog 1899–1902 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130214023659/http://www.knra.co.za/history_articles/boer-position_TB.htm |archive-date=14 February 2013}}</ref>
Since the Boers were mounting a heavy resistance to the advancing mounted units, the Commonwealth infantry units were tasked with holding the Boer units while the mounted units found another route across the river with less resistance.<ref name="Wessels2009" /> Even after the cavalry made it across to the other side of the river further down the line, the infantry had to advance onto the town of Doornkop as they were the ones who were tasked with its capture. The Canadians suffered very minimal casualties and achieved their objective after the Boer soldiers retreated from their positions.<ref name="Wessels2009" /> Although the Canadians suffered minimal casualties, the lead British unit in the infantry advance, the Gordon Highlanders, did sustain heavy casualties in their march from the riflemen of the Boer force.{{sfn|Stirling|2009}}
|- valign="top"
| [[Battle of Leliefontein|Leliefontein]]
| On 7 November 1900, a British-Canadian force was searching for a unit of Boer commandos which were known to be operating around the town of Belfast, South Africa. After the British Commander reached the farm of Leliefontein, he began to fear that his line had expanded too far and ordered a withdrawal of the front line troops. The rear guard, consisting of the [[Royal Canadian Dragoons]] and two [[Ordnance BL 12 pounder 7 cwt|12 pound guns]] from D section of the Canadian [[artillery]], were tasked with covering the retreat.{{sfn|Chase|2012}} The Boers mounted a heavy assault against the Canadians with the intention of capturing the two 12 pound artillery pieces. During this battle, the Afrikaners outnumbered the Canadians almost three to one.{{sfn|Pulsifer|2017}} A small group of the Dragoons interposed themselves between the Boers and the artillery in order to allow the guns and their crews time to escape. The Dragoons won three [[Victoria Crosses]]{{sfn|Chase|2012}} for their actions during the battle of Leliefontein, the most in any battle with the exception of the Battle of Vimy Ridge in [[World War I]].{{sfn|Pulsifer|2017}}
|}

=== India ===

[[File:Gandhi Boer War.jpg|thumb|right|Natal Indian Ambulance Corps with future leader [[Mohandas K. Gandhi]] (Middle row, 5th from left)]]

British garrisons in India contributed 18,534 British officers and men, as well as an estimated 10,000 Indian auxiliaries deployed to assist them. India also sent 7,000 horses, ponies and mules.<ref name="Reddy-1999">{{cite web|url= https://www.mkgandhi.org/articles/boer_war.htm|title= India and the Anglo-Boer War|last= Reddy|first= E.S.|date= 29 July 1999|access-date= 5 June 2022}}</ref>

Indian auxiliaries were only employed in non-combatant roles.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.scielo.org.za/pdf/hist/v54n1/09.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.scielo.org.za/pdf/hist/v54n1/09.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|title= The Indian War Memorial: National Memory and Selective Forgetting|last= Itzkin|first= Eric|date= May 2009|access-date= 5 June 2022}}</ref>

The [[Natal Indian Ambulance Corps]], created by Gandhi and financed by the [[Indian South Africans|local Indian community]], served at the battles of Colenso and Spion Kop.<ref name="Reddy-1999"/>

=== New Zealand ===
{{See also|Military history of New Zealand#Second Boer War 1899–1902}}

[[File:Sixth New Zealand Contingent marching down Wellesley Street, Auckland.jpg|thumb|right|[[New Zealand]] troops marching down [[Wellesley Street, Auckland|Wellesley Street]], [[Auckland]], to embark for [[South Africa]] ]]

When the Second Boer War seemed imminent, New Zealand offered its support. On 28 September 1899, Prime Minister [[Richard Seddon]] asked [[Parliament of New Zealand|Parliament]] to approve the offer to the imperial government of a contingent of mounted rifles, thus becoming the first British Colony to send troops to the Boer War. The British position in the dispute with the Transvaal was "moderate and righteous", he maintained. He stressed the "crimson tie" of Empire that bound New Zealand to the mother-country and the importance of a strong British Empire for the colony's security.<ref>{{cite web|year=2008|title=Brief history – New Zealand in the South African ('Boer') War|url=http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/909|publisher=New Zealand History Online|access-date=10 May 2008}}</ref>

By the time peace was concluded two and a half years later, 10 contingents of volunteers, totalling nearly 6,500 men from New Zealand, with 8,000 horses had fought in the conflict, along with doctors, nurses, veterinary surgeons and a small number of school teachers.<ref>{{cite web|year=2008|title=New Zealand in the South African ('Boer') War|url=http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/the-south-African-boer-war/introduction|publisher=New Zealand History Online|access-date=10 May 2008}}</ref> Some 70 New Zealanders died from enemy action, with another 158 killed accidentally or by disease.<ref>D.O.W. Hall, (War History Branch, Wellington, 1949).</ref> The first New Zealander to be killed was Farrier G.R. Bradford at Jasfontein Farm on 18 December 1899.<ref name="Pugsley-2016">{{Cite book|title=The ANZAC Experience: New Zealand, Australia and Empire in the First World War|last=Pugsley|first=Christopher|publisher=Oratia|year=2016|location=Auckland, New Zealand|pages=42–43}}</ref> The Boer War was greeted with extraordinary enthusiasm when the war was over, and peace was greeted with patriotism and national pride.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Sorrow and the Pride: New Zealand War Memorials|last=Phillips|first=Jock|publisher=GP Books|year=1990|location=Wellington, New Zealand|page=48}}</ref> This is best shown by the fact that the Third, Fourth and Fifth contingents from New Zealand were funded by public conscription.<ref name="Pugsley-2016" />

=== Rhodesia ===

Rhodesian military units such as the British South Africa Police, [[Rhodesia Regiment]] and Southern Rhodesian Volunteers served in the Second Boer War.

=== South Africa ===

During the war, the British army also included substantial contingents from South Africa itself. There were large communities of English-speaking immigrants and settlers in Natal and Cape Colony (especially around Cape Town and [[Grahamstown]]), which formed volunteer units that took the field, or local "town guards". At one stage of the war, a "Colonial Division", consisting of five light horse and infantry units under Brigadier General [[Edward Brabant]], took part in the invasion of the Orange Free State. Part of it withstood a siege by Christiaan de Wet at [[Wepener]] on the borders of [[Lesotho|Basutoland]]. Another large source of volunteers was the ''uitlander'' community, many of whom hastily left Johannesburg in the days immediately preceding the war.

[[File:Rhodesians leaving Salisbury for Boer War.jpg|thumb|[[Rhodesia (region)|Rhodesian]] volunteers leaving [[Harare|Salisbury]] for service in the Second Boer War, 1899]]

Later during the war, Kitchener attempted to form a Boer Police Force, as part of his efforts to pacify the occupied areas and effect a reconciliation with the Boer community. The members of this force were despised as traitors by the Boers still in the field. Those Boers who attempted to remain neutral after giving their parole to British forces were derided as ''"hensoppers"'' (hands-uppers) and were often coerced into giving support to the Boer guerrillas (which formed one of the reasons for the British decision to launch scorched earth campaigns throughout the countryside and detain Boers in concentration camps in order to deny anything of use to the Boer guerrillas).{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}

Like the Canadian and particularly the Australian and New Zealand contingents, many of the volunteer units formed by South Africans were "[[light cavalry|light horse]]" or mounted infantry, well suited to the countryside and manner of warfare. Some regular British officers scorned their comparative lack of formal discipline, but the light horse units were hardier and more suited to the demands of campaigning than the overloaded British cavalry, who were still obsessed with the charge by lance or sabre.{{efn| British cavalry travelled light compared with earlier campaigns, but were still expected to carry all kit with them on campaign owing to distances covered on the Veldt.}} At their peak, 24,000 South Africans (including volunteers from the Empire) served in the field in various "colonial" units. Notable units (in addition to the Imperial Light Horse) were the [[South African Light Horse]], [[Rimington's Guides]], [[Kitchener's Horse]] and the Imperial Light Infantry.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}