Battle of Driefontein
{{Short description|1900 battle of Second Boer War}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Battle of Driefontein
| partof = Second Boer War
| image = Иллюстрация к статье «Абраамскрааль». Военная энциклопедия Сытина. Том 1 (СПб., 1911—1915).jpg
| caption =
| date = 10 March 1900
| coordinates =
| place = near Bloemfontein, Orange Free State
| casus =
| territory =
| result = British victory
| combatant1 = {{flagcountry|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}}
| combatant2 = {{flag|South African Republic}}
{{flag|Orange Free State}}
| commander1 = {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} Lord Roberts
{{flagicon|United Kingdom}} Robert Broadwood
{{flagicon|United Kingdom}} Thomas Kelly-Kenny{{cite news|newspaper=The Barrier Miner |title=THE BOER WAR |date= 13 March 1900}}
| commander2 = {{flagicon|Orange Free State}} Christiaan de Wet
| strength1 = Unknown
| strength2 = ~6,000 men
2 Vickers guns
| casualties1 = 82 killed
342 wounded{{cite book|author=Micheal Clodfelter|title=Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures, 1492-2015, 4th ed.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8urEDgAAQBAJ|date=9 May 2017|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-7470-7|page=212}}
| casualties2 = 102 killed
22 POW
| campaignbox = {{Campaignbox Second Boer War}} {{Campaignbox Orange Free State Front}}
}}
The Battle of Driefontein on 10 March 1900 followed on the Battle of Poplar Grove in the Second Boer War between the United Kingdom and the Boer republics, in what is now South Africa. In the first half of 1900, the British made an offensive towards the two Boer republic capitals of Bloemfontein and Pretoria.{{Citation needed|date=January 2014}}
Battle
File:A Gallant Feat (Forbes and Atteridge, Battles of the Nineteenth Century, 1901).jpg.]]
The Boer forces under the command of Christiaan de Wet were holding a {{convert|7|mi|km|adj=on}} line covering the approach to Bloemfontein. Lord Roberts subsequently ordered a division under Lieutenant General Thomas Kelly-Kenny to attack the position from the front, while Lieutenant General Charles Tucker's division moved against its left flank.{{cite book|last=Laffin|first=John|date=1986|title=Brassey's Battles: 3,500 Years of Conflict, Campaigns and Wars from A-Z|location=London|publisher=Brassey's Defence Publishers|isbn=0080311857|page=150}} The Boers were subsequently forced to withdraw losing 124 men killed and captured, while the British lost 82 killed and 342 wounded.{{cite web |url=http://www.pinetreeweb.com/conan-doyle-chapter-20.htm |title=The Great Boer War, London, Smith, Elder & Co., 1902. CHAPTER XX Roberts' Advance on Bloemfontein |last=Conan Doyle |first=A.C. |date=1902 |website=pinetreeweb.com |publisher=Smith, Elder & Co. |access-date=30 April 2023 |quote= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070210184930/http://www.pinetreeweb.com/conan-doyle-chapter-20.htm |archive-date=10 February 2007 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_driefontein.html |title=Battle of Driefontein, 10 March 1900 |last=Rickard |first=John |date=2 March 2007 |website=historyofwar.org |publisher=Military History Encyclopedia on the Web |access-date=30 April 2023 |quote=}}
British Order of Battle
| class="wikitable"
|+ !Infantry units !Mounted units |
| 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards |
| 1st Battalion Essex Regiment |
| 1st Battalion Gordon Highlanders |
| 2nd Battalion East Kent Regiment |
| 1st Battalion Oxfordshire Light Infantry Regiment |
| 1st Battalion Welch Regiment |
| 1st Battalion Yorkshire Regiment
|1st Battalion Life Guards |
| |2nd Battalion Life Guards |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Cite web |url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=CL19000316.2.14.1 |website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz |title=BRITISH VICTORY AT DRIEFONTEIN. Clutha Leader, Volume XXVI, Issue 1384, 16 March 1900, Page 5 |access-date=7 November 2023 |date=16 March 1900}}
- {{Cite web |url=http://www.boer-war.com/Military/British/NorfolkRegiment.html |website=boer-war.com |title=The Boer Wars 1880-1881 & 1899-1902. THE NORFOLK REGIMENT. Extract taken from 'Our Regiments in South Africa' by John Stirling published by Naval and Military Press Ltd |first=John |last=Stirling |access-date=7 November 2023}}
{{coord|28|59|37|S|25|39|50|E|type:event_region:ZA|display=title}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Driefontein, Battle of}}
Category:Battles of the Second Boer War