Battle of Elands River (1900) 1900
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 4 August 1900 – 16 August 1900 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1900 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | South Africa | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Africa | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Second Boer War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | British Empire, South African Republic | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | -25.6494, 26.7067 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Elands River was an engagement of the Second Boer War that took place between 4 and 16 August 1900 in western Transvaal. The battle was fought at Brakfontein Drift near the Elands River between a force of 2,000 to 3,000 Boers and a garrison of 500 Australian, Rhodesian, Canadian and British soldiers, which was stationed there to protect a British supply dump that had been established on the route between Mafeking and Pretoria. The Boer force, which consisted of several commandos under the overall leadership of Koos de la Rey, was in desperate need of provisions after earlier fighting had cut it off from its support base. As a result, it was decided to attack the garrison in an effort to capture its supplies.
Over the course of 13 days, the Elands River supply dump was heavily shelled from several artillery pieces that were set up around the position, while Boers equipped with small arms and machine guns surrounded the garrison and kept the defenders under fire. Outnumbered and isolated, the defenders were asked to surrender by the Boer commander, but refused. The siege was subsequently lifted when the garrison was relieved by a 10,000-strong flying column led by Lord Kitchener.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Elands River (1900) (revision 1374222323), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Siege of Rustenburg 1880 · 53 km
- Battle of Ventersdorp 1991 · 75 km
- Battle of Nooitgedacht 1900 · 88 km
- Siege of Mafeking 1899 · 110 km
- Battle of Elandsfontein 1881 · 133 km
- Battle of Rooihuiskraal 1881 · 146 km
Other battles of the Second Boer War
- Relief of Ladysmith 1899
- Second Battle of Colenso 1899
- Siege of Kimberley 1899
- Siege of Ladysmith 1899
- Siege of Mafeking 1899
- Battle of Bergendal 1900
- Battle of Bothaville 1900
- Battle of Diamond Hill 1900
- Battle of Driefontein 1900
- Battle of Leliefontein 1900
All 35 battles of the Second Boer War →
Browse more: battles in South Africa · Africa · 19th century battles