Battle of Magersfontein 1899
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 11 December 1899 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1899 | Wikidata P585 (point in 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 | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | -28.9694, 24.6983 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Magersfontein ( MAH-khərss-fon-tayn) was fought on 11 December 1899, at Magersfontein, near Kimberley, South Africa, on the borders of the Cape Colony and the independent republic of the Orange Free State (now in Sol Plaatje Local Municipality, Northern Cape). British forces under Lieutenant General Lord Methuen were advancing north along the railway line from the Cape to relieve the siege of Kimberley, but their path was blocked at Magersfontein by a Boer force that was entrenched in the surrounding hills. The British had already fought a series of battles with the Boers, most recently at Modder River, where the advance was temporarily halted.
Lord Methuen failed to perform adequate reconnaissance in preparation for the impending battle and was unaware that Boer Vecht-generaal (Combat General) De la Rey had entrenched his forces at the foot of the hills, rather than the forward slopes, as was the accepted practice. That allowed the Boers to survive the initial British artillery bombardment, and when the British troops failed to deploy from a compact formation during their advance, the defenders inflicted heavy casualties. The Highland Brigade suffered the worst casualties, and on the Boer side, the Scandinavian Corps was destroyed.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Magersfontein (revision 1370268748), 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
- Battle of Modder River 1899 · 10 km
- Siege of Kimberley 1899 · 26 km
- Battle of Paardeberg 1900 · 38 km
- Bloody Sunday (1900) 1900 · 38 km
- Battle of Graspan 1899 · 42 km
- Battle of Belmont (1899) 1899 · 59 km
Other battles of the Second Boer War
- Battle of Belmont (1899) 1899
- Battle of Elandslaagte 1899
- Battle of Graspan 1899
- Battle of Kraaipan 1899
- Battle of Ladysmith 1899
- Battle of Modder River 1899
- Battle of Stormberg 1899
- Battle of Talana Hill 1899
- Relief of Ladysmith 1899
- Second Battle of Colenso 1899
All 35 battles of the Second Boer War →
Browse more: battles in South Africa · Africa · 19th century battles