Battle of Namutoni 1904
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 28 January 1904 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1904 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | Namibia | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Africa | Natural Earth |
| Participants | German Empire, Ondonga | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | -18.8081, 16.9403 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Namutoni fought between the Ondonga kingdoms and German South West Africa on 28 January 1904 was part of an uprising against German colonial expansion catalysed by the Herero uprising to the south that started a few weeks earlier. It was fought at the site of Fort Namutoni in northern Namibia.
The fort was held by four regular soldiers of the German Schutztruppe and three colonial reservists: Fritz Grossman NCO, Jakob Basendowski (NCO), Health Sergeant Bruno Lassmann and soldiers 1st Class Richard Lemke, Albert Lier, Franz Becker and Karl Hartmann. The fort was stocked with 1,500 rounds of ammunition. Chief Nehale Mpingana of the Ondonga people led the attack on the fort. Mpingana was noted for his strongly anti-colonial stance having successfully attacked the Dorsland Trek-Boers in 1886.
Continuous attacks on the fort by 500 Ondonga warriors lasted all day until slowing down in frequency as the day went on and eventually stopped in the afternoon. With only 150 rounds of ammunition remaining the defending Germans decided to retreat to the farm Sandhup 40 kilometres to the south on horseback during the night having incurred no casualties. The following morning the fort was sacked and destroyed by Ondonga forces claiming a number of cattle from the fort.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Namutoni (revision 1370451263), 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 Otavi 1915 · 102 km
- Battle of Waterberg 1904 · 189 km
- Battle of Naulila 1914 · 298 km
- Battle of Mufilo 1907 · 305 km
Browse more: battles in Namibia · Africa · 19th century battles