Contents

Battle of Diamond Hill

Battle of Diamond Hill
Part of Second Boer War
The Charge of the City of London Imperial Volunteers ('CIVs') and Coldstreams at the Battle of Diamond Hill, after a drawing by William Barnes Wollen
Date 11–12 June 1900 Location Diamond Hill, near Pretoria, Transvaal 25°47′S 28°28′E / 25.783°S 28.467°E / -25.783; 28.467 (Battle of Diamond Hill) Result British victory
Belligerents
British Empire  United Kingdom  Canada  Queensland  Victoria  Western Australia  South Australia  Tasmania  New South Wales	South African Republic  Orange Free State
Commanders and leaders
Field Marshal Lord Roberts Lieutenant-General John French Lieutenant-General Ian Hamilton	Louis Botha Koos de la Rey
Strength
20,000 men and 83 guns[1]	up to 6,000 men and 30 guns[1]
Casualties and losses
28 killed and 145 wounded[1]	about 30 killed and wounded Several captured[1]

The Battle of Diamond Hill (Donkerhoek) (Afrikaans: Slag van Donkerhoek) was an engagement of the Second Boer War that took place on 11 and 12 June 1900 in central Transvaal.

Background

The Boer forces retreated to the east by the time the capital of the South African Republic (Transvaal), Pretoria, was captured by British forces on 5 June 1900. British Commander-in-Chief in South Africa Field Marshal Lord Roberts had predicted a Boer surrender upon the loss of their capital, but when this was not fulfilled, he began an attack to the east in order to push Boer forces away from Pretoria and enable an advance to the Portuguese East Africa border.^[1]

Prelude

The commandant-general of Transvaal, Louis Botha, established a 40-kilometer north to south defense line 29 kilometers east of Pretoria; his forces numbered up to 6,000 men and 30 guns. The Pretoria–Delagoa Bay rail line ran eastward through the center of the Boer position. Personnel from the South African Republic Police manned positions at Donkerpoort just south of the railway in the hills at Pienaarsport, while other troops held positions at Donkerhoek and Diamond Hill. Botha commanded the Boer center and left flank and General Koos de la Rey commanded north of the railway line.^[1]

The British cavalry were under the command of Sir Ian Hamilton. He despatched Robert Broadwood's 2nd Cavalry Brigade, which included the 10th Royal Hussars, 12th Royal Lancers and the Household Cavalry Regiment, on a Special Mission.

As the sun came up it was a "bitterly cold Monday morning...we are hidden in the hills at Donkerhoek...ready for battle..." confided Botha to his diary.^[2]

Battle

As a detachment of 10th Hussars swung off to the right, they were attacked from Diamond Hill. A section of Q Battery RHA attempted to return artillery fire, but had no infantry support, until the 12th Lancers arrived on the front line. Lord Airlie took 60 men to clear the Boers from the guns, and in the ensuing exchange of rifle fire at short-range, Lord Airlie was killed. The Boers pressed the matter hard. Two squadrons of Household Cavalry Regiment and one squadron of the 12th Hussars charged at full gallop at Boers firing from concealed positions. The enemy dispersed.^[3]

Aftermath

On 13th the Botha's army retreated to the north, they were chased as far as Elands River Station, only 25 miles from Pretoria, by Mounted Infantry and De Lisle's Australians.^[4][5][6][7]

Forty-four years after the battle, British General Ian Hamilton opined in his memoirs that "the battle, which ensured that the Boers could not recapture Pretoria, was the turning point of the war". Hamilton credited war correspondentWinston Churchill with recognizing that the key to victory would be in storming the summit, and risking his life to signal Hamilton.^[8]

Order of battle

British Forces

References

Bibliography

• Brian Kelly, Best Little Stories from the Life and Times of Winston Churchill Cumberland House Publishing, 2008
• Sir George Arthur, The Story of the Household Cavalry 1887–1900, vol.III
• Maurice, John Frederick, ed. (1908). History of the war in South Africa, 1899–1902. Vol. III. London: Hurst and Blackett. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help) – Official history
• Williams, Basil, ed. (1906). The Times History of the War in South Africa, 1899-1902. Vol. IV. London: The Times. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Ben Viljoen, My Reminiscences of the Anglo-Boer War, (Hood, Douglas and Howard 1902)
• Wessels, André (2017). "Diamond Hill (Donkerhoek), Battle of (June 11–12, 1900)". In Stapleton, Timothy J. (ed.). Encyclopedia of African Colonial Conflicts. Vol. I. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781598848373. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)