Battle of Talana Hill 1899 - Anglo Boer War (South Africa)

thoughts just nine days into the second Boer War the Battle of talana Hill had all the Hallmarks of a tragic comedy British Cavalry getting lost in the mist and then getting captured by Irish soldiers fighting for the Bulls British infantry under a barrage of Friendly Fire which killed their Colonel and a general who accused the boars of impudence for disrupting his breakfast and starting a battle and a hollow victory that somehow resulted in the Victorious British being forced to return to a full-bone 40-mile retreat just two days later welcome to yet another story from the Boer War the Battle of talana Hill 1899. the Boer War was fought from 1899 to 1902 in South Africa between the British Empire and the Africana Boer republics of transvaal and the orange free state for Britain it was the biggest military entanglement that had between the Crimean War and World War One it cost the lives of 26 000 British and Imperial soldiers including those from Canada Australia New Zealand and six thousand War Fighters a further 26 000 poor civilians would die in British concentration camps along with nearly 20 000 black Africans relations between the two sides have been deteriorating ever since the boers had confirmed their independence in a short Victorious war with the British back in 1881. the culmination of that war saw a British Army under General Coley defeated by the boers under General Peter jubair at the Battle of majuba in the intervening years gold had been found near Johannesburg in transvaal and the ensuing Gold Rush had brought Fortune hunters from all around the world to the bull Republic the boers referred to them as wheatlanders Outsiders the boers concerned that they would become a minority in their own lands denied the wheatlanders the vote fearing that as the majority of them were British they would end up by default back in the British Empire which wasn't an altogether paranoid thought because British imperialists not least Cecil Rhodes cast their eyes on the two republics and their gold reserves in fact in 1896 Rhodes had even funded and attempted coup in the transvaal in which his own private police force had invaded the country in what was known as the Jameson raid stick with me and I will share a link to my video on that Invasion the Jameson raid later on as tensions grew the victor of majuba General Pete Juber was sent to Europe to purchase the latest Weaponry that Europe had to offer something that with the world's richest gold mines the transvaal could readily afford and he returned with 30 000 smokeless malzog magazine rifles plus the latest artillery from both France and Germany if the British were going to invade they were going to face an enemy better equipped than the those that had faced in the more recent Colonial battles for instance at the bottle of Wonderman in Sudan with this new weaponry and the ability to raise a 40 000 strong civilian Army in about two weeks president Kruger was Keen to strike a preemptive blow against the British Empire a lightning attack capturing the port of Durban in the British colony of natal would prevent British troops landing and indeed could embolden the afrikaners living in the British Cape colony to then rise in Revolt Kruger's hawkish position was not supported by all boers Pete jubert was more conciliatory towards the British as was President stain of the bull Republic of the orange free state it was only when the British government in September 1899 decided to send 8 000 reinforcements to South Africa fearing a boar attack that Steen Jew bear and others became concerned that it might be the British who would strike first and so they swung behind Kruger's strategy on the 9th of October as British troops began to land in Durban Kruger issued an ultimatum either the British with were to withdraw troops from his borders and turn back all reinforcements within 48 hours or he would declare war two days later with no response from the British the two poor republics declared war the second anglo-war war also called the South African War had begun as promised the boers crossed the border into British natal once more being led by General Pete jubert the victor of majuba in the small town of Dundee in natal's coalfields Lieutenant General Penn Simmons waited in anticipation with his force of nearly 4 000 British soldiers Lieutenant General Sir William Penn Simmons was a 66 year old from Cornwall commissioned into the 24th Regiment of foot in 1863 he'd served in the Zulu War and had only avoided the massacre of his regiment to disandwama because he'd been pulled away on a special assignment a luxury career had seen him on active service in India and Burma until in May 1899 he'd been appointed General officer commanding in Natal before he was later superseded by General Sir George White in September he'd moved four thousand of his men from Ladysmith about 40 miles north to Dundee and that is where we find him on the 20th of October 1899 the day of the first battle of the second Boer War his army consisted of four infantry battalions the second Royal double infusel is the first Royal Irish fusiliers the first lesters and the King's Royal rifles who as the 60th Regiment of foot had bored the brunt of casualties all those years ago at the defeat at majuba they were accompanied by the 18th uzales and a couple of hundred mounted infantry and three batteries the 13th 67th and 69th from the Royal artillery consisting of 18 field guns more than enough to tackle any number of ragtag Civilian Farmers whom Pete jubair might attack them with it wouldn't be the last time in this war that the British completely underestimated their enemy as you're about to find out so stay tuned officers with more experience of South Africa had pointed out to Penn someone that his position at Dundee and indeed that's a general white at Ladysmith was precarious both towns were in part of British territory that almost went up like a tunnel into bua territory and therefore they were actually surrounded on three sides by the Boer republics and could therefore be easily surrounded and that was exactly what the boar Commander Pete jubair intended to do he would Advance with the main bore Army from the Northwest whilst a smaller boar force of about 3 000 men under General Lucas Mayer would invade from the north the strategy was for the two columns to converge just north of Dundee sweeping around to cut off Simmons line of retreat to Ladysmith and then turning on the heavily outnumbered British and defeat them in Dundee Dawn on the morning of the 20th of October and the British Garrison at Dundee were Awakening to a damp Misty day as the soldiers assembled on parade with full battle gear one wag remarked that this was Scottish weather just about what you'd expect from a town called Dundee even in South Africa at 5 40 in the growing light of day men in the camp saw buzz on the crest of the 600 foot high to Lana Hill just beyond the town up on the hill Captain pretorius was moving his artillery which consisted of two French Crystal field guns a Crips quickfire and a Pom-Pom gun that could fire 450 rounds a minute into position to pound the British Camp below 600 feet below General Penn Simmons was in his tent easily recognizable to all around him by the large Union flag flying outside he was just finishing a cigarette before breakfast when a shell landed close by embedding itself in the soft wet ground but failing to detonate how imputent of the walls to start shelling before breakfast he snapped and he ordered his guns to return Fire Within half an hour they'd silence the Boer artillery the only British casualties from that boar attack was a Bugle Boy Trumpeter horn and a horse the general now received wood that the Vanguard of zubair's army two thousand men under General Daniel Erasmus were beginning to occupy nearby imparty Hill had he decided he had to act swiftly to prevent Erasmus behind him Joubert with the rest of the army from joining forces with the three thousand men under mayor on talana Hill the key was to remove mayor's buzz from talana Hill and he decided on a classic three-phase battle to achieve this aim firstly he would soften up the boa positions with his artillery secondly the Infantry would charge the hill and finally his Cavalry would move behind the hill to eliminate or capture the fleeing Bush as the artillery having repositioned themselves started part one of Simmons attack three battalions of the Infantry moved into place for part two the attack could be carried out by the second Royal double infusiliers supported by the king's Royal rifles with the first Royal Irish fusiliers forming the third line of attack the 18th who's ours under Lieutenant Colonel Muller along with the mounted infantry were ordered to ride around the Western end of talana Hill and use their initiative to attack the fleeing boers major Knox a veteran of a camel Corps during the attempted relief of General Gordon in Khartoum was ordered to take about 100 mounted men in between talana and Lennox Hills to start to create a pincer movement to capture those fleeing booths it was a bold move by Simmons with one floor mola lacked initiative as you're going to find out in a while Muller and his 200th Cavalry of the 18th results and the mounted infantry moved off into the swirling Mists and Simmons was never to see them again if you enjoy my videos then why not join my supporters club for even more videos many of which are actually exclusive and not available on YouTube for instance the Battle of cable street I'll share a link with you at the End plus there's also going to be a description below strangely for a man who was authorizing the Cavalry to use initiative Simmons stuck to conservative tried and tested methods for his infantry assault he ordered them to advance up the 600 Foot Hill in close order as if they're on parade at Aldershot tightly packed ranks firing volleys was the way the British won battles and it worked when we were fighting masses of inferior armed enemies like the Zulus or the Sudanese but this enemy were not inferior in weapons nor were they charging wildly at the British lines they were concealed the crest of the Hill firing modern smokeless magazine rifles and by the way being mainly Farmers they were crack shots by the time the Dublin fusillas had reached the base of the Hill they found themselves pinned down by highly accurate miles of Fire taking cover in some eucalyptus trees and also along a stone Farm wall the British Advance came to a halt as the king's Royal rifles and the Irish fusiliers joined them bullets were ricocheting off the red voltaq volcanic Boulders and are stripping the leaves of the eucalyptus trees adding a sort of pungent eucalyptus smell to the aroma of cordite and the sounds of wounded men for over an hour Brigadier General James Ewell in charge of carrying out the assault tried to move his men forward but to no avail then at around 9am through the drizzle he saw the red pennant of General pen Simmons coming towards him the generals seemed to be oblivious to the bullets whizzing past him riding on a horse with a man carrying a red flag neck next to him had strangely enough caught the attention of the boers above reaching what remained of the Eucalyptus Grove the general was urged by James Ewell to postpone the assault until the artillery could pound the boil positions a bit more penicillins was in no mood to delay he was on a Race Against Time to prevent those two boar forces uniting mayor and his men had to be cleared off the hill period he made his way to his troops and stepped through a gap in the wall urging them forward reminding the king's Royal rifles that it was time to take revenge for majuba and it says a lot about the 66 year old General that the Infantry obeyed his exhortions and advanced having inspired the Infantry to keep advancing pen summons mounted his horse and rode back towards his camp Getting Gone far when he hailed some Indian ambulance orderlies and requested their help unknown to his men whilst they'd been urging them forward he'd taken a bullet in his stomach and was mortally wounded an hour later the leading companies had reached the cover of another wall just below the summit of the Hill there they fixed bayonets and they charged cresting the hill they found that the buzz had silently abandoned their guns and had fled down the far side towards their horses the British had won the first major battle of the war and the King's Royal rifles had Avenged majuba but as you know with my stories there's always a bit more and here it comes because at that moment of Triumph the Royal artillery down below opened fire on the former Boer positions as men were dropping around him including one of his lieutenants who lost both his legs to British shrapnel the commander of the king's Royal rifles Colonel Robert gunning raced to the crest of the hill and frantically waved to the guns below shouting loudly stop the firing and eventually they did but not before killing Colonel gunning with Friendly Fire adding to the casualties already inflicted on that close order Advance up the hill by the Infantry and with their General mortally wounded what else could possibly go wrong today remember remember Lieutenant Colonel Muller and his Cavalry who disappeared Into The Mists well he'd earlier in the battle skirted the hill as per his orders and had actually seen all the bull horses tethered at the rear of the mountain one of his officers major Marling a winner of the Victoria Cross in the campaign to save gordon of Khartoum back in 1884 and a veteran of the first world Boer War urged him to capture the horses to prevent the boers from fleeing and this is where Muller's lack of initiative was to turn Victory into a complete shambles whilst having never seen active service he ignored marling's advice and rode past hoping to find a more suitable place to intercept the boers when they finally fled the hill on their horses unfortunately the Mist that had been swirling around all morning returned and he now got hopelessly lost by the time the Mist Rose mayor's boers were abandoning talana Hill and were riding away into the distance and worse still Muller and his Cavalry were nowhere near them in fact in their aimless amble in the Mist they'd arrived at Adelaide farm right under the noses of General erasmus's Bulls on imparty Hill swiftly surrounded and after a short fire fight Muller and his entire command were captured by a 100 strong Irish wheatlander Brigade fighting for the boers under the command of John McBride McBride was later to be executed by the British for his participation in the 1916 Easter Rising mayor's 3 000 men were thus able to flee from talana brushing knocks in his 100-mounted men out of their way I said that the British had won the Battle of talana so here's the scores on the doors the boers had been pushed off the hill and had lost nearly 200 men killed or wounded mainly from the artillery barrage they'd also lost their guns but more of that won later the British had lost 51 men killed and 203 wounded the majority of whom were from the Royal Dublin fusiliers Irishman fighting for the British Empire they'd also lost 150 men from Mueller's Cavalry who had been humiliatingly captured by Irishmen fighting for the boers a poignant story concerns an officer from the Royal Dublin fusiliers killed on the hill Captain Wilton had been accompanied on the campaign by his terrier dog Rose I wanted to stretch a party found his body up on the hill Rose was standing guard over it whilst they've been cleared from talana Hill the boers had escaped being encircled and was still in control of imparty Hill and when the Mist finally lifted the following day Saturday the 21st of October it was from that Hill that they now proceeded to Shell the British camp at Dundee using their long-range long Tom gun with General pen Simmons mortally wounded in Hospital general rule had taken over command and requested support from General white in Ladysmith white however was now fighting his own battle against Potter joubert's Army who had bypassed Dundee and so he ordered General Yule to retreat and fall back on Ladysmith at 10 pm on the 22nd of October just two days after their Victory I guess if you can call it that the British Garrison silently started their Retreat through the dark night and once more just like at the Battle of talana it was raining it would take them nearly three days to cover the 40 miles to Ladysmith they left behind two-month supplies for five thousand men and all their wounded General Yule had managed to departure so silently and the weather was so foul that the boars were completely unaware that Dundee had been abandoned and in the morning long Tom started shelling it all over again it took two medical officers to ride to imparti Hill carrying a white flag to bring the bombardment to a halt drifting in and out of Consciousness General pen Simmons heard that Yule had abandoned the wounded and abandoned the camp at Dundee he was appalled at the decision and muttered I would never have done that and from a man who was never afraid to lead from the front and who'd inspired his men to charge up to Lama Hill through that deadly miles of fire and taken a bullet for his for his efforts I tend to believe him his last words before dying that afternoon were tell everybody I died facing the enemy when the bullers arrived in Dundee General Erasmus asked to pay his respects to the dead British general and then he ordered pen Simon's body to be wrapped in a Union flag and buried at the local church and as the body of the British commander passed along the streets boa soldiers took off their hats and many attended the funeral service his body lies to this day in the cemetery at Dundee the Battle of talana was the first proper Battle of the second Boer War whilst the British Victory it had come at a huge cost 51 British soldiers killed including their commanding officer and a colonel 203 wounded 150 captured it was a war that would drag on for another three years costing the lives of 26 000 British soldiers and 6 000 boar Fighters a further 26 000 poor civilians would die in British concentration camps along with nearly 20 000 black Africans but it was a war that taught the British army valuable lessons which probably saved it from disaster during the very early stages of World War One and the very first of those lessons was learned on the 20th of October 1899 at talana Hill that the boers were a very different enemy to those that the British have met in previous colonial wars and they the British would need to adapt or die thanks for watching and I hope you enjoyed that video and found the story interesting don't forget to give me a like and how about joining my history chat supporters Club what's that all about well click on the link that's going to appear in a moment loads more videos coming your way but in the meantime keep well and I'll see you very soon foreign

Channel: The History Chap

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Keywords: british history, the history chap, military history, battle of talana hill, battle of talana hill 1899, the battle of talana hill, the battle of talana hill 1899, talana hill battle, battle of talana, the battle of talana, the battle of glencoe 1899, general penn symons, royal dublin fusiliers, royal irish fusiliers, piet joubert, boer war, south african war, anglo-boer war, second boer war, second anglo boer war, british army, south africa, battle of spion kop

Id: 40uzOmAJcY4

Length: 20min 50sec (1250 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 21 2022