Orange River Uprising 1848

Late in 1847 Andries Pretorius led the bulk of the Natal Boers to join their comrades north of the Orange River. Sir Harry Smith, Governor of the Cape Colony, met him in Natal just as he was going and tried to induce him to stay. Failing to stop him, Smith got Pretorius to agree to canvass the Boer communities he was associated with to see whether they would accept the Union Jack as their ensign. A misunderstanding arose and Smith proclaimed British sovereignty over the Orange River territory, on February 3, 1848, before Pretorius reported his results: the majority of Boer communities rejected British rule. Pretorius was enraged. The Boers revolted.

Pretorius mustered a Boer commando of about 400 men and swept through the newly proclaimed Orange River Sovereignty, driving the British residents out of Bloemfontein as he went. On April 22, 1848, Pretorius issued a proclamation that demanded from Smith "the same privilege which you are giving the colored population, namely self-government," for the white Afrikaner emigrants. Other Boer leaders preferred to avoid open confrontation; but Pretorius issued an ultimatum to the British, on his own authority, on July 12, 1848. Smith was undeterred; he crossed the Orange to intercept the Boer rebels. Smith's command consisted of 800 British regulars -- mostly from the 45th and 91st Regiments and the Rifle Brigade -- supported by three field guns, four companies of the Cape Mounted Rifles, and 250 mounted Griquas (African allies of the British). Pretorius intended to block the British advance at a deserted farm called Boomplaats. Only some 300 Boers were available to stand against the British.

Smith arrived at Boomplaats on August 29, 1848. Premature fire betrayed the Boer position, and Smith reacted smartly, parking his wagons to the rear, and deploying his men across the road. A Boer attempt to envelope his left flank was repulsed and Smith executed a rapid attack on the ridge ahead of him. The Boers withdrew and reformed on a ridge behind, but Smith directed a sharp artillery barrage at them, then followed up with another brisk attack. When the Boers fell back Smith sent forward the Cape Mounted Rifles and Griquas to drive them from the field. The battle had been the most dramatic confrontation between British troops and the Boers to that time: it had lasted from 11am to 2pm, and at the end of it the British had lost 25 men killed and 25 wounded, while the Boers suffered 9 dead and 5 wounded.

Pretorius retired across the Vaal, and Boer resistance collapsed, leaving the British in control of the Orange River Sovereignty. There the matter rested for four years.

References

South Africa: A Modern History, 196-7; Boer Wars (1) 1836-1898, 14; Life of Sir Francis Galton, 65;Washing of the Spears, 200; Military History, 858; Timelines of War, 332.

Category

TBD

Region

TBD

State(s)

TBD

Belligerents

TBD

Dispute

TBD

Initiation Date

TBD

Termination Date

TBD

Duration

TBD

Outcome

TBD

Fatalities

TBD

Magnitude

TBD