Battle of Elandslaagte
Elandslaagte, about 26 km north-east of Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
What happened
British forces under Major General John French and Colonel Ian Hamilton fought Boer forces under General Johannes Kock, which included a Dutch volunteer unit, the Hollanderkorps. In the first weeks of the Second Anglo-Boer War, Boers seized the railway station at Elandslaagte, cutting the line between Ladysmith and Dundee. The British shelled the Boer position and attacked from the front and the side during a thunderstorm. They took the main Boer position, and General Kock was badly wounded and died soon after.
Why it matters
Why it matters: It was one of the few clear British victories early in the war. But the British pulled back to Ladysmith straight afterwards, fearing a larger Boer attack.
What came next
The Boers returned to Elandslaagte two days later.
Did you know?
The two Boer cannons captured in the battle had originally been British guns, taken by the Boers after the Jameson Raid.
Timeline
- 21 October 1899The British win at Elandslaagte.
- 2014The monument to the Hollanderkorps is destroyed by vandals.