Battle of Elands River (1900)

The Battle of Elands River was an engagement of the Second Boer War that took place between 4 and 16 August 1900 in western Transvaal. The battle was fought by the Elands River between a force of 2,000 to 3,000 Boers who attacked a garrison of 500 Australian, Rhodesian, Canadian and British soldiers, who were stationed at Brakfontein Drift near the Elands River to act as a garrison for a British supply dump. Over the course of 13 days, the garrison was heavily shelled and attacked with small arms. Outnumbered and surrounded, the garrison was asked to surrender, but refused. The siege was subsequently lifted when the garrison was relieved by a 10,000-strong column led by Lord Kitchener.

Background
In December 1899, the fighting in South Africa moved into a second stage. The earlier phase of the campaign had been characterised by the British Army's use of large-scale conventional infantry forces which suffered heavy casualties in engagements with highly mobile Boer forces. In response, the British launched a series of counter-offensives that managed to secure the main population centres in South Africa, divorcing the Boers from their supply base. In response, the Boers began a guerrilla warfare campaign. Operating in small groups, Boer commandos attacked columns of troops and supply lines, carrying out sniping, ambushing and launching raids on isolated garrisons and supply depots.

Following the lifting of the siege of Mafeking, to supply forces operating in the area and to serve as a way point on the route between Rustenburg and Zeerust, the British had situated a supply dump near Brakfontein Drift along the Elands River, about 35 kilometres (22 mi) west of Pretoria. By mid-1900, the supplies that were located at Elands River included over 1,500 horses, mules or cattle, a quantity of ammunition, food and other equipment worth over 100,000 pounds, and over 100 wagons. As the supplies were vulnerable to Boer raids, a garrison, spread across several positions, had been established.