Battle of Stormberg
| Battle of Stormberg | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Second Boer War | |||||||
Northumberland Fusiliers in action against the Boers. | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| United Kingdom | Orange Free State | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| William Forbes Gatacre | Jan Hendrik Olivier | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
1,800 infantry 250 mounted troops 12 guns |
2,300 men 3 guns | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
26 killed 68 wounded 696 captured |
8 killed 26 wounded | ||||||
The Battle of Stormberg was a British assault on Stormberg Junction on 10 December 1899 during the Second Boer War. At that time, the Boers had taken control of Molten and the heights around Stormberg Junction, as part of their invasion of Cape Colony. William Forbes Gatacre, the general in command of troops in the Cape Midlands, decided to dislodge the Boers from their position in order to secure the railway lines which supplied the larger March on Kimberley by Lord Methuen. Due to a failed night march and a badly coordinated assault, the Boers repulsed the British army, with the Northumberland Fusiliers suffering high casualties.