Battle of Bronkhorstspruit

Battle of Bronkhorstspruit
Part of First Boer War
A 1901 engraving of the grave of the British soldiers killed at Bronkhorstspruit
Date 20 December 1880 Location Bronkhorstspruit (river), Transvaal 25°50′25″S 28°44′31″E / 25.84028°S 28.74194°E / -25.84028; 28.74194 Result Boer victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	South African Republic (Boers)
Commanders and leaders
Philip Robert Anstruther  †, Stanford Norman McLeod Nairne,  (DOW)	Francois Gerhardus Joubert
Strength
245–270	250–300
Casualties and losses
157 casualties	5–7 casualties

The battle of Bronkhorstspruit was the first major engagement of the First Boer War. It took place by the Bronkhorstspruit river, near the town of Bronkhorstspruit, Transvaal, on 20 December 1880. Threatened by the growing numbers of militant Boers in the Pretoria region, the British recalled the 94th Regiment of Foot, which had several companies garrisoned in towns and villages across the wider area. The regiment's commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Philip Robert Anstruther, led a 34-wagon column consisting of roughly 250 men on a 188-mile (303 km) journey from Lydenburg back to Pretoria. A similar-sized Boer commando force, led by Francois Gerhardus Joubert, was ordered to intercept and stop the British.

Despite several warnings of the threat of attack, the British travelled largely unprepared for combat, and the many wagons they travelled with slowed their progress significantly. On 20 December, 24 days after receiving the order to return, Anstruther's column was confronted by the Boers, who demanded under truce that the British stop their march. Anstruther refused, and the Boers attacked while the British soldiers were still preparing. The British took heavy casualties and surrendered after about 15 minutes; their surviving men were captured. Anstruther was badly wounded and died of his injuries a few days later.