Battle of Driefontein

Battle of Driefontein
Part of Second Boer War
Date 10 March 1900
Location
near Bloemfontein, Orange Free State
Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom South African Republic
Orange Free State
Commanders and leaders
Lord Roberts
Robert George Broadwood
Thomas Kelly-Kenny 		Christiaan de Wet
Strength
~6000 men
2 Vickers guns
Casualties and losses
82 killed
342 wounded 		102 killed
22 POW

The Battle of Driefontein on 10 March 1900 followed on the Battle of Poplar Grove in the Second Boer War between the British Empire and the Boer republics, in what is now South Africa. In the first half of 1900, the British made an offensive towards the two Boer republic capitals of Bloemfontein and Pretoria.

Battle

Original lithograph caption: A Gallant Feat. Private Martin Hanlon, C.I.V., getting water for the wounded during a fight near Bloemfontein. His horse was shot under him, and he had to make his way back - a distance of eight miles - on foot. From Forbes and Atteridge: Battles of the Nineteenth Century, 1901. C.I.V. means City of London Imperial Volunteers.

The Boer forces under the command of Christiaan de Wet were holding a 7-mile (11 km) line covering the approach to Bloemfontein. Lord Roberts subsequently ordered a division under Lieutenant General Thomas Kelly-Kenny to attack the position from the front, while Lieutenant General Charles Tucker's division moved against its left flank. The Boers were subsequently forced to withdraw losing 124 men killed and captured, while the British lost 82 killed and 342 wounded.