Boer War : Boer Wars 

The first clash was precipitated by Sir Theophilus Shepstone[?] who tried to annex the Transvaal (the South African Republic) for the British in 1877 after the Zulu War. The Boers protested and in 1880 revolted. The Boers dressed in earthtone khaki clothes, whereas the British uniforms were bright red, a stark contrast to the African landscape, which enabled the Boers to easily snipe British troops from a distance. After a British force under George Pomeroy-Collery[?] was heavily defeated at the Battle of Majuba Hill[?] in February 1881 the British government of Gladstone gave the Boers self-government in the Transvaal under a theoretical British oversight.

But there was continued pressure on the Boers, as following the discovery of gold in the Transvaal in 1885 at Witwatersrand Reef there was a rush of non-Boer settlers, uitlanders. The new settlers were poorly regarded by the Boers and in return there was pressure to remove their government. In 1896 Cecil Rhodes sponsored the ineffective coup d'etat of the Jameson Raid and the failure to gain improved rights for Britons was used as an excuse to justify a major military build up in the Cape.

The Boers, under Paul Kruger, struck first. The Boers attacked into Cape Colony and Natal between October 1899 and January 1900. The Boers were able to successfully besiege the British garrisons in the towns of Ladysmith[?], Mafeking (defended by troops headed by Robert Baden-Powell) and Kimberley[?] and inflicted three separate defeats on the British in one week, December 10 to 15, 1899. It was not until reinforcements arrived on February 14, 1900 that British troops commanded by Frederick Roberts[?] could launch counter-offences to relieve the garrisons (the relief of Mafeking on May 18, 1900 provoked riotous celebrations in England) and enabled the British to take Bloemfontein on March 13 and the Boer capital, Pretoria, on June 5. Boer units fought for two more years as guerrillas, the British, now under the command of Lord Kitchener, responded by constructing blockhouses, destroying farms and confiscating food to prevent them from falling into Boer hands and placing Boer civilians in concentration camps.

The last of the Boers surrendered in May 1902 and the war ended with the Treaty of Vereeniging[?] in the same month. 22,000 British troops had died and over 25,000 Boer civilians. The treaty ended the existence of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State as Boer republics and placed them within the British Empire. But the Boers were given £3m in compensation and were promised self-government in time (the Union of South Africa was established in 1910). The Boers referred to the two wars as the Freedom Wars.

See also History of South Africa

M`Intyre?' called out Jim, Blest if I understand a word of it. But I didn't want to be nasty, as Mr. Falkland's dogcart horse.' `Maybe ye bocht him fair eneugh. I'll no deny you. I saw the receipt mysel'. win haud o' him? Answer me that, Jeems.' `That says nothing,' answered Jim. `I'm not supposed to trace back since he was a foal. He's mine.html">mine now, and mine he'll be walking off and shaking his head. `And yet he's a fine laddie; nae doot, and we daurna fault it; it's wondrous in our een.' That was the way old Mac always talked. Droll lingo, wasn't it? not that there was anything to do or see when we got there. and a blacksmith's shop. However, a public-house is not such a bad place -- for anything like a bit of fun, or even a change. Some people can work away in a chaff-cutting machine. It's all the better for them if they can, sort.html">sort of way. But there's other men that can't do that sort of thing, There's some birds, and animals too, that either pine in a cage.html">cage They can't stand the cage of what's called honest labour, never having a day to yourself, or doing anything you like, I don't wonder youngsters break traces and gallop off like a.

 On wordlookup.net  

All is still licensed under the GNU FDL.
It uses material from the wikipedia.