Battle of Rhenosterkop

Battle of Rhenosterkop
Part of Second Boer War
Sketch by Lt. Arthur Bailey of the battle
Date 29 November 1900 Location Renosterkop, 30 km north of Bronkhorstspruit Result Boer Victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	South African Republic
Commanders and leaders
Arthur Paget	Ben Viljoen
Strength
5,000	500
Casualties and losses
106 wounded, 15 dead	24 wounded, 2 dead

The Battle of Rhenosterkop (also known as the Battle of Renosterkop) took place on November 29, 1900, during the Second Boer War. The British, led by Arthur Paget, launched an assault on Viljoen's position at Renosterkop, which consisted of three primary attacks. All assaults failed, with the Boers repelling the assault, however retreating at night due to a lack of supplies.

Prelude

The British, for some time, had been looking to eliminate the Commando led by Ben Viljoen, who was operating Northeast of Pretoria. For multiple days, skirmishes between Viljoen's commando and the British forces in the area had occurred, afterwards, Viljoen dug himself into a defensive position 30 km north of Bronkhorstspruit, at Rhenosterkop.

On November 27, Viljoen was made aware that a large contingent of British soldiers was sent to find him and fight him. He sends a scouting party from his positions to gather intelligence on British soldiers and their movements, whilst his men dig a 5 km front, with trenches and fortifications. At his disposal were only 500 men, a Maxim Nordenfeldt 15-pounder and a Krupp cannon.

The same day, the scouting party made contact with the advancing British forces, and they retreated back to their defensive positions. On November 28, the British, having an idea as to where Viljoen was, opened fire on his positions with artillery for most of the day.

Battle

On 29 November, Arthur Paget launched a frontal attack. It started with an infantry attack on Viljoen's left flank but it was beaten off by the Boers with accurate rifle and fire from the Maxim Nordenfeldt. The second attack was against the center of the defenses, but the British were once again beaten back by the Boers.

The third attack was also against the center of the front, this time more to the right where Viljoen himself was waiting. Once again the attack is repulsed with heavy losses on the British side. The British forces fell back to continue the next day. However, the Boer forces withdrew at night because they ran out of ammunition and other supplies.

Aftermath

The British suffered 121 casualties (106 wounded, 15 dead), whilst the Boers only took 26 casualties (24 wounded, 2 dead).