Key Battles of The Boer War

Key Battles of The Boer War

In my opinion the battle of Talana was a very key battle because it was the first real battle of the war and set off other key events to come. The commanding officer of the 3500 Utrecht, Wakkerstroom, Krugersdorp, Vryheid, Middelburg and Piet Retief commandos was General Lucas Meyer and on the British side of 4363 men the commanding officer was Major-General Sir William Penn Symons and he was stationed at Dundee which was where the attack from Meyer took place. 

The attack took place on the 20th of October 1899 and in the battle the British commander died along with 53 other troops, 203 were wounded and 246 were captured during the charge of Danie Theron's commandos. In comparison Meyer who lost 31, wounded 66 and had 20 captured this was a failure, however the Boers did have to retreat to the over looking hills.

Dundee was captured by the Boers till the 15th of May 1900 but was relieved from their control after the relief of Ladysmith.

To conclude I believe this is a key battle because Dundee is strong military position to have, it was the first real battle of the war and led up to the rest of the wars events.