Knowledge (XXG)

Battle of Groenkloof

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603: 615:, the Cape Mounted Rifles and Imperial Yeomanry, was reputedly one of the most efficient British column commanders. On the fifth day of a six-day mission, the British officer found his quarry in a mountain gorge called Groenkloof, near the village of Petersburg. Believing that Lötter's men occupied a farm building, Scobell ordered a night march and deployed his 1100 soldiers on some ridges overlooking the farm. Actually, Lötter and his 130-man commando had taken shelter in a nearby 30-by-15 foot stone sheephouse or 121: 153: 639: 626:. The commanding officer, Lord Douglas Compton dropped his pistol near the entrance. As he dismounted to fetch his weapon, the Boers opened fire. Compton escaped, but the six men behind him were mowed down. Immediately, a thousand rifles opened up on the fearfully outnumbered Boers in the sheephouse. 593:
resorted to a three-pronged strategy: first, to prevent Boer commandos from combining, second, to chase them constantly in order to prevent them from collecting new followers and supplies, and third, to tire them out so that they could be hunted down. One historian notes, "How simple an antidote to
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After a half-hour of the unequal contest, the Boers surrendered. They suffered 13 killed and 46 wounded, while 61 unwounded survivors were hustled into captivity. Scobell's force lost 10 men killed. A British combatant said, "The sight was horrible in the extreme ... In fact the place was like a
586:, some Dutch settlers living in the Cape Colony also took up arms against the British. To combat the guerrilla war raging in the two Boer republics, Kitchener employed sweep-and-scour columns, farm burning and a policy of forcing Boer women and children into concentration camps. 610:
Armed with information from French's excellent Field Intelligence Department and led by African Intelligence scouts, Scobell pursued Lötter's commando in the Tandjesburg mountains. Scobell, whose command included the
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which followed ten days later. But as one historian points out, "In losing Lotter, the Boers had lost more than a tenth of the guerillas in the Colony south of the
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guerilla warfare, compared with that immense operation of burning farms and carting off the whole civilian population of the countryside into the camps!"
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However, using such harsh methods in the loyal Cape Colony was politically impossible. Instead, the British commander in the Cape Colony, General
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butcher's shop, some men making awful noises groaning clutching the ground and rolling in the dirt in their agony."
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defeated and captured a small Boer commando led by Commandant Lötter in the Cape Colony during the
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Lötter and seven others were later executed by the British authorities as rebellious subjects.
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Lötter's commando being escorted into Graaff Reinet by the Coldstream Guards
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struggled to suppress guerrilla warfare carried on by the Boers in the
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At dawn, a squadron of lancers was sent to investigate the
737:"Graaff-Reinet and the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902)" 642:
The death sentence is pronounced on Commandant Lötter at
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on 5 September 1901, a British column under Colonel
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445:Blood River Poort 185: 184: 108: 107: 784: 748: 708: 705: 699: 696: 687: 684: 678: 675: 536:2nd Elands River 513: 505: 498: 491: 482: 440:2nd Elands River 385:1st Elands River 223: 221: 211: 204: 197: 188: 155: 124: 123: 96: 95: 93: 92: 91: 89: 84: 83: 78: 73: 70: 69: 68: 65: 44:5 September 1901 38: 37: 21: 792: 791: 787: 786: 785: 783: 782: 781: 752: 751: 734: 717: 712: 711: 706: 702: 698:Pakenham, p 560 697: 690: 686:Pakenham, p 559 685: 681: 677:Pakenham, p 558 676: 672: 667: 636: 600: 591:Sir John French 572: 564:Second Boer War 552: 551: 550: 545: 514: 511: 509: 479: 474: 425:Hartbeesfontein 224: 220:Second Boer War 219: 217: 215: 148:Johannes Lötter 118: 104:British victory 87: 85: 81: 79: 75: 74: 71: 66: 63: 61: 59: 58: 57: 31:Second Boer War 17: 12: 11: 5: 790: 788: 780: 779: 774: 769: 764: 754: 753: 750: 749: 732: 716: 713: 710: 709: 700: 688: 679: 669: 668: 666: 663: 635: 632: 599: 596: 576:Lord Kitchener 574:While General 571: 568: 547: 546: 544: 543: 538: 533: 530: 525: 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410:Nooitgedacht 405:Leliefontein 400:Rhenosterkop 375:Diamond Hill 350:Sanna's Post 340:Poplar Grove 288:Modder River 253:Elandslaagte 113:Belligerents 53:Petersburg, 613:9th Lancers 450:Bakenlaagte 370:Faber's Put 345:Driefontein 313:Vaal Krantz 248:Talana Hill 146:Commandant 80: / 55:Cape Colony 756:Categories 715:References 644:Middleburg 570:Background 541:Groenkloof 430:Groenkloof 395:Bothaville 318:Paardeberg 86: ( 67:24°58′12″E 64:32°18′56″S 651:Jan Smuts 634:Aftermath 584:Transvaal 528:Stormberg 523:Kimberley 460:Tweebosch 390:Bergendal 308:Spion Kop 293:Stormberg 268:Chieveley 243:Kimberley 582:and the 455:Groenkop 415:Helvetia 380:Witpoort 365:Doornkop 238:Mafeking 233:Kraaipan 160:Strength 140:Colonel 49:Location 29:Part of 554:In the 470:Rooiwal 303:Colenso 283:Graspan 278:Belmont 728:  659:Orange 598:Battle 355:Boshof 150:  101:Result 665:Notes 624:kraal 617:kraal 747:(3). 726:ISBN 165:1100 41:Date 168:130 758:: 743:. 739:. 691:^ 566:. 745:7 504:e 497:t 490:v 210:e 203:t 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Index

Second Boer War
Cape Colony
32°18′56″S 24°58′12″E / 32.31556°S 24.97000°E / -32.31556; 24.97000 (Battle of Groenkloof)
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Harry Scobell
Johannes Lötter
Executed
v
t
e
Second Boer War
Kraaipan
Mafeking
Kimberley
Talana Hill
Elandslaagte
1st Ladysmith
2nd Ladysmith
Chieveley
Willow Grange
Belmont
Graspan
Modder River
Stormberg
Magersfontein
Colenso
Spion Kop
Vaal Krantz
Paardeberg

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