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95-765: The change to the character of the Army has endured. The Second Boer War of 1899-1902 exposed weakness and inefficiency in the British Army and demonstrated how isolated Britain was from the rest of the world. The war had been won only by leaving Britain defenceless on land. In 1900, Imperial Germany began to build a battlefleet and industrial growth had already made it challenge Britain's economic lead in Europe . The Elgin Commission had already advocated some changes in administration. Under Hugh Oakeley Arnold-Forster at

190-711: A diamond rush and a massive influx of foreigners to the borders of the Orange Free State. Then, in June 1884, gold was discovered in the Witwatersrand area of the South African Republic by Jan Gerrit Bantjes . Gold made the Transvaal the richest nation in southern Africa; however, the country had neither the manpower nor the industrial base to develop the resource on its own. As a result,

285-645: A shanty town . Uitlanders (foreigners, white outsiders) poured in and settled around the mines. The influx was so rapid that uitlanders quickly outnumbered the Boers in Johannesburg and along the Rand, although they remained a minority in the Transvaal. The Boers, nervous and resentful of the uitlanders' growing presence, sought to contain their influence through requiring lengthy residential qualifying periods before voting rights could be obtained; by imposing taxes on

380-554: A Boer and British ultimatum and subsequent Boer irregulars and militia attacks on British colonial settlements in Natal Colony . The Boers placed Ladysmith , Kimberley , and Mafeking under siege, and won victories at Colenso , Magersfontein and Stormberg . Increased numbers of British Army soldiers were brought to Southern Africa and mounted unsuccessful attacks against the Boers. However, British fortunes changed when their commanding officer, General Redvers Buller ,

475-643: A frenzy of jingoism, lionised him and treated him as a hero. Although sentenced to 15 months imprisonment (which he served in Holloway ), Jameson was later rewarded by being named Prime Minister of the Cape Colony (1904–1908) and was ultimately anointed as one of the founders of the Union of South Africa. For conspiring with Jameson, the uitlander members of the Reform Committee (Transvaal) were tried in

570-506: A further two years, the Boers conducted a hard-fought guerrilla war, attacking British troop columns, telegraph sites, railways, and storage depots. To deny supplies to the Boer guerrillas, the British, now under the leadership of Lord Kitchener , adopted a scorched earth policy. They cleared vast areas, destroying Boer farms and moving the civilians into concentration camps. Some parts of

665-412: A grand scale, there is no one to carry out guerilla missions but regulars." He also emphasizes the importance for the use of regular units permanently attached to guerilla warfare activities, stating that they can play key roles in severing enemy supply routes. While the morale, training and equipment of the individual irregular soldier can vary from very poor to excellent, irregulars are usually lacking

760-453: A guerrilla campaign, becoming known as bittereinders . Led by generals such as Louis Botha , Jan Smuts , Christiaan de Wet , and Koos de la Rey , Boer guerrillas used hit-and-run attacks and ambushes against the British for two years. The guerrilla campaign proved difficult for the British to defeat, due to unfamiliarity with guerrilla tactics and extensive support for the guerrillas among civilians. In response to failures to defeat

855-431: A large ridge some 69 km (43 mi) south of the Boer capital at Pretoria. The ridge was known locally as the "Witwatersrand" (white water ridge, a watershed). A gold rush to the Transvaal brought thousands of British and other prospectors and settlers from around the globe and over the border from the Cape Colony, which had been under British control since 1806. The city of Johannesburg sprang up nearly overnight as

950-427: A peasant guerilla force which in time transformed itself into a large regular force. This transformation was foreseen in the doctrine of " people's war ", in which irregular forces were seen as being able to engage the enemy and to win the support of the populace but as being incapable of taking and holding ground against regular military forces. Modern conflicts in post-invasion Iraq , the renewed Taliban insurgency in

1045-773: A plan to take Johannesburg and end the control of the Transvaal government was hatched with the connivance of the Cape Prime Minister Rhodes and Johannesburg gold magnate Alfred Beit . A column of 600 armed men was led over the border from Bechuanaland towards Johannesburg by Jameson, the Administrator in Rhodesia of the British South Africa Company , of which Cecil Rhodes was the chairman. The column, mainly made up of Rhodesian and Bechuanaland British South Africa Policemen ,

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1140-495: A pretext for war and a justification for a big military build-up in Cape Colony. The case for war was developed and espoused as far away as the Australian colonies. Cape Colony Governor Sir Alfred Milner ; Rhodes; Chamberlain; and mining syndicate owners such as Beit, Barney Barnato , and Lionel Phillips , favoured annexation of the Boer republics. Confident that the Boers would be quickly defeated, they planned and organised

1235-478: A short war, citing the uitlanders' grievances as the motivation for the conflict. In contrast, the influence of the war party within the British government was limited. UK Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury , despised jingoism and jingoists. He was also uncertain of the abilities of the British Army. Despite both his moral and practical reservations, Salisbury led the United Kingdom to war in order to preserve

1330-403: A unit recruited from the people" were all examples of ways in which regular military units could be involved in irregular warfare. Mao argues that regular army units temporarily detailed for irregular warfare are essential because "First, in mobile-warfare situations, the coordination of guerilla activities with regular operations is necessary. Second, until guerilla hostilities can be developed on

1425-574: Is officially called the South African War . In fact, according to a 2011 BBC report, "most scholars prefer to call the war of 1899–1902 the South African War, thereby acknowledging that all South Africans, white and black, were affected by the war and that many were participants". The origins of the war were complex and stemmed from more than a century of conflict between the Boers and Britain. Of immediate importance, however,

1520-497: Is one which is not part of the regular army organization. Without standard military unit organization , various more general names are often used; such organizations may be called a troop , group , unit , column , band , or force . Irregulars are soldiers or warriors that are members of these organizations, or are members of special military units that employ irregular military tactics. This also applies to irregular infantry and irregular cavalry units. Irregular warfare

1615-446: Is to be used to refer to a specific group. Using one term over another can strongly imply strong support or opposition for the cause. It is possible for a military to cross the line between regular and irregular. Isolated regular army units that are forced to operate without regular support for long periods of time can degrade into irregulars. As an irregular military becomes more successful, it may transition away from irregular, even to

1710-519: Is warfare employing the tactics commonly used by irregular military organizations. This involves avoiding large-scale combat, and focusing on small, stealthy, hit-and-run engagements. The words "regular" and "irregular" have been used to describe combat forces for hundreds of years, usually with little ambiguity. The requirements of a government's chain of command cause the regular army to be very well defined, and anybody fighting outside it, other than official paramilitary forces, are irregular. In case

1805-732: The 2001 war in Afghanistan , the Darfur conflict , the rebellion in the North of Uganda by the Lord's Resistance Army , and the Second Chechen War are fought almost entirely by irregular forces on one or both sides. The CIA 's Special Activities Center (SAC) is the premiere American paramilitary clandestine unit for creating or combating irregular military forces. SAD paramilitary officers created and led successful units from

1900-714: The Boer War , Transvaal War , Anglo–Boer War , or South African War , was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and Orange Free State ) over the Empire's influence in Southern Africa . The Witwatersrand Gold Rush caused a large influx of " foreigners " ( Uitlanders ) to the South African Republic (SAR), mostly British from

1995-560: The British Army . Prior to 1857 Britain's East India Company maintained large numbers of cavalry and infantry regiments officially designated as "irregulars", although they were permanently established units. The end of Muslim rule saw a large number of unemployed Indian Muslim horsemen, who were employed in the army of the EIC . British officers such as Skinner , Gardner and Hearsay had become leaders of irregular cavalry that preserved

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2090-618: The CIA 's Special Activities Center . However at times, such as out of desperation, conventional militaries will resort to guerilla tactics, usually to buy breathing space and time for themselves by tying up enemy forces to threaten their line of communications and rear areas, such as the 43rd Battalion Virginia Cavalry and the Chindits . Although they are part of a regular army, United States Special Forces are trained in missions such as implementing irregular military tactics . However, outside

2185-675: The Cape Colony . As they, for fear of a hostile takeover of the SAR, were permitted to vote only after fourteen years of residence, they protested to the British authorities in the Cape. Negotiations failed at the botched Bloemfontein Conference in June 1899. The conflict broke out in October after the British government decided to send 10,000 troops to South Africa. With a delay, this provoked

2280-673: The Confederate States of America . One could attribute the disastrous defeat of the Romans at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest to the lack of supporting irregular forces; only a few squadrons of irregular light cavalry accompanied the invasion of Germany when normally the number of foederati and auxiliaries would equal the regular legions. During this campaign the majority of locally recruited irregulars defected to

2375-654: The Enfield . Indeed, when the ammunition for the Mausers ran out, the Boers relied primarily on the captured Lee-Metfords. Regardless of the rifle, few of the Boers used bayonets. The Boers also purchased the best modern European German Krupp artillery. By October 1899, the Transvaal State Artillery had 73 heavy guns, including four 155 mm Creusot fortress guns and 25 of the 37 mm Maxim Nordenfeldt guns . The Boers' Maxim, larger than

2470-794: The First Boer War (December 1880 to March 1881) was a much smaller conflict. Boer (meaning "farmer") is the common name for Afrikaans -speaking white South Africans descended from the Dutch East India Company 's original settlers at the Cape of Good Hope . Among some South Africans, it is known as the (Second) Anglo–Boer War. In Afrikaans , it may be called (in order of frequency) the ' Tweede Vryheidsoorlog ("Second Freedom War"), ' Tweede Boereoorlog ("Second Boer War"), Anglo–Boereoorlog ("Anglo–Boer War") or Engelse oorlog ("English War"). In South Africa , it

2565-544: The Great Trek . Around 15,000 trekking Boers departed the Cape Colony and followed the eastern coast towards Natal . After Britain annexed Natal in 1843, they journeyed farther northwards into South Africa's vast eastern interior. There, they established two independent Boer republics: the South African Republic (1852; also known as the Transvaal Republic) and the Orange Free State (1854). Britain recognised

2660-903: The Hmong tribe during the Laotian Civil War in the 1960s and 1970s. They also organized and led the Mujaheddin as an irregular force against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s, as well as the Northern Alliance as an irregular insurgency force against the Taliban with US Army Special Forces during the war in Afghanistan in 2001 and organized and led the Kurdish Peshmerga with US Army Special Forces as an irregular counter-insurgency force against

2755-533: The Martini-Henry Mark III, because thousands of these had been purchased. Unfortunately, the large puff of white smoke after firing gave away the shooter's position. Roughly 7,000 Guedes 1885 rifles had also been purchased a few years earlier, and these were also used during the hostilities. As the war went on, some commandos relied on captured British rifles, such as the Lee-Metford and

2850-735: The Matabele and Mashona peoples' rising against the British South Africa Company. The rebellion, known as the Second Matabele War , was suppressed only at a great cost. A few days after the raid, the German Kaiser sent a telegram—known to history as "the Kruger telegram "—congratulating President Kruger and the government of the South African Republic on their success. When the text of this telegram

2945-592: The OSS operators of World War II, which were tasked with inspiring, training, arming and leading resistance movements in German-occupied Europe and Japanese occupied Asia. In Finland, well-trained light infantry Sissi troops use irregular tactics such as reconnaissance, sabotage and guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines. The founder of the People's Republic of China , Mao Zedong actively advocated for

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3040-607: The Peninsular War led by Spaniards against the French invaders in 1808 provided the first modern example of guerrilla warfare . Indeed, the term of guerrilla itself was coined during this time. As the Industrial Revolution dried up the traditional source of irregulars, nations were forced take over the duties of the irregulars using specially trained regular army units. Examples are the light infantry in

3135-939: The Three Kingdoms period, the American Revolution , the Irish War of Independence and Irish Civil War , the Franco-Prussian War , the Russian Civil War , the Second Boer War , Liberation war of Bangladesh, Vietnam War , the Syrian Civil War and especially the Eastern Front of World War II where hundreds of thousands of partisans fought on both sides. The Chinese People's Liberation Army began as

3230-691: The War Office the Report of the War Office (Reconstitution) Committee was set up to look into reform of the Army. It was chaired by Lord Esher, who had been a member of the Elgin Commission, and had two other members; Admiral Sir John Fisher (the naval Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth , and a former Controller of the Navy and Second Sea Lord ), and Colonel Sir George Clarke . The Esher Report

3325-554: The " Missionaries Road " passed through it towards territory farther north. After the Germans annexed Damaraland and Namaqualand (modern Namibia ) in 1884, Britain annexed Bechuanaland in 1885. In the First Boer War of 1880–1881 the Boers of the Transvaal Republic proved skilful fighters in resisting Britain's attempt at annexation, causing a series of British defeats. The British government of William Ewart Gladstone

3420-745: The African continent was dominated in the 19th century by a set of struggles to create within it a single unified state. In 1868, Britain annexed Basutoland in the Drakensberg Mountains, following an appeal from Moshoeshoe I , the king of the Sotho people , who sought British protection against the Boers. While the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885 sought to draw boundaries between the European powers' African possessions, it also set

3515-578: The Boer cause attracted thousands of volunteers from neutral countries , including the German Empire, United States, Russia and even some parts of the British Empire such as Australia and Ireland. Some consider the war the beginning of questioning the British Empire's veneer of impenetrable global dominance, due to the war's surprising duration and the unforeseen losses suffered by the British. A trial for British war crimes committed during

3610-406: The Boers; 20,000 died. British mounted infantry were deployed to track down guerrillas, leading to small-scale skirmishes . Few combatants on either side were killed in action , with most casualties dying from disease. Kitchener offered generous terms of surrender to remaining Boer leaders to end the conflict. Eager to ensure fellow Boers were released from the camps, most Boer commanders accepted

3705-422: The British Empire's prestige and feeling a sense of obligation to British South Africans. Salisbury also detested the Boers treatment of native Africans, referring to the London Convention of 1884 , (following Britain's defeat in the first war), as an agreement "really in the interest of slavery". Salisbury was not alone in this concern. Roger Casement , already well on the way to becoming an Irish Nationalist,

3800-413: The British Maxims, was a large calibre, belt-fed, water-cooled "auto cannon" that fired explosive rounds (smokeless ammunition) at 450 rounds per minute. It became known as the "Pom Pom". Aside from weaponry, the tactics used by the Boers were significant. As one modern source states, "Boer soldiers ... were adept at guerrilla warfare—something the British had difficulty countering". The Transvaal army

3895-403: The British press and British government expected the campaign to be over within months, and the protracted war gradually became less popular, especially after revelations about the conditions in the concentration camps (where as many as 26,000 Afrikaner women and children died of disease and malnutrition). The Boer forces finally surrendered on Saturday, 31 May 1902, with 54 of the 60 delegates from

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3990-415: The British terms in the Treaty of Vereeniging , surrendering in May 1902. The former republics were transformed into the British colonies of the Transvaal and Orange River , and in 1910 were merged with the Natal and Cape Colonies to form the Union of South Africa , a self-governing dominion within the British Empire. British expeditionary efforts were aided significantly by colonial forces from

4085-405: The Cape Colony, the Natal, Rhodesia , and many volunteers from the British Empire worldwide, particularly Australia , Canada , India and New Zealand . Black African recruits contributed increasingly to the British war effort. International public opinion was sympathetic to the Boers and hostile to the British . Even within the UK, there existed significant opposition to the war . As a result,

4180-784: The Cape during the late 17th and early 18th centuries; however, close to one-fourth of this demographic was of German origin and one-sixth of French Huguenot descent. Cleavages were likelier to occur along socio-economic rather than ethnic lines. Broadly speaking, the colonists included a number of distinct subgroups, including the Boers . The Boers were itinerant farmers who lived on the colony's frontiers, seeking better pastures for their livestock. Many were dissatisfied with aspects of British administration, in particular with Britain's abolition of slavery on 1 December 1834. Boers who used forced labor would have been unable to collect compensation for their slaves. Between 1836 and 1852, many elected to migrate away from British rule in what became known as

4275-411: The Cape inquiry and the London parliamentary inquiry and was forced to resign as Prime Minister of the Cape and as Chairman of the British South Africa Company, for having sponsored the failed coup d'état . The Boer government handed their prisoners over to the British for trial. Jameson was tried in England, where the British press and London society, inflamed by anti-Boer and anti-German feeling and in

4370-403: The Germanic tribesmen led by the former auxiliary officer Arminius . During the decline of the Roman Empire , irregulars made up an ever-increasing proportion of the Roman military. At the end of the Western Empire, there was little difference between the Roman military and the barbarians across the borders. Following Napoleon 's modernisation of warfare with the invention of conscription ,

4465-404: The Orange Free State to join him and mobilising their forces, Kruger issued an ultimatum giving Britain 48 hours to withdraw all their troops from the border of Transvaal (despite the fact that the only regular British army troops anywhere near the border of either republic were 4 companies of the Loyal North Lancs , who had been deployed to defend Kimberley. ) Otherwise, the Transvaal, allied with

4560-401: The Orange Free State, would declare war. Irregular military Irregular military is any non-standard military component that is distinct from a country's national armed forces. Being defined by exclusion, there is significant variance in what comes under the term. It can refer to the type of military organization, or to the type of tactics used. An irregular military organization

4655-421: The Second Boer War was the longest, the most expensive (£211 million, £19.9 billion at 2022 prices), and the bloodiest conflict between 1815 and 1914, lasting three months longer and resulting in more British combat casualties than the Crimean War (1853–1856). Disease took a greater toll in the Crimean War, claiming 17,580 British. The conflict is commonly referred to simply as "the Boer War" because

4750-410: The South African Republic Paul Kruger , either fled or went into hiding; the British Empire officially annexed the two republics in 1900. In Britain, the Conservative ministry led by Lord Salisbury attempted to capitalise on British military successes by calling an early general election , dubbed by contemporary observers as a " khaki election ". However, Boer fighters took to the hills and launched

4845-489: The Transvaal Boers behind President Kruger and his government. It also had the effect of drawing the Transvaal and the Orange Free State (led by President Martinus Theunis Steyn ) together in opposition to British imperialism. In 1897, the two republics concluded a military pact. In earlier conflicts, the Boers' most common weapon was the British Westley Richards falling-block breech-loader. In his book The First Boer War , Joseph Lehmann offers this comment: "Employing chiefly

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4940-443: The Transvaal and Orange Free State voting to accept the terms of the peace treaty. This was known as the Treaty of Vereeniging , and under its provisions, the two republics were absorbed into the British Empire, with the promise of self-government in the future. This promise was fulfilled with the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910. The war had a lasting effect on the region and on British domestic politics. For Britain,

5035-427: The Transvaal courts and found guilty of high treason. The four leaders were sentenced to death by hanging, but the next day this sentence was commuted to 15 years' imprisonment. In June 1896, the other members of the committee were released on payment of £2,000 each in fines, all of which were paid by Cecil Rhodes. One Reform Committee member, Frederick Gray, committed suicide while in Pretoria gaol , on 16 May. His death

5130-527: The Transvaal reluctantly acquiesced to the immigration of uitlanders (foreigners), mainly English-speaking men from Britain, who came to the Boer region in search of fortune and employment. As a result, the number of uitlanders in the Transvaal threatened to exceed the number of Boers, precipitating confrontations between the Boer settlers and the newer, non-Boer arrivals. Britain's expansionist ideas (notably propagated by Cecil Rhodes ) as well as disputes over uitlander political and economic rights led to

5225-432: The United States, the term special forces does not generally imply a force that is trained to fight as guerillas and insurgents. Originally, the United States Special Forces were created to serve as a cadre around which stay-behind resistance forces could be built in the event of a communist victory in Europe or elsewhere. The United States Special Forces and the CIA's Special Activities Center can trace their lineage to

5320-594: The War Office, to the detriment of initiative. Administrative districts were recommended to be responsible for organisation to leave commanders of field units free to train for war. King Edward VII welcomed the Report and successfully urged the Arthur James Balfour 's government to accept its recommendations. However, some in the Army were wary of its recommendations, one opponent being Lord Kitchener . Richard Haldane , who became War Secretary for Henry Campbell-Bannerman 's government in 1905, implemented many of its recommendations between 1906 and 1909. Among his advisers

5415-423: The basic training of irregulars. The regulars would only provide the core military in the major battles; irregulars would provide all other combat duties. Notable examples of regulars relying on irregulars include Bashi-bazouk units in the Ottoman Empire , auxiliary cohorts of Germanic peoples in the Roman Empire , Cossacks in the Russian Empire , and Native American forces in the American frontier of

5510-423: The border. Four days later, the weary and dispirited column was surrounded near Krugersdorp , within sight of Johannesburg. After a brief skirmish in which the column lost 65 killed and wounded—while the Boers lost but one man—Jameson's men surrendered and were arrested by the Boers. The botched raid had repercussions throughout southern Africa and in Europe. In Rhodesia, the departure of so many policemen enabled

5605-495: The borders of both the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, failing which the Transvaal, allied to the Orange Free State, would declare war on the British government . (In fact, Kruger had ordered commandos to the Natal border in early September, and Britain had only troops in garrison towns far from the border.) The British government rejected the South African Republic's ultimatum, and the South African Republic and Orange Free State declared war on Britain. The southern part of

5700-400: The count of enemy troops, making the odds seem much worse than they were. This may be accidental; counts of friendly troops often came from official regular army rolls that exclude unofficial forces, while enemy strength often came from visual estimates, where the distinction between regular and irregular were lost. If irregular forces overwhelm regulars, records of the defeat are often lost in

5795-428: The failed Jameson Raid of 1895. Dr. Leander Starr Jameson , who led the raid, intended to encourage an uprising of the uitlanders in Johannesburg . However, the uitlanders did not take up arms in support, and Transvaal government forces surrounded the column and captured Jameson's men before they could reach Johannesburg. As tensions escalated, political manoeuvrings and negotiations attempted to reach compromise on

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5890-628: The following criteria: By extension, combat forces that do not satisfy these criteria are termed "irregular forces". The term "irregular military" describes the "how" and "what", but it is more common to focus on the "why" as just about all irregular units were created to provide a tactical advantage to an existing military, whether it was privateer forces harassing shipping lanes against assorted New World colonies on behalf of their European contractors, or Auxiliaries, levies, civilian and other standing irregular troops that are used as more expendable supplements to assist costly trained soldiers. Bypassing

5985-494: The gold industry; and by introducing controls through licensing, tariffs and administrative requirements. Among the issues giving rise to tension between the Transvaal government on the one hand and the uitlanders and British interests on the other, were: British imperial interests were alarmed when in 1894–1895 Kruger proposed building a railway through Portuguese East Africa to Delagoa Bay , bypassing British-controlled ports in Natal and Cape Town and avoiding British tariffs. At

6080-527: The guerrillas, British high command ordered scorched earth policies as part of a large scale and multi-pronged counterinsurgency campaign; a network of nets , blockhouses , strongpoints and barbed wire fences was constructed, virtually partitioning the occupied republics. Over 100,000 Boer civilians, mostly women and children, were forcibly relocated into concentration camps , where 26,000 died, mostly by starvation and disease. Black Africans were interned in concentration camps to prevent them from supplying

6175-586: The higher-level organizational training and equipment that is part of regular army. This usually makes irregulars ineffective in direct, main-line combat, the typical focus of more standard armed forces. Other things being equal, major battles between regulars and irregulars heavily favor the regulars. However, irregulars can excel at many other combat duties besides main-line combat, such as scouting , skirmishing , harassing , pursuing, rear-guard actions, cutting supply, sabotage , raids , ambushes and underground resistance . Experienced irregulars often surpass

6270-436: The issues of uitlanders' rights within the South African Republic, control of the gold mining industry, and Britain's desire to incorporate the Transvaal and the Orange Free State into a federation under British control. Given the British origins of the majority of uitlanders and the ongoing influx of new uitlanders into Johannesburg, the Boers recognised that granting full voting rights to the uitlanders would eventually result in

6365-438: The legitimacy of the army or its opponents is questioned, some legal definitions have been created. In international humanitarian law , the term "irregular forces" refers to a category of combatants that consists of individuals forming part of the armed forces of a party to an armed conflict, international or domestic, but not belonging to that party's regular forces and operating inside or outside of their own territory, even if

6460-409: The legitimate military and taking up arms is an extreme measure. The motivation for doing so is often used as the basis of the primary label for any irregular military. Different terms come into and out of fashion, based on political and emotional associations that develop. Here is a list of such terms, which is organized more or less from oldest to latest: Intense debates can build up over which term

6555-454: The loss of ethnic Boer control in the South African Republic. The June 1899 negotiations in Bloemfontein failed, and in September 1899 British Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain demanded full voting rights and representation for the uitlanders residing in the Transvaal. Paul Kruger , the President of the South African Republic, issued an ultimatum on 9 October 1899, giving the British government 48 hours to withdraw all their troops from

6650-478: The new Indian Army that was organized following the great Indian Rebellion of 1857. Before 1867, military units in Canada consisted of British units of volunteers. During French rule, small local volunteer militia units or colonial militias were used to provide defence needs. During British control of various local militias, the Provincial Marine were used to support British regular forces in Canada. Use of large irregular forces featured heavily in wars such as

6745-403: The point of becoming the new regular army if it wins. Most conventional military officers and militaries are wary of using irregular military forces and see them as unreliable, of doubtful military usefulness, and prone to committing atrocities leading to retaliation in kind. Usually, such forces are raised outside the regular military like the British SOE during World War II and, more recently,

6840-540: The region it would strike too aggressive a posture and possibly derail a negotiated settlement—or even encourage a Boer attack. Steyn of the Orange Free State invited Milner and Kruger to attend a conference in Bloemfontein . The conference started on 30 May 1899, but negotiations quickly broke down, as Kruger had no intention of granting meaningful concessions, and Milner had no intention of accepting his normal delaying tactics. On 9 October 1899, after convincing

6935-455: The regular army in these functions. By avoiding formal battles, irregulars have sometimes harassed high quality armies to destruction. The total effect of irregulars is often underestimated. Since the military actions of irregulars are often small and unofficial, they are underreported or even overlooked. Even when engaged by regular armies, some military histories exclude all irregulars when counting friendly troops, but include irregulars in

7030-535: The resulting chaos. By definition, "irregular" is understood in contrast to "regular armies", which grew slowly from personal bodyguards or elite militia. In Ancient warfare , most civilized nations relied heavily on irregulars to augment their small regular army. Even in advanced civilizations, the irregulars commonly outnumbered the regular army. Sometimes entire tribal armies of irregulars were brought in from internal native or neighboring cultures, especially ones that still had an active hunting tradition to provide

7125-500: The second phase, after the number of British troops greatly increased under the command of Lord Roberts , the British launched another offensive in 1900 to relieve the sieges, this time achieving success. After Natal and the Cape Colony were secure, the British army was able to invade the Transvaal, and the republic's capital, Pretoria , was ultimately captured in June 1900. In the third and final phase, beginning in March 1900 and lasting

7220-402: The stage for further scrambles. Britain attempted to annex first the South African Republic in 1880, and then, in 1899, both the South African Republic and the Orange Free State. In the 1880s, Bechuanaland (modern Botswana ) became the object of a dispute between the Germans to the west, the Boers to the east, and Britain's Cape Colony to the south. Although Bechuanaland had no economic value,

7315-790: The territory is under occupation. The Third Geneva Convention of 1949 uses "regular armed forces " as a critical distinction. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a non-governmental organization primarily responsible for and most closely associated with the drafting and successful completion of the Third Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War ("GPW"). The ICRC provided commentary saying that "regular armed forces" satisfy four Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907) (Hague IV) conditions. In other words, "regular forces" must satisfy

7410-472: The time, the Prime Minister of the Cape Colony was Cecil Rhodes, a man driven by a vision of a British-controlled Africa extending from the Cape to Cairo . Certain self-appointed uitlanders' representatives and British mine owners became increasingly frustrated and angered by their dealings with the Transvaal government. A Reform Committee (Transvaal) was formed to represent the uitlanders. In 1895,

7505-533: The traditions of Mughal cavalry, which had a political purpose because it absorbed pockets of cavalrymen who might otherwise become disaffected plunderers. These were less formally drilled and had fewer British officers (sometimes only three or four per regiment) than the "regular" sepoys in British service. This system enabled the Indian officers to achieve greater responsibility than their counterparts in regular regiments. Promotion for both Indian and British officers

7600-466: The two Boer republics in 1852 and 1854 but attempted British annexation of the Transvaal in 1877 led to the First Boer War in 1880–1881. After Britain suffered defeats, particularly at the Battle of Majuba Hill (1881), the independence of the two republics was restored, subject to certain conditions. However, relations remained uneasy. In 1866, diamonds were discovered at Kimberley , prompting

7695-404: The use of irregular military tactics by regular military units. In his book On Guerrilla Warfare , Mao described seven types of Guerilla units, and argues that "regular army units temporarily detailed for the purpose (of guerilla warfare)," "regular army units permanently detailed (for the purpose of guerilla warfare)," and bands of guerillas created "through a combination of a regular army unit and

7790-418: The very fine breech-loading Westley Richards – calibre 45; paper cartridge; percussion-cap replaced on the nipple manually—they made it exceedingly dangerous for the British to expose themselves on the skyline". Kruger re-equipped the Transvaal army, importing 37,000 of the latest 7x57 mm Mauser Model 1895 rifles supplied by Germany, and some 40 to 50 million rounds of ammunition. Some commandos used

7885-531: The war, including the killings of civilians and prisoners, was opened in January 1901. The war had three phases. In the first phase, the Boers mounted preemptive strikes into British-held territory in Natal and the Cape Colony , besieging the British garrisons of Ladysmith , Mafeking , and Kimberley . The Boers then won a series of tactical victories at Stormberg , Magersfontein , Colenso and Spion Kop . In

7980-933: Was General Sir Gerard Ellison , who was also Secretary of the Esher Committee. The recommendations were to form the basis of Army reform for the next 60 years. The military historian Correlli Barnett wrote that the Esher Report's importance "and its consequences can hardly be exaggerated.... Without the Esher Report... it is inconceivable that the mammoth British military efforts of two world wars could have been possible, let alone so generally successful." Second Boer War British victory [REDACTED]   South African Republic [REDACTED]   Orange Free State 1900 1901 1902 The Second Boer War ( Afrikaans : Tweede Vryheidsoorlog , lit.   ' Second Freedom War ' , 11 October 1899 – 31 May 1902), also known as

8075-466: Was a factor in softening the Transvaal government's attitude to the surviving prisoners. Jan C. Smuts wrote, in 1906: The Jameson Raid was the real declaration of war ... And that is so in spite of the four years of truce that followed ... [the] aggressors consolidated their alliance ... the defenders on the other hand silently and grimly prepared for the inevitable". The Jameson Raid alienated many Cape Afrikaners from Britain and united

8170-419: Was disclosed in the British press, it generated a storm of anti-German feeling. In the baggage of the raiding column, to the great embarrassment of Britain, the Boers found telegrams from Cecil Rhodes and the other plotters in Johannesburg. Chamberlain had approved Rhodes' plans to send armed assistance in the case of a Johannesburg uprising, but he quickly moved to condemn the raid. Rhodes was severely censured at

8265-598: Was equipped with Maxim machine guns and some artillery pieces. The plan was to make a three-day dash to Johannesburg and trigger an uprising by the primarily British expatriate uitlanders, organised by the Johannesburg Reform Committee , before the Boer commandos could mobilise. However, the Transvaal authorities had advance warning of the Jameson Raid and tracked it from the moment it crossed

8360-460: Was for efficiency and energy, rather than by seniority as elsewhere in the EIC's armies. In irregular cavalry the Indian troopers provided their horses under the silladar system. The result was a loose collection of regiments which in general were more effective in the field than their regular counterparts. These irregular units were also cheaper to raise and maintain and as a result many survived into

8455-436: Was nevertheless happy to gather intelligence for the British against the Boers because of their cruelty to Africans. The British government went against the advice of its generals (including Wolseley) and declined to send substantial reinforcements to South Africa before war broke out. Secretary of State for War Lansdowne did not believe the Boers were preparing for war and that if Britain were to send large numbers of troops to

8550-485: Was published, successively, in February and March 1904. The Committee took evidence in private and its Report was in three parts. It analysed the complex arrangements and inefficiencies of the Army administration and made three main recommendations: That rationalisation was recommended by the Report to be implemented throughout the Army. The Report also claimed that policy and administration had become too centralised in

8645-432: Was replaced by Lord Roberts and Lord Kitchener , who relieved the besieged cities and invaded the Boer republics in early 1900 at the head of a 180,000-strong expeditionary force. The Boers, aware they were unable to resist such a large force, refrained from fighting pitched battles , allowing the British to occupy both republics and their capitals, Pretoria and Bloemfontein . Boer politicians, including President of

8740-624: Was the question of who would control and benefit most from the very lucrative Witwatersrand gold mines discovered by Jan Gerrit Bantjes in June 1884. The first European settlement in South Africa was founded at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652, and thereafter administered as part of the Dutch Cape Colony . The Cape was governed by the Dutch East India Company, until its bankruptcy in the late 18th century, and

8835-679: Was thereafter governed directly by the Netherlands . As a result of political turmoil in the Netherlands, the British occupied the Cape three times during the Napoleonic Wars , and the occupation became permanent after British forces defeated the Dutch at the Battle of Blaauwberg in 1806. At the time, the colony was home to about 26,000 colonists settled under Dutch rule. A relative majority represented old Dutch families brought to

8930-433: Was transformed: Approximately 25,000 men equipped with modern rifles and artillery could mobilise within two weeks. However, President Kruger's victory in the Jameson Raid incident did nothing to resolve the fundamental problem of finding a formula to conciliate the uitlanders, without surrendering the independence of the Transvaal. The failure to gain improved rights for uitlanders (notably the goldfields dynamite tax) became

9025-547: Was unwilling to become mired in a distant war, requiring substantial troop reinforcement and expense, for what was perceived at the time to be a minimal return. An armistice ended the war, and subsequently a peace treaty was signed with the Transvaal President Paul Kruger. In June 1884, British imperial interests were ignited in the discovery by Jan Gerrit Bantjes of what would prove to be the world's largest deposit of gold-bearing ore at an outcrop on

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