Battle of Rhenosterkop
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| Battle of Rhenosterkop | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Second Boer War | |||||||
 Sketch by Lt. Arthur Bailey of the battle | |||||||
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| 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.
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.[1]