Preview

Boer War Diary Entry from Lord Kitchener

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
348 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Boer War Diary Entry from Lord Kitchener
Lord Kitchener - The Boer offensive The Siege of Lady Smith 1899

Shame be brought on Paul Kruger. How dare he bring Boer offensives into British held Colony areas. This has caused trouble and now it has been declared that the British are fighting in war, another war in which we shall not lose!
The Boer may have mobility but what they lack is the key to British troops fighting, order. My men, have mastered order and with the equiptment supplied we are sure to win this battle.
The origins of this conflict would have had to begun with Paul Krugers Ultimatum, if no such order for British troops to leave Natal was placed, there would never have been an outbreak. Those flithy Boers do not have the right to attempt to claim Natal or Cape Colony, these are rightfully owned British lands!
But since we are already in this mess, we must fight for what is rightfully ours.

In June I dispatched a total of 15,000 troops to Natal in order to protect and defend the Colony until reinforcements could be mobilized and sent to South Africa.

The Boers attempts at trying to Siege us have caused us greatly. Supplies are now growing scarce my English men are running low on supplies and many of the civilians are dying of hunger. It is a sign that the battle may not end well. The Boers, the disgusting fighters had cut the railway link to Durban.
I have great faith in my Lieutenant General Sir George White and believe that he can pull through to come and succeed to win the battle. His tatics have definitely been proven to be highly ranked and considered one of the best.
For now all I can do is sit and write. I pray for my men to break through the siege and come out on top, I fear that many of the troops moral have faded and are giving up, but I aspire to reign and concer the Boers. For now I must be patient, wait and keep the flag

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    It was the result of many factors, including an attitude of patriotism and the belief that shirking from battle equated to immorality. In addition, the inexperience of the Kitchener armies also caused them to continue forward. Because many troops had never been in battle before, they were unable to adapt to a situation that their orders did not account for. When the Germans resisted the British advance with counterfire, the British were not experienced enough to change their strategy. All in all, the Kitchener armies pressed forward due to both their inexperience and attitude, leading them to take on heavy…

    • 634 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Source A is an extract from a book by Andrew Roberts, published in 1999. Its purpose is to inform people, but with the intention of selling copies. The source suggests the support for the Boer war was political; however it did not have the public’s backing. This caused national tension and the government’s decision to continue the war was deemed as a mishandling of the situation. “Church bells were rung, flags were flown, and school children were given a half day off school, stock exchange was suspended.” This shows the lack of support for the war as the public were elated to hear the news that soldiers were returning from home. Evidently, they supported Britain as a country to do well, but did not support the government’s ideas to resume the war. The reliability of the source however could be questioned, as the intention of the book is to sell copies, therefore it must be intriguing. As a result, the book may not be 100% factual in order to bring about some excitement in the book and so cannot be considered completely reliable.…

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    What war between Britain and the dutch republics of southern Africa had a major impact on British policy?…

    • 1129 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    To begin with, The Boer War is one of the most important events. The war started in 1899 in South Africa; the enemies of the British were the…

    • 1006 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Their leader Shaka had planted all his ideas and teachings into the Zulu people and because of him, they had this fearless persona about them to. All they were known for was wreaking havoc and growing their already growing empires with trained a killer, which was going to be a problem. I resented the British Laws that was passed to abolish slavery. If they never passed these laws things would have never changed and this would have never stroked their already growing egos. These laws caused us Boers to revolt and try to escape British rule. This was one of the key opponents that lead us into battle with the Zulu people. These ignorant, blood-thirsty, man slaying, people are dangerous. They start countless wars and make a lot of enemies which would hurt them because they were creating countless enemies. The only thing that they know how to do is how to kill and to start war amongst themselves, when we were trying to compromise with them. We was only trying to teach these barbaric people some of our ways and to civilize them, trying to help the blacks of the South Africa. All the “Great” King of The Zulu Land had to do was disband his military and recognize Britain’s authority, or face invasion. As usual they chose what they knew how to do best, which was how to start war. The same British people that passed the slave abolishing law for these people they were now going into war with them. So not only did they have wars with Boers they also had war with the British now to, how ironic. Even though I despise these people they were very courageous. It’s almost funny how the Zulu’s thought they could defeat us with their sticks. They knew that they could not have stopped us with their assegai which was basically a spear, while we…

    • 619 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Secondly the Boer War also had an effect on the general election of 1906; Joseph Chamberlains appointment as colonial secretary whose job it was to strengthen the empire. South Africa was important in these plans as it had the most valuable land on the continent not only because of its prime trading location but also because of the recently discovered goldfield's. Agreements in 1881 and 1884 gave the Boer states independence but they faced interference from imperialist Britain which escalated hostilities. These and other factors eventually led to war with the Boer states. Views were split on the subject but as the war went on the Conservatives were being increasingly blamed for their military incompetence. The war also allowed the Liberals to start a revival as it took views off the internal cracks in the party and gave it a united front as most Liberals disagreed with the war. The Boer War created other issues for conservatives. There were Chinese workers in South Africa and despite the Conservative government having little to do with it the Liberals could portray them as exploiters…

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This is known as The Jameson Raid. The raid took place during New Year weekend of 1895–96. The plan was to effectively topple the Kruger government by triggering an uprising by Uitlanders that would force British troops to enter the country in order to protect the lives of their British Citizens. This would then be followed by the British High Commissioner entering Pretoria in order to “prevent a civil war” and in doing so he would take possession of (annex) the Transvaal for Britain. Despite all the planning that went into this, the raid was complete and utter failure.…

    • 812 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Imperialism caused more problems than progress because of the destruction of the Zulu tribe and culture, as seen through the control Shaka Zulu had over his tribe, the military prowess of the Zulu tribe, and the land taken by white men. Shaka Zulu had absolute control over his tribe and territory, which spanned across present day KwaZulu/Natal area (King Shaka Zulu). Given Shaka’s iron grip on his nation, an attempted invasion of his lands or assimilation to Western culture would not be taken lightly. Not only would it destabilize the Zulu government, it would cause conflicts amongst the Zulu people, as some people would adopt more Western ways and others remain traditional. The Zulu tribe was also comparatively advanced militarily, having…

    • 386 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Boer war, 1899-1902 was a battle which took place in Africa. By the 1890’s British imperialists felt the two states obstructed complete British control of South Africa and threatened the security of the route to the East.…

    • 557 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Boer war had effects on the soldiers on both sides of the war, the indigenous people of South Africa and the families of the Boer soldiers. The Boers were constantly shelling the British and this meant that the British soldiers could not move openly during the day and had to camp in insanitary dugouts rather than in the open, which accelerated the spread of disease in the British camp. Evidentially, this is a social impact and has affected South…

    • 676 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Apartheid in South Africa

    • 2344 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Thesis: The 19th century conquest of South Africa in pursuit of financial gain, resulted in economic, social, and political oppression of blacks along with environmental devastation.…

    • 2344 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    After being colonized by the British south Africa has changed immensely for example the native people were being treated unfairly and the whites were building factories and a lot of messed up stuff was going on for a long time including apartheid south Africans segregation.…

    • 77 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    South Africa represents a diversity of human experiences which includes the inception of farming as way of life, and the construction of large urban centres. Moreover, it is a territory where along the years we can identify different shifting systems of beliefs, technological and economic changes due to European cultural influences. The first European influence appeared in 1488 when a Portuguese ship rounded the Cape of Good Hope. In the next centuries, both the British and the Dutch founded settlements in the area of Cape sea route. By the end of the 17th century, the imprint of Dutch colonialism in South Africa was clear.…

    • 1310 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The British countered by burning boer farms and imprisoning women and children in disease-ridden concentration camps” (World History, 2009, Pg 778). The British had a goal and that was to take over Africa, but many lives were taken in the…

    • 988 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    World War One Letter

    • 1059 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Right now, I’m writing in a nearby casualty clearing station – recovering from injuries caused by the devastating battles that happened on the Western Front. Until today, I cannot believe that I’m in France – a country that has been a mystery to me before I enlisted in the war. And being able to become one of the survivors – after two major battles in the trenches against the Huns – was a miracle to begin with.…

    • 1059 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays