Boer Commandos

The word Commando originated from the Portuguese and was first used in the 1800’s by the two Boer Republics, Transvaal and Orange Free State. During the 18th Century, the Boers needed to be able to raise an army to defend themselves against, attack the local tribesmen or take part in the frequent military skirmishes of the time.  The problem was that they had insufficient funds to pay for a standing army.  The commando system was devised as the solution. For the Second Anglo Boer War conscription was introduced and began on 2nd October 1899, yet another indication that President Kruger had every intention of fighting. A law in the two republics, Orange Free State and Transvaal, ensured that every man between 16 and 60 joined a commando group so that when the War arrived he was called up. He was expected to provide a riding horse, saddle, bridle, rifle and 30 cartridges and provisions for 8 days, which consisted of Biltong, dried strips of meat and Boer biscuit called a Rusk. If he had no rifle then he had to bring 30 bullets, 30 caps and half a pound of powder. The alternative was given because few Boers at the time possessed breach-loading rifles, uniforms were non-existent except for senior officers and it was more a case of come as you are. The whole system was completely informal, even officers were elected by majority vote. 

A Commando could consist of ten or ten thousand burghers and would equate to a British regiment. They were not by law empowered to fight, although the individual had to become part of a commando. The Boer was by nature a family man and had an intense dislike of being away from home and, if he had to move for any period of time, he invariably took his family with him. This is exactly what most of them did when called up to fight taking along their sons and, in some cases, grandsons. 

There were approximately 15140 commandos on the Natal border, 4140 from the Free State and 11 000 from the Transvaal that included 400 State artillery of two x 8 gun batteries. Lucas Meyer, later Louis Botha, controlled all the Commandos with the exception of 6000 under the command of General Schalk Burger, Joubert’s second in command. These 6000 represented the areas of Wakkerstroom, Middleburg, Heidleburg, Lydenburg, Swaziland, Bethel, Carolina.

In the early stages of the conflict the commandos made extensive use of rail transport, which gave them greater mobility. Once they disembarked from the trains they used horses to add speed to their movements. Opposing them was the British Army still marching their infantry to war on foot and using their railways to transport equipment. The commandos even had a government printer and hospital on trains. 

The commandos enjoyed virtual home cooking, their normal fare of maize and meat; fresh meat and coffee when in camp and biltong or dried meat and beskuit in the field. It was available locally wherever they went and was collected and prepared for them in their camps by the camp followers or agterryers. They were therefore free to move about, fight or rest as they pleased and in the early stages this would have almost felt like a holiday. The Republican forces were not grouped in fixed regiments as were European armies, rather they were combined with other groups or split into smaller units as the action of the day required. 

There was a democratic structure and hierarchy, a Field Cornet was the elected leader of the ward and, if the ward was large enough, an Assistant Field Cornet could be elected. The Field Cornets reported into an elected Commandant who was in charge of the commando and, in times of war, a Commandant General or Chief Commandant would lead and co-ordinate a large force. The Commandant attended to the military aspects of the district and had a civilian counterpart, the Landdrost or Magistrate, who has responsibility for the civil administration of the district. 

The leaders of the fighting units led rather than commanded, having no executive power they could not give orders, their rule being reliant upon confidence and loyalty of the men in their unit.  

Both the Transvaal and the Free State adopted generally the same system but there were slight differences in their hierarchies. In the Transvaal, the Commandant General was elected for a five year period by a general ballot of all burghers whereas, in the Free State, the President was head of the military and only in the event of war was a Chief Commandant elected. There were six levels of Hierarchy, Commandant General, Assistant General, Combat General, Commandant, Field Cornet and Assistant Field Cornet. 

During the middle to end of the 19^th century almost every town in the two republics had a Commando and, once war was imminent, others including the Irish, Scandinavian, German Commandos and many others were formed. 

The term commando was introduced into the British Army during World War 2, some say at the suggestion of Winston Churchill, and was a term used for special troops that would act behind enemy lines. In July 1940 the Commandos were officially designated Special Service troops however because of their initials ‘SS’ they were renamed The Commandos. They were the equivalent of a Light Battalion of around 400 men and they adopted the distinctive dark-green beret, which remains today.

The Transvaal Commandos: Amsterdam; Bethal; Bloemhof; Boksburg; Carolina; Christiana; Elandsfontein; Elands River; Ermelo; Fordsburg; Germiston; Heidelberg; Jeppestown; Johannesburg; Klerksdorp; Krugersdorp; Lichtenburg;    Lydenburg; Marico; Middelburg; Piet Retief; Potchefstroom; Pretoria; Rustenburg; Standerton; Swaziland; Utrecht;    Vryheid; Wakkerstroom; Waterberg; Wolmaransstad; Zoutpansberg; Zwartruggens. All these units were under the command of Commandant-General PJ Joubert. 

The Free Sate Commandos: Bethlehem; Bethulie; Bloemfontein; Boshof; Bothaville; Brandfort; Caledon River;   Edenburg; Fauresmith; Ficksburg; Frankfort; Harrismith; Heilbron; Hoopstad; Jacobsdal; Kroonstad; Ladybrand;     Lindley; Parys; Philippolis; Rouxville; Senekal; Smithfield; Thaba ‘Nchu; Ventersburg; Vrede; Vredefort; Wepener; Winsburg. 

Foreign Commandos: American; French; German; Holland; Irish; Italian; Russian; Sandinavian; Swiss. 

Other units: Boksburg Police; Edward’s Scouts; Fichardt’s Scouts; Hassell’s Scouts; Johannesburg Police; Jooste’s Scouts; Kirsten’s Scouts; Pretoria Mounted Rifles; Pretoria Police; Ricchiardi’s Scouts; Runck’s Scouts; Scheeper’s Scouts;    Swaziland Police; Theron’s Scouts; Theunissen’s Scouts; Transvaal Police; Von Goeben’s Scouts; Zarps; Johannesburg and Pretoria Police; Staats Artillerie and Transvaal State Artillery. 

Commandos besieging Ladysmith: Pretoria, Irish Brigade, Lydenburg, Swaziland, Ermelo, Bethel, Carolina, Middleburg, Heildelberg, Wakkerstroom, Krugersdorp, Standerton, Utrecht, Vryheid, German, Harrismith, Bethlehem, Vrede, Kroonstad and Winburg.  

The Irish Brigade was originally the idea of John MacBride, born in Westport County Mayo Ireland, towards the end of the 19^th century. With a colleague Arthur Griffin and the Irish Society of Johannesburg, he decided this was his opportunity for Irishmen to strike a blow against an old enemy, Great Britain. The Brigade was a unit of 500 men, mostly Irish but also included Americans and French and, once accepted by the Boer Army, they were called the Irish Transvaal Brigade. All members were volunteers and lived in the same manner as their Boer compatriots, off the land. Because had no military experience he a graduate of West Point, John Fillmore Blake, as their commander. 

The Transvaal Irish Brigade joined the war in October 1899 and over the next year fought in many major battles such as Colenso, Spionkop, Dundee, Tugela Heights, and the siege of Ladysmith. When Blake was injured in the battle of Bergendal, MacBride took over command. Sadly, the Brigade found they were fighting against their fellow countrymen in the British Irish regiments such as Inniskilling Fusiliers, Connaught Rangers and others, some even recognized neighbour’s from Dublin in the British ranks. During the Siege they were situated to the right of Pepworth hill

Ermelo Commando comprised nearly 100 men and fought with the besieging force around Ladysmith under Commandant J.N.H. Grobler sited to the east of Farquhar’s farm along with the Bethel and Carolina Commandos. The Ermelo Commando also fought at the battles of Colenso and Spionkop and listed among their casualties at these battles were, Lodewijk van Aardt, P. Mare and son, Jacobus Wijnand Rautenbach, J.P.J.Smit and A.H.Dykes, all slightly wounded. Veg-General (Fighting General) Barend Daniel BOUWER and Veg-General Tobias Smuts were both members of this Commando.

Carolina Commando had, by 1899, achieved something of a celebrity status in so far as its men wore rather grand uniforms, much along the lines of those at West Point in America, even to wearing swords on parade. They were privileged to have their own Doctor and even had their own Heliograph operator. General Tobias Smuts joined this Commando from Natal. The Commando numbered 506 men and was under the command of 38 year old Commandant Hendrik Prinsloo and during the siege were based north-east of the town with the Lydenburg Commando. Of the 88 that went into action at the battle of Spionkop 55 were killed or wounded.

Heidelburg Commando: Sixty year old Commandant Jan Daniel Weilbach led the Heidelberg Commando in the Natal campaign. The commando was divided into five sections each, with its own Veldkornet and totalled 1200 men, 950 of whom were mounted. The Veldkornets were Cornelis Spruyt(Dorp Wyk), Rudolph Spruyt, VK Willem Pretorius(Highveld Wyk), Johan Georg Meyer(Klipriver) and VK Stephanus Bernardus Buys(Roodekoppen Wyk).  

The Heidelberg Commando entered the war by first occupying Newcastle after which they were to support the attack on Dundee but they hung back.  Disciplinary action was recommended but not carried out. They were not involved in the battle of Elandslaagte. The Commando also featured on Aloe Knoll during the battle of Spionkop and during the siege of Ladysmith were positioned between Lombards Kop and Umbrella hill, also on top of Pepworth hill were some 211 men along with 2 x 75mm Krupp Field guns and 4 Maxims. A section of the Heidleburg Commando under Lieutenant Pretorius acted as bodyguards to the Generals. On the 7th November the Commando camp is reported to be on Lombards Kop

Wakkerstoom Commando: In 1899, the district of Wakkerstroom stretched from the Klip River on the Free Sate border, south-east to the present KwaZuluNatal border then down to the Phongolo River, along the Swaziland border to the Vaal River then back to the Free State border. There were two districts of Wakkerstroom, one under Commandant Jan Greyling and the second under Commandant Hans Moolman. Later mixes of these districts resulted in a third district under Commandant Hoed-Hoed Badenhorst. NOTE: ‘The Times History of The war in South Africa’ notes there were 1179 men in the Commando under the overall command of one JJ Alberts.  

The Wakerstroon Commando were at several battles during the war, Doornberg, Talana, Hlangwane, Ladysmith, Caesars Camp, Brandfort, Vet River, Zand river and Laingsnek. In all of these actions 67 Boers (Burghers) died in action whilst a further eight died as POW’s. At the battle of Colenso it was the Wakkerstroom Commando that captured ten of Colonel Long’s guns.

During the siege the Commando was positioned on the eastern side of Umbulwane Mountain, presumably kept in reserve, because they could not see the town from that position.

Vryheid Commando comprised over 730 men and was sited on the low hills to the south of the town, forming a group of four with the Utrecht, Winburg and German Commandos. In the beginning Vryheid were commanded by General Lucas Meyer until he became ill at which time the command was taken by Louis Botha and, later still by General Cheer Emmett, Botha’s father-in-law. Major J.F. Wolmarens and Major J.L. Pretorius asked for and got several pieces of artillery consisting of 4  75mm Krupp field guns, 2 French 19 Pounders, 1 Pom Pom and a maxim captured from the British at Talana.

They also fought at Dundee, Colenso and Spionkop, with their casualties between Ladysmith and Colenso of 18 including HG Grove and DAJ Louw who were killed and wounded respectively at the battle of Colenso.

German Commando: In 1878, a young German, Adolf Schiel, left his home in Germany and took up farming in Natal followed employment in the Government Service in the Transvaal. An ex-serviceman, he joined the Staatsartillerie and immediately set about building up the unit but. Shortly after the Jameson Raid, Schiel became Commandant of the Johannesburg Fort with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He was, therefore, the only officer in the Boer republic with the same rank as the Commandant of the Staatsartillerie. By the middle of 1899, the Fort was ready and it was handed over to the Staatsartillerie.

By now war with Britain was imminent so Schiel, with others, formed the German Commando made up of German volunteers. The members of the commando would be allowed to elect their own officers and would be considered a separate unit but, as was the case with all Boer commandos, the German commandant and his men would be placed under the command of a Boer general. In September 1899 the German Commando was established in Johannesburg and another branch was formed in Pretoria, called the German Corps. Although most of the German Commando was formed from German Nationals, there were a number of local Boers, mainly from Schiel’s prison staff. Schiel selected mainly former German officers for his military staff, Count Harra Zeppelin his adjutant. The Transvaal Government also had high expectations of the Germans because of the famous military traditions of the German nation.

The German Commando left for Volksrust on 1 October 1899, thus becoming the first corps of foreigners to move to the front with the Boers. On 14 October 1899, the Transvaal units invaded Natal, meeting at Newcastle, where they considered their next move. About 800 men of the Johannesburg, Hollander Corps, Free State, Vrede and German Commandos, were placed under the command of General J. H. M. Kock. The Pretoria section of the German Commando was sent to General Lucas Meyer near Dundee eventually formed part of the siege forces around Ladysmith.

On 17 October 1899, General Kock and his men left the Newcastle area and advanced to Biggarsberg Neck from where about 100 men each under the command of Colonel moved to Elandslaagte. They overpowered a British supply train destined for Dundee, destroying the railway line, thus cutting communication between Dundee and Ladysmith. The ensuing battle has been well document elsewhere and the Boer force comprised of about 100 members of the German Commando, another 160 of the Hollander Corps, about 150 Free State Boers of the Vrede Commando, and the remainder were from Johannesburg but suffice to say the German Commando acquitted itself very well considering they were not all time-served soldiers. Although they formed only a small portion of the Boer force, the Holland and German Commandos suffered heavily but to what degree is not recorded however Colonel Schiel was taken prisoner.

After the defeat at Elandslaagte, General Joubert branded the Germans as cowardly fugitives and sent them back to Johannesburg where they were, however, allowed to reorganise. General Joubert contended that the Germans were not acquainted fully with the military tactics and strategy of the Boers and that the military views and methods of fighting of the Boers differed widely from those of the Germans. Yet despite these views the Germans were allowed to reorganise under Special Field Cornet K.R. Middeldorf.

Boksburg Commando: Prior to the South Africa War, the Boksburg Commando had participated under Field-Cornet Gerckson to help quell the Makgato tribe, which had refused to pay taxes and were very hostile to the ZAR Administration.

On the 27^th September 1899 the Boksburg Commando was mobilised. The contingent was 1050 strong with about 300 Black Agterryers (Camp followers) accompanying them and they assembled at the Market Square then moved to Boksburg station to entrain for the front. The area the Commando covered, stretched from Elandsfontein to Springs and included the towns of Elandsfontein, Germiston, Elsburg, Vogelfontein, Boksburg, Brakpan, Schapenrust and Springs. At the station the first bureaucratic bungle occurred. Previously, commando’s had always moved by horse, but Boksburg now had a train service, however as the authorities had forgotten to order a train, the burghers waited two days for the transport to arrive to take them to Johannesburg. Several more days elapsed before they were issued with new Mauser rifles and were ready for action. In spite of this minor setback, the spirit of the group was buoyant they were going to the border to chase the “hated British Army” away, just as they had done at Majuba. A quick ride, sharp fight and they would be home in a few weeks and, even at this stage some of the flamboyant characters were beginning to emerge, such as  Commandant, later General, Ben Viljoen was in the bar having a last drink, holding up the departure of the train and ignoring the urgent ringing of the stationmaster’s bell.

Due to the large numbers of burghers, with attendants’ horses and equipment, numerous trains were required but, when the Commandos arrived in Volksrust and settled in their camp at Charlestown, their horses alas were on another train and never arrived at all and they had to be issued with new stock. The Boksburg Commando was part of the personal command of the Commander-in-Chief of the Boer Forces, Commandant-General Piet Joubert and formed part of the advanced guard over the Buffalo River under General Erasmus. They entered Newcastle on the 15 October 1899, four days after the outbreak of hostilities.

From photographs it becomes obvious that most of the Boksburg contingent were wearing waistcoats, ties and riding boots. They were well dressed, well armed, well lead and highly motivated, certainly not ignorant peasants. The only item, which was common to all men, was that they all wore hats which enabled then to distinguish themselves by different hatbands. Boksburg sported guinea fowl feathers and were commonly called “Gravett’s Guinea Fowls” after their rebel general from the Cape Colony, General GH Gravett.

At the start of the war the Commando used Mauser rifles but later on, when the run out of ammunition, they switched to British .303 Lee-Metford rifles, obtained from enemy stock. The Boksburg Commando fought as mounted infantry, not cavalry and therefore used long barrelled rifles for greater accuracy. It is not possible to follow the Boksburg Commando from one battle to another; we only know that they were involved in specific action when, by their boldness, flair and élan they made their mark on the history of the war. After arrival in Natal, due to its size the Boksburg Commando was split into two sections, one taking part in the Natal Campaign whilst the other went to Colesberg.

At Elandslaagte, Boksburg’s magistrate PG Mare was killed in action as was General Kock and they were also involved in derailing the armoured train near Chieveley and the capture of Winston Churchill. Their next major action was at the battle of Colenso on 15 December 1899 when the British retreated hurriedly and exposed their artillery, the Boksburg boys distinguished themselves by being the first to arrive at the British guns, capturing 16 officers and 30 other ranks. On 24 January 1900 they were once more in action at Spionkop, positioned on Conical Hill and commandeered by Fieldcornet J Alberst, later to become a General. During the siege of Ladysmith the Natal section, were stationed between Pepworth Hill and Surprise Hill and, after the relief, they retired to Majuba.

Casualties at Spionkop were Frans Lombard and Shaw killed and at Colenso W Fiedlander slightly wounded.

Kroonstad Commando were from the Free State and comprised just over 200 men under the leadership of Veldt Cornet Louis Botha but subsequently commanded by Commandant C. Neland. They saw action at the battles of Rietfontein and Spionkop and during the Siege were on the western outskirts of Ladysmith on Telegraph Hill. At the battle of Platrand they recorded 3 killed and 2 wounded.

Wynburg Commando fell to the leadership of Martinus Prinsloo and comprised 1200 men however when Prinsloo was promoted the burghers of Winburg selected Mr. Theunissen as their Commandant. He fulfilled his duties admirably, until he was’ made a prisoner of war, when he was leading a courageous attack at Paardeberg in order to relieve General Piet Cronje. Ref.De Wets account

During the siege this Commando were positioned to the north-east of the town close to the road and railway links to Harrismith, there was also a small contingent sited on the low hills due south of the town.

I am sure there is a wealth of information still to be obtained but that which appears here, on the individual Commando pages, is all I have been able to source at the time of compiling these archives. Brian Kaighin