Field Guide to the Battlefields of South Africa, by Nicki von der Heyde

Field Guide to the Battlefields of South Africa, by Nicki von der Heyde. Random House Struik; Imprint: Travel and Heritage; Cape Town, South Africa 2013; ISBN 978143170100 / ISBN 978-1-4317-0100-1

How to use the Field Guide to the Battlefields of South Africa. ISBN 978143170100 / ISBN 978-1-4317-0100-1

In her groundbreaking book, The Field Guide to the Battlefields of South Africa, Nicki von der Heyde presents 71 battles, giving directions and co-ordinates, while timelines place each battle in its context in South Africa and what was happening on the world stage at that time.

Nicki von der Heyde  

Foreword

There are two major types of battlefield terrain in South Africa: first the open plains, the areas of scrub bush, savannah lands of acacia trees and of occasional flat-topped koppies, a land where cavalry rules supreme. Here the horse was less prone to sickness and the ox-wagon could trundle along at the leisurely pace of a human being, but for longer. The second type of battle terrain is the thorn bush, especially of the Eastern Cape. This allowed for a mixture of warfare engagements, but skirmishing was generally the order of the day rather than set-piece battles. Then in what is now KwaZulu-Natal, the two terrains merge to create the country's most dramatic battlefield landscape. Here were the March lands of South Africa, where the fates of colony, republic and kingdom were decided. The gracefully winding Tugela River runs through what is, in effect, one of the largest military graveyards in the world. In the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, the British found military movement difficult, having to depend too much on the lumbering ox-wagon. It is said that the pace of the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War was dictated by the speed of British military wagons. The British military commander, Lord Chelmsford, drily observed: 'Ox-wagon transport is enough to destroy the reputation of a number of commanders.' This was in stark difference to the relatively rapid advance of Lord Roberts a generation later when the primary modes of transport of military ordnance were rail and horse-drawn wagons. South Africa's most all-encompassing war prior to the 1980s Border War was the 2nd Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902). Hundreds of thousands of men fought in the conflict, which inevitably also pulled in large numbers of Africans, who served in a variety of roles, including armed combatants. In that conflict, the British authorities used over half a million mules and horses. While railways played an important part in the conflict, not least in frequently dictating the line of battle, this was one of the last great horse wars. This is reflected in the fact that 400,000 or 60 per cent of military horses and mules died during the campaign. The Anglo-Boer War was certainly the last great cavalry war of the modern era, especially with the advent of the mounted commando guerrilla phase of the war. But, as in the Anglo-Zulu War, ox- or mule-drawn wagons were still an important part of the conflict. As an ox-wagon team was usually 16 animals, this meant the supply of some 35,000 'salted' oxen for the conflict. This was military-transport logistics on a gigantic scale, not to be equalled until World War I. This volume by Nicki von der Heyde is ground-breaking in that it is the first on-the-ground practical guide for the whole of the country. For that she is to be commended. It is a useful tool for the professional and enthusiastic amateur military historian and discerning heritage tourist. Of course, candid friends will inevitably point out that such-and-such an engagement is not included. What constitutes a battle and what a skirmish is a moot point. (...)

This is an excerpt from the book: Field Guide to the Battlefields of South Africa, by Nicki von der Heyde.

Title: Field Guide to the Battlefields of South Africa
Author: Nicki von der Heyde
Publisher: Random House Struik
Imprint: Travel and Heritage
Cape Town, South Africa 2013
ISBN 978143170100 / ISBN 978-1-4317-0100-1
Softcover, 15x21 cm, 352 pages, throughout photos, illustrations and maps