On December 11, 1899, the Battle of Magersfontein takes place in South Africa. Part of the Second Boer War, the battle pitted Boer fighters against forces of the British Army. The Boers had established a defensive trench line amongst the hills. The British, needing to take the position to open the way to relieve a siege on the British-controlled settlement of Kimberly, had to break through the Boer line in order to open the railway and road through the area. To do so, the British plan entailed an intense artillery barrage to soften up the Boer positions followed by the British troops advancing in close formation under the cover of night in order to launch an assault with rifle and bayonet at dawn; however, the Boers had already anticipated this due to previous combat with the British and had placed their trenches in the lower ground ahead of the hills. Therefore, the artillery barrage, which began late in the evening of December 10, had little to no impact upon the Boer positions. Furthermore, poor weather conditions and the rough terrain hindered the advance of the British forces (in particular the men of the Highland Brigade) resulting in them being much farther away from the Boer lines when day began to break. The Boers opened fire from approximately 400 yards, forcing the British to advance under heavy and accurate fire. Over the course of the day, fierce fighting between the British and Boer forces raged along the Boer lines.
By late afternoon of December 11, the Boers had emerged as the victor at the Battle of Magersfontein. British forces, having suffered heavy losses and unable to break through the Boer lines and hold, were forced to withdraw. A truce was formed to allow for collecting and tending to the dead and wounded with the British forces conducting a retreat afterwards. Casualties were high on both sides of the fight with the Boers suffering 236 killed or wounded out of force of ~8500 and the British suffering 948 wounded or killed out of force ~15000. Included among the casualties were many men of the British Highland Brigade and the Boer Scandinavian Volunteer Corps, both units suffering extremely high casualties and near destruction during the battle. Furthermore, the Boer victory ensured the siege of Kimberly would continue. Combined with several other British defeats around the same time, the Battle of Magersfontein contributed to what was known as "Black Week." In response to these defeats, the British authorized the deployment of more troops to South Africa to put down the Boers. Additionally, the British would eventually resorted to more severe methods, including the use of concentration camps and scorched earth policies, in order to compel the Boers to surrender. On May 31, 1902, the Second Boer War finally came to an end with a British victory.
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