Battle of Stormberg

Battle of Stormberg
Part of Second Boer War
Northumberland Fusiliers in action against the Boers.
Date 10 December 1899 Location Stormberg, Cape Colony, South Africa 31°17′53″S 26°15′17″E / 31.29806°S 26.25472°E / -31.29806; 26.25472 Result Boer victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	Orange Free State
Commanders and leaders
William Forbes Gatacre	Jan Hendrik Olivier
Strength
1,800 infantry 250 mounted troops 12 guns[1]	2,300 men 3 guns[2]
Casualties and losses
26 killed 68 wounded 696 captured[1]	8 killed 26 wounded

The Battle of Stormberg was a British assault on Stormberg Junction on 10 December 1899. At that time, the Boers had taken control of Molteno and the heights around Stormberg Junction, as part of their invasion of Cape Colony. William Gatacre, the general in command of troops in the Cape Midlands, decided to dislodge the Boers from their position in order to secure the railway lines which supplied the larger March on Kimberley by Lord Methuen. Due to a failed night march and a badly coordinated assault, the Boers repulsed the British army, with the Northumberland Fusiliers suffering high casualties.