BfE2 – Battle of Laing’s Nek, January 1881.

Background

Following the Boer declaration of independence for the Transvaal in 1880 the British suffered a series of disastrous defeats in attempting to regain the territory.

On 20 December 1880, Lieutenant-Colonel Philip Robert Anstruther and elements of his regiment, the 94th, marched from Lydenburg to Pretoria, the regiment’s band leading the column playing the popular song “Kiss Me, Mother Darling”.

At Bronkhorstspruit the force was stopped by Boers, who courteously required the “Red Soldiers” to turn back. Anstruther equally courteously refused, at which point the column was devastated by rifle fire from the surrounding Boer ambush. Of the 259 in the column, 155 officers and men became casualties, as did some of the women accompanying the regiment.

Instead of waiting for the reinforcements, the British High Commissioner for South East Africa, Major General Sir George Pomeroy Colley, assembled what troops he could and rushed forward, claiming to be moving to relieve the British garrisons in the Transvaal.

Colley gathered his force at Newcastle in Natal, dispatched an ultimatum to the Boers and, on its rejection, advanced towards the Transvaal border.

The first British camp on the march lay some 4 miles short of Laing’s Nek, a ridge in the foothills of the Drakensberg Mountains that blocked the road between Newcastle and Standerton in Natal and Transvaal respectively.

The British Natal Field Force, commanded by General Colley, numbered around 1,216 officers and men, including 5 companies of the 58th Regiment, 5 companies of the 3rd Battalion, the 60th Rifles, about 150 cavalrymen of the Mounted Squadron, a party of Royal Navy sailors with two 7-pound guns, and finally a unit of men from the Royal Artillery with four 9-pound guns.

The Boers, under the command of Commandant-General Joubert had about 2,000 men in the area, with at least 400 fortifying the heights around Laing’s Nek. They had little difficulty in repulsing General Colley’s inadequate force.

The British lost 84 killed, 113 wounded, and 2 captured during what was perceived as a fiasco. Most of the casualties were from the 58th Regiment, with 74 killed and 101 wounded, around 35% of their total strength. Among those killed in the battle were many of General Colley’s staff including Major Poole and Lieutenants Dolphin, Elwes and Inman. The Boers reported their losses at 14 killed and 27 wounded. One month later, General Colley was killed at the Battle of Majuba Hill, which ended the war, after which Transvaal was recognised as an independent state.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Laing%27s_Nek

The Game

This week’s Tuesday game was a return to the First Boer War. TJ set up the scenario and got a few guys to help out filling out the figures needed. The armies were organized into company maneuver elements, within battalion formations.

The British had to draw out their advance plan on a map for their forces. The British did not know the location of any Boer units and would have to plan for them to deploy or enter anywhere. The Boers would have to mark their entrenchments and hidden units on a map. Based on the location of the forces, the game master would advise the British where they had to set up along their routes of march. The Boers would have to be spotted or do a viewable action to be placed.

The British all marched on the table and were set up at the steam line, as they got within range of the first Boer units. The Boers had their first four units in hidden positions, with the remainder of their force entering in on the back edge randomly (this was not known to the British).

The Boers were told to hold the back ridge line from the British. The British were told the real conditions were to seize the right hand ridge. This was done to counter the British fog of war rules about placement with Boer rules to being not sure on the British objectives.

The British advanced in two forces up the middle, using the mounted infantry to screen the advance. Once the streamline was reached, the British deployed their artillery to cover the advance to the ridge. As the British infantry advanced into the open, the Boers started to reveal themselves, causing casualties on the advancing forces. The British artillery responded by targeting the Boer positions on the hills to the front.

The fire went on a couple turns, but then the Boars decided to pull back to out of range, which allowed the British to continue their forward advance to the base of the ridges. The Boers pulled forward at this point and reoccupied their positions. The British artillery was mostly screened at this point.

It was at this point, that the British faint to the left shifted to the right to support the main attack. The British took casualties climbing the heights, but were able to overwhelm the Boers defending the trenches, mostly catching them while they tried to occupy their trenches.

The game ended with the British taking the heights and all entrenchments. It was now left to the remaining Boers to try to counter attack. However, with the British no holding the entrenchments, the fire was quite heavy. The British opted to bring up a battery and their last reserve to strengthen the defense. With the casualties mounting and no realistic chance remaining of retaking the lost ground, the Boers called it quits and left the field to fight another day. The game ended in an unhistorical British victory!

• Manteuffel