Boer War, Battle of Elands River, 1901
17th Lancers in action at Modderfontein, after a painting by Richard Caton Woodville Jr. The Battle of Elands River took place near the Elands River Poort mountain pass on September 17, 1901 during the Second Boer War. During the battle a Boer raiding force under Jan Smuts destroyed a British cavalry squadron led by Captain Sandeman, a cousin of Winston Churchill, on the Modderfontein farm. The Second Boer War (October 11, 1899 - May 31, 1902) was fought between the British Empire and two Boer states, the South African Republic (Republic of Transvaal) and the Orange Free State, over the Empire's influence in South Africa. The war started with the British overconfident and under-prepared. The Boers were very well armed and struck first, besieging Ladysmith, Kimberley, and Mahikeng in early 1900, and winning important battles. The onward marches of the British Army were so overwhelming that the Boers did not fight staged battles in defense of their homeland and relied on guerrilla warfare instead. The British quickly seized control of all of the Orange Free State and Transvaal, as the civilian leadership went into hiding or exile. The war ended in surrender and British terms with the Treaty of Vereeniging in May 1902. Both former republics were incorporated into the Union of South Africa in 1910, as part of the British Empire
