Battle Of Dundee Research Paper

The battle of Talana Hill also known as Battle of Dundee would start on October 20th 1899. The battle would occur in the beginning of what the British would call the Second Boer War. The battle would be fought between the British and the Boers at the town of Dundee, which is located in Northern Natal in South Africa. The Boers made the decision to invade Natal to destroy the British forces before they could be reinforced. The Boers would have the upper hand in surprise and tactical advantage over the British at Dundee, even with this advantage the British would turn the surprise attack and eventually win the battle, but at a high cost of men lost to death, capture, and or missing in action. General Sir W Penn Symons was in command of 4,000 British soldiers stationed at Dundee, which consisted of 600 mounted men, 18th Hussars and Mounted Infantry, with eighteen field guns and a machine gun. General Symons position in Dundee was at the base Talana Hill and Dundee Hill, which put him at a tactical disadvantage if attacked. This tactical disadvantage was not lost to the Boers General Lucas Myer and would place is forces on Talana Hill and Dundee Hill to prepare the attack on the forces in Dundee. General Myer had 3,000 Boers, equipped with three field guns and 2 Maxim …show more content…
The continuation of the attack would prove successful in the forward movement and closing in on the top of the hill. The British artillery would now have a difficult time identifying British soldiers from Boer soldiers and continued to fire into and on top of the hill. The artillery would kill British soldiers along with Boer’s, which hindered the assault. Even with the superior tactical advantage of the high ground and use of surprise in their attack, the British would force the Boers from the high ground and