The last conventional battle of the South African War ends

Date: 27 Aug 1900
Updated: 30 Sep 2019

The last conventional battle of the South African War (1899-1902), the battle of Dalmanutha (Bergendal) ended. The battle ended six days after it broke out on 21 August when the Boers retreated. The climax of this battle came on the last day, when 70 men of the Johannesburg Zuid-Afrikaansche Rijdende Politie (ZARP), a special mounted police corps of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR) or the Transvaal Republic, faced a full attack by General Sir Redvers Buller's Natal Field Army (also known as the Natal Field Force). By 24 September the entire Transvaal south of the Delagoa Bay railway was under British control.

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How we know this

01Pretorius F. ‘The Second Anglo-Boer War: An Overview’, in the South African Journal of Military Studies, Vol. 30, (2000)
02Jooster C. ‘The Battle of Bergendal’, in the South African Military History Journal, Vol. 12 No 4, (December 2002)
03Melrose House, ‘FROM BLOEMFONTEIN TO PRETORIA’, [online], available at www.melrosehouse.co.za(Accessed: 13 July 2012)
04Heritage History, ‘Boer Wars’, [online], available at www.heritage-history.com (Accessed: 13 July 2012)

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2012, August 23). The last conventional battle of the South African War ends. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0091793

South African History Online (2012) 'The last conventional battle of the South African War ends', South African History Online, 23 August. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0091793 (Accessed: 19 September 2026).

South African History Online, The last conventional battle of the South African War ends [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0091793, (accessed 19 September 2026).

"The last conventional battle of the South African War ends." South African History Online, 23 Aug. 2012, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0091793. Accessed 19 Sept. 2026.

South African History Online. "The last conventional battle of the South African War ends." South African History Online. August 23, 2012. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0091793.