Action at Bronkhorstpruit

From Freepedia

The Battle of Bronkhorstspruit was one of the first major battle of the First Boer War. It was more or less a violent skirmish between a British army column and a group of Afrikaaner Boers fought a few miles east of the town of Bronkhorstspruit on December 20, 1880. On December 20 1880, a column of British soldiers making up of six officers and 246 men of the 94th Regiment as well as 12 men of the Army Service Corps and four men of the Army Hospital Corps were marching on a road to Pretoria where at least 250 Boers ambushed the column. Making use of the limited cover, the Boers crept to within 200 yards of the British column and opened fire at 12:30 pm. Within 15 minutes, most of the officers were killed or wounded, and the horses and oxen pulling the covered wagons at the front and rear of the column were killed, preventing any movement. Shocked by the sudden and aggressive nature of the attack, Lt. Col. Anstruther gave the order to surrender. In a battle lasting just 15 minutes, 156 British soldiers were killed or wounded, with the rest taken prisoner. The Boers reported their casualties at only two killed, and five wounded.