Wars of Empire by Porch Douglas

Author:Porch Douglas [Douglas, Porch]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780297824428
Amazon: 0297824422
Publisher: Cassell & Co
Published: 2000-07-14T14:00:00+00:00

The Second South African (Boer) War is regarded as the quintessential cavalry war, and in many respects it was, at least in its final stages. But it is useful to remember that the firepower of Boer Mausers during the opening phase of the conflict forced the British cavalry to fight dismounted. As the war slipped into its guerrilla phase, British cavalry never matched that of the Boer raiders in mobility. Ultimately, the British cavalry became an element in an attrition strategy which saw it organized into extended lines to drive Boer guerrillas against fixed lines of barbed wire and blockhouses. And even then, what these cavalry drives succeeded in doing was to force the Boers to abandon their cumbersome wagons, livestock and dismounted soldiers, ultimately reducing them to starvation. Finally, mobility cut both ways. In South-West Africa, Hendrik Witbooi Forced Captain Curt von Francois to come to terms in 1893 after the Nama leader had captured virtually all the horses around Windhoek in a series of daring raids, thus making German pursuit impossible. Horses raised on the South African veld, more robust than the mounts imported by the British, gave the Boers a decided edge in mobility in the South African War. Likewise, the French in Algeria were never able to match in mobility raiders out of Morocco or camel-mounted Tuareg in the Sahara.

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