Did You Know?
The Battle of Bergendal, also known as the Battle of Dalmanutha, took place from 21 to 27 August 1900 near Belfast in present-day Mpumalanga. It was the last set-piece battle of the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902), fought between the Boer forces of General Louis Botha and the British forces under Lord Roberts. The Boers held a defensive line along the railway east of Belfast, with their strongest position on a kopje (hill) called Bergendal, which was occupied by the Johannesburg Police, a crack Boer unit of about 740 men. The British attack on 27 August involved a heavy artillery bombardment followed by an infantry assault by the 1st Battalion of the Rifle Brigade and other units. The Boer defenders were overwhelmed after fierce hand-to-hand fighting, suffering heavy casualties, while the British lost around 30 killed and wounded. The capture of Bergendal broke the Boer defensive line, forcing Botha to retreat eastwards and opening the way for the British advance toward the Portuguese border at Komatipoort. Following this battle, the conventional phase of the war effectively ended, and the conflict entered its protracted guerrilla phase. The site is located on a farm near the town of Belfast (now eMakhazeni), and remnants of trenches and stone breastworks from the battle can still be seen on the kopje. The battlefield is recognised as a heritage site, though it is not a major developed tourist attraction, and visitors often require local guidance to access the exact positions.
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