RHENOSTERKOP, 29 NOVEMBER 1900 The last pitched battle of the Anglo-Boer War

摘要

Commandant Ben Viljoen of the Johannesburg Commando was promoted to the rank of general soon after the battle of Diamond Hill, which had taken place in the hills east of Pretoria on 11 and 12 June 1900. He took command of the Krugersdorp, Germiston, Boksburg and Johannesburg commandos as well as the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek Politie (ZARP) mounted police (Viljoen, 1902, p105). Viljoen was one of the youngest Boer generals, being only 30 at the time of his promotion. After the Boers were driven into the lowveld, Viljoen trekked with elements of this force and some others to Pietersburg (now Polokwane). His route took him through what is now the Kruger National Park, dry, arid and unhealthy terrain, where many of his men suffered and died from typhoid, dysentery and malaria (Viljoen, 1902, pp132-145).