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By early July 1900, the Boer invasions of
British territory had been thrown back in disarray, the capitals of both republics had been captured, and Lord Roberts had all but won the conventional war. In the north east of the OFS, Imperial troops drove the remnants of the Orange Free State commandos
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In view of the advance of
General Hunter southwards towards Bethlehem mentioned below, General C R de Wet had decided to abandon that town and to fall back on the mountain strongholds surrounding the Brandwater Basin, whither the bulk of the burgher forces of the Orange Free State had already
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364:..Brandwater Basin, an area situated between the town of Fouriesburg and the well-known landmark of Golden Gate. The Brandwater Basin gets its name from the Brandwater River, a tributary of the Caledon River that runs along the foothills of the Maluti Mountains.
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The
British surrounded Prinsloo by also blocking the passes of Witnek, Kommandonek, Noupoortsnek (Nauwpoortsnek) and finally the Golden Gate pass to the east on the Little Caledon River, so that Prinsloo felt forced to surrender with his army to general
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The main entry and exit points of the
Brandwater Basin south of Bethlehem are a number of mountain passes, in clockwise order from the north: Retief's Nek, Naauwpoort's Nek (Noupoortsnek),
282:. Prinsloo's surrender in 1900 was viewed by some of his compatriots as a treasonous act. Christiaan de Wet called it a “a horrible murder of government, country and people” (Afrikaans:
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232:, while the remainder of the Boer army instead failed to defend the pass Slabbert's Nek on 15 July 1900 and gave up Retief's Nek after a fight on 23–24 July 1900.
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The
Brandwater Basin in Orange Free State, South Africa, 1900. The position of the blocking British troops before the surrender of Prinsloo is shown.
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out of
Bethlehem, prompting them to retreat southwards towards the border with Basutoland, and into an area known as the 'Brandwater Basin'.
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Prinsloo's
Commando in the mountains retreating to the Brandwater Basin below after the lost fight at Retief's Nek on 23–24 July 1900.
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would each retreat from the
Brandwater Basin with their troops northwards and eastwards. De Wet indeed escaped escorting
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Map of the historical Orange Free State (orange), with the
Brandwater Basin bottom center to the north east of
638:"The Brandwater Basin and Golden Gate surrenders, 1900. Military History Journal Vol 11 No 3/4 - October 1999"
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The
Brandwater Basin was the scene of a massive surrender of Boer troops under the command of General
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179:, hot sandy hill near Surrender Hill, on the R711 road, Slaapkrans, Orange Free State. Photo 2015.
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had got away with 1500 men and several commanders in the east over the Golden Gate pass in time.
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to the south. It is also northwest of the Slaapkrans Basin (Afrikaans: Slaapkransbekken) and the
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Some 4300 of his troops including Prinsloo, Roux and Crowther were taken prisoner of war near
644:. The South African Military History Society / Die Suid-Afrikaanse Krygshistoriese Vereniging
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Surrender Hill monument in Brandwater Basin, beside the Clarens-Fouriesburg road. Photo 2011.
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348:"Clarens History. (Extract from an Article written by Tina de Beer for Open Africa)"
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on 27 February 1900. While most of the prisoners from Prinsloo's army were sent to
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on 30 July 1900. After British troops had taken both the Boer state capitals of
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555:"Presidente (1845–1902) Biografiese profiele Marthinus Prinsloo (1838-1903)"
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212:(5 June 1900), Prinsloo and his men guarded the mountain passes of the
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rifles near Surrender Hill, starting 30 July 1900. Drawing around 1902.
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325:, London, 1979. Abacus, 1992. ISBN 0 349 10466 2. Pages 438, 441–445.
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on the northern border of Lesotho. Towns in the Brandwater Basin are
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561:(in Afrikaans). Afrikanergeskiedenis. 3 May 2022. Archived from
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613:"On this day in 1900… Boer surrender at the Brandwater Basin"
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Prinsloo's Boer forces surrender en masse handing over their
391:"Dictionary of Southern African Place Names (Public Domain)"
377:"Dictionary of Southern African Place Names (Public Domain)"
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east of Clarens, Kommando Nek (Commando Nek) north east of
575:. The text overlaps with the Afrikaans wikipedia article
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1900 Boer surrender by Prinsloo in the Brandwater Basin
131:. Minor passes are Witnek, Nelspoort, and Bamboeshoek.
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393:. Human Science Research Council. pp. 116–117.
295:M. P. Bossenbroek, Yvette Rosenberg (Translator),
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379:. Human Science Research Council. p. 166.
71:of the Grootspruit River in the south-east of
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16:Drainage basin of the Brandwater River
433:"Noupoortsnek (R712). The Free State"
460:"Kommandonek (R26). The Free State"
406:"Retiefs Nek (R26). The Free State"
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127:, and Slabbert's Nek south east of
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216:at the Brandwater Basin. Generals
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493:. MOUNTAIN PASSES OF SOUTH AFRICA
466:. MOUNTAIN PASSES OF SOUTH AFRICA
439:. MOUNTAIN PASSES OF SOUTH AFRICA
412:. MOUNTAIN PASSES OF SOUTH AFRICA
79:. The basin is situated south of
346:de Beer, Tina (April 16, 2018).
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47:Marthinus Prinsloo (1838 - 1903)
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487:"Witnek (S162). The Free State"
464:mountainpassessouthafrica.co.za
437:mountainpassessouthafrica.co.za
410:mountainpassessouthafrica.co.za
636:Kinsey, H. W. (October 1999).
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523:Bossenbroek 2018, p. 284-285.
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689:Landforms of South Africa
674:Geography of South Africa
532:Bossenbroek 2018, p. 285.
75:, South Africa, north of
485:Roberts, Trygve (2020).
458:Roberts, Trygve (2020).
431:Roberts, Trygve (2020).
404:Roberts, Trygve (2020).
679:Geology of South Africa
111:, established in 1912.
107:, founded in 1892, and
67:: Brandwaterrivier), a
597:Pakenham 1992, p. 445.
541:Pakenham 1992, p. 444.
303:, New York, NY, 2018.
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642:samilitaryhistory.org
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684:1900 in South Africa
208:(13 March 1900) and
565:on 10 November 2022
301:Seven Stories Press
253:Jan Hendrik Olivier
262:, most of them at
198:Marthinus Prinsloo
83:and south-east of
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226:Jonathan Crowther
218:Christiaan de Wet
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619:. Chris Ash
511:Kinsey 1999
268:Piet Cronjé
260:Fouriesburg
251:or general
249:Piet Fourie
214:Drakensberg
121:Golden Gate
105:Fouriesburg
93:Drakensberg
668:Categories
330:References
290:Literature
272:Paardeberg
25:Basutoland
222:Paul Roux
125:Ficksburg
95:over the
89:Witteberg
81:Bethlehem
69:tributary
65:Afrikaans
655:retired.
648:23 March
623:23 March
569:23 March
497:23 March
470:23 March
443:23 March
416:23 March
358:23 March
210:Pretoria
31:, grey).
242:30 July
200:in the
177:Sandkol
129:Senekal
109:Clarens
85:Senekal
77:Lesotho
59:of the
55:is the
29:Lesotho
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276:Ceylon
650:2023
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305:ISBN
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