The War of Independence (1880-81)
The British garrison in Wakkerstroom (C Company of the 94th Regiment) were relieved by a larger component of 120 men of the 58th Regiment under Captain H.M. Saunders on 17th December 1880 together with about 45 volunteers from among the townspeople. Most of the troops were housed in a typical mud-walled “fort” built around 1.5 km north of the town. The rest were stationed in the courthouse and the Dutch Reformed Church, which had been modified to make loopholes for firing out of and had been surrounded by a deep ditch. One story has it that a service was actually taking place in the church when the first alterations commenced! An old naval howitzer was placed in front of the church on the body of a water cart. This was left here after the war when it was transferred to the Pretoria Zoo by the victors.
While the Boers under Commandant van Staden threw a cordon around the town Wakkerstroom was never under any sort of serious siege. There were however many exchanges of fire and the occasional sorties by the British to ‘recover’ cattle and horses that had been ‘captured, by the Boers’. During one such sortie, on 22nd February, 1881, Private James Osborne rode out under heavy fire to pick up a comrade, Private Mayes, who had been wounded. Osborne was awarded the Victoria Cross for his valour.
After the Battle of Bronkhorstspruit the British forces gathered under General Sir George Colley at Mount Prospect Farm prior to marching to Pretoria to relieve the besieged forces there. The Boers were determined to prevent this and their forces gathered at Coldstream just above the farm owned by one Henry Laing.
The war was soon over. After heavy losses at the battles of Bronkhorstspruit (near Pretoria), Laingsnek and Schuinshoogte (Ingogo Heights) the British were defeated by the Boers at the Battle of Majuba on 27th February 1881. Sir George Colley was killed at Majuba and was buried at Mount Prospect. This proved to be the end of this very unpopular war on all sides and an armistice agreement was reached on 6th March, 1881 and a full peace treaty was signed at O’Neill’s cottage on the southern slopes of Majuba Mountain.