This battle, also known as the Battle of Ingogo, was fought north of Newcastle, Natal on 8 February 1881, after the Battle of Laing’s Nek.

British ox-wagon supply convoys and general communication patrols on the Newcastle-Mount Prospect road were being attacked continuously by mounted Boer patrols under Commandant Weilbach. Therefore, General Sir George Pomeroy Colley planned to clear the route – firstly, to protect the British supply line and secondly, to make it safe for badly needed reinforcements.

On the morning of 8 February Colley left Mount Prospect with a force consisting of 273 infantrymen, two 9-pounder and two 7-pounder guns, plus 38 mounted troops.

Around midday, while Colley’s men were advancing up the long slope of Schuinshoogte Hill past the Ingogo River, they were fired on by about 200 – 300 mounted Boers under the command of General Smit and Commandant Weilbach.

In the fighting which followed, the British troops suffered heavy casualties from the accurate and consistent fire of the well-camouflaged Boers.

In the afternoon, the engagement was stopped by an intense and prolonged rainstorm, during which time the Boers decided to wait in position and continue the battle the next day. Meanwhile, un-beknown to the Boers, Colley’s men withdrew during the night leaving their dead and wounded on the battlefield – but with their guns intact. During the withdrawal, nine men drowned crossing the flooded Ingogo River.

Had the Boers continued their attack during the rainstorm the British would have been overwhelmed.

The next morning, the Boers met some British troops on the battlefield who had returned to collect their wounded and dead comrades. The Boers left the British alone.

British casualties were 66 killed and 67 wounded plus nine men who drowned. The Boers lost eight killed and six wounded.

References:

  1. SA Military History Society Journal: The Battle of Schuinshoogte
  2. The Battle of Schuinshoogte: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.