Tweefontein was a farm 10 km south-east of the town of Boshof in the Orange Free State, which is town in the western Free State, about 50 km from Kimberley.
Colonel Villebois-Mareuil (also known as The French Colonel) had just been made Veg-Generaal of the ‘foreigner’ Commando in Kroonstad and had decided to travel to Kimberley to try and ascertain what Lieutenant-General Methuen’s next move was going to be, now that Kimberley had been relieved and Bloemfontein had fallen – a few days before his appointment.
Scouts had told Villebois-Mareuil that Methuen was at Boshof with a large force. Villebois-Mareuil didn’t believe this and decided to laager. A force, far outnumbering the Commando attacked Villebois-Mareuil and after a battle which lasted a couple of hours, the Commando were forced to surrender.
Villebois-Mareuil was killed in the action. He was buried by the British with full military honours, with his captured men in attendance. (A full account of Villebois-Mareuil will appear in the BattleToursZA April Newsletter. If you are not on the mailing list for the newsletter, please send an email to – Allan – allan@battletoursza.com)
