The Natal Campaign

Bennet Burleigh

• Publisher: Bonhopai Books
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9781779790989
• Edition: 0
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: British History
• Index: History

 Bennet Burleigh's The Natal Campaign delivers a riveting, eyewitness account of the early stages of the Second Boer War, focusing on the key military engagements that unfolded in the British colony of Natal. As a war correspondent embedded with British forces, Burleigh offers vivid battlefield reporting from Colenso, Spion Kop, and Ladysmith — battles that defined the brutal and often bungled imperial strategy. His writing captures not only the ferocity of combat but also the political tensions, logistical failures, and morale issues that plagued the British Army. Through detailed observation and sharp critique, Burleigh exposes the hubris and miscalculations of military leadership while honoring the grit of the soldiers on the ground. The Natal Campaign stands as both a gripping war chronicle and a sobering reflection on colonial warfare at the turn of the century. 

Table of contents

• Title page
• TABLE OF CONTENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
• MAPS
• CHAPTER I—THROUGH THE REPUBLICS—GENERAL JOUBERT’S VIEWS
• CHAPTER II—REMINISCENCES OF DUNDEE
• CHAPTER III—THE TRUTH ABOUT ELAND’S LAAGTE
• CHAPTER IV—FARQUHAR’S FARM AND NICHOLSON’S NEK
• CHAPTER V—BELEAGUERED LADYSMITH
• CHAPTER VI—THREATENING ESTCOURT
• CHAPTER VII—SOME UNPLEASANT TRUTHS
• CHAPTER VIII—INVESTED ESTCOURT
• CHAPTER IX—JOUBERT’S RETREAT FROM ESTCOURT
• CHAPTER X—THE CAMP AT FRERE
• CHAPTER XI—GENERAL BULLER’S ARRIVAL
• CHAPTER XII—GENERAL BULLER’S ADVANCE
• CHAPTER XIII—HUMOUR BY HELIO
• CHAPTER XIV—BATTLE OF TUGELA RIVER—HOW GENERAL BULLER’S PLANS MISCARRIED
• CHAPTER XV—INCIDENTS OF THE BATTLE OF COLENSO
• CHAPTER XVI—FURTHER STORIES OF THE FIGHT
• CHAPTER XVII—TRACTION-ENGINES AT WORK
• CHAPTER XVIII—BULLER’S FORCE PREPARING FOR NEW MOVE
• CHAPTER XIX—A PERIOD OF INACTION
• CHAPTER XX—FIERCE BATTLE AT LADYSMITH
• CHAPTER XXI—BULLER’S MARCH TO SPRINGFIELD
• CHAPTER XXII—HOW THE TUGELA WAS CROSSED
• CHAPTER XXIII—A WEEK OF BATTLES
• CHAPTER XXIV—SPION KOP—BLUNDERS AND DELAYS
• CHAPTER XXV—RETIREMENT FROM SPION KOP
• CHAPTER XXVI—ANOTHER ATTEMPT
• CHAPTER XXVII—THE FAILURE OF VAAL KRANTZ
• EPILOGUE
• APPENDIX—THE BOER ASSAULT ON LADYSMITH—BY P. C. MCHUGH