Historical Tour tracing Boer war Commando Activity in The Karoo

By September 1900 Bloemfontein and Pretoria were occupied by the British Army and the Boer Republics of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal had been annexed into the British Empire. Convinced that the war was won, Lord Roberts returned to England having handed command to Lord Kitchener to “mop up”.

But the war was not won. The war was entering a new phase when the commandos of the Boers waged effective and extensive guerrilla warfare. Railways, convoys and towns were attacked and plundered.

The British torched the Boer farms herding the families into concentration camps. Lines of blockhouses were erected to protect the railways and to aid the capture of Boers. Deprived and restricted the Boers sent commandos to create mayhem and foster rebellion in the Cape Colony.

Kritzinger, Fouchee, Malan, Scheepers, Smuts – all led commandos at various times in the Midlands of the Cape Colony.  Gideon Scheepers and his commando crisscrossed the Karoo looting, burning and killing. Jan Smuts trekking towards the Western Cape Colony was relentlessly pursued by colonial and foreign troops.

The story of these commandos is vividly written on the landscape on the Great Karoo : from the towering Camdeboo Mountains to the endless flat plains of the Kariega and the towns of Graaff-Reinet, Aberdeen, Willowmore and Uniondale.

Join us and follow these commandos as we trace and chase their ghosts and boldly tell the tale of their exploits in the vast and beautiful Karoo.

Itinerary for a historical tour tracing Boer War Commandos.

Guests arrive in George, and stay at local B&B. We shall have an informal gathering to introduce our group and have a general tour briefing.

Day One

After breakfast we leave George and drive over the magnificent Outeniqua Mountains via the  Outeniqua Pass, which is the most recently constructed crossing of these mountains. We first travel through the Waboomskraal valley, and soon get to the turnoff, from theN12, which will take us on the very beautiful route through the Doornrivier valley and the farm Klipdrift. This is where Conradie’s group overnighted, after they had been separated from Smuts’ commando north of Willowmore. It was at this point that Conradie’s group decided to abandon their attempt to link up with Smuts, and headed north, to again cross the Swartberg Mountains.

Nearby is the farm, Mount Hope, where the Taute Scouts were surprised by the main body of Smuts’ commando. Six of the scouts escaped, but three were trapped in the homestead. One of them was wounded and bled to death. The other two were captured, but then later freed on Smuts’ instruction. We drive along very scenic, sparsely inhabited, farm roads to the town of Oudtshoorn.

After lunch in Oudtshoorn, we continue on to Dysselsdorp, which started as a mission village. Dysselsdorp was on two occasions visited by Scheepers and his commando. Members of Jan Smuts’ commando also called here. We then move on to the small town of De Rust, which lies at the southern entrance to the magnificent Meiringspoort gorge. Deneys Reitz, the author of “Commando”, seeking food, called at the mill on the outskirts of De Rust. He and the rest of the Conradie group had achieved a seemingly impossible crossing, mostly at night, of the Swartberg Mountains. The mill still exists and the tale of Reitz’ adventures will be told there.

We drive through Meiringspoort which, at the time, had a British garrison guarding each end. The southern garrison was surprised by part of Jan Smuts’ commando, and surrendered their arms and equipment. The northern garrison prevented the Conradie group using the poort to traverse the Swartberg Mountains and forced them to climb over the range. This was a Herculean feat.

We stop in the village of Klaarstroom, at the Anglican church, to hear about what happened when Gideon Scheepers’ commando visited it. At the church there are the graves of two British soldiers who were killed in a nearby skirmish with Scheepers’ commando. We return to de Rust, once again through the amazing gorge that is Meiringspoort.
We overnight in a guest house in De Rust.

Day Two

We leave De Rust and travel east towards Uniondale. En route we pick up on the path of Jan Theron’s commando who, in a skirmish at Vlakteplaas, killed four members of the Oudtshoorn Volunteer Force. We also view the Swartberg Mountains at Snyberg, where Smuts’ commando crossed the mountains.

We then travel northwards, picking up generally on the commandos of Scheepers and Smuts.

We have lunch at the small town of Willowmore and drive on to Graaff Reinet 
Graaff-Reinet was garrisoned by the Coldstream Guards, and was a major base in the British guerilla war against the commandos. Two prominent Boer Commando leaders were tried in the local court. They were Gideon Scheepers and Jan Lotter. We shall visit the old railway station and prison, where the story of their capture is told. En route to the site of Scheepers’ execution by firing squad, we pass by the square where he was told of his death sentence. We also visit the Scheepers Memorial, the graveyard, and the local history museum.

We overnight in one of the charming guest houses in Graaff-Reinet.

Day Three

After breakfast we leave this lovely town and follow the route of Smut’ Commando, first westwards, and then southwards. We track the pursuit of his commando by the 9th Lancers and the Cape Mounted Riflemen under Col Schobell. Driving along this route we see the Sleeping Giant mountain, and this permits a good appreciation of how Smuts found his way over the Camdeboo Mountain (he climbed up the southern side), and also gives an excellent view over the Kariega plains, into which the commando then proceeded. We visit these Kariega Flats, where a British attack separated the Conradie group from the rest of Smuts’ commando.

We shall have lunch in the interesting small town of Aberdeen. Here we hear of the attacks on the town by various members of Scheepers’ and Malan’s commandos. We also visit the graveyard which has a number of Boer War graves, including the grave of John Baxter, who was the first Boer executed for wearing khaki. We hear the tale of his unfortunate death.

We trace Smuts’ route and fortunes southwards from Aberdeen. At Willowmore, we hear the story of the attack on the village by Scheepers’ commando, and the townfolks’ heroic defence.
We shall overnight at a G/H in Willowmore.

Day Four

After breakfast we drive towards Uniondale, where we hear the story of Gideon Scheepers’s attack on the town, and view the graves of the British soldiers at the Anglican church. Thereafter we visit the site of a later skirmish between Scheepers’ commando and the 10th Hussars in the poort (gorge) east of the town. We continue along the Langkloof valley, touching on Smuts’ route. As we approach the village of Herold, we take a short detour through Paardepoort, which was the commando’s escape route to Heimersrivier. Just north of the village of Herold, we hear about the skirmishes - one of which occurred here - between Malan’s commando, under Asst Cmdt Piet van der Merwe and the 10th Hussars. We shall have a short detour through Paardepoort/Campherspoort which was the commando’s escape route to Heimersrivier.

[This route was used extensively by oxwagons in the first decade (1870 – 1880) after the discovery of diamonds in the area where Kimberley developed. The shortest route from the coast, to the diamond fields, was from Mossel Bay, over the Outeniqua Mountains, and through the Karoo.]
At Heimersrivier we pick up on the commando of General Jan Smuts, who trekked westwards through the area.

We then return to George, crossing the Outeniqua Mountains via the Montagu Pass, which is an historical monument. It is one of the few routes through the coastal mountain range, and has been in use since the middle of the 19th century. During the Boer War this pass was guarded by the George District Mounted Troops.

We should be back in George by early afternoon.

Provisional cost of 4-day/3-night tour

For 8 pax: R3600.00p.p.shariing
For 6-7 pax:R4200.00p.p.sharing
For 4-5 pax:R5450.00p.p.sharing

The above cost includes:
3 nights B&B accommodation
all transport (in air-conditioned vehicles)
Guides fee
Driver/guides fee

Not included in the above cost:
Dinners, lunches, teas
Single supplement (for those wanting single accommodation)
Entry fees for any extra excursions
Commission for agents which must be added on to our figures.