The Other Side of the Coin

[Burgher]

A few photos of the men who took on Victoria's soldiers:








A study into the variety of weapons in use by the Boers:



The most common Boer rifles during the 1880-1881 war was the 450 Westley Richards Monkeytail and Falling Block (referred to the Majuba Martini), 577 Enfield and Cape guns. Martinis were not that common among the Boers, but a number were captured at Bronkhorstspruit etc.

My re-enactment impression is loosely modelled on this photograph:






The photo below is reputed to be much older (said to be members of the Fauresmith Commando during/after the Basutho Wars, 1865-1868), but it is an excellent and very rare study of Boer clothing and weapons of the era:

[Mark]

Fantastic photos! Thank you for sharing - it is great to see things from the 'other side of the coin'! Does your re-enactment group have a web site?

Mark

[Burgher]

We are a firearm collector's association:

http://www.sawavv-vrijstaat.co.za/

We commemmorate several battles from the Transvaal War to WW2 by having shooting competitions or re-enactments during which our members dress up according to the theme or to match their collectible rifle.

[Burgher]

A few interesting facts about the group photo of the Boer leaders below:



1. The individual photos were taken by H.F. Gros, who had a photographic studio in Pretoria up until July 1882.

2. The same rifles, bandoliers and clothing can be seen on a few individuals, which indicates that they were studio props and not necessarily the property of the individuals on the photos. This fact has been overlooked by many researchers, who used this set of photos when researching Boer firearms.

3. The men were:

Back Row:
1. Veldkornet L.P. Bezuidenhout, Potchefstroom (of the Bezuidenhout wagon incident, which was the spark in the powder keg)
2. Kmdt. S.P. Grove, Middelburg
3. Asst. Kmdt. Generaal H. Schoeman, Pretoria
4. Kmdt. Henning Pretorius, Elandsfontein, Pretoria
5. Kmdt. Lewis Fourie, Lange’s Nek

Second Row
6. Kmdt. H.R. Lemmer, Potchefstroom
7. Kmdt. J.D. Weilbach, Potchefstroom en Lange’s Nek
8. Weesheer J.S. Joubert, Sen., Gijzelaar te Newcastle (In custody in Newcastle)
9. Kmdt. J. du Plessis de Beer, Wonderboom, Pretoria
10 Kmdt. D.J. Muller. Leydenburg

Third Row
11. Kmdt. Hans Erasmus, Raad Huis, Pretoria
12. Generaal J.P. Steyn, Leydenburg
13. Kmdt. Hans Botha, Zwartkop Pretoria
14 Kmdt. G. Engelbreght, Standerton

Front Row
15. Veghtgeneraal J.M. Kock, Potchefstroom
16. Veghtgeneraal Frans Joubert, Bronkhorstspruit
17. Kmdt. Generaal J.P. Joubert
18. Generaal N. Smit
19. Generaal P.A. Cronje, Potchefstroom

[rivoniaboy]

Thank you Burgher - for posting these important historical pictures.

[free1954]

great photos sir, thank you for the information. those men look they mean buisness.