June 5, 1900 · Transvaal Theater
June 5, 1900
Lord Roberts's sweeping advance from the Orange Free State capital Bloemfontein — captured in March 1900 — continued northward with 40,000 men. The Transvaal capital Pretoria fell on June 5, 1900, without a major battle. President Paul Kruger had already fled eastward with the government and state treasury. Roberts formally annexed the Transvaal and hoisted the Union Jack in the main square. He declared the war effectively over and returned to Britain in triumph, leaving Kitchener to mop up what he imagined were isolated bands of resistance. It was one of the most consequential miscalculations in British military history: the conventional war was over, but the guerrilla war — the most brutal phase — was just beginning.
Commanders