Editors' note. In the previous article we read of the causes of
the First War of Independence with brief mention of the
disasters suffered by the British at Bronkhorstspruit,
Laingsnek, Schuinshoogte and Majuba. Mention is also made of the
two major sieges at Pretoria and Potchefstroom and the lesser
investments at Lydenburg, Marabastad, Rustenburg, Standerton and
Wakkerstroom. The first of these disasters tooknplace at
Bronkhorstspruit on the road from Lydenburg to Pretoria on 20
December 1880. This action has often been described as 'the
Bronkhorstspruit ambush' or the 'massacre of Bronkhorstspruit'.
'The Times' stated that it was no act of war but the 'cold-
blooded murder of British troops ... a deed worthy of savages.'*
The following article written 100 years after the event without
the bias or prejudice so often present at the time of a disaster
should clear up the question once and for all time. [*Lehmann,
Joseph H. The First Boer War, (Jonathan Cape, London, 1972),
p.123.] The following pages should re