during the second anglo-boer war of 1899–1902, three republican commando units, reinforced by the sympathizers ("rebels") from the cape colony, conducted widespread operations throughout the karoo. countless skirmishes took place in the region, with the calvinia magisterial district, in particular, contributing a significant number of fighters to the republican cause. fought both conventionally and as a guerrilla struggle over the karoo's vast expanses, it was a bloody war of attrition wherein both sides used newly developed technologies to their advantage. numerous abandoned blockhouses can still be seen at strategic locations, especially along the railway line, throughout the great karoo. a prime example still "guards" a bridge over the buffels river, to the east of the town of laingsburg, in the lower karoo, between matjiesfontein and beaufort west.