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Annotated War Map of the Battle of Ladysmith, etc. -- Showing Positions of Piet Joubert, Louis Botha and Lukas Meyer

Rare separately published military map of the Natal region, focusing on the military engagements in the region.

The map is extra illustrated with handwritten notes, quite possibly drawn in the field.

Extensive annotations show the positions of troops, primarily around Ladysmith and Dundee. The majority of the extra annotations are in green and show positions around Ladysmith.

A number of names are added in manuscript, quite possibly the names of Boer commanding officers, including Piet Joubert, Lukas Meyer and Louis Botha.

Battle of Ladysmith

The Battle of Ladysmith was one of the early engagements of the Second Boer War. A large British force which had concentrated at the garrison town of Ladysmith launched a sortie on October 30, 1899, against Boer armies which were slowly surrounding the town. The result was a disaster for the British. The main body was driven back into the town, and an isolated detachment of 800 men was forced to surrender to Commandant De Wet. The Boers did not follow up their advantage by proceeding towards the strategically important port of Durban, and instead began a Siege of Ladysmith, which was relieved after 118 days.

Louis Botha

Louis Botha was was a South African politician who was the first Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa-the forerunner of the modern South African state. A Boer war hero during the Second Boer War, he would eventually fight to have South Africa become a British Dominion. He initially fought under the command of Lukas Meyer in Northern Natal, and later as a general commanding and fighting impressively at Colenso and Spion Kop. On the death of Piet Joubert, he was made commander-in-chief of the Transvaal Boers, where he demonstrated his abilities again at Belfast-Dalmanutha.

PIet Joubert

Piet Joubert was Commandant-General of the South African Republic. Out the outset of the second Boer War, he assumed command of the operations, but was an ineffective leader who primarily delegated to others. On the 28th of November 1899, during a raid south of the Tugela river in Natal, Joubert was thrown from his horse and suffered internal injuries. As the war went on, physical weakness led to Joubert's virtual retirement, and, though two days earlier he was still reported as being in supreme command, he died at Pretoria from peritonitis on 28 March 1900. Sir George White, the defender of Ladysmith, summed up Jouberts character when he called him "a soldier and a gentleman, and a brave and honourable opponent".