Adrian Buck’s Reviews > The Boer War > Status Update

On the contrary, it was the plight of those who had been left in the veld and refused ... admittance to these camps

Behind every white man with a rifle was a black man with a spade

'concentration camps', taking it from the the notorious reconcentrado camps set up by the Spanish to deal with Cuban guerillas

"We cannot consent to purchase a shameful peace by leaving the coloured population in the position in which they stood before the war." - contrasting views of the Empire, an ethnic one and a civic one.

"the steady enduring discipline of the men under fire, their absolute indifference to losses, contributed to carry on the glorious traditions of the British infantry" - and French, and German...

Better still would have been to quote that lapidary phrase of Milner's: 'You only have to sacrifice "the nigger" absolutely, and the game is easy.

..he denounced the British for the most emotive of all atrocities: the employment of black Africans to fight the Boers.

He compared [the Boer War] with the American war of Independence. It was no good capturing capitals, unless they could subdue the territory between. - to what extent did the strategic situation reflect the political situation?

"Burghers...we're now going in to attack the enemy and we shan't all be coming back. Do your duty and trust in the Lord." - what role did civic and religious duty play in thr organization of the Boer army?

The dedication of the Boer vrouw was epitomized by Kruger's own family. In 1900 he had one hundred and fifty-six surviving children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.