Graspan (D 12)

Name:Graspan



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Historic fact:


GRASPAN (2). on 25 November 1899, was similar to Belmont, albeit on a smaller scale. Graspan, also known as Enslin or Rooilaagte, 16 kilometres further along the road to Kimberley, lay on a line of kopjes straddling the railway. The key to the battle, a short, steep kopje, was on the Boers' left flank. Methuen attacked it with. among others, the Naval Brigade, who captured it at great cost. Official casualty figures put British losses at 16 killed with the Boers losing 23. Belmont and Graspan can be seen from the Kimberley - Cape Town road (N12). A Naval Brigade memorial rests on a small kopje west of the road. Memorials to fallen Boers are on both battlefields, the Belmont memorial a little beyond Belmont station, which extsted at the time.

Other interesting info:
The Boers were beaten off only to clash again with the British forces at Graspan on 25 November 1899. By now, Boer General Prinsloo¹s Free State commandos had been reinforced by the Transvaal commandos of General de la Rey. However, the Boers again fell back to the banks of the Modder River where they fought the Battle of Modder River on 28 November 1899. Again the Boers had to abandon their positions. They withdrew but then dug in at the foot of the Magersfontein hills which became the scene of one of the most epic Boer victories of the entire war. British artillery opened fire on the Magersfontein hills on the afternoon of 10 December 1899. This signalled to the Boer forces that an all-out attack was imminent. However, as at Modder River, the Boers had made use of trenches which, as they advanced, took the British by surprise. It laid the foundation for an emphatic victory for the Boers.

http://www.francesbaard.gov.za/tourism/attcontent.php?id=battlefields
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