Steynsburg (E 13)

Name: Steynsburg

Founded in 1872, this little town of some 400 plus households, situated deep in the sheep farming territory of the Eastern Cape's Karoo and nestled in

during the anglo boer war a lot of british soldiers were stationed at steynsburg, the rebels tried to sabotage the railway lines and attacked the british soldiers. during the skermishes the soldiers died and were buried in the town cemetary, as well as two rebels. remains of block houses and names of british soldiers can be seen written in rocks around town.
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Historic fact:
On 19th December, 1900, Kritzinger's men clashed with troops under Grenfell(6) near Venterstad. Kritzinger's main purpose was to foster unrest in the land whence the Voortrekkers originally came so he led his men southwards in the direction of Steynsburg. He had not proceeded very far before he realised that this route was so well patrolled that he was forced to swing towards Stormberg in the east. Before he reached the railway line between Stormberg and Steynsburg he again found the area so well occupied that he had to turn round and head in a northwesterly direction.

By using this side-stepping manoeuvre he managed to cross the main railway line to Port Elizabeth at a point south of Arundel between Naauwpoort and Colesberg before 30th December, 1900. Soon afterwards he was at New Bethesda where the British unsuccessfully tried to corner him. Kritzinger and Scheepers then trekked in the direction of Richmond and Murraysburg before moving south towards Aberdeen and Willowmore in two detachments.

They pushed on to Oudtshoorn and Uniondale and went close to the Indian Ocean near Mossel Bay where, as Kritzinger said "It was time for us to retrace our steps, for we could certainly go no further on horseback."

Thereafter they moved through columns of British troops to Aberdeen and Pearston where they attacked the occupying forces. Having obtained horses and ammunition the commando moved on to Somerset East and into the Bedford district.

Moving northwards Kritzinger was cornered while en route to Tarkastad and Cradock but managed to escape to Molteno. At Maraisburg he divided his commando. Smaller units under Captain Lötter(7) and Scheepers returned to Steynsburg. Kritzinger had hoped to distract the attention of the enemy by this move but was doggedly pursued and eventually had to follow Lötter and leave the Cape on 29th April, 1901. Two commandos under Scheepers and Fouch‚(8) remained in the Cape.

After moving around and being involved in various encounters in the Rouxville and Philippolis areas for some time Kritzinger again crossed into the Cape on 16th May, 1901 bringing with him a reinforcement of 500 men. 'The Times History of the War says: "The winter campaign in Cape Colony may be said to have begun in the middle of May with the return of Kritzinger bearing the rank of assistant commander-in-chief. . . "

Between Steynsburg and Theebus on the railway line Kritzinger re-united with Fouch‚ and split his commando in three. Lötter went to Tarkastad, Commandant Smith(9) to Maraisburg, and Kritzinger trekked to Molteno. Reunited once more with Lötter, Kritzinger and his men crossed the line to Jamestown which they captured after a fierce battle on 2nd June, 1901.

The British blockhouse system which came into large scale application in the Cape from July, 1901(10) had no visible effect on the commandos. Kritzinger later said the blockhouses were ideal to catch women and children and especially cattle and sheep but as a means of catching burghers they were a failure. Also, Kritzinger's return to the Cape had caused Lord Kitchener to become furious particularly after all the preparations and efforts which had been made to capture the Boers.


http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol017ng.html
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18 April - Hofmeyr – Steynsburg 46km

After a lovely breakfast we were sent on our way by Derick with a copy of the local paper and a packet of fudge, which helped us up the hills between Hofmeyr and Steynsburg. The weather forecast predicted thunderstorms for the area and with dark clouds above we pulled into Steynsburg and thought it wise to head for Redefin Campsite, which turned out a total surprise. A lovely place with green lawns, braai places, a covered area and neat clean toilets and showers, all for just R50.00 for both Ernest and myself. Nothing came of the thunderstorms so it was a good time to repair tubes and do other odd jobs. So with the weather looking promising we set off to the local Multisave for meat and wood for supper. We were still admiring the awesome cloud formations when a sudden storm hit us, water bucketing down, and we ran for cover and closed up tents but too late!! It all lasted no more than an hour and a half, and as suddenly as it happened it stopped and stars came out.







19 April - Steynsburg – Burgersdorp 79km

We woke to a brilliantly clear morning and could hardly believe that there was such a storm the night before. So we headed off to Burgersdorp. Burgersdorp is a slightly bigger town than the previous ones. Once again people are curious and very friendly, from the lady in the bottle store, (she even gave Ernest discount on the beer) to the local cyclists who came to visit us at our camp site that night. The campsite is at “Die Dam”, a most beautiful and tranquil place with large trees and green lawns. It must have been quite a place in its hay day, but now most of the facilities are dilapidated (no hot water) but Andries Pienaar, the caretaker assured us that a geyser has been delivered and just needs to be installed. This time we were more “paraat” and pitched out tents under cover and closed everything up before the storm came. The city slickers are learning!!!




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