Paardeberg (Second Boer War).
Fought February 18, 1900, between 5,000 Boers, under Cronje, and the British, numbering 4 Infantry Brigades, with 4 batteries, under Lord Kitchener. Cronje had taken refuge in the bed of the Tugela river, and an attempt was made to dislodge him. The absence of cover for the attacking force, however, rendered this impossible, but he was surrounded, and on the arrival of Lord Roberts, subjected to a sustained artillery fire, which lasted until he surrendered on the 27th. The British losses during the operations amounted to 98 officers and 1,437 men, of whom 1,100 fell in the battle of the 18th. The prisoners taken numbered 3,000 Transvaalers and 1,100 Free Staters, with 6 guns.