Battle of Witpoort The Battle of Witpoort was a battle during the Second Anglo - Boer War . Major Frederick Henry Munn commanded the detachment of the Royal Irish Fusiliers at Witpoort which was attacked on July 16 , 1900 , his orders being to " hold his position at all costs " . The Boers called on Major Munn to surrender , but , scornfully refusing , he held out from daybreak till 2 pm , when the Canadian forces mounted a counterattack and the Boers retired . The battle became famous because of the death of Harold Lothrop Borden . Context . The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans - speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics , the South African Republic ( Transvaal Republic ) and the Orange Free State . It ended with a British victory and the annexation of both republics by the British Empire ; both would eventually be incorporated into the Union of South Africa , a dominion of the British Empire , in 1910 . In the Battle of Witpoort , British commander Edward Hutton had four companies of the Royal lrish Fusiliers , the 1st Mounted Infantry , which was made up of the 1st and 2nd Canadians ( who had arrived in camp on 15 July ) , as well as the Australians of the Queensland Mounted Infantry . Under the command of Major Munn were three companies of the Royal Irish Fusiliers ( or four , according to ' G ' Troop ) and 60 troopers of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles were placed on the three hills straddling the Witpoort Pass , The British officers were charged by South African Republic General Ben Viljoen and renowned Boer fighter Roland Schikkerling . Battle . South African Republic General Ben Viljoen had positioned his troops for attack during the night of 15 July and then launched a three - pronged assault on Major Munn and the Irish positions at daybreak . Viljoen ordered a ' general storming of the British ' s entrenchments ' . The battle opened at 06 . 45 with heavy shelling on Major Munn ' s troops . Renowned Boer fighter Roland Schikkerling and his comrades went to the north of the New Zealanders ' ridge and then charged under heavy rifle fire . The New Zealanders surrendered one of the three hills they occupied , the Boers were in possession of the higher hill which commanded the lower middle hill . Schikkerling captured a captain and twenty New Zealanders and some continued right over the ridge and captured a number of horses . ( Boer Willem Morkel du Toit died in the charge . ) The Canadians mounted a counter - attack . Colonel Edwin Alderson sent two squadrons of the Canadians to assist ' the Irish on the kopje which had been vacated by the New Zealanders ' and , with the fire from the guns , the position was regained . Lieutenants Borden and John Edgar Burch of ' B ' Squadron led a counter - attack . They were successful , but at the cost of their lives . Boer marksmen less than 200 yards distant shot them as they stood up to lead the rifles forward . Lord Roberts reported to the War Office that Borden and Burch “ were killed while gallantly leading their men in a counter attack upon the enemy ’ s flank at a critical juncture of his assault upon our position . ” At 14 . 00 , British officer Edward Hutton moved all of his available troops onto the desperately regained positions and , by sundown , the battle of Witpoort had ended . His losses were seven killed , with 30 wounded . Two officers and 22 soldiers had been taken prisoner . The Canadian losses were heavy and included Lt Borden , the son of the Canadian Minister of Defence . He is buried at the Braamfontein Cemetery , not far from the grave of Willem Morkel du Toit . Legacy . There are very few battlefields of the Anglo - Boer War which present such well preserved traces as does Witpoort with its 51 small two and four man stone breastworks ( sangars ) built by the New Zealanders . The long line of stone shelters makes it possible for one to stand there and visualise the mad charge made by renowned Boer fighter Roland Schikkerling and his fellow Johannesburgers . There Willem Morkel fell . One can also crouch behind the rocky ridge thirty to forty meters below the sangars and then walk over the ground once swept by the New Zealanders ' fire . There Schikkerling took his prisoners . On the south of the ridge Colonel Alderson led his Canadians in their counter - attack toward the captured position . Today , this area is a well tended farm and in the north , the level ground over which the Boers charged is now a wattle plantation . This battle site , with its clearly identifiable sangars , deserves to be declared a Heritage Site under auspices of the new National Heritage Commission .