| Siege of Rustenburg | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of First Boer War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 United Kingdom |
 South African Republic | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Cap. Auchinleck[1] 2Lt. Despard [1] |
Unknown | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
 21st Royal Scots FusiliersRustenburg Rifle Volunteers | Unknown | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 62–70+[1] | 600[2] | ||||||
The siege of Rustenburg was a siege that took place between 1880 and 1881 during the First Boer War. Boer forces of the South African Republic carried out the siege on Rustenburg, a British-controlled city inside of the Transvaal Colony, and captured it after three months.
- ^ a b c Lady Bellairs (1885). The Transvaal war, 1880-81. p. 277. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
In November 1880, in order to strengthen the field column, then sent from Pretoria to Potchefstroom, the garrison had been reduced by one company, and, at the time hostilities commenced, only consisted of a company of sixty-two men of the 2d Battalion 21st Eoyal Scots Fusiliers, with a few men of the Commissariat and Hospital Corps, under the command of Captain Auchinleck, the other officers present being Second Lieutenant Despard and Surgeon Eitchie.
- ^ Lady Bellairs (1885). The Transvaal war, 1880-81. p. 277. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
On the 24th December, information reached the officer commanding that a force of 600 Boers had assembled ten miles off.