Vinogradskii, A.N.: The Anglo-Boer War in South Africa

Title

Angloburskaia voina v iuzhnoi Afrike, vyp. 1-3, Sankt-Peterburg 1901-1903

The Anglo-Boer War in South Africa

Keywords

Summary

The text was published in three issues. The aim of the first issue is to depict the peculiarities of the location where the Anglo-Boer war takes place, since understanding these aspects seems crucial to grasp the nature of this conflict. The second issue is devoted to the era of the “great war”, encompassing the operations of General Buller and Lord Roberts until the occupation of Pretoria. The third issue focuses entirely on the period of the partisan resistance and the so-called “minor war”, which began in May 1900 and was still ongoing at the time of the author’s writing. Chapter one delves into the reasons for the war, tracing the history of South Africa from the seventeenth century to the present day. Chapter two explores the geography of South Africa, its population, roads, and climate. Chapter three details the main features of the British army’s organisation and historical background, followed by a depiction of the armies of the two Boer republics. It also dedicates a few pages to the biographies of the leaders on both sides of the conflict. Chapter Four outlines the war plans and strategies and their outcomes following the 1889 mobilisation in the British army. Chapter five covers the northern Natal battle and Glencoe-Dundee battle, known as the Battle of Talana Hill, followed by the Siege of Ladysmith. Chapter six focuses on the events in Natal until 1889 and draws the conclusions: the author evaluates the strategic decisions made by both sides, asserting that the Natal operations revealed numerous difficulties faced by both armies.

Bio

Aleksandr Vinogradskii was born in 1874 in the Podol’sk governorate into a noble family. He served in the Horse Artillery and studied at the Saint Petersburg General Staff Academy from 1896 to 1899. A military historian, Vinogradskii wrote the three-volume The Anglo-Boer War in South Africa and the three-volume History of the Russo-Japanese War. During World War I, he commanded the 12^th Artillery Brigade and was the head of the Russian mission to the Romanian army. After the 1917 revolution he emigrated to France. He died in 1935 in Paris.

Sources

Pazhi za 185 let: Biografii i portrety byvshikh pazhei (1711-1896), ed. by O. Freiman, Sankt-Peterburg 1894-1897, p. 744;
N. Sukharev, Materialy k istorii russkogo nauchnogo zarubezh’ia, Moskva 2002, p. 105;
A. Romanov, Na chuzhikh pogostakh: nekropol’ russkogo zarubezh’ia, Moskva 2003, p. 46;
S. Volkov, Shtab-ofitsery i generaly belykh armii. Entsiklopedicheskii slovar’ uchastnikov Grazhdanskoi voiny, Moskva 2019, p. 344.

M.E.