Monday Boer War Cartoon

This next Boer War cartoon is from November 29th1899. We see a lion advancing through a rocky southern African landscape, underneath which is the title ADVANCING. There is no further caption.

 

To me, this cartoon really displays misplaced confidence. The lion is surely the British lion, and I’ve said before that when Tenniel uses this particular representation of Britain he is usually doing so to stress the power and might of Britain and the British Empire. By the time that the cartoon was published, Boer forces were besieging Ladysmith, Kimberley and Mafeking and public opinion in Britain pretty much demanded that actions were taken to end the sieges. The advance that the cartoon seems to be referring to may well have been Lord Methuen’s advance with three brigades with the intention of raising the siege of Kimberley. On 23^rd November 1899 the forces ran into 2000 entrenched Boers on Belmont Kopje (hill). Poor tactics and inaccurate maps resulted in large casualties, although the British could claim victory of a sort after eventually driving the tenacious Boers into retreat.

However, Methuen’s forces would suffer losses and then a serious defeat on 11^th December in Magersfontein. As for Kimberley, the siege would continue until the following February.