Talk:Battle of Bronkhorstspruit

Untitled
Looks like a battle to me... why is this not at Battle of Bronkhorstpruit? Bastie 00:13, 9 November 2005 (UTC)

Neutrality
The tone of the article is anti-Boer through the use of weasel words. There are only two notes covering the first paragraph; one of which is anti-Boer. The rest is lacking sources. This sentence is offensive: This instruction came not from the lawful government, but from the self-proclaimed triumvirate who had declared the independence of the South African Republic when in fact the Transvaal was still under British administration. Try to insert that sentence in the article about the American Revolutionary War, and try to see how long it will remain. ... the self-proclaimed Congress in Philadelphia when in fact the colonies was still under British administration.

Also this: Ash remarks of the misuse of the white flag that it was something that would characterise the Boer approach to the conduct of war during the Second Anglo-Boer War, summing it up as a “the enemy must abide by the rules but we don’t have to” attitude. Without source! And again: He also states that loyalists in the Transvaal called it the Massacre of Bronkhorst Spruit. Of course they did! What do you think the loyalists of Massachusetts called the battles of Lexington and Concord. Creuzbourg (talk) 20:51, 24 August 2019 (UTC)
 * I think I removed some of it, but there is still more. This article needs a deep rewrite, but I don't have the chops to do it. The "Massacre of Bronkhorst Spruit" comment should go in the first paragraph and should be a redirect target. I think I'll go change that before I move on. Rockphed (talk) 12:29, 25 September 2019 (UTC)


 * Looking further at the history, it looks like most of the damage was done a couple months ago by a single editor who seems to have been POV pushing. Some, but not all, of their damage has since been removed.  I think I will ask about rolling it back to before their edits. Rockphed (talk) 12:35, 25 September 2019 (UTC)

Internal inconsistency
Good morning all. I notice that "Within 15 minutes all of the officers had been killed or wounded" but "a Captain Elliot, was captured but was later one of two officers permitted to leave". Also "alleged misuse of the white flag" but with no indication of what that is supposed to have been. I will have a look at the possibly POV pushing edits mentioned above. Springnuts (talk) 11:12, 30 November 2020 (UTC)#


 * Looking at the publisher's blurb for the Ash book and it is so POV as not to be, imo, a RS - for example "Over a century of Leftist bleating and insidious, self-serving revisionism, first by Afrikaner nationalists and then by the apartheid regime, has left the layman with a completely skewed view of the war. Incredibly, most people will tell you that the British attacked the Boers to steal their gold, ...". I will remove this material.  Springnuts (talk) 11:18, 30 November 2020 (UTC)


 * OK this "While Anstruther was considering his predicament and the two-minute ultimatum ticked away, the Boer commando, under the protection of the white flag, approached the column to within 200 yards of the wagons and positioned themselves behind rocks and trees. According to witnesses, Anstruther replied: I have orders to proceed with all possible despatch to Pretoria and to Pretoria I am going, but tell the Commandant I have no wish to meet him in hostile spirit. As Anstruther made his comment of non-cooperation, the rider holding the white flag turned his horse and made a signal to the Boers, who immediately opened fire on the helpless and unsuspecting column.". - from []..
 * Much more of a RS, I suspect, is this: [] - Edward M. Spiers; 'Battling the Boers' in 'The Victorian soldier in Africa'. "Conductor Ralph Egerton (Army Service Corps), who was one of the more lucid commentators, had ridden ahead with the colonel and his adjutant, Lieutenant H. A. C. Harrison, to select a camping ground. When the band ceased playing, they turned around to see 150 armed, mounted Boers, spaced about ten paces apart, along a ridge on the left-hand side of the road. Egerton rode to meet a Boer horseman under a flag of truce, and took a sealed despatch from him to the colonel, who had dismounted. The despatch stated that the Transvaal had been declared a republic, and that any advance by the column beyond the spruit would be interpreted as a declaration of war. Given two minutes in which to reply, Anstruther insisted that he must follow orders and proceed towards Pretoria. The two parties returned to their respective forces, but the Boers, who had filtered through thorn bushes to about 200 yards from the column, opened fire before Anstruther rejoined his column.. Springnuts (talk) 11:36, 30 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Finally, fwiw, some OR: perfidy includes "the feigning of intent to negotiate under a flag of truce" - which does not seem to be the case here; and "inviting the confidence of an adversary to lead it to believe that it is entitled to, or is obliged to accord, protection under the rules of international law applicable in armed conflict, with intent to betray that confidence, ..." - which again isn't clearly the case here. []; [].  But I cannot find any RS expressing a view with reference to this battle. Springnuts (talk) 11:54, 30 November 2020 (UTC)