mrw311 - AnthologyMain MenuIntroductionThe Gatling Gun and Machine GunsRifles and HandgunsIronclad Battleships and Torpedo TechnologyThe Boer WarsStagnation and Fear of DestructionAnxious, Fictional Accounts of the FutureBibliographyMatthew Werkheiserbaf3c422a98f36dbd4c83c180176ff0854fcbc18
The Conduct of the War: Severe Criticism
12016-11-27T14:00:30-05:00Matthew Werkheiserbaf3c422a98f36dbd4c83c180176ff0854fcbc18665plain2016-12-14T01:39:12-05:00Matthew Werkheiserbaf3c422a98f36dbd4c83c180176ff0854fcbc18Stagnation and Fear of DestructionVarious individual criticisms of the Second Boer War are contained within this piece, ranging from inept generals to the poor marksmanship of the average British soldier. Whoever is submitting these complaints is well informed as to the training regiment of the average British rifleman and feels that this poor ability combined with the shoddy employment of cover is severely weakening the British capacity to wage war. These complaints seem very present throughout a number of articles and all suggest a wide spreading dissatisfaction with British Army’s tendency to lag behind the capacities of its enemies. Much of the Boer weaponry was from foreign, competing nations like America and Germany and the Boers, used to hunting and shooting as a way of life, were able to use these new technologies to great effect. The British, still fumbling out of the days of the Brown Bess and single-loading rifles, were not trained for long distance shooting or adaptive, cover-based fighting.