The Boer War Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Boer War - Research Paper Example Compared to the British troops, the Boers were not as disciplined and organized; they had no set uniform, and as soon as a confrontation broke out, they immediately gathered up to form a unit and elected a commander. The Boer troops had no proper uniforms or weapons and vastly depended on hunting guns in order to launch an offensive against the well-equipped British troops. Their weapons included field guns and pistols, and they were also armed with shotguns; most of the Boer troops often traveled with at least 8 days of supplies. Unlike the British troops, their marksmanship was not the result of intense training regimes, but was learned through experience. The Boers were not soldiers but mere hunters or farmers that earned them the name ‘Boer’. The people had no real access to ammunitions either, and when they ran out of proper weapons, they usually relied on stealing or capturing the weapons of the British.The British had realized that the only way they could subdue t heir opponent was by attacking their formation and not their position; which meant that they were trying to cut off their access to their supplies. Any sort of siege had seemed pointless for their excellent marksmanship that made any sort of progression towards their base completely pointless. They even had their ranges marked out with white stones and fired according to them and soon the British troops were ordered to avoid going near white stones on the ground.  Ã‚   Since the South Africans were devout Christians, many of the people did not believe.