During the early 19th century, a diverse group of Sotho, Nguni and Tswana speaking tribes settled in the Caledon River region in southern Africa.

By stealing cattle from rival tribes and then redistributing it to his followers under the mafisa system, the chief retained its nominal ownership while strengthening his relationship with his subjects.

[4] In the 1820s the Basuto faced a number of cattle raids from the Koranna, a group of Khoekhoe people who had migrated from the Cape following the European settlement of the region.

Nevertheless, most of the guns in Basuto possession were outdated flintlocks, which had flooded the South African market after the introduction of percussion lock muskets.

The Basuto were tasked with countering Boer incursions into the Cape during the course of the Great Trek, receiving an annual grant of £75 in money or ammunition.

In 1845, Napier's successor Sir Peregrine Maitland signed another treaty with Moshoeshoe which intended to settle territorial conflicts between the Boers and various African tribes on the Cape's northern border.

In 1848, the new Cape governor Sir Harry Smith pressured Moshoeshoe into signing an agreement whereby he recognized British paramount authority over the lands north of the Orange River; while retaining his traditional rights.

A series of similar ambiguously worded treaties with local African tribes effectively established the Orange River Sovereignty.

The British Resident in the Orange River Sovereignty, Major Henry Douglas Warden, believed that the Basuto were more to blame for the continuous inter tribal warfare in the region.

In 1849,[8] Warden began delineating borders between the various tribes in the north-east frontier, ignoring Moshoeshoe's long standing claims to several territories in the process.

[10] In October Moshoeshoe wrote to both Smith and Warden, explaining that he had acted in self-defense and intended to maintain cordial relations with the British.

Hogge insisted that the Basuto restore the cattle and horses they had stolen from the Rolong and the Boer settlers since September 1850 within a span of two weeks.

[11] Having largely suppressed Xhosa opposition in the east, in late November 1852 Cathcart led an army numbering some 2,500 men from Burgersdorp northwards.

Moshoeshoe's brother Mopeli visited Cathcart at his new camp and agreed to lead the British to Thaba Bosiu the following day in order to continue peaceful negotiations.

The first column under Lieutenant-Colonel G. Napier, numbering 119 men of the CMR and 114 of the 12th Lancers, was to move around the Berea plateau that separated the camp from Thaba Bosiu from the north, rounding up any cattle his soldiers came across.

Unbeknownst to the British the plateau extended for many miles to the north and thus Napier would have to inevitably cross the mountain in order to carry out his task in time.

It was supported by small detachments of Lancers and CMR cavalry, mounted Mfengu herdsmen and artillerymen who carried two Congreve rockets on mules.

[16] Napier's column crossed the Caledon, advancing within sight of the peak of Berea by 8 a.m. After taking a short stop at a spring, they began gathering the large herds of cattle which were grazing on the slopes of the mountain.

In the meantime, Moshoeshoe's son Molapo had concealed 700 cavalry (including allied Taung) and several hundred infantry above the Berea Mission Station.

At the same time, they were suddenly struck by 300 of Molapo's horsemen who were armed with the lances belonging to the British soldiers they had killed and wearing their caps.

Howitzer fire had put groups of mounted Basuto skirmishers to flight enabling the British to take over a knoll overlooking the Phuthiatsana valley 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from Thaba Bosiu at midday.

The Basuto began gradually massing in front and to the right of their opponents, circling around the British position, occasionally closing in to musket range before being driven away by enemy fire.

The combined British force pulled back 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) down the road, securing the cattle Eyre had captured at a nearby kraal.

[13] At midnight Moshoeshoe composed a letter to Cathcart which was translated into English by French missionary Eugène Casalis in which he pleaded for peace.

[24][13] In 1855, the surviving British participants of the Battle of Berea received the South African General Service Medal which bore the date 1853.