During the battle a Boer raiding force under Jan Smuts destroyed a British cavalry squadron led by Captain Sandeman, a cousin of Winston Churchill, on the Modderfontein farm.

After a year of guerrilla war, the Boer leaders decided to send significant raiding forces into the Cape Colony and Natal.

Smuts led a commando south into the Cape Colony, while Louis Botha attempted to cross into Natal.

[3] The Basotho attacked the Boers on 4 September near Wittenberg Mission, killing three and wounding seven with spears and ancient guns before being driven off with serious losses.

[4] The cold spring rains tormented both men and horses as British pursuing columns under the overall command of Major General Sir John French closed in on Smuts' raiders.

On 13 September, the Boers were cornered atop the Stormberg Mountains (31°17′52.64″S 26°15′17.31″E / 31.2979556°S 26.2548083°E / -31.2979556; 26.2548083) and escaped only when a friendly guide in the form of Hans Kleynhans appeared and led them down a precipitous route to safety.

The night of 15 September nearly finished the raiders as freezing rain killed over 60 ponies and fourteen men went missing.

All six British officers were hit and four were killed, only Captain Sandeman, the commander, and Lieutenant Lord George Vivian surviving.

[7] In his book Commando, Deneys Reitz, one of the Boers, recounts how George Vivian pointed out his bivouac tent and told him it would be worth his while to take a look at it.