Each man carried 70 rounds of ammunition, a full water bottle, three days' rations, a waterproof sheet, and a greatcoat.

General Colley had brought no artillery up to the summit and did not order his men to dig in, against the advice of several of his subordinates, (and each company bringing four picks and six shovels), since he expected that the Boers would retreat when they saw their position on the Nek was untenable.

[4] However, the Boers quickly formed a group of storming parties, led by Nicolaas Smit, from an assortment of volunteers from various commandos, totaling at least 450 men to attack the hill.

[5] Three Boer storming groups of 100–200 men each began a slow advance up the hill, led by Field Cornet Stephanus Roos, Commandant D.J.K.

[citation needed] Amid great confusion and increasing slaughter among his men, Colley attempted a fighting retreat, but he was killed by Boer marksmen.

The rest of the British force fled down the rear slopes of Majuba, where more were hit by the Boer marksmen firing from the summit.

An abortive rearguard action was staged by the 15th Hussars and 60th Rifles, who had marched from a support base at Mount Prospect, but that made little impact on the Boer forces.

Since British foreign policy discouraged negotiating from anything other than a position of strength, Majuba was the first time that Britain was defeated in the final engagements of a war.

[3] That position neglects that the First Boer War, while arguably Britain's first unambiguous defeat since the American Revolution, was largely unnoticed by the general public.