INFLUENCE OF GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITIONS ON MILI- 

 TARY OPERATIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA 



B}' Major W. A. Simpson, U. S. A., 

 AssiMdiil Adjatard (general ami Chief of ilie Military Jiifonnotioii Division, U. «S'. 



War Department 



In all military operations the character of the terrain exercises a 

 verj' important influence. All great generals have understood and 

 utilized this fact. A knowledge of the geographic character of the 

 countr}' is necessary to an understanding of a campaign. 



The principal watershed of South Africa is the Drakensberg Range. 

 It extends generally in a northeasterly and southwesterly direction, 

 nearly i)arallel to the coast line of the Indian Ocean, and at an aver- 

 age distance from it of about 20U miles. Along the Indian Ocean 

 there is a l)elt of low land. Going inland the ground rises in a series 

 of irregular terraces, until- the highest altitude is reached in the crest 

 of the l)rakensl>erg, some of whose peaks are over lO.OOU feet high. 

 ' The western slo{)es of the Drakensberg are mucli more gentle than those 

 on the eastern side, and the ground falls away gradually into the great 

 central plateau, of which the South African Republic and the Orange 

 Free State form the principal jjart. In this respect the Drakensberg 

 Range is C()m{)arable to our Rocky Mountains, the ground rising grad- 

 ually going west from the Mississippi Valley, and descending more 

 abruptly from the crest to the west. In the southern part of the 

 South African Re[)ublic runs, east and west, the W itwatersrand, or the 

 Rand, as it is commonly called. This forms a secondary' watershed. 

 The rivers to the north flow into the Limpopo, which is the northern 

 boundar}' of the South African Republic, while those to the south flow 

 into the Vaal. 



Altliough it has been stated that the ground rises from the Indian 

 Ocean in a series of terraces, it is not intended to conve}' the idea that 

 these terraces are level. The term terrace is used sim})ly to convey 

 the idea of a belt of nearly uniform average elevation. As a matter 

 ot fact, the country in Natal (^this does not embrace all the territory 

 east of the mountains, but it is all that it is necessary for us to con- 

 sider) is verv much l)roken. There are manv streams which, rising 



