It was a skirmish between a British army column and a group of Boers, fought by the Bronkhorstspruit River, a few miles east of the town of Bronkhorstspruit, Transvaal on 20 December 1880.
At Bronkhorstspruit the force was stopped by Boers who courteously required the “Red Soldiers” to turn back.
From here he travelled north to Pretoria, east to Bronkhorstspruit and further east to Lydenburg which was to be his headquarters for the next 13 years.
On 20 December 1880, six officers and 246 men of the 94th Regiment, along with 12 men of the Army Service Corps and 4 men of the Army Hospital Corps, were attacked by 250 Boers at Bronkhorstspruit whilst marching from Lydenburg to Pretoria.