Medical treatment during the Second Boer War the Siege of Ladysmith described the wounding as follows: Of the 22,000 that were treated for wounds during the Second Boer War, the majority survived, largely due to the efficiency of the medical teams which cared for the affected. The Royal Army Medical Corps, which had formed after the redunduncies of the Crimean War, played a key role in the treatment of the wounded in the Boer War. The salaries of medical corps soldiers had gradually increased and training improved, improving the system and quality of the medical services. Surgery had made considerable advancement in the late nineteenth century, and
Union of South Africa military failures. The British were overconfident and underprepared. Prime Minister Salisbury and his top officials, especially colonial secretary Joseph Chamberlain, ignored the repeated warnings of military advisors that the Boers were well prepared, well armed, and fighting for their homes in a very difficult terrain. The Boers struck first, besieging Ladysmith, Kimberly, and Mafeking in early 1900, and winning important battles at Colenso, Magersfontein and Stormberg. Staggered, the British fought back, relieved its besieged cities, and prepared to invade first the Orange Free State, and then Transvaal in late 1900. The Boers refused to surrender or negotiate, and reverted to