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The London Gazette. Publish Bp Autborttp 27282. 829 * . *. The London Gazette. Publish bp autborttp. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1901. SOUTH AFRICAN DESPATCHES. with the 2nd, 4th, and 6th Brigades, being War Office, February 8, 1901. followed shortly afterwards by Sir Redvers Buller himself. On the 1st December, the 5th rp H E following Despatches and Enclosures Brigade was ordered from Cape Town to Natal. A have been received from Lord Roberts, With these reinforcements, and the force K.G., V.C., Commander-in-Chief, South previously available, an attempt was made on Africa:— the 15th December to effect the passage of No. 1. the Tugola River in the vicinity of Colenso, From Field-Marshal Lord Roberts to the but this having failed, Sir Redvers Buller was Secretary of State for War. obliged to withdraw his troops to Cbieveley. Army Head-Quarters, South Africa, Meanwhile, the 5th Division had arrived at My Loro, Cape Town, 6th February, 1900. Cape Town, and after the action of the Tngela, NOW that I have been nearly a month in Sir Redvers Buller directed its commander, South Africa, and will shortly be leaving Cape Sir Charles Warren, with half of the 10th Town for the operations which I propose to Brigade and the whole of the 11th Brigade, carry out for the relief of Kimberley AngloBoerWar.comand in to proceed to Natal. Towards the end of No­ the Orange Free State, it seems desirable that vember, the 1st Royal Dragoons and the 13th I should submit for the information of Her Hussars were also transferred to Natal, followed Majesty’s Government a concise account of the shortly afterwards by two squadrons of the state of affairs in this country as I found them 14th Hussars. on my arrival on the 10th January. On arrival here on the 10th January, I found The force which was despatched from England the state of affairs to be as follows:—On the between the 20th October and the early part of west of the Cape Colony, Lieutenant-General December had been greatly scattered. The Lord Methuen was occupying the position Army Corps organization had been broken up, already described. Lieutenant-General French, and even the formation of the Divisions and with three Cavalry regiments and one and a Brigades materially differed from what had half battalions of Infantry, was holding the been originally contemplated. On assuming line from Naauwpoort to Rensburg. Lieu­ the chief command, the first step which Sir tenant-General Sir W. F. Gatacre, who had two Red vers Buller undertook was to despatch Lord batteries of Artillery and four and a half batta­ Methuen with the Brigade of Guards, the 3rd, lions under his orders, having been defeated in or Highland Brigade, and a third Brigade, im­ his attack on Stormberg, was occupying Sterk- provised from three and a half battalions on the stroom and the country in its vicinity. In Natal, Lines of Communication which were imme­ Sir Redvers Buller, having found himself unable diately available, for the relief of Kimberley. to advance by the direct route to the relief of As your Lordship is aware, this force succeeded Ladysmith, had fallen back on Chieveley to in crossing the Modder River; but the subse­ await rcinfoi'cement by the 5th Division under quent attack on the Boer position at Magers- Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Warren. fontein having been repulsed, Lord Methuen In view of the distance of my head-quarters fell back on the river, where he has formed an from Natal, and of the fact that on the date of entrenchment facing that thrown up |by the my arrival Sir Redvers Bnller had made his enemy. dispositions for the second attempt to relieve The original intention was that, simultane­ Ladysmith, I thought it best to leave him a ously with Lord Methuen’s advance, Lieutenant- perfectly free hand, and not to interfere with General Clery, with the Second Division, should his operations. operate from Port Elizabeth by the Midland In the Cape Colony a serious feeling of unrest line of railway through Naauwpoorton Colesberg, prevailed. The withdrawal of so large a por­ and that Lieutenant-General Gatacre should tion of the Army Corps had encouraged the similarly move from East London by the East­ disloyal among the inhabitants, and 1 found ern line of railway on Stormberg and Burghers- that His Excellency the High Commissioner dorp. This plan for occupying the Northern was extremely anxious as to whether it would frontier of the Colony had to be abandoned be possible to preserve peace and order through­ owing to the urgent demands for assistance out the province. After consulting Sir Alfred from Natal. In the middle of November, Milner, I decided that it would be best to remain Lieutenant-General Clery was sent to Durban on the defensive until a sufficient force was 83.0 THE LONDON GAZETTE, FEBRUARY 8, 1901, available to enable an advance to be made into over, I had no troops to spare. The frontier of the Orange Free State. I hoped that the effect the Cape Colony was weakly held, and the of such an advance, if adequately supported, attitude of a .portion of the Colonists bordering ■would be to relieve the hostile pressure at the Orange Free State was in some cases Ladysmith, and between Ladysmith and the doubtful, and in others disloyal. The con­ Tugela, and also between the Modder River and clusion I arrived at was that no sensible im­ Kimberley. In pursuance of this policy, and provement in the military situation conld be with a view to facilitating offensive action as hoped for until we were prepared to carry the soon us the strength and organization of the war into the enemy’s country, and all my troops at my disposal would admit of it, I efforts have accordingly been exerted in that directed Lieutenant-Generals Lord Methuen and direction. Gatacre to remain strictly on the defensive. This plan was, however, attended with con­ Lieutenant-General French, with his head­ siderable difficulties. The two main roads quarters at Rensburg, was instructed to patrol leading from Cape Colony to the Orange Free the country round Colesberg, and to keep the State were held in force by the Boers at the enemy, into whose hands that place had fallen, points where those roads crossed the Orange from moving farther to the south. Shortly River, and it seemed certain that the bridges after my arrival, the troops of the 6th Division, over that river would be destroyed, if the under Lieutenant-General Kelly-Kenny, reached enemy could be forced to retire to the northern Cape Town, and were despatched to Naauw- bank. Moreover, I could not overlook the fact poort, one of the brigades being temporarily that, even if either of these routes could be detached for employment under Lieutenant- utilized, the movement of an army solely by General French. The duty assigned to Lieu­ means of a line of railway is most tedious, if tenant-General Kelly-Kenny was to allay un­ not practically impossible. The advantage is rest and check disaffection among the Colonial all on the side of the enemy, who can destroy population, and to open up the railway line as the line and occupy defensible positions when far as possible from Middleburg in the direction and where they please. In a hilly, enclosed of Stormberg. country, or where any large river has to be A subject which from the first attracted my crossed, they can block the line altogether, aB special attention was the development and was proved in the case of Lieutenant-General organization of the Colonial forces, of which I Lord Methuen on the Modder River, of Lieu­ was inclined to think that sufficient use bad tenant-General French on the Orange River, not been made. I therefore arranged for one and of General Sir Redvers Buller on the mounted corps to be raised by Colonel Brabant, Tugela. to whom, with the approval of the High Com­ A railway is of the greatest assistance, it is missioner, the rank of Brigadier-General has indeed essential to an army for the conveyance been given. Inclusive of this corps, it is in­ of stores and supplies from the base, and it is a tended to place a body of Colonial mounted most valuable adjunct if it runs in the direction troops, about 3,000 strong, under Brigadier- of the objective, but, even then, a certain pro­ General Brabant’s command, on Lieutenant-AngloBoerWar.com portion of the troops must be equipped with General Gatacre’s right flank, for the purpose wheel or pack transport to enable supplies to of guarding the eastern portion of the Colony be collected, and to render the force sufficiently and pushing back the enemy from the neigh­ mobile to deal with many tactical difficulties bourhood of Stormberg. The head-quarters of which have to be surmounted owing to the this Colonial force will be at Dordrecht, where greatly increased range and power of mo,dern it will be in readiness to operate northward projectiles. towards Jamestown. Two other regiments, No organized transport corps existed when T designated at the particular request of the arrived in South Africa. Some thousands of members “ Roberts’s ” and “ Kitchener’s Horse,” mules have been collected and a number of ox have also been formed, chiefly from men who and mule wagons had been purchased, but have found their way to South Africa from what is known as the regimental system had various parts of the world. Additional corps been adopted, which consists in providing each ire being raised by influential gentlemen in unit with sufficient transport for its ammuni­ he Colony, and every encouragement and tion, baggage, and two or three days’ supplies.
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