| Regular troops | in the United Kingdom | 108,000 | |
| " " | in India | 68,000 | |
| " " | in other garrisons | 30,000 | |
| " " | in South Africa | 22,000 | |
| Army Reserve | in the United Kingdom | 83,000 | |
| ———- | 311,000 | ||
| Auxiliary forces | in the United Kingdom | 344,000 | |
| " " | in Canada | 33,000 | |
| " " | in Australia | 29,000 | |
| " " | in New Zealand | 7,700 | |
| " " | in Tasmania | 2,000 | |
| ———- | 415,700 | ||
| Total | 726,700 |
Of this grand total of upwards of 700,000 men it was clear that large numbers would never be available. India could only be denuded of a small portion of the British garrison, and of the auxiliary forces in the United Kingdom a very large proportion were by no means fit to take their places in the field; yet before the war was brought to a close the troops actually sent to the front were not far short of 400,000 men. Of these were despatched:
| From the United Kingdom and the Mediterranean | 338,000 |
| From India | 19,500 |
| From our Dominions beyond the seas | 30,000 |
For transport purposes and to supply the wastage in our mounted troops 470,000 horses and 150,000 mules and donkeys were purchased; for the conveyance of the troops and animals to the seat of war no fewer than 1,057 ships were taken up, and 1,374,000 tons of stores were from first to last shipped to South Africa. Unfortunately, all this energy was delayed until after the actual declaration of war. So far back as the month of June the Commander-in-Chief had unsuccessfully applied for permission to mobilize an army corps on Salisbury Plain and to convert the existing transport waggons to mule draught. It was not until October 8 that the order for the mobilization was sanctioned, and the first reinforcements did not leave the country until the third week in that month, war having been declared on the 11th.[31]
Our forces at the outset of hostilities were scattered necessarily over a wide area. The frontiers of the two Republics ran conterminously with our own for a distance of 1,000 miles. To defend this with 22,000 men was a manifest impossibility. Sir Forestier Walker, who was in command in Cape Colony, determined to hold the most important positions on that long line of frontier; whilst Sir George White in Natal, against his better judgment, deferred to the views of the Governor of Natal, and divided his forces, thus paving the way to defeat.
In addition to Kimberley, Sir Forestier Walker had weak detachments guarding the principal railway junctions of De Aar, Nauwpoort, and Stormberg. White had a brigade, under Sir Penn Symons, at Dundee, in the North of Natal; the remainder of his force was at Ladysmith. On October 20 the Dundee column fought an action at Talana, and the following day White's troops, under General French, defeated the Boers at Elandslaagte; but the arrival of strong Boer reinforcements and the death of Penn Symons compelled the retreat of the Dundee brigade, and on the 30th White suffered a severe check at Lombard's Kop. It was now clear that the army in South Africa was powerless until the arrival of reinforcements from home, and these, late in the day as it was, were being hurried forward as fast as circumstances would permit. The Viceroy of India had been requested to despatch with all haste a cavalry brigade, one of infantry, and three batteries of artillery. Some of these, as well as the battalion from the Mauritius, were already in South Africa, and battalions from Malta, Cyprus, and Egypt were en route. The army corps asked for in June was now despatched, with Sir Redvers Buller to hold the chief command in South Africa. It was composed as follows:
First Division: Lieutenant-General Lord Methuen.
Guards' Brigade—Brig.-Gen. Paget: 3rd Battalion Grenadiers, 1st Battalion Coldstream, 2nd Battalion Coldstream, 1st Battalion Scots Guards.
Second Brigade—Brig.-Gen. Hildyard: 2nd Battalion Queen's, 2nd Battalion Devons, 2nd Battalion West Yorks, 2nd Battalion East Surrey.
One squadron 1st Life Guards and three batteries Field Artillery.