A history of England

by Charles Oman

The Bloemfontein Conference.

This appeal led to the "Bloemfontein Conference" of May, 1899, in which Sir Alfred Milner met President Kruger, and tried to induce him to grant the Uitlanders the power of obtaining civic rights after five years' residence in the Transvaal. The president not only refused this, but disputed the existence of the British suzerainty over the Republic established by the convention of 1882. The negotiators parted in a state of mutual exasperation, Milner reporting to London that the British suzerainty was in danger, and that he could only get the most vague and illusory promises of concession for the Uitlanders; while Kruger told his Raad that "though he did not desire war, he could not give way an inch."

From this moment armed strife was inevitable, though the British Government and nation do not seem to have realized the fact. Mr. Chamberlain kept making proposals for a resumption of negotiations during the summer, but, after long delays, received in September nothing but a formal notice that the President disowned any British suzerainty over the Transvaal. This looked ominous, and the cabinet resolved to reinforce the garrisons of the Cape and Natal, where in August there were in all only 6000 troops. By September this force was nearly tripled by battalions sent in from India and from the home stations.

Kruger declares war.

Then followed, to the intense surprise of all who had not been studying African politics very closely, an insulting ultimatum from Pretoria, to the effect that if the reinforcements were not at once withdrawn, a declaration of war would follow in twenty-four hours (October 9, 1899). Next day hostilities began, and the Boer army, which had been mobilizing for many days, crossed the frontier of Natal. The Orange River Free State declared war on the same day.

The strength of the two republics had been utterly miscalculated by the home authorities, even when they saw war impending. The Burghers could put 70,000 well-armed mounted riflemen into the field, and were supplied with superabundant stores of modern cannon and munitions. They were also relying on the support of a general rebellion of the Cape Dutch, who had been secretly armed and organized during the preceding months.

Siege of Ladysmith.

It was fortunate for Britain that the Boers' strategy was very bad: instead of entering Cape Colony, where they could have raised the whole countryside in their aid, they sent their main army into Natal, and most of their other forces to besiege the outlying garrisons of Mafeking and Kimberley. This misdirection of their energy saved the British domination in South Africa. After a few preliminary skirmishes, the burghers beat Sir George White, our commander in Natal, at the battle of Lombard's Kop (October 30). He retired into a fortified position at Ladysmith, trusting that the enemy would gather round him instead of pushing further into British territory. This expectation was correct: the burghers surrounded the 12,000 men concentrated at Ladysmith, built lines to shut them in, and worried them by a fruitless bombardment; but they did not attempt to close, or to destroy the army by a general assault. The same took place in the other centres of strife: both at Mafeking and Kimberley the enemy wasted their strength in tedious blockades, while the time of their predominance was passing away. During the first two months of the war, they had a threefold superiority of numbers, and only used it in shutting up the three garrisons.

The British military authorities, still gravely underrating their adversaries, had despatched in November an army corps of 40,000 men, which they thought sufficient to end the war. There was such a misconception of the numbers and fighting power of the Boers, that when the colonies began to offer aid, the War Office actually told them that "infantry would be preferred," for a campaign in which the enemy consisted entirely of lightly moving mounted riflemen! The command was given to Sir Redvers Buller, a veteran of the Zulu and Soudan wars, of whom much was expected.

The "Black Week."