esignedly brought about the issue of war, and the frontier of the
northern angle of Natal was threatened. Dundee is an important
coal-mining centre situated some forty-eight miles north-east of
Ladysmith. Why it was chosen as our advance post is hard to decide. Its
communications with Ladysmith were open to attack from either flank,
and, in the light of after events, we see that the position there of a
detached force was highly precarious. General Sir George White in an
official despatch thus describes his action in the matter:--

"Since my arrival in the Colony I had been much impressed by the exposed
situation of the garrison of Glencoe, and on the evening of October 10 I
had an interview on the subject with his Excellency the Governor, at
which I laid before him my reasons for considering it expedient, from a
military point of view, to withdraw that garrison, and to concentrate
all my available troops at Ladysmith. After full discussion his
Excellency recorded his opinion that such a step would involve grave
political results and possibilities of so serious a nature that I
determined to accept the military risk of holding Dundee as the lesser
of two evils. I proceeded in person to Ladysmith on October 11, sending
on Lieutenant-General Sir William Penn Symons to take command at
Glencoe.

"The Boers crossed the frontier both on the north and west on October
12, and next day the Transvaal flag was hoisted at Charlestown. My great
inferiority in numbers necessarily confined me strategically to the
defensive, but tactically my intention was, and is, to strike vigorously
whenever opportunity offers."

Everything at this juncture depended on the rapidity with which our army
at home could be mobilised and sent to the Cape, and though we took to
ourselves some credit for the energy displayed by all concerned, we were
really scarcely up to date in the matter of activity. For instance, in
1859 it took only thirty-seven days for France to collect on the river Po
a force of 104,000 men, with 12,000 more in Italy, while in 1866 the
Prussian army, numbering 220,000 men, were placed on the frontiers of
Saxony and Silesia in a fortnight. But more expeditious still was Germany
in 1870. In nine days she was able to mobilise her forces, and in eight
more to send to the French frontier an army of 400,000 soldiers and 1200
guns! We had, it is true, to ship off our troops a distance of some 8000
miles, but, without counting this--a natur