l exertions which Buller had
endured. That the Government made such allowance is clear from the fact
that he was not instantly recalled. And yet the cold facts are that we
have a British General, at the head of 25,000 men, recommending another
General, at the head of 12,000 men only twelve miles off, to lay down
his arms to an army which was certainly very inferior in numbers to
the total British force; and this because he had once been defeated,
although he knew that there was still time for the whole resources of
the Empire to be poured into Natal in order to prevent so shocking a
disaster. Such is a plain statement of the advice which Buller gave and
which White rejected. For the instant the fate not only of South Africa
but even, as I believe, of the Empire hung upon the decision of the old
soldier in Ladysmith, who had to resist the proposals of his own General
as sternly as the attacks of the enemy. He who sorely needed help
and encouragement became, as his message shows, the helper and the
encourager. It was a tremendous test, and Sir George White came through
it with a staunchness and a loyalty which saved us not only from
overwhelming present disaster, but from a hideous memory which must have
haunted British military annals for centuries to come.

CHAPTER 12. THE DARK HOUR.

The week which extended from December 10th to December 17th, 1899, was
the blackest one known during our generation, and the most disastrous
for British arms during the century. We had in the short space of seven
days lost, beyond all extenuation or excuse, three separate actions.
No single defeat was of vital importance in itself, but the cumulative
effect, occurring as they did to each of the main British forces in
South Africa, was very great. The total loss amounted to about three
thousand men and twelve guns, while the indirect effects in the way of
loss of prestige to ourselves and increased confidence and more numerous
recruits to our enemy were incalculable.

It is singular to glance at the extracts from the European press at that
time and to observe the delight and foolish exultation with which our
reverses were received. That this should occur in the French journals
is not unnatural, since our history has been largely a contest with that
Power, and we can regard with complacency an enmity which is the tribute
to our success. Russia, too, as the least progressive of European
States, has a natural antagonism of thought, if no