emain. The decision thus taken finally constituted the
British military situation in Natal when the campaign opened; namely,
an advanced detachment of three or four thousand at Glencoe and
Dundee, a main body of eight to ten thousand at Ladysmith, with
smaller posts guarding the communications in rear of the latter.

The greater exposure of Natal, owing to its nearness to the Boer
States, had determined the concentration upon it of the bulk of the
British forces in South Africa, including the reinforcements so far
ordered; by the arrival of which it was expected that there would by
the end of October be 22,000 troops in South Africa. It was not till
October 7 that was issued the first order to mobilise, summoning
25,000 of the Army Reserve to join the colours.

The {p.033} necessities of Natal left but scant numbers to Cape
Colony, which was comparatively of less consequence, because the
points of vital importance to Great Britain lay near the sea-coast,
protected by their mere remoteness from any speedy attack. On the far
inland borders of the colony the situation soon reduced itself to that
with which we were so long familiar. The four or five thousand men
available at the outbreak of the war for the defence of the long
frontier, extending over five hundred miles, from the Basutoland
boundary to Mafeking, were obliged by the necessities of the case to
concentrate; which they did at Mafeking and Kimberley. There they were
speedily invested; and, being thus held in check, the border country,
including the important railroad junctions of De Aar, Naauwport and
Stormberg, lay freely open to the enemy. The seriousness of this
military condition was much increased by the well-known political fact
that the Dutch population of the region sympathized more or less
actively with the Boers. In fact many of them, upon the opening of
hostilities, crossed the border {p.034} to join the forces of the
Orange Free State.

On the 9th of October, 1899, the Transvaal Government presented an
ultimatum. After recounting the political grievances of which it
complained, it demanded that all points of mutual difference should be
settled by arbitration, or other peaceful means, that the British
troops near the Transvaal border should be withdrawn, that the recent
reinforcements be removed altogether from South Africa, and that those
still on the sea should not be landed. If a satisfactory answer were
not received by 5 P.M., October 11, the ac