t so as
to separate the Van Reenen's road and valley from the valley followed by
the Acton Homes--Ladysmith road.

When Warren crossed the river he found the western half of the crescent
held by the enemy.

Whatever his original design, which may have been to take his whole
force to Acton Homes, and then march eastward along the road, he had to
drive the Boers from the plateau. His action was deliberate, without
hurry, but without waste of time. The troops had been prepared for
tactics better suited to their weapons, the bullet and the shell, to the
enemy's weapons, and to the ground, than the rapid advance and charge,
which was the plan of earlier actions in this war. The view that the
bullet should do its work before the appeal to the bayonet is made had
at length asserted itself. Moreover, the need for method in attack had
been recognised; first reconnaissance, then shelling; during the
shelling the deployment of the infantry in extended and flexible order,
then the musketry duel supported by the artillery; and then, as the
infantry fire proves stronger than the enemy's, an advance from point to
point in order to bring it to closer and more deadly range; last of all,
if and where it may be needed, the charge. These sound tactics--the
only tactics appropriate to modern firearms--cannot be hurried, for to
charge men armed with the magazine rifle and not yet shaken is to
sacrifice your troops to their own bravery.

Warren's attack then was rightly deliberate. On Friday, the 19th, he was
reconnoitring and feeling for the enemy. On Saturday the shooting match
began. It was continued throughout Sunday, and was not over on Tuesday.
During these days the British were making way, gradually and not without
loss, but steadily. There were, no doubt, pauses for renewing order, for
reinforcing, and for securing the ground won. On Tuesday evening Spion
Kop was still held by the Boers, who seem even then not to have been
driven off the plateau, but to have been clinging to its eastern edge.
On Tuesday night Spion Kop was taken. It was assaulted, probably in the
dark, by surprise, and the Boers driven off. Even on Wednesday the Boers
were tenaciously resisting the advance, making heavy attacks on Spion
Kop and using their artillery with effect. At midnight between
Wednesday and Thursday Sir Redvers Duller telegraphed home Sir Charles
Warren's opinion that the enemy's position had been rendered untenable,
and added his own judgment