eadquarter and lines of communication staffs, had to
carry out during the first three weeks of November were of an
overwhelming nature. These included the reorganisation of the various
bodies of troops which, from the 9th November onwards, arrived daily
in Table Bay from England; the disembarkation of the units; their
equipment for the field and despatch to the front; the issue of
operation orders to the troops in Natal and Cape Colony already in
touch with the enemy; the establishment of supply depots for the field
forces, the defence of Maritzburg and Durban from the Boer raid, which
threatened those very important towns; the protection of the lines of
railway through Cape Colony, with the mere handful of troops at first
available; and the checking of the invasion of the Free Staters across
the Orange river. To these must be added the anxious watching of the
signs in disaffected districts of smouldering rebellion, which a
single success of the enemy might fan into a burst of flame; these and
other cares formed an accumulation of pressing duties and heavy
responsibilities, which fully justify the frank statement of Sir R.
Buller to Lt.-Gen. Forestier-Walker on 20th November that "Ever since
I have been here we have been like the man who, with a long day's work
before him, overslept himself and so was late for everything all
day."[144] The position of affairs in South Africa throughout these
anxious weeks, in fact, forcibly proved the truth of Lord Wolseley's
warning, addressed on 3rd September, 1899, to the Secretary of State
that: "We have committed one of the greatest blunders in war, namely,
we have given the enemy the initiative. He is in a position to take
the offensive, and by striking the first blow to ensure the great
advantage of winning the first round."

[Footnote 144: See the end of this chapter.]

[Sidenote: Improved prospects.]

Yet by the 22nd November the labours of the Headquarter staff of the
army in South Africa, assisted by the fullest co-operation of the two
Governors, Sir Alfred Milner and Sir W. Hely-Hutchinson, and aided by
the strenuous exertions of the lines of communication staff in Cape
Colony and Natal, had sensibly improved the general situation in both
the western and eastern theatres of war. In Cape Colony, no part of
Bechuanaland and Griqualand West, it is true, except the areas
defended by the garrisons of Mafeking, Kuruman and Kimberley, remained
under British authority. B