‘January 27.’Yesterday nothing happened that is worth recording. The Royal Scots marched this morning to Pen Hoek, and there is every reason for satisfaction at this most desirable, although somewhat tardy recognition of the fact that one of the primary duties of infantry in this war is to furnish ‘Pivots of Manoeuvre’ for their more mobile comrades in arms. Obviously, so long as the mounted troops are compelled to reserve a portion of their strength for the defence of the various advanced posts occupied by them, the numbers available for reconnaissance and reconnoitring must necessarily be reduced in proportion; whilst, upon the contrary, if adequately supported by infantry, they can devote their entire attention to the special operations which they may be called upon to undertake. The acceptance of this principle should yield good results in the immediate future, more especially as in Brigadier-Gee oral Brabant, who has been appointed to the command of the ‘Colonial Division/ Sir William Gatacre will have the assistance of a thoroughly experienced and well-tried leader of irregular horse. The name of 'Brabant* is one to conjure with in this part of the colony, and is well known and respected in every other district. His military reputation, which has been right well earned, as well as his personal popularity, pointed to Colonel Brabant as the man of all others, both from a military and from a political point of view^ to be selected for the important command which he now holds.
"Brigadier-General Brabant arrived in camp this morning from Cape Town, and after a consultation with General Gatacre, left in the afternoon for Queenstown, where his headquarters are temporarily established, pending final arrangements for a forward movement. By the same train I also travelled, en route to East London, which, as it is the sea base of this column, I have long been anxious to visit.
‘January 28.’I reached East London this morning, after a very tedious and uncomfortable journey, the train being two hours late, and the carriages very bad. Only one sleeping car remains on this line, all others having gone to Cape Town before the Boers occupied Stormberg; hence our troubles. A more complete transformation than that which has been worked at East London since I was last here, it is impossible to imagine. In February, 1876,1 landed for a couple of hours when journeying, coastwise, from Cape Town to Durban, and at that time the town of East London, as it now stands, had practically no existence. The railway had not been opened, and the village, for it was then no more, consisted for the most part of corrugated iron huts, situated on the south side of the Buffalo River. The modem town has since grown up on the northern bank, and is admirably laid out with fine broad streets, and not a few handsome public and other buildings. There are excellent and very extensive stores, good shops, and hotels.
‘On the afternoon of my arrival (Sunday), I accompanied a party of the naval and military staff on a boating expedition up the river to a very pretty spot about two and a half miles distant, where we boiled a kettle and made tea, after the most approved fashion of home picnics on the Dart, Tavy, or other familiar rivers. The boat used by us had been kindly lent by the harbour-master, and is a first-class craft built by Salter. To see such a boat out here was a considerable surprise, and a row in it a real joy. Our pleasure was, however, short lived. On our return to East London the sad news from the Tugela was not long in reaching us. ^Previously, everything had looked bright, and our only anxiety had been for early news of the relief of Ladysmith’ which we had imagined to be a matter of hours. The abandonment of the hardly-won position on Spion Kop, and the subsequent retreat of Sir Redvers Bullers force came as a terrible and wholly unexpected blow. Truly the British Army has been ill-served by fortune during this war. Many errors have indeed been committed, but their influence has been as nothing in comparison with that of sheer bad luck. However, success, when at last we have won it, will be the more valuable triumph, dearly bought as it will indeed have been. The only ray of hope that remains in reference to the assumed calamity that has just been reported, lies in the possibility that the flank attack in this particular instance was merely intended as a demonstration, and that startling intelligence of success achieved elsewhere may suddenly reach us. It is at least natural to wonder at the operations of which we have heard being unaccompanied by any other action, and it is almost inconceivable that such can have been actually the case. With a comparatively large force at his disposal, Sir Redvers Buller would scarcely have relied only upon the turning movement attempted by a detachment. Some combination there must have been; but the question is yet to be decided as to whether the failure of the entire enterprise has followed from the fighting at Spion Kop, or whether the latter was a mere incident by which the general result remains unaffected.
‘January 29.’To-day I visited the Trojan, where our sick and wounded appear to be thoroughly well looked after and to be most comfortable. The ship is excellently fitted up, and the patients are provided with every comfort that they could enjoy in a first-rate hospital on land. Several of our Stormberg wounded were on board, all doing well, and some expecting permission to rejoin their corps within the next few days.
‘Whilst on board the Trojan I had the somewhat mixed enjoyment of watching the Fearless start for Port Elizabeth, with the Barossa detachment of the Naval Brigade, and the two 4’7 naval guns, which we have for some time been fondly expecting to welcome at Sterkstroom. These gone have now gone to our neighbours at Colesberg, and with them have taken away our hopes of doing something decisive against the Stormberg Boers. Probably we have but little right to complain, since it is obvious that the important point at present is that where Generals Kelly-Kenny and French are now operating, and the most that we can do here is to act in combination, so as to favour their movements. The moral effect of a strong counterstroke is sorely needed, and the opportunities for this are greater about Colesberg than in this part of the country. Yet it is none the less aggravating that we should be the unlucky column whose needs are necessarily sacrificed in favour of others.
‘January 31.’I quitted East London yesterday, and returned to Sterkstroom this morning. General Brabant is still at Queenstown, and apparently his projected movement to the front has been delayed, although, I hope, not for long. little as we may be capable of undertaking at present, it is none the less most desirable that we should not be inactive. Our policy is to ‘worry’ the enemy, whilst avoiding any danger of committing ourselves to any perilous enterprise. ‘Fabian tactics‘ do not mean ‘masterly inactivity’ but the contrary. What we need to do is to treat the enemy to a series of homoeopathic doses, whilst carefully preventing him from retaliating with more drastic measures. This we shall soon be attending to, and when a fair start has been made, we shall, I trust, effect some good results. The Northumberland Fusiliers, who have received a strong draft from home, have returned to camp from East London, and the Royal Irish Rifles have also been reinforced, so that we now have four excellent battalions, two of which, the Rifles and the Fusiliers, are present in camp, available for any special enterprise. The Royal Scots and the Derbyshires are at Pen Hoek and Bushman’s Hoek respectively.
'February 1.’About 1000 head of cattle and sheep have been captured by the Cape Police from rebels in the Dordrecht district, and arrived in camp this morning. Sir Redvers Buller’s despatch to the Governor unfortunately dispels any lingering hope that the success of the recent operations about the Tugela may not have been prevented by the failure to hold the Spion Kop. Evidently a fresh start is necessary.
‘February 2.’This morning I received a wire from Amery, instructing me to proceed to Rensburg. Fortunately, a good opportunity is at my disposal, and I shall start to-morrow.’
