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 not of interests, to the Power which
stands most prominently for individual freedom and liberal
institutions. The same poor excuse may be made for the organs of
the Vatican. But what are we to say of the insensate railing of
Germany, a country whose ally we have been for centuries? In the
days of Marlborough, in the darkest hours of Frederick the Great,
in the great world struggle of Napoleon, we have been the
brothers-in-arms of these people.
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