In His Early Youth He
Had Shown In The Mutiny That He Possessed The Fighting Energy Of
The Soldier To
A remarkable degree, but it was only in the Afghan
War of 1880 that he had an opportunity of proving
That he had rarer
and more valuable gifts, the power of swift resolution and
determined execution. At the crisis of the war he and his army
disappeared entirely from the public ken only to emerge
dramatically as victors at a point three hundred miles distant from
where they had vanished.
It is not only as a soldier, but as a man, that Lord Roberts
possesses some remarkable characteristics. He has in a supreme
degree that magnetic quality which draws not merely the respect but
the love of those who know him. In Chaucer's phrase, he is a very
perfect gentle knight. Soldiers and regimental officers have for
him a feeling of personal affection such as the unemotional British
Army has never had for any leader in the course of our history. His
chivalrous courtesy, his unerring tact, his kindly nature, his
unselfish and untiring devotion to their interests have all
endeared him to those rough loyal natures, who would follow him
with as much confidence and devotion as the grognards of the Guard
had in the case of the Great Emperor. There were some who feared
that in Roberts's case, as in so many more, the donga and kopje of
South Africa might form the grave and headstone of a military
reputation, but far from this being so he consistently showed a
wide sweep of strategy and a power of conceiving the effect of
scattered movements over a great extent of country which have
surprised his warmest admirers. In the second week of February his
dispositions were ready, and there followed the swift series of
blows which brought the Boers upon their knees. Of these we shall
only describe here the exploits of the fine force of cavalry which,
after a ride of a hundred miles, broke out of the heart of that
reddish dustcloud and swept the Boer besiegers away from
hard-pressed Kimberley.
In order to strike unexpectedly, Lord Roberts had not only made a
strong demonstration at Koodoosdrift, at the other end of the Boer
line, but he had withdrawn his main force some forty miles south,
taking them down by rail to Belmont and Enslin with such secrecy
that even commanding officers had no idea whither the troops were
going. The cavalry which had come from French's command at
Colesberg had already reached the rendezvous, travelling by road to
Naauwpoort, and thence by train. This force consisted of the
Carabineers, New South Wales Lancers, Inniskillings, composite
regiment of Household Cavalry, 10th Hussars, with some mounted
infantry and two batteries of Horse Artillery, making a force of
nearly three thousand sabres. To this were added the 9th and 12th
Lancers from Modder River, the 16th Lancers from India, the Scots
Greys, which had been patrolling Orange River from the beginning of
the war, Rimington's Scouts, and two brigades of mounted infantry
under Colonels Ridley and Hannay.
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