But The Fatal
Slowness Which Had Marred General Buller's Previous Operations
Again Prevented Him From Completing His Success.
Twice at least in
the course of these operations there is evidence of sudden impulse
to drop his tools in the midst of his task and to do no more for
the day.
So it was at Colenso, where an order was given at an early
hour for the whole force to retire, and the guns which might have
been covered by infantry fire and withdrawn after nightfall were
abandoned. So it was also at a critical moment at this action at
Vaalkranz. In the original scheme of operations it had been planned
that an adjoining hill, called the Green Hill, which partly
commanded Vaalkranz, should be carried also. The two together made
a complete position, while singly each was a very bad neighbour to
the other. On the aide-de-camp riding up, however, to inquire from
General Buller whether the time had come for this advance, he
replied, 'We have done enough for the day,' and left out this
essential portion of his original scheme, with the result that all
miscarried.
Speed was the most essential quality for carrying out his plan
successfully. So it must always be with the attack. The defence
does not know where the blow is coming, and has to distribute men
and guns to cover miles of ground. The attacker knows where he will
hit, and behind a screen of outposts he can mass his force and
throw his whole strength against a mere fraction of that of his
enemy.
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