ested that additional mounted men should be raised in the
colonies, and added,

"I trust you will make arrangements to supply us with horses from
Australia, India, and America. Our wants will, I fear, be
considerable."

[Sidenote: Details of movement. 25th Jan. to 12th Feb. 1900.]

On 6th February the Field-Marshal, accompanied by his Chief of the
Staff, left Cape Town for Lord Methuen's camp. Meanwhile the
concentration had gone on. The details of the moves by rail had been
worked out by the Director of Railways and the General Traffic
Manager; ten miles of additional sidings had been laid down between
Orange River and the Modder, and at these sidings, between the 28th of
January and the 12th of February, there were detrained some 30,000
troops, with horses, guns, equipment, and transport, besides an
immense amount of supplies. Clements' brigade, with two squadrons
Inniskilling Dragoons, 660 Australian infantry who were in process of
being converted into mounted troops, 450 mounted infantry, two
batteries (J., R.H.A. and 4th R.F.A.) and a section 37th Howitzer
battery, lay round Rensburg to face General Schoeman's commandos. The
rest of Kelly-Kenny's division and French's original force were
brought round by rail to Orange River, the former unit being there
completed by the new brigade--the 18th--formed out of line of
communication battalions, under the command of Brig.-Gen. T. E.
Stephenson. Seven militia battalions, just disembarked from England,
were hurried up country to replace these regular battalions, and
protect the western and the central lines of rail. By the 8th of
February the cavalry division, except detachments of the 6th Dragoon
Guards and 14th Hussars and Hannay's M.I. brigade, had been assembled
at the Modder River camp under Lieut.-General French. Hannay's brigade
was at Orange River station; the 6th division at Modder River camp;
the 7th at Enslin and Graspan. Of the 9th division, the Highland
brigade was on the Riet, while the new 19th brigade was in process of
formation under Smith-Dorrien at Graspan. The distribution of troops
in South Africa on the 11th February, 1900, will be found in Appendix
10.

[Sidenote: Motives of Lord Roberts. Instructions given below.]

To Cronje it appeared that the English were about once more to hurl
themselves against his carefully-prepared entrenchments. Lord Roberts
had at last under his hand a force whose strength and mobility
permitted of the execution of