CHAPTER V

THE TIDE TURNS

White's Dash from Ladysmith--Nicholson's Nek--The Reverse at
Lombard's Kop--A Cavalry Exploit--French's Dramatic Escape
from Ladysmith.


So far the tide of battle had flowed fairly equally between the two
armies. Thanks to French, White had won the two engagements which he
had to undertake in order to save Yule's column. In Ladysmith he had
now an admirably proportioned force of 10,000 men, quite adequate for
the town's defence. Across the Atlantic an Army Corps was hastening to
his succour. He had only to sit still and wait in Ladysmith,
fortifying it with all the ingenuity that time would permit.

Unfortunately he was not content to sit still and wait behind his
entrenchments. He determined not to be hemmed in without a struggle.
Be it remembered that at that time the British commanders had not
fully realised the numbers, the equipment and the intrepidity of
their opponents. The traditional chastening of experience was still
wanting. As Napier has it, "In the beginning of each war England has
to seek in blood the knowledge necessary to ensure success; and, like
the fiend's progress towards Eden, her conquering course is through
chaos followed by death."