By taking command in person in Natal,…

February 1900 CE

By taking command in person in Natal, Buller had allowed the overall direction of the war to drift.

Because of concerns about his performance and negative reports from the field, he is replaced as Commander in Chief by Field Marshal Lord Roberts.

Roberts quickly assembles an entirely new team for headquarters staff and he has chosen military men from far and wide: Lord Kitchener (Chief of Staff) from the Sudan; Frederick Russell Burnham (Chief of Scouts), the American scout, from the Klondike; George Henderson from the Staff College; and Neville Bowles Chamberlain from Afghanistan.

Like Buller, Roberts had first intended to attack directly along the Cape Town–Pretoria railway but, again like Buller, had been forced to relieve the beleaguered garrisons. 

Leaving Buller in command in Natal, Roberts masses his main force near the Orange River and along the Western Railway behind Methuen's force at the Modder River, and prepares to make a wide outflanking move to relieve Kimberley.

Locations
Vaal Krantz, Battle of South Africa View →

People
Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts View → Frederick Russell Burnham View → George Francis Robert Henderson View → J. B. M. Hertzog View → Louis Botha View → Neville Bowles Chamberlain View → Paul Kruger View → Paul Sanford Methuen View → Piet Cronjé View → Redvers Buller View →

Groups
Boers View → Britain (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland) View → Orange Free State, Republic of the (Boer Republic) View → South African Republic (the Transvaal) (restored) View →

Topics
Boer War, Second or Great View →

Subjects
Labor and Service View → Conflict View → Mayhem View → Government View →

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Group: Turkmen Oblast of the Turkestan ASSR
Location: Mapungubwe Northern Province South Africa
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