At the head were farmers who, perhaps, did not know that there
existed a theory of warfare and much less knew how recent wars were fought
and won. The means by which thirty thousand farmers of no military
training were enabled to withstand the opposition of several hundred
thousand well-trained soldiers for the greater part of a year must be
attributed to the military system which gave such a marvellous advantage.
Such success as attended the Boer army was undoubtedly the success of its
system of warfare against that of the British.
[Illustration: BOER COMMANDANTS READING MESSAGE FROM BRITISH OFFICERS
AFTER THE BATTLE OF DUNDEE]
The Boers themselves were not aware that they had a military system; at
least, none of the generals or men acknowledged the existence of such, and
it was not an easy matter to find evidences that battles were fought and
movements made according to certain established rules which suggested a
system. The Boers undoubtedly had a military plan of their own which was
naturally developed in their many wars with natives and with the British
troops. It might not have been a system, according to the correct
definition of the term--it might have been called an instinct for
fighting, or a common-sense way of attempting to defeat an enemy--but it
was a matter which existed in the mind of every single citizen of the two
Republics. It was not to be learned from books or teachers, nor could it
be taught to those who were not born in the country.
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