At various times during the campaign the foreign newspaper
correspondents--Mr. Douglas Story, of the London _Daily Mail_; Mr. John O.
Knight, of the _San Francisco Call_; Mr. Thomas F. Millard, of the _New
York Herald_, and the writer--made strenuous efforts to secure accurate
information concerning the Boers' strength, and the results invariably
showed that there were less than thirty thousand men in the field. The
correspondents visited all the principal commandos and had the admirable
assistance of the generals and commandants, as well as that of the
officers of the War Departments, but frequently the results did not rise
above the twenty-five thousand mark. According to the statement of the
late Commandant-General Joubert, made several days before his death, he
never had more than thirteen thousand men in Natal, and of that number
less than two thousand were engaged in the trek to Mooi River. After the
relief of Ladysmith the forces in Natal dwindled down, by reason of
desertions and withdrawals, to less than five thousand, and when General
Buller began his advance there were not more than four thousand five
hundred Boers in that Colony to oppose him.
The strength of the army in the field varied considerably, on account of
causes which are described elsewhere, and there is no doubt that it
frequently fell below twenty thousand men while the Boers were still on
their enemy's territory. The following table, prepared with great care and
with the assistance of the leading Boer commanders, gives as correct an
idea of the burghers' numerical strength actually in the field at various
stages of the campaign as will probably ever be formulated:--
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