As a rule the minor wars in which this country has been from time to
time engaged, have been remarkable both for the admirable way in which
they were conducted and for the success that attended them. The two
campaigns in South Africa, however, that followed each other with but a
brief interval, were notable exceptions. In the Zulu War the blunder,
made by the General in command, of dividing his army and marching away
with the greater portion without troubling himself to keep up
communication with the force left behind, brought about a serious
disaster at Isandula. In the Boer War we also suffered two defeats,--
one at Laing's Neck, the other at Majuba Hill,--and when at last a
British force was assembled capable of retrieving these misfortunes, the
English government decided not to fight, but to leave the Boers in
possession of the Transvaal. This unfortunate surrender has, assuredly,
brought about the troubled state of things now existing in South Africa.
After having written upwards of fifty records of almost unbroken success
to the British arms in almost all parts of the world, I have found it
painful to describe these two campaigns in which we suffered defeat. I
trust, however, that this story will prove of great interest to the
reader because of the characteristic English pluck and daring of its
hero.
G.A. Henty.