THE GUERRILLA WAR, PART 1 By September 1900 the British were in control of both Republics, except for the northern part of Transvaal. They however found that they only controlled the ground their columns physically occupied. As soon as the columns left a town or district, the control the British had there, faded away. The huge territory of the Republics made it impossible for the 250 000 British troops to control it effectively. The vast distances between the columns allowed the Boer commandos considerable freedom to move about. The Boer commanders also decided to adopt a guerrilla style of warfare. The commandos were sent to their own districts with the order to act against the British there whenever possible. Their strategy was to do as much damage to the enemy as possible, and then to move off and vanish when enemy reinforcements arrived. In September 1900 the ageing Pres. Kruger left for Europe to plead the Republics' cause with the various European Governments. Kruger's departure brought Steyn to the foreground as the soul of the Afrikaner fight for freedom. Up to the end of the War he accompanied the commandos in the veld, encouraging them to continue the war. In November 1900 Lord Roberts mistakenly thought that the War was over and that only minor mopping up work still was needed. He left this mopping up to Lord Kitchener, who commanded the British forces in South Africa until the end of the War in 1902. The Free State C De Wet's attempts to invade the Cape Colony In the months following the start of the Guerrilla War, Gen. De Wet made two attempts to invade the Cape Colony. The invasion attempts were aimed at drawing the battle away from the Republics' territory to British territory and relieving the tension there. It was believed that the presence of Boer commandos south of the Orange River would also serve as an encouragement to many Cape Afrikaners to join the Republican commandos. Gen. De Wet made his first attempt to cross the Orange River in November 1900. The British commanders soon realised what De Wet was aiming at and immediately sent reinforcements to the south to block his way. This, together with a swollen Orange River, forced De Wet to abandon his invasion attempt. With the British hot on his heels he in fact had to fall back for all he was worth, but eventually succeeded in reaching safety. At the end of January 1901 De Wet made a second attempt to invade the Cape Colony. This was necessary in order to relieve the pressure on the two Republics brought about by Kitchener's scorched earth policy and his strategy of drives to capture the Boers. In February De Wet succeeded in crossing the Orange River. Rain and swollen rivers again hampered his advance into the Cape Colony. Only by long arduous nightly rides his commandos succeeded in evading the British who were ever in pursuit. On 28 February De Wet and his commandos crossed the Orange River back into the relative safety of the Orange Free State. Eastern Transvaal The battle of Dalmanutha was followed by a period of quiet in the war in the eastern part of Transvaal. While general. Botha mainly concentrated his actions on the area north of the Delagoa Bay railway line, the commandos south of the railway operated in their own districts. By January 1901Botha had reorganized his commandos and was prepared to take on the British again. On the night of 7 January 1901 his commandos attacked Belfast, Machadodorp, Wonderfontein and a number of smaller places along the railway line. Although the British were caught off guard in some places, none of the Boer attacks ended in success. Western Transvaal Nooitgedacht As in the Eastern Transvaal, a lull in hostilities followed September 1900 in the western districts of Transvaal. The Boer generals used this time of relative quiet, to reorganise their commandos. In the meantime Maj. Gen. Clements' columns were stationed at the Magaliesberg, between Rustenburg and Krugersdorp. On 13 December 1900 he was attacked by the commandos of Gen. De la Rey and Gen. Beyers. The British put up a strong fight, but were eventually driven out of their camp and forced to flee. The battle of Nooitgedacht was one of the most magnificent victories the Republican forces during the War.