Relief of Ladysmith.—It was part of Roberts's purpose to relieve the pressure in Natal by his own operations. Buller began his fourth advance on Feb. 14, and though this was checked the foothold gained was not abandoned, and a fifth and last attempt (Pieter's Hill [q.v.]) was successful. Ladysmith (q.v.) was re lieved on Feb. 28. It had fared worst of all the beleaguered gar risons, and its 22,000 inhabitants were almost at their last gasp when relief came. The casualties from shell-fire had been few, but those from sickness were very heavy. Buller's operations, too, had cost at Colenso, I,Ioo men, at Spion Kop 1,700, at Vaalkrantz 400, and now in the last long-drawn effort 1,600 more—over 5,000 in all. But the tide of war had changed. The Natal invaders fell back to the mountains which enclose the north of the colony., Oliver and Schoeman retired from Cape Colony; and the presi dents of the republics hinted at status quo before the war. These proposals were rejected by Lord Salisbury.
Capture of Bloemfontein.—ThP surrender of Cronje and the relief of Ladysmith for the time being paralysed the Boer resis tance. Two half-hearted attempts were made early in March, at Poplar Grove and Driefontein, to stem Roberts's advance upon Bloemfontein, President Kruger himself arriving on the scene to give confidence to his burghers. But on March 13, 190o, Roberts's army marched into the Free State capital, this in spite of the fact that much transport collected at Ramdam had been cut off by De Wet.
It was only on March 29 that the new railway communication recommenced to feed the army. In the meantime rebellion had broken out in the Prieska district of Cape Colony, but was promptly quelled by Kitchener. The enforced halt at Bloem fontein was unfortunate ; it not only resulted in a bad outbreak of enteric, but it gave the Boers time to recuperate, and by the beginning of April they again took the initiative. The death of their commandant-general, Piet Joubert, on March 28, seemed to mark a change in the fortunes of the Republican army. Chris tian De Wet, who had first come into prominence as the captor of Roberts's convoy at Waterval, and was now operating east and south-west of Bloemfontein in order to counteract the influence of Roberts's numerous flying columns which rode hither and thither offering peace to the burgher, added to his laurels by am bushing Broadwood's mounted brigade and horse artillery at San nah's Post, just outside Bloemfontein, on March 31. Four days later he reduced a detachment at Reddersburg, and then went south and invested a mixed force at Wepener, which was relieved after ten days by Gen. Hunter's Ladysmith division.
Relief of Mafeking.—On May i i Roberts and his army moved northwards upon the Transvaal capital, Pretoria. A flying column on May 17 relieved Mafeking, where Col. Baden-Powell had throughout shown an unconventional gaiety. The same day the Natal Field Force under Buller moved up into the Biggarsberg and occupied Dundee. On May 12 Roberts entered Kroonstad, and on May 31, occupied Johannesburg, the Orange Free State having been annexed three days earlier. On May 3o President Kruger had fled with the State archives to Waterval Boven on the Komati Poort line. The gold mines were now securely in the possession of the British, and on June 5 Roberts occupied Pretoria practically without resistance.
Diamond Hill.—The army of occupation had still to face two years of almost unprecedented partisan warfare. On June 8 Buller, who had made a long halt after the relief of Ladysmith and reorganized his army and its line of communication, forced his way over Alleman's Nek, and on the following day occupied Laing's Nek, the Natal gate to the Transvaal, while Roberts fought a widespread battle against Botha, De la Rey and Kemp at Diamond Hill, 20M. east of Pretoria. The object of this ac tion was to push back the Boers from the neighbourhood of Pretoria, but no sooner was this done than the north-western Transvaal became active, in spite of Hunter's and Baden-Powell's advance from Mafeking through this district. As the British line of operations now extended eastward from Pretoria, the advance of these Boers to the Magaliesberg threatened their rearward com munications, and as Buller had moved far more slowly than the main army there was not as yet an alternative line through Natal. Most serious of all was the pressure between Bloem fontein and the Vaal, where the Free Staters, under De Wet and other commanders, had initiated the guerrilla war as soon as Botha and the Transvaalers retired over the Vaal and ceased to defend them by regular operations. Large forces had been left behind during the advance on Johannesburg for the protec tion of the railway and the conquered territory, and these had now to be reinforced. Hunter and Rundle successfully herded Prinsloo with 4,00o Free Staters into the Brandwater Basin (July 29) a very satisfactory result, but one seriously marred by the escape of De Wet, who soon afterwards raided the Western Transvaal and again escaped between converging pursuers under Kitchener, Methuen, Smith-Dorrien, Ian Hamilton and Baden-Powell.