BULLER

Buller became head of the troops stationed at Aldershot in 1898. He was sent as commander of the Natal Field Force in 1899 on the outbreak of the Second Boer War. He was defeated at the Battle of Colenso, during what was later to become known as Black Week. Defeats at the Battle of Magersfontein and Battle of Stormberg also involved forces under his command. Because of concerns about his performance and negative reports from the field he was replaced in January 1900 as overall commander in South Africa by Lord Roberts. He remained as second-in-command and suffered two more setbacks in his attempts to relieve Ladysmith at the battles of Spion Kop and Vaal Krantz. On his fourth attempt, Buller was victorious in the Battle of the Tugela Heights, lifting the siege on 28th February 1900. After Roberts took Bloemfontein, Buller correctly predicted that the Boers would take to guerrilla warfare. It was Buller's veterans who won the Battle of Bergendal in the war's last set-piece action.