ABSTRACT
As the winter fell on South Africa in July 1900, Roberts continued his drive in the Transvaal. Behind him, in the Orange Free State, he left a few infantry divisions, including Methuen's, to consolidate British authority. The Boers refused to lay down their weapons after the fall of Bloemfontein. Instead, they turned to guerrilla warfare: striking at weak British outposts, destroying communication and transportation networks, and leading British columns on maddening chases. Methuen countered these tactics by confiscating civilian property, burning down farmhouses (though he would not always do this), and preventing the Boer commandos from getting a sound night's rest. Charged with the safety of the garrisons along the railway, and harassed daily by raiding parties, he was more aware than most of his fellow officers that the South Africa War had entered a guerrilla phase. This chapter will demonstrate that the war in South Africa had moved into such a phase prior to Roberts' departure. It will show also how Methuen was able effectively to counter the new Boer tactics, examining his deployment of garrisons, his use of mounted infantry and his unrelenting pursuit of the enemy.
