incapacitated. After Lord Roberts' victories in the first half of 1900 Chamberlain came to be hailed as a great statesman, in part filling the gap left by the gradual retirement of Lord Salisbury, the former titan of foreign policy. Chamberlain wanted a tolerant, liberal, civilized Empire, and a generous reconstruction of South Africa. Military situation Lord Methuen was on the march to Kimberley, only 25 miles away. Unscreened from the Boer's trenches in the town, the mounted force lost 500 men. But they managed to wheel round to cross the Modder River by nightfall. There he rested from 1 to 7 December, using the river for refreshment. They fully expected Redvers Buller to simultaneously march on Ladysmith in north Natal. These blows they hoped would end the war by Christmas. By Lord Milner's assessment conveyed to London, 70,000 troops would be needed to complete the business. Milner's concern over losses mitigating success on the field had caused a rethink of the situation in the Transvaal. ...If we had known all we do now, I suppose that we should have taken up a position probably at Colenso and left all the northern part of Natal undefended. We ought also probably to have abandoned Mafeking. One serious deficiency was the low velocity artillery which shot less far than the Boers' excellent guns. Milner wrote:. I dare not speculate on the further progress of the war. The Boers seem to have fought with the greatest courage and determination, and I do not gather that they have lost their power as marksmen On Monday 11 December, General Gatacre's night attack into strong Boer defences at Stormberg had ended in failure. The enemy had modern rifles, accurate artillery, bandoliers for all, and proven horse commandos. Ganache lost two guns, and 700 men, of whom 500 were prisoners. The senior officers had left them behind. But as usual the Boers did not bother to pursue. On the Modder River, Methuen's division of 15,000 frontline troops ran into heavily dug-in Boers on the Magersfontein Heights. The British artillery barrage warned the Boer of the impending assault, led by the Highland Brigade in the monsoon rains in the darkness. At dawn the British were caught by a murderous cross-fire. Major-General Wauchope became a high-ranking casualty. The British casualties were 1000 men to the Boers' 250. The defeat delayed the relief of Kimberley. In Natal, Buller was already pessimistic