13. Please send me the 10th Brigade, except that portion which you detail for the garrison at Springfield, as soon as possible; also the eight 12-pr. naval guns, and any details, such as ammunition column, &c., that you do not wish to take. On the same day Sir Redvers Buller issued a spirited appeal to the troops in which he said ‘We are going to the relief of our comrades in Ladysmith; there will be no turning back.’ Great was the rejoicing of the men, and Sir Redvers was greeted with cheers wherever he showed himself and shouts of ‘No turning back this time.’ Sir Charles Warren’s force was in fact a flying column consisting of 1,500 mounted troops, 12,000 infantry, and 36 field guns, carrying with it three and a half days’ provisions. The wagons, guns, and wheeled vehicles of this force (leaving all tents, camp equipage, and stores behind) formed a column fifteen miles in length. The whole of the long-range guns, the howitzer battery, the mountain battery, and two brigades of infantry (8,000 men) remained with Sir Redvers Buller at Potgieter’s. The force thus placed under Sir Charles Warren’s command was hastily put together, and he could not even see them all before they started. The 5th Division had but recently arrived--some of the battalions having just landed from a long sea voyage--had been hurriedly mobilised, and was not acclimatised to the heat of Natal in midsummer. The 2nd Division had only just arrived from Chieveley and was unknown to General Warren until he met it on the line of march on 16th January, while the mounted troops he only saw in detail, as they did not join his command until the 17th of the month. No extra Staff was allotted to the force as a whole, and upon the Staff of the 5th Division were thrown the additional staff duties of the flying column, for no regimental officers were available, all being required with their units. Sir Charles Warren was ordered to move as soon as supplies were all in and the 10th Brigade had removed from Springfield Bridge to Spearman’s Hill. He tells us in his despatch that he made his arrangements for getting supplies on 15th January, moved the 10th Brigade on the following day, and on the evening of that day left Springfield with a force under his command which amounted to an army corps (less one brigade), and by a night march arrived at Trichard’s Drift, and took possession of the hills on the south side of the Tugela river.