The Unknown Commander of Cavalry--Who is General French?--Advancing without Reinforcements--"This is your Show, French"--The White Flag--The Chess-Player--The Victor in Anecdote 32 CHAPTER V THE TIDE TURNS White's Dash from Ladysmith--Nicholson's Nek--The Reverse at Lombard's Kop--A Cavalry Exploit--French's Dramatic Escape from Ladysmith 45 CHAPTER VI THE CAMPAIGN ROUND COLESBERG The Fog of War--A Perilous Situation--Damming "The Flowing Tide"--Shows His Genius as a Commander--A Campaign in Miniature--Hoisting Guns on Hilltops--The Fifty-mile Front--Saving the Situation 52 CHAPTER VII THE DASH TO KIMBERLEY French's Pledge--The Task--The First Shell--"Hemmed in"--"We must break through"--The Lancers' Charge--In and Out of Kimberley--The Surrender of Cronje 67 CHAPTER VIII ROUNDING UP THE BOERS French in the Modder--At Bloemfontein--French and the Artist--An Ambush--Doing the Impossible Again--Short Shrift with Barberton Snipers---Some French Stories 82 CHAPTER IX WORK AT HOME AND RESIGNATION At Aldershot--Driving Training at High Pressure-- General French is "fairly well pleased"--Strenuous Manoeuvres--Chief of the Imperial General Staff--Ulster and Resignation 97 CHAPTER X HIS BELIEF IN CAVALRY The Lessons of the Boer War--Cavalry _v_. Mounted Infantry--A Plea for the Lance--The Cavalry Spirit--Shock Tactics still Useful 106 CHAPTER XI THE MODERN MARLBOROUGH Europe's Need--The Plight of France--A Delicate Situation--The Man of "Grip"--A Magnificent Retreat 116 CHAPTER XII FRENCH, THE MAN A Typical Englishman--Fighting at School--Napoleon Worship--"A Great Reporter"--Halting Speeches and Polished Prose. A South African Coincidence--Mrs. Despard and the Newsboy--The Happy Warrior 121 Index 149 SIR JOHN FRENCH CHAPTER I EARLY DAYS A Kentish Celt--A Rebellious Boy--Four Years in the Navy--With the 19th Hussars--"Captain X Trees"--A Studious Subaltern--Chafing at Home--The First Opportunity.