The troops, in spite of their trying march--the mud collected by tremendous rains, the arduous business of getting across the river, the grilling sun overhead, and the enemy possibly threatening from unknown quarters--were bright, healthy, and hopeful. Immense enthusiasm was occasioned in every camp when all were made acquainted with the brief yet stirring words of Sir Redvers Buller: "_We are going to the relief of our comrades in Ladysmith; there will be no turning back_." A short emphatic statement this--blunt as the conversation of the man who made it, but instinct with noble meaning--of superb resolve! It touched every heart, and made each bronzed-face warrior repeat once more to himself the oath to do or die for the honour of his country and for the service of those to be relieved! THE FLANK MOVEMENT Before going further, it is interesting to examine with the map a rough hint made by Mr. Winston Churchill, correspondent of the _Morning Post_, of the general plan of the advance. [Illustration: TYPES OF ARMS--A MOUNTAIN BATTERY. (Drawn by Ernest Prater.)] "Having placed his army within striking distance of the various passages across the Tugela, Sir Redvers Buller's next object was to cross and debouch. To this end his plan appears to have been--for information is scarcely yet properly codified--something as follows: Lyttleton's Brigade, the corps troops forming Coke's Brigade, the ten Naval guns, the battery of howitzers, one field-battery, and Bethune's Mounted Infantry to demonstrate in front of the Potgieter position, keeping the Boers holding the horseshoe in expectation of a frontal attack and masking their main position; Sir Charles Warren to march by night from Springfield with the brigades of Hart, Woodgate, and Hildyard, the Royal Dragoons, six batteries of artillery, and the pontoon train to a point about five miles west of Spearman's Hill, and opposite Trichardt's Drift on the Tugela. Here he was to meet the mounted forces from Spearman's Hill, and with these troops he was next day, the 17th, to throw bridges, force the passage of the river, and operate at leisure and discretion against the right flank of the enemy's horseshoe before Potgieter's, resting on Spion Kop, a commanding mountain, ultimately joining hands with the frontal force from Spearman's Hill at a point on the Acton Homes Ladysmith road. To sum up briefly, seven battalions, twenty-two guns, and three hundred horse under Lyttleton to mask the Potgieter position; twelve battalions, thirty-six guns, and sixteen hundred horse to cross five miles to the westward, and make a turning movement against the enemy's right. The Boer covering army was to be swept back on Ladysmith by a powerful left arm, the pivoting shoulder of which was at Potgieter's, the elbow at Trichardt's Drift, and the enveloping hand--the cavalry under Lord Dundonald--stretching out towards Acton Homes."