[citation needed] With new, modernized troops came new tactics; only a few months after Black Week, one of the main British cavalry divisions led a flanking march that ended with a victory.
[2] Besides equipping the cavalry with rapid-firing rifles instead of lances, the new British military doctrine also started using artillery as a defensive unit of the army, and saw innovation in the use of machine guns.
[3] These new volunteers served as a "new face, untainted by defeat and accusations of defeatism…to breathe life back into the campaigns and restore hope at home.
"[4] Other changes enacted by the British immediately following the Black Week disaster were the mobilization of two more divisions, the calling up of the army reserves, raising a force of mounted infantry for better mobility, and most importantly by sending volunteers from home overseas which added more than one hundred thousand additional troops by the end of the war.
No single defeat was of vital importance in itself, but the cumulative effect, occurring as they did to each of the main British forces in South Africa, was very great.
[6] Milner's concern over losses mitigating success on the field had caused a rethink of the situation in the Transvaal.
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.
Buller, at his wits end, advised Ladysmith to surrender, but Sir George White pledged to fight on.
Liberal leader Henry Campbell-Bannerman declared from Aberdeen on December 19, The gravity of the situation, the formidable character of the campaign as now disclosed ...these furnish no ground for doubt or for despondency.... We have a united people in this country, and in every part of the Empire, and with these forces on our side moral and material success is certain.... Mr Chamberlain is largely responsible for this war.The British government drastically changed their mindset after the Black Week disaster to the realization that the Boer war would not be an easy victory or won by Christmas.
Although there were many doubters who criticized the overall justice of the British cause, the patriots who would end up volunteering, fighting, and winning this conflict were the majority.
Following Black Week, the government called "for able-bodied men willing to abandon their homes and families and risk their lives to serve their country.
The Canadians were eager horsemen, and when the matter was settled on the day after Colenso, the necessity of cavalry doctrine was acknowledged.
[9] The day after Buller's defeat Premier of New Zealand Richard Seddon telegrammed Chamberlain declaring how they would be delighted to help.