[1] The Boers crossed the border into the Colony and after battles at Talana Hill, Elandalaagte and the surrender of a large number of British troops at Nicholsons Nek, White set about defending his position at Ladysmith, some 20 km north of the Tugela river.

Winston Churchill asserts that the British Government plan, to which he became privy in later life, was for White to fall back to a position south of the Tugela River.

[3] On the day that the encirclement of Ladysmith was completed, reinforcements headed by General Sir Redvers Buller arrived in Cape Town en route to Natal.

On 15 November a raiding party ambushed an armoured train at Chieveley, 11 km south of Colenso taking 70 prisoners including Churchill.

[3] After another raiding party was surprised on 23 November at Willow Grange, [4] 10 km to the south of Estcourt, the Boers withdrew to a position behind the Tugela River.

[5] 28°44′3″S 29°49′21″E / 28.73417°S 29.82250°E / -28.73417; 29.82250 (Battle of Colenso) By the middle of December, British and Empire troops were pouring into the Colony and Buller, now heading an army of 20,000 men moved his headquarters northwards to Frere.

On the western flank the British forces suffered considerable losses when the Irish Brigade were trapped in a loop in the river 3 km upstream from Colenso.

In the centre they lost ten guns while on the eastern flank, Buller ordered his men to retreat even though the Boers had abandoned Hlangwane hill.

28°39′0″S 29°30′59″E / 28.65000°S 29.51639°E / -28.65000; 29.51639 (Battle of Spion Kop) Reinforcements continued to pour into Natal and with the arrival of Sir Charles Warren's division, Buller had 30,000 men under his command.

[3] Some 30 km west of Colenso, Spion Kop, a hill that rose 430 m above the plains dominated Trichardt's Drift, one of the Tugela River crossing points.

On the night of 23 January in heavy mist the British launched an attack on what they thought was Spion Kop, but it turned out to be a smaller mound some 500 m from the main peak.

On 25 February the British moved the pontoon bridge downstream to the mouth of the Tugela gorge where they could cross the river unseen and outflank the Boer positions.