After hostilities commenced, and it became necessary to have more generals, six other names were added to the list of assistants of Commandant-General Joubert--those chosen being Sarel Du Toit, Hendrik Schoeman, John De la Rey, Hendrik Snyman, and Herman R.
Lemmer.

The selections which were so promiscuously made were proved by time to be wise, for almost without exception the men developed into extraordinarily capable generals.

In the early part of the campaign many costly mistakes and errors of judgment were made by some of the newly-appointed generals, but such misfortunes were only to be expected from men who suddenly found themselves face to face with some of the best-trained generals in the world.

Later, when the campaign had been in progress for several months, and the farmers had had opportunities of learning the tactics of their opponents, they made no move unless they were reasonably certain of the result.
One of the prime reasons for the great success which attended the Boer army before the strength of the enemy's forces became overwhelming, was the fact that the generals were allowed to operate in parts of the country with which they were thoroughly acquainted.

General Cronje operated along the western frontiers of the Republics, where he knew the geographical features of the country as well as he did those of his own farm.