All they asked was a fight to a finish, and now they were about to have one.

General Buller had tried the Boers' centre, he had tried their extreme right, and now he was about to try their extreme left.

There were some obvious advantages on this side which make it surprising that it was not the first to be attempted.

In the first place, the enemy's main position upon that flank was at Hlangwane mountain, which is to the south of the Tugela, so that in case of defeat the river ran behind them.

In the second, Hlangwane mountain was the one point from which the Boer position at Colenso could be certainly enfiladed, and therefore the fruits of victory would be greater on that flank than on the other.
Finally, the operations could be conducted at no great distance from the railhead, and the force would be exposed to little danger of having its flank attacked or its communications cut, as was the case in the Spion Kop advance.