sentences:  By now, British public opinion was supportive of a war in support of the Uitlanders, allowing Chamberlain to ask successfully for further troop reinforcements.By the beginning of October 1899, nearly 20,000 British troops were based in the Cape and Natal, with thousands more en route.On 12 October, following a Transvaal ultimatum (9 October) demanding that British troops be withdrawn from her frontiers, and that any forces destined for South Africa be turned back, the Transvaal and the Orange Free State declared war.