he took little part in the negotiations that culminated in the ultimatum sent to great britain by kruger in 1899, and though he immediately assumed nominal command of the operations on the outbreak of hostilities, he gave up to others the chief share in the direction of the war, through his inability or neglect to impose upon them his own will. his cautious nature, which had in early life gained him the sobriquet of "slim piet" (clever piet), joined to a lack of determination and assertiveness that characterized his whole career, led him to act mainly on the defensive; and the strategically offensive movements of the boer forces, such as elandslaagte and willow grange, appear to have been neither planned nor executed by him.