SIR CHARLES WARREN AND SPION KOP

xiii pp prelims, 244 + 4 pp, frontispiece, red cloth gilt on spine, uncut edges, map showing ground on which
operations of 17 to 25 January 1900 took place.

Hard cover in good condition. End papers have tanned. The last 4 pages of adverts remain uncut. The tissue guard for the frontispiece is partially loose.

This book offers a detailed examination of the Battle of Spion Kop, which took place in South Africa in 1900. Through meticulous research, Defender presents a vindication of Sir Charles Warren's role and decisions during the battle, shedding light on the intricacies of this significant event in African history.

This vindication was written to offset the historical account as reflected in Wikipedia:

At the Battle of Spion Kop, on 23–24 January 1900, [Warren] had operational command, and his failures of judgment, delay and indecision despite his superior forces culminated in the disaster.

Instead, "Defender" argues that Warren was not solely responsible for the British defeat and that he made the best decisions possible under difficult circumstances and unclear orders.

Preface: 

It is now more than two years since the operation took place on the Tugela River in Natal, that ended in the capture and the unwarrantable abandonment the same day of the position of Spion Kop. The lapse of time since these events occurred naturally caused a loss of interest in this chapter of the history of the war in South Africa; but the recent publication of portions of the despatches omitted in the ‘Gazette’ of 1900, and also of other documents received at the time by the War Office but not disclosed, has again brought the subject into prominence, revived public interest in it, and offered an opportunity which we gladly seize to vindicate the conduct of an officer who has been condemned without being heard.
Whether Sir Charles Warren will be allowed any opportunity of defending himself against[vi] the strictures passed upon him by Sir Redvers Buller, either now or when the war is over, is doubtful; but at length, having before us all the documents received at the War Office, it is proposed to show in the following pages that, in spite of the difficult circumstances in which he found himself, Sir Charles Warren did his duty, and that, had Spion Kop not been recklessly abandoned by a subordinate, there is every reason to suppose that he would have gained a great success.