It has been asked why Sir Charles Warren, whose activity and energy are so marked a feature of his character, did not lead the attack in person, and Lord Roberts regrets that he did not visit Spion Kop during the afternoon or evening of the 24th. It is stated on very good authority that he proposed to command the attack in person, but was forbidden by Sir Redvers Buller on the very reasonable and proper ground that, as commander of the whole force across the Tugela, it was not his province to lead a portion of it: that he might have to give orders to his left as well as to his right, and for this reason he should not go up Spion Kop, but occupy a central position, whence he could issue orders to right and left, and be in communication with the Commander-in-Chief. CHAPTER IV BOER DEMORALISATION--TACTICAL IMPORTANCE OF SPION KOP Before relating the capture of Spion Kop and the events of 24th January, it will not be amiss to see how the other side regarded the British operations up to this time, and what importance they attached to the position of Spion Kop; and, further, how far it was tactically sound to occupy the hill in the circumstances. In the diary of Mr. Raymond Maxwell, published in the ‘Contemporary Review’ of March 1901, we have the daily notes of a busy doctor in the Boer ambulance, who jots down shortly any scraps of information he hears about the operations going on. The doctor was not a Boer, nor even a naturalised burgher of the Transvaal, but a British subject who for three years had practised as a medical man in the Transvaal and, when war became imminent, was asked to take the place of his colleague, Dr. Everard, who was down with malaria, in charge of a Boer ambulance, until Dr. Everard should be well enough to relieve him. As refusal meant expulsion and the loss of all his property, he consented to act, considering that at any rate under the Red Cross flag he was in a neutral position. His diary, which extends from 28th September 1899 to 20th February 1900, when Dr. Everard was well enough to relieve him, is instructive and illuminating, and from it we quote the following extracts, made during some of the days we have been considering: ‘_January 20th._--The English are now trekking for Acton Homes, and have occupied Mount Alice, on which they have posted artillery to cover the advance. A patrol from the Pretorian commando was surprised and cut off--forty-eight killed, wounded, and missing. ‘The two forces are now getting into touch, and the English are evidently going to try and obtain the Thaba Njama (Black Mountain) ridge.