Battle of Spion Kop: Ambulance Corps Crossing the Tugela River (1900)

• 73%
• 1900
• Documentary
• War

This is probably as near an actual scene of battle as a camera will ever get in modern warfare. It was taken from the second line of entrenchments during the battle of the Upper Tugela, in which the British, under General Buller met with defeat at the hands of the Boers. The British lost about 500 men in this engagement, and our picture, taken at the rear of the British fighting line, shows the wounded being brought in on litters, and in ambulances. The scope of the view is very broad, taking in the Tugela with its temporary pontoon bridge, and the reserve force on the opposite bank of the river, and the distance mountains where the Boers are stationed. Spion Kop is prominent among the peaks. Photographically the subject is sharp and clear.