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Title: Lessons of the War

Author: Spenser Wilkinson

Release Date: February 19, 2005 [eBook #15110]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)

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LESSONS OF THE WAR

Being Comments from Week to Week to the Relief of Ladysmith

by

SPENSER WILKINSON

Westminster
Archibald Constable & Company
Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company.

1900

PREFACE

The history of a war cannot be properly written until long after its
close, for such a work must be based upon a close study of the military
correspondence of the generals and upon the best records, to be had of
the doings of both sides. Nor can the tactical lessons of a war be fully
set forth until detailed and authoritative accounts of the battles are
accessible.

But for the nation the lessons of this war are not obscure, at any rate
not to those whose occupations have led them to indulge in any close
study of war.

Since the middle of December I have written a daily introduction to the
telegrams for one of the morning papers. Before I contemplated that work
I had undertaken for my friend Mr. Locker, the Editor of _The London
Letter_, to write a weekly review of the war.

Many requests have been made to me by publishers for a volume on the
history of the war, with which, for the reasons given above, it is
impossible at present to comply; but to the proposal of my old friends,
Messrs. Archibald Constable and Co., to reprint my weekly reviews from
_The London Letter_, the same objections do not hold.

In revising the articles, I have found but few alterations necessary.
My views have not changed, and to make the details of the battles
accurate would hardly be practicable without more information than is
likely to be at hand until after the return of the troops.

S.W.

March 9th, 1900

CONTENTS

THE EVE OF WAR

THE MILITARY ISSUES

A WEEK'S CAMPAIGN

PLAYING WITH FIRE

HOW WEAK POLICY LE