Spion Kop (Second Boer War).
General Buller's second attempt to break through the Boer lines on the Tugela, and relieve Ladysmith, is known by this name. The operations commenced on the 19th, 24,000 men being employed. On that day Sir Charles Warren's division commenced to turn the Boer right, and gradually drove them from ridge to ridge till the evening of the 22nd, when by a night surprise, Spion Kop, the centre of the position, was seized. It was, however, found impossible to get artillery up the steep slopes, and the brigade holding the hill lost about a third of their strength in the course of the 23rd, including the Brigadier, General Woodgate. At nightfall, Colonel Thorneycroft, who had been appointed to the command, abandoned the hill, and on the following day General Buller decided to recross the Tugela. The British losses during the operations amounted to 87 officers and 1,647 men.