won. But Thorneycroft's nerve was also shattered. After sixteen hours on the kop doing the job of a brigadier-general in total absence of instructions from Warren, he ordered an unauthorised withdrawal from Spioen Kop after reporting that the soldiers had no water and ammunition was running short. His reasons for withdrawing were that without artillery support to counter the heavy Boer artillery fire, there was no possibility of defending the position and the extreme difficulty of digging trenches on the summit of Spioen Kop left the British soldiers completely exposed. Churchill appeared on the scene for the second time. This time he brought the first orders from Warren since he elevated Thorneycroft to brigadier. Churchill said 1,400 men were on the way with two large naval guns. Thorneycroft told him, "better six good battalions safely down the hill than a bloody mop-up in the morning." He ordered the brigade to retreat. At the same time, Buller sent Lyttelton strict orders to recall his troops from Twin Peaks. When morning came, the Boer generals were astonished to see two burghers on the top of Spioen Kop, waving their slouch-hats in triumph. The only British on the kop were the dead and the dying. The British suffered 243 fatalities during the battle; many were buried in the trenches where they fell. Approximately 1,250 British were either wounded or captured. Mohandas Gandhi was a stretcher-bearer at the battle, in the Indian Ambulance Corps he had organised, and was decorated. The Boers suffered 335 casualties of which 68 were dead, including Commandant Prinsloo's commando casualties of 55 killed and wounded out of 88 men. The British retreated back over the Tugela, but the Boers were too exhausted to pursue and follow up their success. Once across the river, Buller managed to rally his troops. Ladysmith would be relieved by the British four weeks later. Reaction and legacy The battle was the background for Louwrens Penning's best known novel De held van Spioenkop (1901, The Hero of Spioenkop). Penning's story concerns the very real Commandant Louis Wessels, who leads the Boer commando to defeat the British at the battle. Commentary Buller erred in appointing Warren an independent commander, despite his own doubts about his subordinate's capacity. On the evening of the battle, Warren only ordered up reinforcements in men and heavy guns at the late hour of 21:00. Medical assistance, water and ammunition were also