Intelligence and Command in Britain's Small Colonial Wars of the 1890s

The small colonial wars of the late nineteenth century were first and foremost ‘campaigns against nature’. They involved surmounting difficulties of terrain and climate, frequently over immense distances that were often more formidable than the challenges posed by enemy forces. Commanding officers usually embarked on campaigns with clear strategic aims (often directed at high-value targets, like an enemy's capital city) and an operational purpose (of bringing the enemy to battle as soon as possible), but needed intelligence to plot routes and prepare tactically for military engagements. In reviewing the lessons from two very different campaigns – the reconquest of the Sudan (1896–99) and the South African War (1899–1902) – there were striking differences in the quality of the intelligence gathered, the way in which it was used, and in the overall contribution of intelligence to the success of the respective campaigns

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• Christ's Soldier, Scotland's Hero

  Open Access•Elaine Mcfarland•Journal of Scottish Historical…•2016

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