Controversy over the killing of the wounded after the battle began soon afterwards. The debate was ignited by a highly critical article published by Ernest Bennett (present at the battle as a journalist) in the "Contemporary Review", which evoked a fierce riposte and defense of Kitchener by Bennet Burleigh (another journalist also present at the battle). Winston Churchill privately agreed with Bennett that Kitchener was too brutal in his killing of the wounded. This opinion was reflected in his own account of the battle when it was first published in 1899. However, mindful of the effect that patriotic public opinion could have on his political career, Churchill significantly moderated criticism of Kitchener in his book's second edition in 1902.