I do not agree that it should not be accepted as fact. We know that Wrede was coming up and taking over from Macdonald and his exhausted men. It is only natural that Macdonald should welcome Wrede and discuss the lie of the land with him. Macdonald took, for some, a shockingly carefree attitude to being under fire. Wrede seems to have been the exact opposite, someone who became more serious, more intense, the more heated the battle became.

Macdonald did not have a high opinion of Wrede which was reinforced at Hanau when his story became that concerning an enemy rather than an ally. (Turncoats were Macdonald's number one hate figures.) So, I accept he would put his own slant on it. But, I see no reason not to accept it. There must have been other witnesses who could have challenged him if his account was wildly inaccurate.