Holograph letter from Major General Charles George Gordon
Date Published: 1881
Binding: No binding
TIRED OF DOING NOTHING' & OBSERVING BASUTOLAND DIFFICULTIES
Autograph letter signed. One page, 7 x 4-1/2 inches. Dated 15 April [18]81. Authenticating a letter by noting "the letter is genuine...[noting] ...his request for the watch is so like him." Signed ”C.G. Gordon" Letter was folded, now flat and some wrinkles, otherwise in good condition.
‘Tired of doing nothing’ and observing the difficulties that had arisen in Basutoland, Gordon telegraphed on 7 April 1881 to offer his services to the Cape government for two years at 700/. a year, ‘to assist in terminating war and in administering Basutoland.’ To this offer he received no reply. About this time Gordon volunteered to go as commanding royal engineer to Mauritius in order to prevent the retirement of Colonel Sir Howard Elphinstone, who had been ordered thither, and was unable for private reasons to go. Gordon would accept no pecuniary consideration for the exchange. He reached Mauritius in July 1881.
Major General Charles George Gordon. Also known as Chinese Gordon, Gordon of Pasha and Gordon of Khartoum, British army officer and administrator. British general who became a national hero for his exploits in China and his ill-fated defense of Khartoum against the Mahdists. While General Gordon is mostly remembered now in connection with Khartoum, long before that ill-fated campaign, he had become renowned for his personal bravery, his sterling service to the Empire around the world and his work for the poor in Britain. As a young man, Winston Churchill shared in the national consensus that Gordon was one of Britain's greatest heroes.
Item #8342
$275.00 USD
$372.63 CAD