ALS, 4pp, 8vo, dated at Tientsin, 60 miles from Pekin, Dec. 25, 1860, addressed to My dear Hab. Framed, 11.75 x 18.25 in. Gordon describes the military force at Tientsin, remarking that he has his hands full protecting them from the cold, and sends messages to Osman Pasha, the Turkish general, and Hussein, for whom he has a liking and admires for their work on the Turko-Russian frontier. Gordon had taken part in the capture of Peking the previous October and had suppressed the Taiping Rebellion. Charles George Gordon (1833-1885) was commissioned in the Royal Engineers in 1852, and spent several years constructing fortifications. He then served in the Crimean War, the Second Opium War and Taiping Rebellion in China, which actions earned him the nickname "Chinese" Gordon. He then served with the Egyptian army in Khartoum. From 1877-1879 he served as Governor of Sudan. In 1882 he retired to Jerusalem, but by the next year was asked to come out of retirement to lead civilians out of Khartoum, as they were being threatened by the revolt led by self-proclaimed Mahdi, Mohammed Ahmed. Gordon only got a couple thousand civilians out before the Mahdists closed in. Initially Britain sent relief to Gordon and the embattled Sudanese, but in March 1884, the British withdrew, abandoning the Sudan. Gordon refused to leave, and public opinion in Britain increasingly supported him. It wasn't until August that Britain decided to send relief under General Wolseley, and three months more until the expedition could set out. Gordon was killed on the palace steps 26 Jan. 1885; Wolseley arrived on the 28th - two days late. His death triggered a flood of public grief in Britain. Condition: Some even fading of signature. Light creases.
ALS, 4pp, 8vo, dated at Tientsin, 60 miles from Pekin, Dec. 25, 1860, addressed to My dear Hab. Framed, 11.75 x 18.25 in. Gordon describes the military force at Tientsin, remarking that he has his hands full protecting them from the cold, and sends messages to Osman Pasha, the Turkish general, and Hussein, for whom he has a liking and admires for their work on the Turko-Russian frontier. Gordon had taken part in the capture of Peking the previous October and had suppressed the Taiping Rebellion. Charles George Gordon (1833-1885) was commissioned in the Royal Engineers in 1852, and spent several years constructing fortifications. He then served in the Crimean War, the Second Opium War and Taiping Rebellion in China, which actions earned him the nickname "Chinese" Gordon. He then served with the Egyptian army in Khartoum. From 1877-1879 he served as Governor of Sudan. In 1882 he retired to Jerusalem, but by the next year was asked to come out of retirement to lead civilians out of Khartoum, as they were being threatened by the revolt led by self-proclaimed Mahdi, Mohammed Ahmed. Gordon only got a couple thousand civilians out before the Mahdists closed in. Initially Britain sent relief to Gordon and the embattled Sudanese, but in March 1884, the British withdrew, abandoning the Sudan. Gordon refused to leave, and public opinion in Britain increasingly supported him. It wasn't until August that Britain decided to send relief under General Wolseley, and three months more until the expedition could set out. Gordon was killed on the palace steps 26 Jan. 1885; Wolseley arrived on the 28th - two days late. His death triggered a flood of public grief in Britain. Condition: Some even fading of signature. Light creases.
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.jpg "Quelle: Christie's")
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