Original British General Charles George Gordon Governor of Sudan Hand Written Letter – Dated 1877 Original Items

Original Item: One-of-a-kind. Truly fascinating and immensely rare this is a hand written letter addressed to COLONEL CHARLES NUGENT of the Royal Engineers at Horse Guards in London.

In the letter dated 19 Feb 1877, General C.G. Gordon writes:

Dear Nugent,

At last I am off, with greater power than ever was given a Governor. You will see about them [the greater powers], in “Times”. I go to Massowah to see if I can come to terms with Johannes [Coptic Christian King John]…

and continues for duration of the page.

This letter references Gordon’s appointment as Governor-General of the Sudan, which took place in Cairo on January 31st 1877, following his return from London. This letter was apparently begun in Cairo, but not sent until Gordon had reached the Suez while en route to Massawa. There he hoped to resolve a conflict between Egypt and Abysinnia regarding the district of Bogos, which was disputed territory. By the time he reached Bogos however, King John had departed southwards, so the letter Gordon had written proposing terms went unanswered. He then proceeded to Khartoum to take up his Governorship.

Gordon remained governor for several years, improving means of communications and suppressing the slave trade in the area. A second attempt at negotiations with the Abyssinian King faired worse than the first attempt, resulting in Gordon being imprisoned and sent to Massawa. He was then sent back to Cairo where he resigned his Governorship and returned to Europe to recover from the constant work. He then spent the next few years in various posts around the globe.

Four years after he had left, Gordon would return to Khartoum to help combat the Mahdist uprising as detailed in the famous film KHARTOUM with General Gordon played by CHARLTON HESTON. After several defeats at the hands of the Mahdists, the British Government decided to abandon the Sudan, and evacuate from the area. However, Gordon refused to leave when so instructed by his Government, and Khartoum came under siege in March 1884. After much public outcry, a rescue mission was organized that arrived on January 28th, 1885, which would have been Gordon’s 52nd Birthday. Unfortunately, Gordon and his entire command in Khartoum had been butchered two days before, on January 26th. It would then take Great Britain 13 long years to avenge the slaughter in Khartoum at the battle of Omdurman on September 2nd, 1898, where the Mahdists were utterly defeated.

A wonderful, absolutely original, letter marked as written from CAIRO and then struck out and again as written from SUEZ by the great man himself to a brother officer.