CORRESPONDENCE OF LIEUT.- GENERAL THE HON. SIR GEORGE CATHCART, K.C.B.

Second edition: xiii, 401 pages, 7 maps - 5 folding, 3 hand coloured, full calf binding with decorative gilt and black title label gilt on the spine, marbled end papers and edges, a very good copy.

Sir George Cathcart was killed the Battle of Inkerman during the Crimean War 1853-6. This volume was compiled from Cathcart’s official and private papers to defend his reputation and document his "System" of frontier defense. The need to defend his reputation stemmed from the significant public and political criticism he faced regarding his strategic decisions and perceived failures during his tenure at the Cape.

Mendelssohn (Sidney) South African Bibliography, volume 1, page 310, ‘Sir George Cathcart was appointed Governor to the Cape Colony in succession to Sir Harry Smith. He accepted the post with some misgivings, and in his letter to the Duke of Wellington on the subject, remarks, “This appointment comes upon me by surprise, and in many respects is far from desirable ... it is not of my own seeking, and accepted only because I consider it an imperative call for duty, which it would be culpable and disgraceful in me to refuse. .

'He took the oaths as Governor at Cape Town on March 31, 1852, and after settling the constitution of the Parliament lately granted to the Cape, left for King William's Town, to take over the command of the army from Sir Harry Smith. There are several maps and plans, an alphabetical index, and a number of interesting private and official letters on South African matters in general.’