Orders, Decorations and Medals

Letter, written to Charles Calvert (formerly Cattley), dated 16 June 185?, 227 x 183mm sheet, folded in two and written in ink on four sides, ring punched and with slight folding marks, good condition £20-30

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Medals from the Collection of Brigadier Brian Parritt, C.B.E..

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‘My dear Calvert, Many thanks for your memm. of information obtained which I have given to Omar (?) Pasha. He desires me to thank you very much for it and would be very much obliged if you could find him a couple of good Tartars as guides for tomorrow in the direction of Ai todn (?) & Ozauburch (?). If you can they ought to be at his camp here early this evening. Yrs. very truly (signature), 16 June 185?’.

‘Calvert’ was in fact ‘Mr Charles Cattley’ who had been the British Vice Consul in Kertch and who spoke fluent Russian, French and Italian. Cattley changed his name to Calvert for security reasons and became “Head of Intelligence” first to Lord Raglan and then to General Simpson. On the 23 June 1855 Calvert formed a Corps of Guides, which contained both guides and interpreters, but three weeks later he died of cholera. General Simpson wrote to Lord Panmure saying, “His loss is irreparable”. There is a good description of the role of Calvert in the book The Intelligencers by Lieutenant-Colonel B A. H Parritt M.B.E.