Lot 11604 – 1901 (Jan 21) envelope from Letjesbosch to « General Cronje / Prisoner of War / St. Helena »

1901 (Jan 21) envelope to « General Cronje / Prisoner of War / St. Helena », with Standing Hope 1d (placed diagonally to portray a message?) tied by Letjesbosch cds, with FE 2 arrival and circular censor cachet below, fine and scarce item to a Boer General with a rare cancellation.

Note: Pieter Arnoldus « Piet » Cronjé (4 October 1836 – 4 February 1911) was a South African Boer general during the Anglo-Boer Wars of 1880–1881 and 1899–1902. During the Second Boer War, Cronjé was general commanding in the western theatre of war. He began the sieges of Kimberley and Mafeking. After Lord Methuen attempted to relieve the siege of Kimberley, Cronjé fought the Battle of Modder River on 28 November 1899, where the British won a Pyrrhic victory over the Boers. After Modder River, Cronjé repulsed Methuen’s forces at the Battle of Magersfontein on 11 December. He was defeated at the Battle of Paardeberg where he surrendered. He and his wife were sent to a prison-of-war camp on Saint Helena, where he remained until the conclusion of peace negotiations in 1902.