Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A Pair of original Crimea War letters: (a) From Robert Anstruther, Grenadier Guards, ink, four sides on a single sheet of white paper, folded to form the envelope addressed to his father, ‘Sir R. R. Anstruther, Bart.’, in Fifeshire, dated at camp, ‘July 28th 1854’, in which he discusses his recent illness and Scutari, among other matters, the front of the envelope bearing two 1d. red stamps and ‘via Marseilles’, the reverse a British Army Post Office (29 July), and three other stamps, holed in part and worn at creased edges, contents good; (b): From Robert Reynoldson, ink, three sides on a single sheet of paper, folded to form an envelope addressed to his brother in Hoxton, London, dated at ‘Head quarters, before Sebastopol, 18th February 1855’, in which he defends the Army and conduct of war versus reports being received back home (‘I shall take it as a personal insult if you again call in question the victoriousness of an army under whose banner I have fought and bled, and whose Standard (much as I am averse to soldiering), I would give the last drop of my blood rather than see captured’), the front of the envelope bearing three 1d. red stamps, cancelled by a London Inland Branch, and the reverse traces of the sender’s wax seal, old tears with traces of repair, worn overall, contents good £80-120

Robert Anstruther, an Old Harrovian, attained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the Grenadiers, and entered politics on succeeding to his father’s title in 1863. He was a Scottish Liberal Party M.P. for Fyfe 1864-1880, and for St. Andrews Burghs 1885-86, in which latter year, in July, he died.