William Broadfoot: 'The Career of Major George Broadfoot, C....

Hammer

£85

William Broadfoot: 'The Career of Major George Broadfoot, C.B. (Governor-General's Agent N.W. Frontier, 1844-5) in Afghanistan and the Punjab. Compiled from his Papers and those of Lords Ellenborough and Hardinge.', London, John Murray, 1888, 1st edition, portrait frontis + 2 maps as called for, 445,[3]pp + publisher's 28pp catalogue of adverts at end dated October 1888, original cloth gilt (spine faded, slightly worn.) First edition of this uncommon memoir of the man described by his fellow political officer, Colin McKenzie, as "the foremost man in India". Broadfoot (1807-1845) first served in India in the late 1820s with the 34th Native Infantry Madras Army. After returning to Britain to study at Addiscombe, he rejoined the Madras Army, commissariat department, in 1838 serving with distinction during the latter stages of the First Afghan War, famously prevailing against the majority to insist on the defence of Jalalabad; "and thus the firmness of one man, and he nearly the junior in the council of war, preserved his country's arms from suffering another deep and disgraceful blow" (Durand, The First Afghan War, p400). After the lifting of the siege, Broadfoot joined the relieving army under Major-General George Pollock "and distinguished himself in the actions at Mamu Khel, Jagdalak, and Tezin. In October he was promoted brevet major and made a CB" (ODNB). He had caught the eye of the governor-general, Lord Ellenborough, for his inspirational role as part of the "illustrious garrison" at Jalalabad, and was made commissioner at Tenasserim in Burma, but his health suffered in the climate, and he requested a transfer. "In 1844 Sir Henry Hardinge, the new governor-general, appointed him his agent for the north-western frontier: an important position when war with the Sikhs seemed likely. He reported on the Punjab situation, negotiated with the Sikhs and, when war seemed imminent, gathered supplies for the army. In December 1845 the Sikhs invaded British territory. Broadfoot served on Hardinge's staff and was at the battles of Mudki and Ferozeshahr. At the latter, on 21 December, he was killed, shot through the heart".