ROBERT BADEN-POWELL - AUTOGRAPH CO-SIGNED BY: EDWARD STEWART, HERBERT B. AMES, A. T. MOFFET - HFSID 84456

ROBERT BADEN-POWELL and other Belgian Award Winners

The Lieutenant-General who is credited as the founder of the Boy Scouts Association and other Belgian Award Winners sign this sealed 7¼x10½ sheet of paper, signed in black ink

Signatures: "Robert Baden Powell", "Edward Stewart", and "Herbert B. Ames" have signed as recipients of the Order of the Crown of Belgium"; "A.T. Moffet" and two others have signed as recipients of the Order of Leopold (Belgium), 1 page, 7¼x10½. At top center are cloth replicas of the decorations (each1¼x3/8). Ink note ("24") in upper right corner. Robert Baden-Powell (1857-1941) had been detached for scouting service in Africa in the Ashanti (1895) and Matabele (1896) campaigns. In 1897, he transferred to the 5th Dragoon Guards, which he commanded. While he was on leave in England in 1899, Baden-Powell was appointed to raise a force of mounted rifles to be based in Mafeking with the secret aim of making raids on the Boers in Transvaal. Mafeking was besieged by a superior force of Boers on October 12, 1899. The siege lasted for 217 days (until May 17, 1900), and the relief of Mafeking was celebrated throughout the Empire, as it was the first victory the British had achieved in the Boer War. A Colonel when the siege began, Baden-Powell was promoted to Major-General after the victory. Baden-Powell is best known for founding the Boy Scouts (1907, two years before he was knighted in 1909). Baden-Powell, who based his program on the skills he had learned as a scout in the military, wrote a number of guidebooks for the organization, many of which were illustrated by his paintings by Baden-Powell; he was an accomplished artist. In 1911, he helped his sister, Agnes, found the Girl Guides, a similar organization for girls. The Order of the Crown of Belgium (est. 1897) and the Order of Leopold (est. 1832) are bestowed for noteworthy service to the Belgian nation. Co-signers merit for further research. Slightly soiled and toned. Slightly frayed left edge where page was removed from a book. Otherwise, fine condition.