"5. Under these circumstances, Her Majesty's Government have determined to place the chief military and civil command in the eastern portion of South Africa in the hands of one officer, and they have selected Lieutenant-General Sir Garnet Wolseley, G.C.M.G., for this duty. His high professional standing and his varied and distinguished services preclude any question as to the fitness of placing him for the time in supreme authority over the able men now commanding her Majesty's troops in South Africa and administering the Governments of Natal and the Transvaal, and it is equally beyond question that he will receive their most loyal and cordial support. Sir Garnet Wolseley will, in addition to his military command, be commissioned as Governor of Natal and of the Transvaal, and High Commissioner for Native and Foreign Affairs to the northward and eastward of those colonies. In the latter capacity he will assume for the time that portion of your functions which, at a crisis of such gravity as the present, could not be performed by any High Commissioner acting at a distance of more than 1000 miles from the scene of operations. You will, I am confident, be the first to recognize the necessity of the arrangement, and will readily assist Sir Garnet Wolseley, should you have returned to Cape Town by the time of his arrival there on his way to enter upon the duties of his office, with all the valuable information which your knowledge and experience enable you to afford." The Under-Secretary for War, writing to Lord Chelmsford (29th May), says:— "I have now to convey to you the intimation that her Majesty's Government, having carefully considered the information at their command, have come to the conclusion that the satisfactory administration of affairs in that part of South-Eastern Africa in the immediate neighbourhood of the seat of war can at the present moment only be carried out by placing that administration in the hands of one person holding plenary powers, both civil and military, and that they have selected Sir Garnet Wolseley to discharge these duties. "The Colonial Office will by this mail have informed Sir Bartle Frere of this decision, and of its effects so far as he himself is concerned. [Sidenote: _Appointment of Sir Garnet Wolseley._] "With respect to the military command though I have the satisfaction of informing you that it is not intended that the supersession caused by the appointment as High Commissioner of an officer senior to yourself should be considered as conveying censure on your proceedings, it will nevertheless be your duty, as in the ordinary course of service, to submit and to subordinate your plans to his control. This decision was communicated to you by telegram sent yesterday _viâ_ St. Vincent, of which I enclose a copy.