Private John McDermond, 47th (The Lancashire) Regiment of Foot, winning the VC by saving Colonel Haly at Inkerman, on 5 November 1854

Oil on paper by Louis William Desanges, 1860 (c).

Private McDermond (1832-1868) won the Victoria Cross (VC) for saving the life of Colonel Haly, his commanding officer, at the Battle of Inkerman on 5 November 1854. The colonel had been attacked and surrounded by a party of Russian soldiers when McDermond rushed to his rescue, killing the Russian who had already wounded Haly.

McDermond was presented with the VC by Major-General the Honorable Sir James Yorke Scarlett, KCB on the parade ground at Southsea on 12 March 1858. He died on 22 July 1868 in Glasgow.

This painting is one of a series of 55 depicting Victoria Cross subjects executed between 1859 and 1862 by the British artist Louis Desanges, and displayed at the Crystal Palace during the 1860s and 1870s.