Officer's full dress coatee, 1854 (c)

This coatee belonged to Lieutenant Arthur Savory Armstrong of the 49th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's or Hertfordshire) Regiment, who was killed in the early stages of the Battle of Inkerman (5 November 1854), when the Russian artillery on Shell Hill cannonaded Home Ridge. Much of the Russian gunnery was aimed at the encampment of the 2nd Division behind the ridge and it was here that Armstrong was hit. The historian Kingslake explained, 'Being the adjutant, and therefore on horseback, he was exposed to a fire which spared men on foot'.

Donated by Mrs L J Hill.