Colour-Sergeant J Stanton, Royal Sappers and Miners, 1856

Photograph by Robert Howlett and Joseph Cundall, 1856.

Colour sergeants of British line regiments were originally tasked with protecting Ensigns, junior officers who were responsible for carrying their battalions' Colours in to battles, but as the Royal Sappers and Miners never carried colours the rank was reserved for long-serving sergeants with exemplary service.

In July 1856, at the Crimean War's end, troops gathered in Aldershot for a London victory parade. Stanton was among the soldiers photographed in Aldershot by Robert Howlett and Joseph Cundall for their series of portraits entitled 'Crimean Heroes 1856'.