'The Guards at the Battle of Inkermann November 5th 1854'

Full page chromolithograph from 'The Boys Book of British Battles', by Richard Simkin, published by George Routledge and Sons, 1884 (c).

A scene from the Battle of Inkerman, fought during the Crimean War (1854-1856). Men of the Brigade of Guards, clothed in their greatcoats but still wearing bearskins, are depicted charging the Russians in the vicinity of the 'Sandbag Battery', an abandoned artillery emplacement. Some of the most savage fighting of the battle took place around what was in fact a useless prize as the Battery's parapet was too high to enable it to be defended by infantry.