The Church of St Michael, 1868

Watercolour by Captain Cornelius Francis James, Bombay Staff Corps, 1868.

James painted this view of the Church of St Michael during the advance of Lieutenant-General Sir Robert (later Field Marshal Lord) Napier's expeditionary force to Emperor Tewodros II (or King Theodore) of Abyssinia's capital at Magdala. Although the engineers laid a railway and built a road part of the way into the interior of the country, Napier's men still had to traverse over 400 miles (640 km) of difficult country to get to Magdala. James served with the Bombay Staff Corps during the expedition.

The Ethiopians had been Orthodox Christians since the 4th century. In 1867, Emperor Tewodros, engaged in constant military campaigns against his mainly Moslem enemies, made diplomatic overtures to a fellow Christian power Britain in the hope that aid would be forthcoming. His correspondence was ignored (including a letter to Queen Victoria) and the emperor responded by imprisoning the British Consul, Captain Charles Cameron, along with several missionaries and other civilians. Napier's expeditionary force was subsequently despatched from India and advanced to Magdala, near to which the decisive actions of the campaign were fought in April 1868.