'Heavy Day in the Batteries', 1857

Coloured lithograph from 'The Campaign in India 1857-58', a series of 26 coloured lithographs by William Simpson, E Walker and others, after G F Atkinson, published by Day and Son, 1857-1858.

In the weeks leading up to the British assault on Delhi in September 1857 gun batteries were established within close range of the city walls. After a long artillery duel, they silenced the rebel guns and then made breaches in the bastions and walls for the attacking troops. The capture of Delhi was key to the suppression of the Indian Mutiny (1857-1859).