Study for the bugler of 'Dawn of Waterloo', 1893

Pencil sketch by Lady Butler (Elizabeth Southerden Butler, née Thompson) (1846-1933), 1893.

A mounted bugler sounds the call for Reveille in camp on the morning of the Battle of Waterloo, 18 June 1815. A study of a horse is also included, and the rough outline of figures representing men of the 2nd (or Royal North British) Dragoons, or Scots Greys, awakening from their sleep in response to the bugle call.

Lady Butler used drawings to develop the composition of her paintings and to establish the best poses for individual figures. This is a preliminary study for the painting 'Dawn of Waterloo' (NAM. 2021-12-1-1-1), drawn in a sketchbook in Ireland or Aldershot in 1893.

From a sketchbook of military sketches, 1893.