Lieutenant Frederick Aikman, 4th Regiment [Bengal] Native Infantry, commanding 3rd Regiment Irregular Cavalry, winning the VC at Lucknow, 1 March 1858

Oil on canvas by Louis William Desanges, 1860 (c).

Frederick Robertson Aikman (1828-1888) won the Victoria Cross (VC) during the Indian Mutiny (1857-1859) for leading a charge of 100 men of the 3rd Sikh Cavalry against a body of rebels comprising about 200 horse and 500 infantry. His force captured two guns and completely routed the enemy. Aikman himself killed five rebels, sustaining severe wounds in the process.

This painting is one of a series of 55 depicting Victoria Cross subjects executed between 1859 and 1862 by the British artist Louis Desanges, and displayed at the Crystal Palace during the 1860s and 1870s.