Surgeon John Henry Sylvester, 11th Bengal Cavalry (Probyn's Horse), 1865 (c)

Oil on canvas by Colin Hunter (1841-1904), 1885.

John Henry Sylvester was born in 1830. After studying Anatomy at the Royal College of Surgeons he served with the Bombay Medical Service, participating in the Persian Campaign (1857), the Indian Mutiny (1857-1859), and the Umbeyla Campaign (1863-1864). During the latter expedition he was attached to Probyn's Horse. Sylvester was later made Deputy Surgeon General in India. He died there in 1903. This retrospective work, painted in 1885, depicts Sylvester as a younger man during his period of service (1860-1867) with Probyn's Horse.