'A Hot Night in the Batteries.'

Coloured tinted lithograph by E Walker, 1855. One of 40 lithographs from 'The Seat of War in the East - First Series' after William Simpson, published by Paul and Dominic Colnaghi and Company, 13 June 1855.

With the arrival of spring and the restoration of their supply lines, the Allies were able to begin a concerted bombardment of the defences of Sevastopol. Between 9 and 18 April 1855 the artillery fire was almost incessant, but the Russians repaired their defences every night. In this print the discharge of a gun lights up the sky in a British battery, while gunners prepare other artillery pieces for firing.