'Russian prisoners from Bomarsund, Devonshire Hulk Sept 30 1854 Shaving'

Pencil drawing attributed to Robert Thomas Landells.

Russian prisoners from Bomarsund, on board the 83-ton prison ship 'Devonshire', moored on the River Medway at Sheerness. 'The Illustrated London News', recorded on 23 September 1854, 'There are now 1140 Russian prisoners on board the Devonshire and Benbow, at Sheerness…The Emperor of Russia does not grant them any pay while they are prisoners of war, nor allow them to return home on parole of honour not to serve. Lewes gaol and Milbay prison, at Stonehouse, are to be their future abodes.'

A British fleet had sailed for the Baltic upon the outbreak of the Crimean War (1854-1856) but finding the fortress of Kronstadt, which protected the Russian capital of St Petersburg, too strong, had accomplished little apart from some coastal raiding. On 28 June 1854 the British Cabinet agreed to attack the Russian fortress of Bomarsund on the Aland Islands. French troops were disembarked and on 13 August a bombardment was commenced from the landward side. Three days later the Russians surrendered. After destroying Bomarsund's fortifications the Allies sailed away.