Lieutenant R Waller, Horse Artillery, 1842

Coloured lithograph after Lieutenant Vincent Eyre, Bengal Artillery, 1842 (c).

Robert Waller (1808-1877) was gazetted as a second lieutenant with the Bengal Horse Artillery on 23 June 1827. Promoted to captain, he was sent to Kabul with the 1st Troop, 1st Brigade, Bengal Horse Artillery, in November 1840. He was taken hostage, with his wife Annie and their daughter Selina, on 9 January 1842, when Akbar Khan persuaded General Elphinstone to hand over several women, children and wounded officers in return for supplies and a safe escort for his army. The Wallers were released on 21 September 1842 after the Army of Retribution reached Kabul. Waller later took part in both Sikh Wars and in operations on the North West Frontier in 1851-1852. He eventually retired with the rank of colonel in 1858.

From 'Portraits of the Kabul Prisoners', a set of pre-publication coloured lithographs later published by John Murray in 1843.

The artist's original drawings were made during his captivity in Afghanistan after the Retreat from Kabul during the 1st Afghan War (1838-1842).