Lieutenant G Mein, 13th (1st Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot (Prince Albert's Light Infantry), 1842

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

George Mein (1815-1896) joined the Army as an ensign and was promoted to lieutenant in 1839. He served during the 1st Afghan War (1839-1842) with the 13th (1st Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot. Present at the capture of Ghazni fort, he was wounded in the forehead by a spent bullet during the advance on Kabul. During the subsequent retreat of General Elphinstone's force from the Afghan capital he was with the party taken prisoner at Tezeen on 8 January 1842. Mein was later released in September 1842. Promoted to captain in 1846 and major in 1854, he eventually retired as a major-general in 1878.

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).