John H Sylvester, (Bombay Medical Establishment, attached to) HM 14th Light Dragoons, Malwa Field Force

Watercolour by Charles Henry Strutt, Bombay Artillery, Mhow, 27th September 1857.

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.

Sylvester mentions Strutt in his memoirs. In 1854, at Ahmednagar, Headquarters of the European Artillery, 'During the long hot days I painted with Lieutenant Strutt'. During the Indian Mutiny (1857-1859) Strutt and another Bombay Artillery lieutenant, Benjamin Christie, are described as the 'moving spirits' when operating breaching guns at the Siege of Dhar in 1857.