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Cranston Fine Arts Military Art and Artists 19th Century Military History

Stormd at with Shot and Shell, 17th Light Dragoons (Lancers) Oct 25 1854 at Balaclava by Chris Collingwood. 5 of 6 editions available. £2.50 - £600.00

Defence of Rorkes Drift by Lady Elizabeth Butler. 6 editions. £30.00 - £500.00

Hessian Troops Near Chambord, 9th December 1870 by Richard Knotel. One edition. £20.00

Text for the above items :

Stormd at with Shot and Shell, 17th Light Dragoons (Lancers) Oct 25 1854 at Balaclava by Chris Collingwood. Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them, Volleyd and thunderd, Stormd at with shot and shell, Boldly they rode and well Into the jaws of death, into the mouth of hell rode the six hundred. The following is part of a letter from an officer of the Light Brigade who was camped near Balaclava on October 27th: ...there was no hesitation: down our fellows went at a gallop, through a fire in front and on both flanks, which emptied our saddles and knocked over our horses by scores. I do not think that one man flinched in the whole brigade, though every one allows that so hot a fire was hardly ever seen.

Defence of Rorkes Drift by Lady Elizabeth Butler. On January 22nd 1879, during the Zulu War, the small British field hospital and supply depot at Rorkes Drift in Natal was the site of one of the most heroic military defences of all time. Manned by 140 troops of the 24th Regiment, led by Lieutenant John Chard of the Royal Engineers, the camp was attacke by a well-trained and well-equipped Zulu army of 4000 men, heartened by the great Zulu victory over the British forces at Isandhlwana earlier on the same day. The battle began in mid afternoon, when British remnants of the defeat at Isandhlwana struggled into the camp. Anticipating trouble, Chard set his small force to guard the perimeter fence but, when the Zulu attack began, the Zulus came faster than the British could shoot and the camp was soon overcome. The thatched roof of the hospital was fired by Zulu spears wrapped in burning grass and even some of the sick and the dying were dragged from their beds and pressed into the desperate hand-to-hand fighting. Eventually, Chard gave the order to withdraw from the perimeter and to take position in a smaller compound, protected by a hastily assembled barricade of boxes and it was from behind this barricade that the garrison fought for their lives throughout the night. After twelve hours of battle, the camp was destroyed, the hospital had burned to the ground, seventeen British lay dead and ten were wounded. However, the Zulus had been repulsed and over 400 of their men killed. The Battle of Rorkes Drift is one of the greatest examples of bravery and heroism in British military history. Nine men were awarded Distinguished Conduct Medals, and eleven, the most ever given for a single battle, received the highest military honour of all, the Victoria Cross.

Hessian Troops Near Chambord, 9th December 1870 by Richard Knotel. No text for this item