REMNANTS OF AN ARMY in ORIGINAL FRAME c1890

This is an ORIGINAL VICTORIAN ENGRAVURE printed by the LONDON FINE ARTS SOCIETY in 1890. It comes complete in the ORIGINAL VICTORIAN MAHOGANY FRAME with it's ORIGINAL GLASS.

It depicts Dr Brydon, the sole survivor approaching the Gates of Jalalabad on his dying horse after the anihilation of 16,000 British Troops during the First Afghan Campaign.

The British Army began its retreat from Kabul in January 1842 following the killing of the two British representatives there. The nearest British garrison was in Jalalabad, 90 miles (140 km) away, and the army would need to go through mountain passes with the January snow hindering them.

4,500 military personnel under the command of Major General William George Keith Elphinstone, and 12,000 civilian camp followers, including wives and children, set out for Jalalabad on 6 January, 1842 with the understanding that they had been offered safe passage. Afghan tribesmen intercepted them and proceeded to massacre them during the next seven days. The final stand took place at Gandamak on the morning of 13th January 1842 in the snow. 20 officers and 45 European soldiers, mostly of the 44th Foot, found themselves surrounded on a hillock. The Afghans attempted to persuade the soldiers that they intended them no harm. Then the sniping began, followed by a series of rushes. Captain Souter wrapped the colours of the regiment around his body and was dragged into captivity with two or three soldiers. The remainder were shot or cut down. Only 6 mounted officers escaped. Of these 5 were murdered along the road.

On the afternoon of 13th January 1842 the British troops in Jalalabad, watching for their comrades of the Kabul garrison, saw a single figure ride up to the town walls. It was Dr Brydon, the sole survivor of the column.

Brydon became famous for being the only European survivor of the entire contingent to have escaped the Afghan guerrillas. Part of his skull had been sheared off by an Afghan sword. In fact, he survived only because he had stuffed a copy of Blackwoods Magazine into his hat to fight the intense cold weather. The magazine took most of the blow, saving the doctor's life.

The episode was made the subject of a famous painting by the Victorian artist, Lady Elizabeth Butler, who portrayed an exhausted Dr. Brydon approaching the gates of the Jalalabad fort perched on his dying horse (which dropped dead upon arrival in the city). The painting is titled Remnants of an Army.

This is the ORIGINAL VICTORIAN ENGRAVURE printed 1890. In Very Good original condition with some slight foxing.

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