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Portrait of Coldstream Guards' Burial after Battle of Inkerman


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For some time now, I've been very interested in the Battle of Inkerman and have been trying to learn about this painting. A colored print was documented as being in the collection of Sir Arthur Cowell Stepney in the late 19th Century. This black-and-white copy was published in the 1970s "The Story of the Guards" by Sir Julian Paget. There seem to be no other facts coming to light about it at all. If anyone can add to this, I'd be very interested. Obviously, each person was painted to resemble someone really there, as each face is unique. 

 

 

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  • 1 year later...

Just bumping this post, in hopes that someone will see it one day and be able to add info. Would love to see the colored version or find out the identities of the men shown!

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Hi. 

 

Eight officer of the Coldstream Guards died at Inkerman on 5th November 1855. This painting shows officers of the regiment being buried. There is a memorial on Cathcart's Hill with the following names on it:

 

Lt-Col Hon Thomas Vesey Dawson aged 35
Lt-Col C Murray Cowell aged 30
Lt-Col Lionel D Mackinnon aged 29
Capt Hon G C C Eliot aged 26
Capt Henry M Bouverie aged 24
Capt Frederick H Ramsden aged 24
Lieut Edward A Disbrowe aged 20
Lieut Cavendish H Greville aged 20

 

The piece features in 'The Story of The Guards'
by Julian Paget which may also list the artist. 

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My apologies GCCE1894, you already knew what I posted. 

 

I wonder if the Guards Museum may be able to help.

 

enquiriesguardsmuseum@aol.com

 

Gunner87

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@Gunner87

Thank you so much! It's always good to get the info posted, because I'm really hoping to find out more about this picture eventually . . . and maybe someone who bought the color version from the Cowell Stepney estate will see this.

 

The Guards Museum is a great option. I'm not sure I knew there was such a thing. I had e-mails over the years with the Coldstream Guards archives (sadly they are no more), the Imperial War Museum and the National Army Museum. I will certainly be looking up the Guards Museum. Thanks!

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I have been looking at work by William 'Crimea' Simpson. His sketches and water colours vary greatly in style and with the poor quality copy of the Coldstream Guards piece it is difficult to say for sure whether they are similar.

 

EDITED. I am unable to confirm the artist for the first, though it certainly resembles the style of the CG piece. The second and third are by Simpson. 

 

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That is a great suggestion. I would not have known to look up that particular artist, but you're right about similarities. Fascinating, and I'm going to be doing some looking. I have another Crimean-era painting from a family album. I will get the scan and send that to you for your thoughts as well!

 

Sir Arthur Cowell Stepney mentioned this picture in a typed memoir. His older brother is one of the officers buried at this funeral. I was very interested to find that he mentioned Henry Eliot being shown in Naval Uniform. Henry had been out in the Crimea visiting his brother, and it's quite a sad story. Not quite sure why Henry was wearing his uniform, as he'd had to leave the service on account of hearing loss. 

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Does it look like he is wearing only his Naval coat or the entire uniform? What type of pants and boots would he have had with this unform -- having left the Navy in 1853 with the rank of Midshipman? Going to tag @FROGSMILE on this one, too.

 

One more question here about the painting of the burial -- is it likely that they are burying the Coldstream Guards there in order of rank? Would you be able to figure out which officer was being lowered into the grave at the moment portrayed?

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21 hours ago, GCCE1854 said:

That is a great suggestion. I would not have known to look up that particular artist, but you're right about similarities. Fascinating, and I'm going to be doing some looking. I have another Crimean-era painting from a family album. I will get the scan and send that to you for your thoughts as well!

 

Sir Arthur Cowell Stepney mentioned this picture in a typed memoir. His older brother is one of the officers buried at this funeral. I was very interested to find that he mentioned Henry Eliot being shown in Naval Uniform. Henry had been out in the Crimea visiting his brother, and it's quite a sad story. Not quite sure why Henry was wearing his uniform, as he'd had to leave the service on account of hearing loss. 

Screenshot2023-05-27082603.jpg.4a00096a546289a57884e1da5ed22626.jpg

 

Does it look like he is wearing only his Naval coat or the entire uniform? What type of pants and boots would he have had with this unform -- having left the Navy in 1853 with the rank of Midshipman? Going to tag @FROGSMILE on this one, too.

 

One more question here about the painting of the burial -- is it likely that they are burying the Coldstream Guards there in order of rank? Would you be able to figure out which officer was being lowered into the grave at the moment portrayed?


Hello Sarah,

 

I’ve had a very careful look at the clothing of the figure that you’ve outlined and on reflection I’m confident that the individual concerned is wearing civilian clothes rather than a Naval uniform.  He has a frock coat with open rever stepped collar to reveal his waistcoat (US ‘vest’) and shirt with a black necktie.  The kind of attire that Prince Albert was often pictured wearing.  I enclose some photos of midshipmen in the uniform of that time from the Royal [Photographic] Collection and NPG.  Notice in particular the distinctive 3-button cuff and waist length “bum freezer” jacket.

 

As regards the sequence of burial, there was a protocol based on rank that I’m sure the Guards would have followed.  In a way similar to the different salutes that were decreed and observed by a Quarter Guard at the entrance to a camp, or a gun salute delivered by artillery.  Rank was the primary observation.

 

I will try to find details in my manual of ceremonial, as I’m assuming that the most senior officer was interred first (reflecting ‘precedence’), but I am not 100% sure.

 

NB.  Gunner87, and I are both of the view that your picture was almost certainly a watercolour rather than in oils, although we recognise that you might well have already reached that conclusion yourself.  It would be nice to think that the original colour rendition is still out there somewhere, but unfortunately they don’t have the same cachet as an oil painting and so it might not have survived.

 

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@FROGSMILE

Thanks for all that info! Perfect. That looks absolutely right about the frock coat when comparing to the naval uniform of the day. That would also make sense that Henry was not travelling with his uniform while on his Grand Tour and visiting his brother in the Crimea.

The only way I was able to identify Henry in the picture was because of the following transcription from a paper written some decades after Inkerman by Sir Arthur Cowell Stepney, the brother of one of the officers buried in the ceremony:

"There is also a colored print in my sitting room here, of the burial of the eight Officers on the 6th of November '54. The figure of the young Naval Officer near the clergyman, is meant for Henry Eliot, who came to attend his brother Granville's funeral."

 

I would agree that it must be a watercolor. I've done some looking, and it's very likely that it survived in the family's collection and was sold by Christie's in the sale of Fingask House, Glasgow, on 26-28 Apr 1993.

After quite a few e-mails, it seems very likely that it would have been included in one of these two lots:

Lot #312

Lot #316

Sadly, they were sold as Misc. lots, so Christie's did not catalog the pictures included. Perhaps it will come to light again in a collection or sale. 

 

This is an 1855 photograph of the gent in question, probably wearing something very similar to that in the watercolour.

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Certainly interested in your thoughts on the sequence of burial protocol. Thanks!

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I’m glad to help.  I realised that you were quoting the comment in the published history and, as the individual is clearly not wearing naval uniform (of any rank) I can only suggest that the fact he had been a naval officer was mentioned and it was somehow incorrectly assumed that he was wearing uniform.  The artist had actually done a very good job of representing the dress of the individuals in attendance given how small the figures are.

As regards the precedence during the burial ceremony, I have been able to find the details that apply.  These remain extant from way-back-when, and have changed very little over the centuries (mainly only to take into consideration any multicultural requirements, especially those of religion).  The protocols to be observed were / are as follows:

 

1. Service** / Corps / Regimental precedence is as shown in Queen’s / King’s Regulations (QR / KR) and the Army List++ and:

 

2. Precedence within regiments / corps is to be by rank and seniority and not by battalion or sub-unit number#.

 

3. In the event of a combined military and civilian funeral, including of family members, the military personage generally takes precedence. 
 

** Royal Navy the senior service followed by the Army (and then nowadays the Royal Air Force).

 

++ For coffin and pall bearers this is reversed.

 

#  i.e.  irrelevant of 1st or 2nd Battalion.

 

NB.  In the context of your painting of Coldstream Guards it means that the interment would have been by seniority order.  The regulations were and still are laid down in three publications.  General principles in the Sovereign’s Regulations (KR/QR).  The overall ceremonial details in the Manual of Ceremonial.  The individual instructions for each drill movement in the Manual of [Military] Drill.  Overall it means that if e.g. there were groups from say three different regiments to be buried, the sequence of interment would be in the order of precedence (so as an example Guards would be before line regiments) and then within each regiment the most senior individual would be first in the cortège with others following in order of their rank. It might seem petty and unnecessarily complicated, but it serves to bring order and dignity to an otherwise sad and potentially morale sapping occasion.  Soldiers observing are comforted by seeing their comrades given a good send off in the respectful manner, and with the ritual observations that they are familiar with.

 

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1 hour ago, FROGSMILE said:

I’m glad to help.  I realised that you were quoting the comment in the published history and, as the individual is clearly not wearing naval uniform (of any rank), I can only suggest that the fact he had been a naval officer was mentioned and it was somehow incorrectly assumed that he was wearing uniform.  The artist had actually done a very good job of representing the dress of the individuals in attendance given how small the figures are.

 

Yes, I can definitely see how that mistake would happen. And clearing that up makes a lot more sense. I wondered why he would have his Naval uniform while there. It's very sad, really. He was only 19 years old at the time, and I don't think he ever got over finding his brother on the field.

 

1 hour ago, FROGSMILE said:

NB.  In the context of your painting of Coldstream Guards it means that the interrment would have been by seniority order.  The regulations were and still are laid down in three publications.  General principles in the Sovereign’s Regulations (KR/QR).  The overall ceremonial details in the Manual of Ceremonial.  The individual instructions for each drill movement in the Manual of [Military] Drill.  Overall it means that if e.g. there were groups from say three different regiments to be buried, the sequence of interment would be in the order of precedence (so as an example Guards would be before line regiments) and then within each regiment the most senior individual would be first in the cortège with others following in order of their rank. It might seem petty and unnecessarily complicated, but it serves to bring order and dignity to an otherwise sad and potentially morale sapping occasion.  Soldiers observing are comforted by seeing their comrades given a good send off in the manner, and with the ritual observations that they are familiar with.

 

I think that the order and continuity is fabulous. 

Only seven of the eight were buried together on the 6th of November. Bouverie was not found until late that day, so his initial burial was nearby. A year or so later, when all the officers were disinterred and moved to Cathcart's Hill, Bouverie was united with his fellow officers in the one grave for the Coldstream Guards.

So, the burial order in the picture would match the way their names were inscribed (in order of seniority) on the final tombstone:

Dawson, Cowell, MacKinnon, Eliot, Ramsden, Disbrowe, and Greville

Screenshot2023-05-29132343.jpg.1db266294ae701be5331484dc69aa188.jpg

(NB. The above picture is a close-up of the carving of the Cathcart's Hill monument as seen on the large memorial in St. Paul's Cathedral. The Royal Collection Trust has a 19th-century image of the monument itself, as shown below.)

 

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Before the above burial at Cathcart's Hill, the seven Guards had been buried (as seen in the original painting in question and the reason for this thread) near the Windmill. This is a painting by Lieutenant Colonel Dawkins of the Coldstream Guards showing that original burial.

 

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16 hours ago, GCCE1854 said:

 

Yes, I can definitely see how that mistake would happen. And clearing that up makes a lot more sense. I wondered why he would have his Naval uniform while there. It's very sad, really. He was only 19 years old at the time, and I don't think he ever got over finding his brother on the field.

 

 

I think that the order and continuity is fabulous. 

Only seven of the eight were buried together on the 6th of November. Bouverie was not found until late that day, so his initial burial was nearby. A year or so later, when all the officers were disinterred and moved to Cathcart's Hill, Bouverie was united with his fellow officers in the one grave for the Coldstream Guards.

So, the burial order in the picture would match the way their names were inscribed (in order of seniority) on the final tombstone:

Dawson, Cowell, MacKinnon, Eliot, Ramsden, Disbrowe, and Greville

Screenshot2023-05-29132343.jpg.1db266294ae701be5331484dc69aa188.jpg

(NB. The above picture is a close-up of the carving of the Cathcart's Hill monument as seen on the large memorial in St. Paul's Cathedral. The Royal Collection Trust has a 19th-century image of the monument itself, as shown below.)

 

image.png.63ba5a0460415e29fd5f95f8b32c85cd.png

I agree that it’s fascinating to learn of and see these things and I would love to be able to visit in person the burial site now.  I wonder what they would think about the Russian occupation of the Crimea all these centuries later.  The regiment that I enlisted with, the 23rd Foot - Royal Welsh Fusiliers - now no more - kept its identity for a long time (1689-2006) and saw hard fighting in the Crimea.

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How interesting! I'm fascinated by the Crimean War at this time, so it was great to see the images above from your regiment. Wow!

I think that the state of things today would make many of them sad. 

 

I've found General Sir George Higginson's autobiography to be quite amazing. It's the story of his 71 years as a Guardsman (written when he was in his 90s), but the lion's share of the book relates his experiences in the Crimea. It was certainly something that he never forgot, and his friends who died there were fresh in his memory seventy years later. His telling of his trips to the Guard's Chapel to view the Colours and think of his fallen friends is extremely moving. 

My sister found this video a couple of years ago online, and I watch it every now and then. Higginson is 100 years old, just a few years after writing his book. To think that we can still see film of a gent who so vividly remembered what he lived through at Inkerman is rather fascinating . . . and emotional.

I'm sure he would have known everyone portrayed in the portrait of the burial we're discussing. 

 

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