[CRIMEAN WAR] Sketch of French, British and Russian troops carrying away their dead under a flag of truce during the Siege of Sebastopol, 24 March 1855.

Graphite and ink on onion skin paper, 520 x 330 mm (irregular); unsigned; numerous annotations in ink by the artist identifying various scenes in the drawing, with his extended caption occupying the bottom margin reading: ‘Town of Sebastopol away to the left … Flag of Truce, March 24th after the sortie on the night of the 22nd; carrying away the dead. Loss: Russians about 400 killed & apart many wounded; French 150 killed [& many wounded]; English 60 killed & wounded, the attack was made on French chiefly’; tipped onto a fully contemporary backing sheet; the drawing is well preserved, with some minor loss at edges.

A fascinating eyewitness record of a poignant scene during the siege of Sevastopol (at the time known to the English as ‘Sebastopol’), the culminating episode in the Crimean War. The drawing depicts the aftermath of a sortie by the Russian Imperial troops on the night of 22 March 1855. Around 5,500 Russian men attacked the French positions surrounding the Mamelon, a hill in front of the Malakoff ridge. In the face of this attack, the French troops stood their ground with firm resistance, eventually driving the Russians back into Sevastopol.

This scene shows a Russian officer holding the flag of truce, as the respective armies gather their dead for burial. A white flag can also be seen on the Mamelon in the background, where it had been raised by the allies. In the lower right corner of the drawing, the artist has included a tally of the Russian, French and English casualties from the event.

The drawing is probably a preparatory sketch for a painting or engraving, and was most likely executed by a British war correspondent stationed near the Mamelon. The event is also depicted in a painting by the prominent British general, Sir Henry Clifford, entitled ‘Flag of Truce in front of the Mamelon to Collect the Dead for Burial’ (1855).