‘Advance of the Siege Train’, 1857 (coloured lithograph)

‘Advance of the Siege Train’, 1857. Coloured lithograph from 'The Campaign in India 1857-58’, a series of 26 coloured lithographs by William Simpson, E Walker and others, after G F Atkinson, published by Day and Son, 1857-1858. This lithograph depicts the advance of reinforcements from the Punjab bound for the besieged city of Delhi during the Indian Mutiny (1857-1859). The force, under the command of Brigadier-General John Nicholson, included a siege train of 32 guns and 2,000 men. The vast majority of the reinforcements were Indian, mainly Sikhs and Punjabi Moslems, and without their help the weak British forces besieging Delhi from the nearby ridge would never have been able to take the city in September 1857.