Trukkee, 28th February 1845, an incident during Sir Charles Napier’s Hill campaign in Baluchistan, 1845...

‘Trukkee, 28th February 1845, an incident during Sir Charles Napier’s Hill campaign in Baluchistan’, 1845. Oil on millboard by George Jones (1786-1869), 1856 (c), probably a study for the canvas exhibited at the Royal Academy 1856 No 186. In 1844 General Sir Charles James Napier (1782-1853), Governor of Sind, led a campaign against hill tribesmen operating on the north-west frontier between India and Afghanistan, in an area which is now in Pakistan. High up in the mountains, their base, 'Trukkee', was an almost inaccessible, basin-like position, shielded by perpendicular cliffs of rock, with only two points of access. According to the description accompanying the finished canvas at the Royal Academy in 1856:- 'General Sir Charles J. Napier is in the act of calling off his troops from the pursuit of the robbers into the recesses of the rocks. The general saw the heights lined with matchlock men. To spare the effusion of blood on both sides he closed the entrance with his troops, and obliged the robbers to surrender…The retiring horsemen suddenly rode into a chasm amongst the rocks, and a guide involuntarily exclaimed as they disappeared, "Trukkee!" having only the evening before declared it was two marches distant. This exclamation, coupled with the confident retreat of the robbers, gave warrant that the long-hidden fortress was found, and the confederates brought to bay. The artist, George Jones, was acquainted with General Sir Charles Napier and his brother William, the military historian. In a letter to William he stated that, 'I need not tell you that I will do anything in my power to contribute to the honour and commemorations of your glorious brother…'. Charles Napier supervised Jones in at least four paintings of the Sind campaign (1843).