"Disembarkation of the Expedition to Kertch at Kamish Bournou", with the blowing up of St Paul's Battery.
Shows the allied troops arriving just south of Kertch Bay in the Crimea. Supplies, guns and ammunition are unloaded as more troops ships arrive. In the distance the fleet is engaged and smoke can be seen as the battery is destroyed.Print from a watercolour by William Simpson (1823-1899).
(Click on image to enlarge)
PB: Summary adapted from NAM entry:
Print from a watercolour by William Simpson (1823-1899), 24 May 1855.
The port of Kerch guarded access to the Sea of Azov, which was an important supply route for Sevastopol during the Crimean War (1854-1856).
Much to the disgust of the British, a previous Anglo-French expedition (3 May 1855) to capture Kerch had been abandoned in sight of its objective when the French force was suddenly recalled. However, on 22 May 1855 a second expedition was launched which was successful.
The artist, William Simpson, was permitted by Lord Raglan to accompany both expeditions. His original watercolour, from which the engraver E Walker worked, is now in the National Army Museum, London. The publisher was Colnaghi.
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"Capture of Kertch. Occupation of the Sea of Azof", article in Otago Witness, Issue 206, 3 November 1855, presumably derived from sources previously published in England.
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"An expedition sailed for Kertch", from "How Britannia Came to Rule the Waves", by William Kingston, date
William Henry Giles Kingston (1814-1880), was a writer of tales for young poeple. His account is included here as an expression of contemporary popular interest in the War.