Lot 207
EARLY 19TH CENTURY BRITISH SCHOOL
HALF LENGTH PORTRAIT OF COL. HENRY WILSON, 57TH (WEST MIDDLESEX) REGIMENT OF FOOT
Auction: Five Centuries Day One | Wed 13th May | Lots 68 to 297
Description
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
76cm x 63.5cm (30in x 25in)
Footnote
The battalion earned the regiment its nickname of "the Die Hards" after their participation in the Battle of Albuera, one of the bloodiest battles of the war, in May 1811. The commanding officer of the battalion, Colonel William Inglis, was struck down by a charge of canister shot which hit him in the neck and left breast. He refused to be carried to the rear for treatment, but lay in front of his men calling on them to hold their position and when the fight reached its fiercest cried, "Die hard the 57th, die hard!". The casualties of the battalion were 422 out of the 570 men in the ranks and 20 out of the 30 officers. The Allied commander of the Anglo-Portuguese force General William Beresford wrote in his dispatch, "our dead, particularly the 57th Regiment, were lying as they fought in the ranks, every wound in front".