Dr Alastair Massie presents an album of photographs by John McCosh (1805-1885) featuring a picture of General Sir Charles Napier (1782-1853).
General Sir Charles Napier (video)
Transcript
Voiceover:
Now, in "A small piece of history", Dr Alastair Massie of the National Army Museum presents a favourite object from the Collection.
Dr Alastair Massie:
The significance of this album for me is that it dates from the very dawn of photography.
These photographs were taken by surgeon John McCosh of the Bengal Medical Service. And in it he's captured pictures of men who fought in the Second Sikh War of 1848-49.
And the picture I've chosen to highlight is this picture here of General Sir Charles Napier who arrived to take command of the army fighting the Sikhs, but the war finished before he arrived.
However, he had served in India before in 1843 when he conquered the province of Sindh. And he's well known for the pun that he made when he sent a dispatch announcing his capture. He wrote "Peccavi", which is Latin for "I have sinned".
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