ATKINSON, Captain George Francklin

Original hand-coloured lithograph after Captain George Francklin Atkinson depicting British troops advancing towards Umballa during the opening stages of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Issued as Plate No. 5 in The Campaign in India 1857–58, the composition offers a vivid portrayal of nineteenth-century military logistics, with infantry, cavalry, elephants, bullock carts and camp followers progressing across the plains of northern India. Drawn from Atkinson’s firsthand experience as an officer of the Bengal Engineers and finely printed by Day & Son, Lithographers to the Queen, the print is both an important historical document and an outstanding example of Victorian military lithography.