Balaclava Oct., 1854

Balaclava Oct., 1854 Signed with monogram at right. Source: Fun 57-58 (24 October 1893): 170-71. Click on image to enlarge it. The left half of this two-page spread depicts the ill-fated Charge of the Light Brigade, which forty years later seems to have come to represent heroic courage rather than incredible incompetence of commanding officers, while the right shows an impoverished elderly veteran pawning a medal. The text beneath the charging cavalry officer reads,

Honour the light Brigade!
When shall their glory fade?

and that beneath the old soldier outside a pawn shop:

How have they been repaid? —
Noble Six Hundred!

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Last modified 1 February 2016