''The remnants of an army, Jellalabad (sic), January 13, 1842'', better known as ''Remnants of an Army'', is an 1879 oil-on-canvas painting by Elizabeth Thompson, Lady Butler. It depicts

William Brydon William Brydon CB (10 October 1811 – 20 March 1873) was an assistant surgeon in the British East India Company Army during the First Anglo-Afghan War, famous for reportedly being the only member of an army of 4,500 men, plus 12,000 accomp ...

, assistant surgeon in the Bengal Army, arriving at the gates of

Jalalabad Jalalabad (; Dari/ ps, جلال‌آباد, ) is the fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 356,274, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part of the country, about from the capital Kabul. Jala ...

in January 1842. The walls of Jalalabad loom over a desolate plain and riders from the garrison gallop from the gate to reach the solitary figure bringing the first word of the fate of the "Army of Afghanistan". Supposedly Brydon was initially thought to be the only survivor of the approximately 16,000 soldiers and camp followers from the 1842

retreat from Kabul The 1842 retreat from Kabul, also called the Massacre of Elphinstone's army, during the First Anglo-Afghan War, was the retreat of the British and East India Company forces from Kabul. An uprising in Kabul forced the then commander, Major-Genera ...

in the

First Anglo-Afghan War The First Anglo-Afghan War ( fa, جنگ اول افغان و انگلیس) was fought between the British Empire and the Emirate of Kabul from 1838 to 1842. The British initially successfully invaded the country taking sides in a succession d ...

, and is shown toiling the last few miles to safety on an exhausted and dying horse. A few other stragglers from the army arrived later, and larger numbers were eventually released or rescued after spending time as captives of Afghan forces. The painting was made during the

Second Anglo-Afghan War The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, ps, د افغان-انګرېز دويمه جګړه) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the l ...

. Lady Butler was developing a reputation for her military pictures after the favourable reception of her earlier painting '' The Roll Call'' of 1874, on a subject from the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

. It measures by ''Remnants of an Army'' was exhibited at the

Royal Academy summer exhibition The Summer Exhibition is an open art exhibition held annually by the Royal Academy in Burlington House, Piccadilly in central London, England, during the months of June, July, and August. The exhibition includes paintings, prints, drawings, s ...

in 1879, and acquired by Sir

Henry Tate Sir Henry Tate, 1st Baronet (11 March 18195 December 1899) was an English sugar merchant and philanthropist, noted for establishing the Tate Gallery in London. Life and career Born in White Coppice, a hamlet near Chorley, Lancashire, Tate was ...

, who presented to the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

in 1897. Still owned by the Tate Gallery, it was on long-term loan as part of a permanent exhibition at the Somerset Military Museum: the 13th (1st Somersetshire) Regiment (Light Infantry) was involved in the

, and moved to Jalalabad in late 1841. In 2023 it was rehung at Tate Britain.

References

External links

Tate Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Remnants of an Army 1879 paintings Paintings by Elizabeth Thompson War paintings Anti-war paintings Horses in art Collection of the Tate galleries First Anglo-Afghan War