NAM.1958-12-39-1

Lieutenant John Watson, 1st Punjab Cavalry winning the VC at Lucknow, Indian Mutiny, 14 Nov 1857. Oil on canvas by Louis William Desanges (1822-1906), 1860 (c). One of a series of paintings depicting VC subjects, executed between 1859 and 1862 and displayed at the Crystal Palace during the 1860s and 1870s. Associated with the Indian Mutiny (1857-1859). General Sir John Watson VC, GCB (1829-1919) was a lieutenant in the 1st Punjab Cavalry when he was awarded the VC on 14 November 1857 at Lucknow: ‘Lieutenant Watson, with his own squadron and that under another lieutenant, came upon a body of rebel cavalry. The ressaidar in command of them, with about half-a-dozen, rode out and confronted Lieutenant Watson and in the fierce fighting which ensued the lieutenant received several disabling blows and cuts from tulwars. He continued to defend himself, however, until his own men joined in the melee and utterly routed the enemy’.

Lucknow, Siege of, 1857 (Indian Mutiny 1857-1859)