This painting depicts the scene of the recovery of the body of the Prince Imperial of France, Eugène-Louis-Napoléon (1856-79) on 2nd June 1879. He had been killed by Zulus the day before whilst on a reconnaissance mission for the British Army, to which he was attached. In the left middle distance is an ambulance wagon with its escort of 17th Lancers. In the centre foreground is a bearer party, commanded by Major General Frederick Marshall, and which consisisted of the following individuals: Captain Herbert Stewart, the Brigade Major; Lieutenant Bartle Frere of the Rifle Brigade, Surgeon Major Scott, Colonel Drury-Lowe, and three other officers from the 17th Lancers. The bearded man in plain clothes is Monsieur Paul Deléage, correspondent for Le Figaro. The body of the Prince is seen here being carried on a bier formed of a blanket and two lances. To the right of the bearer party are mounted troops consisting of soldiers of the King's Dragoon Guards in their scarlet jackets, and soldiers of the 17th Lancers in blue jackets, holding their lances. The ambush resulting in the Prince Imperial's death is imagined in Paul Jamin's 'Death of the Prince Imperial in Zululand' (1882, Château de Compiègne). Paul Alexandre Protais (1826-90) followed the French army during their campaigns in the Crimea and Italy. He was wounded three times, partly due to his eagerness to get close to the action he sought to record. His depictions of military subjects earned him critical acclaim in France, where he frequently exhibited at the Salon from 1857 onwards, and won medals in 1863, 1864, 1865, and 1868.