At the battle of Tel-el-Kebir in Egypt the forces of Arabi Pasha were totally defeated by British troops. Queen Victoria's son Arthur, Duke of Connaught, was in command of the Guards Brigade. The scene depicted in the painting was described thus when the painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1884: 'On the enemy opening fire, the Duke of Connaught at once formed his brigade for attack. At this moment his brigade stood on a ridge, the range of which had evidently been ascertained by the enemy's gunners. It was therefore pushed rapidly into a hollow, where a large number of shells, passing over the heads of his men, were seen to burst about twenty yards in the rear of them, on the ridge which had just been quitted. Several men were wounded with the enemy's rifle fire'. The Duke, mounted on a grey horse, can be seen in the centre of the painting.

Before the battle General Wolseley had been very concerned about the safety of the Duke. He wrote to his wife, Lady Wolseley, 'He really is one of the most active Brigadiers I have, and is very keen. I am distressed in my mind as to what I shall do, for I want to shove the Foot Guards into a hot corner, and they want this themselves, and they are the best troops I have, but I am so nervous that no injury should befall the favourite son of the Queen that I am loath to endanger his life.'

When Queen Victoria commissioned the painting she informed the artist that 'Arthur is most anxious not to be brought prominently forward but only to appear in the distance.' Woodville painted the Duke without a beard at first because he thought he was unrecognizable with it, but Queen Victoria asked for him to be given one.

This work is connected to colonialism and imperialism. Like all Royal Collection records, this work is subject to ongoing research as Royal Collection Trust seeks to recover hidden histories and present fully the narratives represented in the Collection.


Signed and dated: R. Caton Woodville. / 1884.