{"product_id":"5-60th-royal-americans-at-the-storming-of-ciudad-rodrigo-1812-richard-simkin-1890","title":"5\/60th Royal Americans at the Storming of Ciudad Rodrigo (1812) - Richard Simkin, 1890","description":"\u003cp\u003eOverall: 35cm (14in) x 46cm (18in)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWatercolour and gouache on paper. ‘The 5th (Rifle) Battalion of the 60th Royal American Regiment, Cuidad Rodrigo. - 19th January 1812’ - titled on the mount. Signed lower right. Image: 22.5cm x 34.5cm. Framed and glazed. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDuring the storming of Ciudad Rodrigo on 19 January 1812, three companies of the 5th Battalion, 60th (Royal American) Regiment served as elite skirmishers within Major General Robert McKinnon’s brigade of the 3rd Division. Tasked with supporting the assault on the Great Breach, the green-jacketed Riflemen used the superior accuracy of their Baker rifles to suppress French defenders on the ramparts, providing critical covering fire as the main columns advanced. When the assault was launched under the cover of darkness, elements of the 5\/60th pressed forward into the chaos of the breach, braving heavy musket fire, canister shot, and the catastrophic explosion of a French defensive mine that claimed the life of General McKinnon. Despite the fierce resistance and heavy slaughter, the Riflemen successfully helped breach the fortress walls, securing a vital Anglo-Portuguese victory while suffering remarkably light casualties of just one killed and four wounded.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRichard Simkin (1850-1926) was born in Kent, served in the Artists Rifles and attended the Heatherley Art School. He was employed by the War Office designing recruiting posters and providing illustrations for the ‘Army and Navy Gazette’. He married in 1880 and lived for six years at Aldershot before moving to Herne Bay. He illustrated ‘The War in Egypt’ for publisher George Routledge in 1883; and in 1888, produced a volume of illustrated verse under the title ‘Following the Drum - Sketches of Soldier-Life in Peace and War, Past and Present’. Regarded as an authority on British military uniforms, he depicted imperial and colonial troops to create such series as 'Types of the Indian Army' for the ‘Army and Navy Gazette’ in 1901, having gained much first hand information at the Colonial and India Exhibition of 1886. During his lifetime, he contributed illustrations to numerous publications including ‘The Graphic’ and ‘Boy’s Own Magazine’. His work can be found in many regimental museums.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Armoury St James","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57649447567733,"sku":null,"price":1100.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0511\/7008\/3014\/files\/L1720148.jpg?v=1791870783","url":"https:\/\/armoury.co.uk\/products\/5-60th-royal-americans-at-the-storming-of-ciudad-rodrigo-1812-richard-simkin-1890","provider":"The Armoury St James's","version":"1.0","type":"link"}