{"product_id":"princess-of-wales-s-royal-regiment-the-battle-of-minden-1759-1890","title":"Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment - The Battle of Minden (1759), 1890","description":"\u003cp\u003eOverall: 36cm (14.2in) x 48cm (19in)\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWatercolour on paper. Grenadiers of the 37th Foot in mitre caps bayonet charge French infantry and heavy cavalry at the Battle of Minden. Signed lower left ‘Harry Payne’. Framed and glazed\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt the Battle of Minden, fought on 1 August 1759 and involving some 80,000 combatants, an Anglo-Hanoverian army under Prussian Field Marshal Ferdinand of Brunswick defeated the supposedly invincible French following their invasion of Hanover. King George II of Great Britain and Hanover rewarded Ferdinand with £20,000 and the Order of the Garter, while he cashiered the British commander Lord George Sackville, for cowardice in refusing to commit cavalry support.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch6\u003eRead more \u003c\/h6\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e~section 2~\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe decisive action of the battle took place in the centre when the due to a misunderstanding of orders, Friedrich von Spörcken's division, composed of six British infantry battalions supported by the Hanoverian Guards, actually advanced to attack the French cavalry. Since the French cavalry was still in its ranks and the ‘infantry square' had not yet been invented, it was assumed by all that the six leading British regiments were doomed. Despite being under constant artillery fire, 12th, 20th, 23rd, 25th, 37th and 51st Regiments of Foot maintained fierce discipline, closed ranks, and drove off repeated cavalry charges with musket fire, inflicting serious casualties on the French. The commander of the Franco-Saxony army, Marquis de Contades said bitterly, \"I have seen what I never thought to be possible—a single line of infantry break through three lines of cavalry, ranked in order of battle, and tumble them to ruin!” The battle ended all French designs upon Hanover for the remainder of the year and in Britain formed part of the Annus Mirabilis of 1759.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHarry (Henry Joseph) Payne (1858-1927) was the son of a solicitor's clerk and was born in London. After art school, he worked as a designer for a firm of military contractors. By the 1880s he had become a prolific artist and a book and postcard illustrator, selling his artwork to the Prince of Wales and other members of the royal family. In collaboration with his brother, Arthur Charles Payne (1856–1933), he worked on a number of commissions for the Golden Jubilee 1887, the Diamond Jubilee 1897. He lived latterly in Forest Hill, Kent and served in with the Queen's Own West Kent Yeomanry.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Armoury St James","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57508053287285,"sku":null,"price":1200.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0511\/7008\/3014\/files\/L1710334.jpg?v=1787047117","url":"https:\/\/armoury.co.uk\/products\/princess-of-wales-s-royal-regiment-the-battle-of-minden-1759-1890","provider":"The Armoury St James's","version":"1.0","type":"link"}