2-913-523 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Town and Fortress of Silistria - from an original sketch by our own artist, 1854. During the Siege of Silistria, Turkish troops and British officers were confined in the Ottoman fortress at Silistra, present-day Bulgaria. An extract from Captain Charles Nasmyth's account: 'Up to the 24th [May] there is nothing very particular to record, except that, on the evening of that day, the two English officers, in commemoration of Queen Victoria's birthday, drank her Majesty's health "in a mug full of sour wine". A furious attack was made by the Russians on the 25th; but the fortress does not seem to have sustained much damage from it, although the besieging force was by that time estimated at 100,000 men. During the two following days the Russians were very quiet, preparing, no doubt, for the grand attack on the 28th of May....'. From "Illustrated London News", 1854.