2-913-608 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Shipping Artillery Horses at Calais, for the French Expeditionary Force to the Baltic [Crimean War], 1854. '...shipping of the horses belonging to the French artillery on board the Lamorien, French corvette...Great care was taken by the men in putting the horses on board; but, with all their precautions, they had nearly lost one of the finest of them. Whilst in the slings, the horse became frightened, and the struggles having caused the slings to slip forward, the animal became suspended by the head. It seemed a case of hanging or drowning; the horse appeared to prefer the latter. After two or three desperate plunges, it fell into the sea. All hands were instantly at work to save it, and in a few minutes the animal was secured, and placed safely on board. The Illustration furnished by our Artist represents the orderly manner in which the horses were disposed of when they had been got on board'. From "Illustrated London News", 1854.