2-913-826 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Firing the Park Guns for the Great Victory in the Crimea, 1854. Cannons are fired in London to celebrate the Russian defeat in the Crimean War. '"The Park Guns" were fired from the Parade-ground...By direction of Lord Hardinge, twenty-five guns were fired in St. James's-park; and, as the Horse Guards clock commenced striking the hour of six [am], the first report was heard over the metropolis. Dark, foggy, and cold as London was at that hour, hundreds of people left their comfortable homes and wended their way to the Park; some in the expectation of hearing fresh news, others to communicate what they knew, to comment on the past, and speculate on the future. The precise reason why the guns were fired in the Park was to acknowledge the official communications received by the Commander-in-Chief from the Government'. From "Illustrated London News", 1854.