2-914-029 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Dejeuner to the 89th Regiment, in the Town-Hall, at Waterford [in Ireland], previous to their Departure for the Crimea, 1854. A dinner held as a '...public farewell of this gallant regiment, now on their route to the Crimea...This demonstration of the sympathy of the citizens of Waterford, for those who are going to fight the battles of their country, was participated in by all classes and creeds...In the Town-hall, the Union jack, the Tricolour, and the Crescent were blended over the Mayor's seat...[Speeches:] "Soldiers and officers, you are going to join your comrades - you are going to unite with those who never turned their backs on their foes. You will emulate their ardour (Immense and prolonged cheering). You will lead the van, and never pause until you send back the Russian eagles deprived of their claws and stripped of their feathers, to their home in the north" (Great applause)'. From "Illustrated London News", 1854.