2-969-728 - /Heritage Images

The Bombardment of Sveaborg - sketched by J. W. Carmichael, 1856. Scene from the Aland War, part of the Crimean War, showing '...Captain Caldwell, [commanding] H.M.S. Duke of Wellington, superintending the gun-boats during the bombardment [of the city by the Russians]...Nothing more desolate can exist than the appearance of Helsingfors [Helsinki] during the last few days. The incessant moving and transporting of valuables, furniture, and effects of all descriptions, is beyond belief; the streets are filled with them, and the main road to the interior is one line of carts, waggons, and fugitives. The scene baffles the power of language to portray. Helsingfors and its inhabitants used to be known for their tranquillity and peaceable condition; but now they labour under that most contagious fever, the panic of fear'. From "Illustrated London News", 1856.