2-979-771 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Presentation of Colours to the Calcutta Volunteer Guards, by the Viscountess Canning, 1857. 'Some 20,000 to 25,000 were present...consisting, including artillery, cavalry, and infantry, of 900 men...Her Ladyship [the Vicereine of India] arrived on the ground on horseback...accompanied by the Governor-General, the Commander-in- Chief, Generals Windham and Beatson...Lady Canning's address was as follows: "Calcutta Volunteers - I have great pleasure in presenting you these colours. The readiness with which you came forward at a time of trouble and anxiety, and sacrificed your leisure, your ease, and the comforts of your homes, on behalf of the safety of the public, and the zeal with which you have applied yourselves to the study and discharge of your self-imposed duties, assure me that these British colours will be confided to trustworthy hands...".' From "Illustrated London News", 1857.