‘Dr Brydon only survivor of Cabul Army’, 1850 circa (b/w photo)

‘Dr Brydon only survivor of Cabul Army’, 1850 circa. Photograph by Surgeon John McCosh (1805-1885), 1850 circa. Brydon (1811-1873) was famous for being one of the few survivors of the 4,500 British and Indian troops and 12,000 camp followers who took part in the retreat from Kabul to Jellalabad in January 1842. At the time he was an Assistant Surgeon with the Bengal Army. Brydon was later immortalised by the Victorian artist, Lady Butler, who portrayed him approaching the gates of Jellalabad perched on his exhausted horse. After recovering from the wounds sustained during the retreat from Kabul, Brydon took part in the 2nd Anglo-Burmese War of 1852, when Rangoon was captured. Later he was serving as a regimental doctor at Lucknow when the Indian Mutiny (1857-1859) started and, along with his wife and children, survived the subsequent siege of the residency, being badly wounded in the thigh. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in November 1858.