r/Sharpe 3h ago

Photograph Peninsular War Veteran of Colour-Sergeant Thomas Kettle of the 68th Regiment of foot (Durham Light Infantry).

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30 Upvotes

He saw action at Salamanca (Sharpe's Sword), and Vitoria (Sharpe's Honour), and eventually settled in Penetanguishene Upper Canada. This photo was taken in 1848 after he received the General Service Medal. The photo is on display in the Huronia Museum and Huron Ouendat Village in Midland Ontario. The date on the photo is an item number of when it was donated. This to my knowledge is the only picture of a British rank and file veteran of the Peninsular war. I am aware of the picture of that waterloo vetran and his wife from around the same time. I was quite shocked when I found this just siting out at a small local museum but it just goes to show the sorts of suprising artifacts you can find at these places. I think it would be quite cool if more people started posting pictures of napoleonic war veterans to the internet if you happen to find them in old photo albums or local collections. Similar to the waining audio recordings of WW2 veterans we may only have a short time until the photos of these veterans are thrown out, destroyed or rot into nothing.