Thomas Staunton St Clair

Badajos during the Siege of June 1811, by St. Clair

BHSP member, Maj. Gen. Rui Moura, has published a fascinating and detailed article on Thomas Staunton St Clair, a British officer, painter, and diarist during the Peninsular War, in which he shares his ‘discovery’ of the depiction of Lt. Col. James Ward Oliver being carried off the field mortally wounded during the 2^nd Siege of Badajoz in 1811. The article is entitled Thomas Staunton St Clair, the Sword, the Pen, and the Paintbrush and can be read in full here.

Detail showing Lt. Col. James Ward Oliver being carried off the field

Details of illustrations:

 Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal

Badajos during the Siege of June 1811, by St. Clair, Thomas Staunton. A Series of Views of the Principal Occurrences of the Campaigns in Spain and Portugal, Taken During the Peninsular War, Sketch n.o 4, p. 19. London: Colnaghi and Co.. Colecção Duarte Souza (ds-xix-190). Reservados, BNP, 1815.

James Oliver detail. (St. Clair. Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection, Brown University Library)