Scene in a Street of Sebastopol – Allied Soldiers Singing “No More Trenches”

A Frenchman, a Brit, and a Turk strolling down the war-torn streets of Sevastopol.

The Crimean War saw the coalescence of an unlikely alliance against Russian imperial ambitions in Central Asia and the Balkans. British, French, and Sardinian troops supported the Ottoman Empire and together they maintained a siege against Sevastopol for nearly a year – between October of 1854 and September in 1855. That month, a huge bombardment precipitated a final assault that led to the withdrawal of the city’s Russian defenders.

This print, issued in the October 20, 1855 issue of The Illustrated London News, shows a trio of allied troops celebrating their victory. Rubble is strewn across the street as additional soldiers can be seen playing cards in the background.