Colin Campbell (1792–1863) was an effective and respected commander, who had served previously in the Napoleonic Wars, in China and in South Asia. Under Campbell’s command in the Crimea, the 93rd (Sutherland Highlanders) Regiment formed the famous ‘thin red line’ during the Battle of Balaklava on 25 October 1854. The Times newspaper reported how a line of red-jacketed soldiers withstood the advancing Russian army, describing a ‘thin red streak tipped with a line of steel’. This line was quickly reduced to the now-familiar phrase.

From the collection of the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII