5 - Displaying Valour

Summary

This chapter focuses on the depiction of the first African-Caribbean man to receive the Victoria Cross, Samuel Hodge (c.1840-68) of the 4th WIR. In 1866, Hodge was serving in West Africa when his unit was involved in an assault against a stockaded village close to the River Gambia. For his bravery in breaching the defences, he was awarded Britain’s highest military honour, though he died of his wounds in early 1868. Hodge appeared in The Capture of Tubabakolong, Gambia, 1866, by the English artist Louis William Desanges (1822-87). Desanges was best known for his paintings of Victoria Cross winners, which were among the most familiar depictions of contemporary warfare. As such, Desanges did much to visually express the growing middle-class militarism and patriotism that characterised mid-century Britain. The chapter analyses the depiction of Hodge by Desanges, comparing it with the imagery of other Victoria Cross heroes, as well as written accounts. It shows that with the steady Black soldier dominating the image of the West India Regiments, Hodge’s valour could only be represented in highly circumscribed ways.