King's Own Royal Regiment Museum

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Lieutenant Francis Maguire and the Forlorn Hope at San Sebastian,
31st August 1813

"The Fourth led and perhaps in the whole history of war there cannot be found a stronger instance of courage and obedience to orders."
Major General Robinson, 1813

The Painting - The Forlorn Hope
(St. Sebastian, August 1813)

"The Forlorn Hope" – commissioned by past and present officers of The King’s Own Royal Regiment for 100 guineas and exhibited by the artist Mr J P Beadle RA at the Royal Academy in 1912. Originally titled "St. Sebastian, August 1813" the painting depicts the Forlorn Hope of General Robinson’s Brigade led by Lieutenant Francis Maguire and men of the 4th Foot, at the moment of his death at the foot of the great breach on 31st August. The Forlorn Hope was followed by light companies and the remainder of the Brigade in two columns.

The artist’s pencil sketch for the painting, shows Maguire wearing a shako, whilst the painting correctly shows him wearing a cocked hat.
Accession Number: KO0395/04

James Prinsep Beadle was born in Calcutta in 1863, and grew up in India before going to study at the Slade School for three years before moving to Paris to study at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. He painted his first battle scene in 1897 and his continuing interest in the Peninsula War led him to take a holiday in Spain and Portugal in 1912 where he visited numerous battlefields to sketch the terrain.

He continued to paint in the 1920s and died in Kensington on 13th August 1946.

The original oil painting is now the property of the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment.

The museum has a number of black and white prints of the picture in the collection:

Accession Number: KO0395/07

Accession Number: KO1017/103

© Images are copyright, Trustees of the King's Own Royal Regiment Museum.
 You must seek permission prior to publication of any of our images.