Uniform Gallery

Michael Collins 1890-1922) Irish Nationalist, Sinn Fein leader, founder and director

Michael Collins 1890-1922) Irish Nationalist, Sinn Fein leader, founder and director of intelligence of the Irish Republican Army 1919, minister for finance in the provisional government of the Irish Free State 1922, and for ten days Head of State before being killed. Born in County Cork, he became an active member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and in 1916 fought in the Easter Rising. In 1918 he was elected a Sinn Fein member to the Dail, and became a minister in the Republican Provisional government. In 1921 he and Arthur Griffith were mainly responsible for the treaty that established the Irish Free State. During the ensuing civil war, Collins took command and crushed the opposition in Dublin and the large towns within a few weeks. When Griffiths died Collins became head of the state and the army, but he was ambushed near Cork by fellow Irishmen on 22nd August and killed. Topfoto stills library picture library stock archive vintage Ireland Irish Rebellion 1916

© TopFoto.co.uk

On the evening of the Battle of Waterloo

On the evening of the Battle of Waterloo - from painting by Ernest Crofts. Battle between French army under the command of Emperor Napoleon and armies of the Seventh Coalition, an Anglo-Allied army under the command of the Duke of Wellington, supported by Prussian army under the command of Gebhard von Blcher. 18 June 1815. During Waterloo Campaign of findal Hundred Days (Neopolitan War) of Napoleonic Wars, between Napoleon s return from exile and defeat at Waterloo. Present- day Belgium

© Lebrecht

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, 1814-1815, (1944). Creator: Thomas Lawrence

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, 1814-1815, (1944). Portrait of Anglo-Irish soldier and future British prime minister Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington (1761-1852) wearing Field Marshal's uniform and standing under a Roman style triumphal arch. He holds aloft the Sword of State (symbolising the sovereign's royal authority) in an heroic gesture. The portrait was commissioned by George IV in the summer of 1814 after the initial defeat of Napoleon. Painting in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle. From "British Soldiers, by S. H. F. Johnston. [Collins, London, 1944]

© The Print Collector/Heritage Images