The project was directly commissioned by Queen Victoria, who took an active, personal interest in the welfare of the ordinary soldiers returning home from the brutal campaign against Russia.
The Crimean War (1853–1856) was notorious for its logistical disasters. Thousands of British soldiers succumbed to cholera, dysentery, extreme winter frostbite, and systemic neglect. Shocked by these reports, Queen Victoria met with returning veterans at Buckingham Palace and Chatham Military Hospital. To honor their sacrifices and permanently record their faces, she sent Cundall and Howlett to photograph them.