Black veteran of Waterloo named as rare portrait goes on show

He fought in the Napoleonic wars and is one of only nine Black soldiers known to have received the Waterloo Medal - the first British medal awarded to soldiers regardless of rank. Yet the story of Pte Thomas James has been overlooked for centuries.

- Donna Ferguson

Now the National Army Museum in London has identified James as the likely subject of an “extraordinarily rare” painting from 1821, which it has attributed to the artist Thomas Phillips, whose more typical sitters were Georgian luminaries such as the Duke of Wellington and Lord Byron.

The portrait will be unveiled to the public today at the museum’s “Army at Home” gallery in Chelsea, where it will be placed on permanent display to highlight the service of James and other Black soldiers during the Napoleonic wars.

“There’s this misconception that there weren’t any Black soldiers at Waterloo,” said the museum’s art curator, Anna Lavelle. “That’s not the fault of the public - it’s not been in the historical discourse. And yet Thomas James is one of many.”

James’s story deserves to be celebrated and he should be better known, Lavelle said. “He was willing to get hurt and put his life at risk for other people in his regiment.”