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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Donna Ferguson

London museum identifies black Waterloo veteran in rare 1821 painting

Portrait of Thomas James
The museum’s art curator thinks that officers probably commissioned the portrait to celebrate Pte Thomas James for his courage. Photograph: Gorringes/National Army Museum

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 their rank.

Yet the story of Pte Thomas James has been overlooked for centuries.

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