From the 17th to the 18th centuries, Chinese military forces expanded into Xinjiang and Central Asia and unified Mongolia. The Chinese troops at that time were equipped with a large number of artillery pieces. To commemorate the victories, the emperor commissioned missionaries to paint scenes of military campaigns.

The sketches were sent to Paris in 1765 via Guangzhou by the French East India Company. Under the direction of the French royal artist Charles‑Nicolas Cochin, professional Parisian engravers engraved the copper plates and produced prints. Both the original copper plates and printed copies were completed and shipped back to China in 1773. The King of France at that time was Louis XV.

Part of both the Third Silesian War and the broader Seven Years' War, the Battle of Leuthen (today Lutynia, Poland) was fought on the 5th of December 1757 between Frederick the Great's Prussian Army and a larger Austrian force under Prince Charles of Lorraine and Field Marshal Leopold Joseph von Daun.

Using superior maneuver tactics and knowledge of the terrain, Frederick inflicted a crushing defeat on the Austrians, nullifying their previous gains, opening the way to besieging Breslau (today Wrocław, Poland) and eventually ensuring Prussian control over Silesia.

by Louis Weirter

by Dan Dance. The 73rd New York Zouaves defend their ground against the furious charge of Barksdale's Mississippians

by Giuseppe Rava

by Dan Nance. Depicting the hand-to-hand combat during Pickett's Charge.

Painted by Canadian War artist Eric Aldwinckle in 1945

During the Battle of Sedan, the French army had been surrounded and was left with practically no way out. Seeing the situation, General Jean-Auguste Margueritte ordered the cavalry to charge the Prussian positions. Before the charge, he expressed his determination to die with honor rather than remain inactive in the face of the disaster.

The cuirassiers, together with other cavalry units, launched their attack under intense artillery and rifle fire. The cuirassiers were at a clear numerical disadvantage against the Prussian forces, but they continued advancing and charging the enemy positions.

These charges allowed the French troops who were entrenched to use the time gained to reorganize and reinforce their positions.

Despite the clear numerical disadvantage, the cuirassiers continued advancing and throwing themselves fiercely against the Prussian positions. As they charged, they were constantly under fire from Prussian artillery and infantry, but they nevertheless maintained their advance and attempted to break through the enemy lines. Upon witnessing the cuirassiers' charge, King Wilhelm I reportedly exclaimed in admiration: „Aber was für tapfere Männer!“ — “What brave men!”

In the midst of the fierce charge, Margueritte was mortally wounded, thus fulfilling his word to die with honor.

Finally, the cuirassiers had to withdraw after pushing their charges to the limit and fighting against a vastly superior Prussian force. Even so, they had helped their entrenched French comrades and, practically without support from infantry or artillery, had placed the Prussian positions in serious danger, even surprising King Wilhelm I himself with the ferocity of their attacks.

Victory had approached Bucentaure's vulnerable stern so closely that the French ensign had literally hung over Victory's deck. Victory's port carronade, loaded with a single 68-pound ball and a keg of 500 musket-balls, fired first and was immediately followed by the entire fifty guns of the port broadside in a rapid ripple. The impact caused Bucentaure to heel in the water from the shock whilst the devastation wrought by scores of cannon-shot and hundreds of musket-balls hurtling down the entire length of her decks summarily killed 365 men and wounded a further 219; twenty of her eighty guns were dismounted and, in an instant, the French flagship was rendered almost impotent and helpless to do anything other than surrender.