Photograph of Sergeant William Knapp seated facing forwards holding a rifle in his left hand. He is wearing military uniform and has a rucksack on his back. There is a round water bottle and a bearskin hat on the table beside him to the right.

Sergeant William Knapp served with the Coldstream Guards during the Crimean War. Throughout the war Queen Victoria had taken an active interest in the welfare of the troops and on their return from the Crimea she met a number of the veterans at Buckingham Palace, Chatham Military Hospital and Aldershot Garrison. Following these meetings she commissioned a series of photographs of the veterans from the photographers Joseph Cundall and Robert Howlett. This portrait was probably taken in July 1856 in Aldershot.