All regiment officers walked the whole distance except one who was lame. All officers of other regiments I met rode ponies. This is followed by a fold-out hand-drawn map backed with linen. The journal is written in a contemporary commercial notebook bound on a stiff card with stamped black paper covers, with all edges red. There are several unused blanks following the map. There is very minor rubbing and wear, with old shelf numbers in red and blue pencil at the top margin of the title page. Internally, the paper is clean and fresh. We can find no evidence that this diary has ever been thoroughly researched or copied, let alone printed. Sotheby's medals were sold in December 2002 at DNW in London, and most of his papers are in a public collection. This journal has an armorial bookplate on the front pastedown of the family of Cope [Lt Col Sir Anthony Cope, 13th Baronet, was a colleague of Sotheby in the Rifle Brigade during the Ashantee campaign later in his career. Sotheby had served in the Crimea and would later serve in China and Ashanti, retiring as Major General. He was a companyer in the 2nd Rifle Brigade during the Mutiny command. Numerous other officers of the regiment are mentioned in the journal, including company commanders Glyn, Thynne, Fremantle, Dillon, Baillie, Fyers, and Nixon. The journal entries are written in brief and, at times, the perfunctory way one might expect of a serving officer under pressure. Still, they give a very close view of events from his position and sometimes provide more information than is printed in standard histories. He shows high regard for his colleagues in the 7th Hussars, who were alongside his battalion for most of the time. Numerous officers and some NCOs and soldiers are mentioned from his own battalion, the 3rd Rifles, 7th Hussars, Bays, Punjab Rifles, Bengal Fusiliers, 38th Foot, and others. Occasionally, there is quite a detailed account of an encounter, as is the case of a battle near Chinhute a few miles from Lucknow on June 1st, 1858. Here, he served with a large force under Grant and came upon a force of around 2,000 enemies with 17 guns. Some of them fought right well. We afterwards counted 900 killed, our own loss of about 60 killed. The 3rd Battalion did capitally, as did the 7th Hussars. This journal is a unique survival. Hart's Army List of 1874 notes his service: Major Sotheby served with the Rifle Brigade in the Crimea from August 11th, 1855, including the siege and fall of Sebastopol and the storming of the Redan on September 8th (Medal with Clasp and Turkish Medal). He served with the 2nd Battalion throughout the entire Indian Mutiny, including the capture of Lucknow and numerous engagements during the Oude campaign (Medal with Clasp). He also served throughout the campaign of 1860 in China, which culminated in the surrender of Pekin (Medal with two Clasps).