In this painting you can see a battle raging; in the background there are soldiers armed with bayonets shrouded in the smoke and glow of gun fire. To the left a fallen comrade lies in a ditch, with only his legs visible to us. Meanwhile, in the foreground, two men have stopped fighting to tend to the wounded dog of the regiment which is bleeding from the head and left paw. One man holds the dog and keeps an eye on the battle, while the other, who has taken off his hat, pours what seems to be alcohol onto a cloth which he will use to treat the wounds. The men seem to be a bugler and a drummer and they are from the time when Napoleon was Emperor of the French.

When this picture was painted in 1819 Napoleon Bonaparte ruled France as Emperor, after centuries of monarchic rule and then a Revolution when King Louis XVI and Queen Marie-Antoinette were deposed and guillotined.

Horace Vernet was well-known for his paintings showing French military glory during the Napoleonic period. This was one of Vernet's most popular works and, rather than showing the realities of battle, he appeals to the sentimental side of human nature. This painting was very popular - it was reproduced many times in print form and a contemporary writer recalled prints after it 'in every shop window'.