Cashiering of John Whitelocke, Samuel William Fores, 1808

Cartoon about the demotion of the british army officer john whitelocke, which occurred due to his military failure in the context of the english invasions in the río de la plata. In the image two drum boys remove his epaulets and break his saber. A devil gives him a gun to commit suicide telling him "now fellow if thou hast a spark of courage left take this" and whitelocke asks "have you taken the flint out. " below the image appears the subtext "winging a shy cock". This phrase appears to be a play on words that uses the double meaning of "cock" by comparing the removal of the wings of a "shy cock" with the removal of the rank of a "shy chief. " this caricature was edited by samuel william fores (1761 - 1838) in 1808. Date: 1808.