Chapter XXVI: Part 26

By an Army Circular in 1869, a medal was instituted to be given annually, with a gratuity of £20, to the best shot in the Army. It was at first struck in bronze, but afterwards in silver. Only sixteen of these medals were issued, the last being given in 1883, when the system was altered. In the years 1875 and 1876 two medals were given, one to the best shot with the Martini-Henry, and the other to the best shot with the Snider rifle. Private G. Bryant, of the 62nd. Foot, won the medal and gratuity two years in succession, in 1870 and 1871. The obverse is the same as the Ashantee medal. The reverse, which was designed by E. J. Poynter, R.A., bears a figure of Victory rising from a throne on a pedestal, in the act of crowning an ancient warrior with a wreath of laurel; in his right hand is a bow, and in his left a shield transfixed with three arrows. The medal is worn on the right breast, with a red ribbon edged with black and white stripes.

REGIMENTAL MEDALS.

Towards the end of the last century the officers of a few regiments instituted Orders of Merit, and gave medals to their men as rewards for particular acts of gallantry, distinguished service in the field, long service, good conduct, etc. These medals were not issued by the Government, but were presented by the officers of the different regiments at their own expense. They were generally discontinued on the institution of the medal for long service and good conduct by William IV. in 1830.

Subjoined is a List of the principal Regimental Medals known. It is not exhaustive, and exigences of space compel the omission of detailed descriptions of each medal. Of some of them, especially those struck in gold, and given as a reward for a special act of bravery, but a single specimen was ever issued, and of many of those in silver but one or two specimens are known. When bestowed as a reward for gallant conduct, the names of the battles in which the recipient had been engaged were usually engraved on the medal. They were generally in silver, but were sometimes struck in bronze and white metal.

One of the first regiments to introduce a system of honourable distinction in its ranks was the 5th. Fusiliers. The medals were of three classes—worn, suspended by a green ribbon, from a button-hole of the left lapel. The first, or lowest class, which was given to such men as had served irreproachably for seven years, was made of bronze, having on the obverse the badge of the regiment, St. George and the Dragon, with the motto “Quo fata vocant”; and on the reverse, within a laurel wreath, “Vth. Foot, Merit, March 10th., 1767.” The second class was silver, having on the reverse the words “Reward of fourteen years’ Military Merit.” The third was similar to the second, but was inscribed with the name of the individual whose conduct had earned it,—“A. B., for twenty-one years’ good and faithful service as a soldier, has received from his commanding officers this honourable testimony of his merit.” These medals were bestowed only upon soldiers who, for the respective periods of seven, fourteen, or twenty-one years, had never incurred the censure of a court-martial. They were given by the commanding officer at the head of the assembled battalion; and if, which rarely happened, the owner of a medal subsequently forfeited his pretensions to enrolment among the men of merit, his medal was cut from his breast by the drum-major as publicly as he had been invested with it. Those who obtained the third, or twenty-one years’ medal, had also an oval badge of the colour of their facings on the right breast, embroidered round with gold and silver wreaths, and inscribed in the centre with the word “Merit” in gold letters.[232]

The 5th. Fusiliers being one of the earliest, if not the first regiment to reward meritorious soldiers with medals, has been placed first in the list, as a typical example how regimental decorations were commonly won and conferred.

ROYAL ARTILLERY.—In 1813 a troop of the Royal Horse Artillery was
armed with rockets, and served in the battle of Vittoria, and
afterwards at Leipsic, in the German Allied Army, against the French.
A silver medal was given to the men of the rocket troop, who were
present at these battles, inscribed “Vittoria and Leipsic,” but by
whom is not known.

NINTH LANCERS.—1837. Silver. Two sizes. Ribbon, red with blue edges.

TENTH HUSSARS.—1843–46. Silver. Ribbon, dark blue.

TWELFTH LANCERS.—Silver.

FOURTEENTH HUSSARS.—1812. Silver. Ribbon, red.

SIXTEENTH LANCERS.—1813. A large Maltese cross. Silver. Given by
Lieutenant-General Sir J. Vandeleur.

SEVENTEENTH LANCERS.—A small engraved gold medal, presented by the
non-commissioned officers and privates of Captain Willett’s troop to
Troop Sergeant-Major Farley.

TWENTY-SECOND LIGHT DRAGOONS.—“Reward of Merit.” 1815. Silver. Ribbon,
yellow.

FIRST FOOT.—1847. Silver. Ribbon, red.

SECOND FOOT.—A Maltese cross, in bronze for six years’ service; in
silver for ten years. Ribbon, dark blue.

THIRD BUFFS.—Gold medal given to Lieutenant Latham. (See page 129).

SEVENTH FOOT.—1788. Silver and bronze. Ribbon, dark blue.

NINTH FOOT.—Silver. Ribbon, yellow.

TENTH FOOT.—“For Expertness in Ball-firing.” Bronze. Ribbon, yellow.

THIRTEENTH FOOT.—Medal of Merit. Gold for twenty years’ good conduct;
silver for fourteen, ten, and seven year. Also a silver badge of a
bugle and sphinx. Ribbon, yellow with red edges.

SIXTEENTH FOOT.—1838. A Temperance Medal. Silver.

SEVENTEENTH FOOT.—1816. Reward of Merit. Silver. Ribbon, blue.

TWENTIETH FOOT.—1838. Gold and silver, with an ornamental clasp.
Ribbon, yellow. The silver medal was a reward for good shooting.

TWENTY-SECOND FOOT.—Order of Merit. 1785. Silver gift for twenty-one
years’ good conduct; silver for fourteen years; and bronze for seven.
Ribbon, blue or yellow.

TWENTY-THIRD FOOT.—1816. Silver. Engraved. Ribbon, red, blue edges.

TWENTY-SIXTH FOOT.—1823. Silver and bronze. Ribbon, red with yellow
edges.

THIRTY-FIRST FOOT.—In 1804 a gold medal was presented to Private W.
Pentency and his two companions, for their bravery in extinguishing a
fire in the powder magazine at St. Heliers, Jersey.

THIRTY-FOURTH FOOT.—1836–43. Silver, of large size, with a bar.

THIRTY-SEVENTH FOOT.—1843. Gold and silver for the best marksmen. Also
a large oval badge. Silver. Ribbon, red, with blue edges.

THIRTY-EIGHTH FOOT.—Silver and bronze.

FORTIETH FOOT.—Silver. Struck to commemorate the gallant defence of
German Town, a village six miles from Philadelphia, and repulse of the
Americans, by this regiment, under Lieutenant-Colonel Musgrave.
October 4th., 1777. Suspended by a narrow dark blue string.

FORTY-SECOND FOOT.—1819. Silver. Three varieties.[233] Ribbon, red,
with blue edges; also a circular badge in the form of a garter, given
to the best marksman.

FORTY-THIRD FOOT.—Medal “Presented by the officers of the regiment to
Private Henry Wharton,”—who served seven campaigns in Spain and
France.

FORTY-FOURTH FOOT.—1812. Silver. A Forlorn Hope medal.

FORTY-FIFTH FOOT.—A gold oval medal, presented by the inhabitants of
Wexford, 1793, to Lieutenant-Colonel Oliver Nicolls.

FORTY-SIXTH FOOT.—Silver.

FORTY-EIGHTH FOOT.—1819. Silver. Engraved. Ribbon, red with blue
edges.

FORTY-NINTH FOOT.—1837. Silver. A temperance medal.

FIFTY-SECOND FOOT.—1812–13. Silver. A Forlorn Hope medal, given to
volunteers in the assault on Badajoz and San Sebastian. Ribbon, red,
with blue edges.

FIFTY-THIRD FOOT.—1812. A silver plate, with an engraved clasp.
Ribbon, blue and red. This decoration was given to fifteen sergeants
for distinguished conduct in the Peninsula.

FIFTY-FIFTH FOOT.—A small Maltese cross. Silver. Given to marksmen.

FIFTY-SIXTH FOOT.—Silver. A temperance medal, with a bar.

FIFTY-SEVENTH FOOT.—1798. A social medal for officers.

FIFTY-EIGHT FOOT.—“Gibraltar, 1782.” A gilt medal.

SIXTY-SECOND FOOT.—Silver. A good conduct medal.

SEVENTIETH FOOT.—Silver. Given to marksmen.

SEVENTY-FIRST FOOT.—Silver. Given for long service. Four varieties.
Also, a silver star—a prize for marksmen. Ribbon, red with blue edges.

SEVENTY-THIRD FOOT.[234]—Silver. “Prize for the best marksman.”

SEVENTY-FOURTH FOOT.—1814. Silver. Given in three classes. First, to
men who had been in eight or nine general actions. Second, to those
present in six or more. Third, to those who had been in four or
upwards. The different classes vary slightly in size, and the names of
the battles are engraved on the medal. Specimens were also issued in
bronze. Ribbon, yellow. Permission was granted by the
Commander-in-Chief to wear this medal.

SEVENTY-SIXTH FOOT.—1837. Silver. Prize for best shot.

SEVENTY-SEVENTH FOOT.—1818. Silver. For services in the Peninsula.
Ribbon, red, with blue edges.

SEVENTY-NINTH FOOT.—1819. Silver, for fourteen years’, and bronze for
seven years’ good conduct. Ribbon, dark green.

EIGHTY-EIGHTH FOOT.—1818. Silver. In three classes. First class, a
large Maltese cross, given to men present in twelve general actions;
the names of the battles being inscribed on the arms of the cross.
Second class, a medal bestowed on men present in six to eleven general
actions. Third class, a similar medal, but smaller, given to men
present in six, or less number of actions. All the medals had a bar
for suspension. Ribbon, red, with blue edges. Seventy first class
crosses, one hundred and forty-five second class, and two hundred and
seventeen third class medals, were issued.

NINETY-FOURTH FOOT.—Silver; with a clasp inscribed “Peninsula,”
Ribbon, red, with blue edges.

NINETY-FIFTH FOOT (Rifle Brigade).—1807–13. Silver medals were given
to eleven sergeants for their gallant conduct at the storming of Monte
Video, 1807. A Forlorn Hope medal for San Sebastian, 1813. Also, a
Maltese cross (silver), a prize for marksmen.

NINETY-SIXTH FOOT.—A silver star. Prize for the best marksman.

NINETY-SEVENTH FOOT (Queen’s German Regiment).—1801. Silver.

ONE HUNDRED AND FIRST FOOT (First Bengal Europeans).—1837. Silver.
Good conduct medal.

ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH FOOT.—1780. Silver.

SECOND WEST INDIA REGIMENT.—1846. Bronze, silver-gilt.

MEDALS OF THE MILITIA, YEOMANRY, AND VOLUNTEERS.

About the end of the last century, and the beginning of the present, England was in constant danger of invasion, and regiments of volunteers started into existence all over the country. The inhabitants of every town and village turned out to defend their homes and property, and in the years 1803–4, the number of the Volunteers in Great Britain amounted to nearly three hundred and eighty thousand men. Most of them were disbanded after the battle of Waterloo, in 1815. Medals and prizes were freely given by the officers of each regiment, as rewards for merit and good shooting, and there was scarcely a single corps that did not decorate some of its members. The shapes and designs of these medals were various, and the dates of their issue are generally from about 1790 to 1814.

Appended is an alphabetical list of corps that issued medals, but with no pretensions to completeness.

ACROTORMENTARIAN SOCIETY OF RIFLEMEN.—1816. Brass.

ARTILLERY COMPANY, LONDON.—1803. Silver. Oval shape.

BANK OF ENGLAND VOLUNTEERS.—1805. Gold.

BANTRY GARRISON.—1797.

BARRACK LIGHT COMPANY.—Dublin, 1803. Silver. Oval.

BETHNAL GREEN VOLUNTEERS.—1803. Silver, by P. Wyon.

BIRMINGHAM LIGHT HORSE.—1798. Bronze and white metal.

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTEERS.—1802. Silver.

BREADALBANE HIGHLANDERS.—1798. Silver.

BRISTOL VOLUNTEERS.—1814. Silver.

BUCKS YEOMANRY CAVALRY.—1821. Silver. Given to the men who formed the
royal escort at the coronation of George IV.

CAMBERWELL VOLUNTEERS.—1805.

CARMARTHEN MILITIA.—1798. Silver.

CARMARTHEN YEOMANRY CAVALRY.—1827. Silver.

CORK TRUE BLUES.—1745. (A hundred gentlemen, equipped at their own
expense.)

CORK (ROYAL) VOLUNTEERS.—1776. Silver. Oval.

DRUMKEEN INFANTRY.—1797. Silver-gilt.

DUKE OF CUMBERLAND’S SHARPSHOOTERS.—1803. “The first Volunteer Rifle
Corps in Great Britain” (now the Victoria Rifles). Silver and bronze;
given by Colonel Beaumont.

EDINBURGH ROYAL VOLUNTEERS.—1803. Silver. Oval.

ESSEX LIGHT DRAGOONS.—1820. Bronze.

FERMOY CAVALRY.—1798. Silver-gilt.

GODLEY VOLUNTEER CAVALRY.—1804. Silver. Oval.

IRVINE VOLUNTEERS.—1820. Silver.

JOHN OF GAUNT’S BOWMEN.—1795. Silver. Large oval.

LIBERTY RANGERS.—Dublin, 1797. Silver-gilt.

LIMERICK MILITIA.—1798. Silver. (The Colooncy medal, given to the
Militia for defeating the French, near Sligo.)

LIVERPOOL VOLUNTEERS.—1806. Silver-gilt.

LONDON (LOYAL) VOLUNTEERS.—1st., 1803. Silver. 5th., 1805. Gold. 6th.,
1805. Silver. 7th., 1804. Silver. Oval.

LOUTH VOLUNTEERS.—1755. Silver.

MANCHESTER RIFLE REGIMENT.—1804. Gold.

MANCHESTER AND SALFORD VOLUNTEERS.—Light Horse, 1802. Gold, white
metal, and bronze.

MANCHESTER AND SALFORD VOLUNTEERS.—Grenadier Company, 2nd. Battalion.
Gold, silver, and bronze.

MID-LOTHIAN (ROYAL LOYAL) YEOMANRY CAVALRY.—1808. Silver. Oval.

MID-LOTHIAN 3RD., THE WESTERNS.—1803. Silver and bronze.

MONTGOMERYSHIRE YEOMANRY CAVALRY.—1820. Silver.

NEWCASTLE VOLUNTEERS.—1801. Silver.

NITHSDALE VOLUNTEERS.—1805. Silver. Oval.

NORFOLK (LOYAL) YEOMANRY CAVALRY.—1796. Silver.

NORFOLK (EAST) MILITIA.—1804. An oval badge. Gilt.

NORTH SOMERSET YEOMANRY CAVALRY.—1814. Gold and silver. Also, a
silver-gilt cross, given in 1800.

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE RIFLEMEN.—1810. White metal.

PENRHYN VOLUNTEERS.—1794. Bronze.

PRINCE OF WALES’S LOYAL VOLUNTEERS.—1804. Large. Silver-gilt.

RATHDOWN CAVALRY.—1796. Silver.

RENFREWSHIRE YEOMANRY.—1804. Silver.

RUTLAND YEOMANRY.—1819. Silver. Oval.

RUTLAND LEGION RIFLEMEN.—1796. Silver, suspended from a clasp,
inscribed “Good conduct.”

SADBOROW YEOMANRY CAVALRY.—1823. Silver.

SHERWOOD RANGERS (YEOMANRY).—1821. Bronze.

SOUTH DEVON MILITIA.—1799. Silver. Given by the citizens of Waterford.

SOUTH CIRCULAR ROAD INFANTRY.—1808. (Dublin). Silver. Large oval.

STIRLINGSHIRE VOLUNTEERS (East Battalion).—1804. Silver. Oval.

SUFFOLK LOYAL YEOMANRY CAVALRY.—1795. Silver and bronze.

SURREY VOLUNTEERS (1ST).—1808. Silver-gilt. Large oval.

SUTHERLAND VOLUNTEERS.—1802. Silver-gilt. Large oval.

SUTTON’S (CAPTAIN) RIFLE COMPANY.—1806. Silver. Large size.

TYRONE MILITIA (ROYAL).—1797. Silver and bronze.

TYRONE VOLUNTEERS (ROYAL). Silver. Oval.

WESTMINSTER LOYAL VOLUNTEERS.—1803. Silver-gilt.

WEST AND EAST HAM LOYAL UNITED VOLUNTEERS.—1798. Silver-gilt.

WEST SOMERSET YEOMANRY CAVALRY.—1820. Silver, and silver-gilt.

WICKLOW MILITIA.—1797. Silver. Presented by the Westmeath Grand Jury.

WORLINGWORTH VOLUNTEERS.—(Suffolk), 1798. Silver.

These very interesting decorations are now almost the only memorials existing of the patriotic exertions of the people of the British Islands at an important epoch in the history of their country. It is to be regretted that of many medals issued, not a single specimen can now be found, having probably been consigned to the melting pot, and any descriptions of their designs, if such there were, have equally disappeared.[235]

The brave men who served in the campaigns of the latter half of the 19th. century, have been honoured by a far more lavish distribution of medals and clasps than were ever granted to the veterans, who, after a contest of years, vanquished Napoleon by sea and land; but the list of the glorious deeds of these, though unrewarded by medal or cross, form with the no less distinguished actions of their successors, a chronicle of achievements which none of their countrymen can regard but with feelings of pride and exultation, and which will ever be regarded as examples for imitation by the British Army.

THE END.

INDEX.

Abercrombie, Sir R., Death of, 66.

Abu Klea, Battle of, 619.

Abyssinian Medal, 587.

„ Expedition, 588.

Afghanistan Medals, 233.

Afghan War, first, 235.

„ „ second, 258.

Afridis, Expedition against, 356, 359.

Ahmed Khel, Battle of, 272.

Abu Kru, Battle of, 622.

Albuhera, Battle of, 124.

„ Medal for, 130.

Alexandria, Battle of, 63.

„ Bombardment of, 604.

Allan, bugler, noble conduct of, 337.

Allighur, Capture of, 17.

Ali Musjid, Action of, 260.

Aliwal, Battle of, 315.

Alma, Battle of, 380.

Amoaful, Battle of, 598.

Argaum, Battle of, 31.

Arrah, Defence of, 585.

Artillery, Royal, Gallant Conduct of, 426.

Ashantee Medal, 594.

„ War, 595.

Assaye, Battle of, 22.

Australian, Contingent at Suakin, 627.

Ava, War in, 41.

Badajoz, Capture of, 138.

Balaklava, Battle of, 398.

Barrosa, Battle of, 112.

Basuto War, 21.

Battles fought on Sundays, 405.

Beresford Lord Charles, Dispatch of, 620.

Bhootan Expedition, 364.

Bhurtpore, Storming of, 50.

Bilbao Cross, 644.

“Birkenhead,” Wreck of the, 210.

Black Mountain Expedition, 375.

Booth, Sergeant, Gallant Conduct of, 227.

Bourbon Medal, 9.

Burmese War, second, 347.

„ „ third, 371.

Burmah, Annexation of, 372.

Burnaby, Col. F., death of, 621.

Busaco, Battle of, 107.

“Buffs” at Albuhera, 127.

Byrne, Corporal J., and Sergeant Murray, Anecdote of, 334.

Cabul, Actions at, 268.

Campbell, Sir C., Anecdote of, 568.

Canada, North West, Medal, 634.

Cannon Shot, rewards for picking up, 417, 549.

Canton, Capture of, 290.

Cape Medal, 200.

Carib Medals, 640.

Cashmere Gate blown in at Delhi, 552.

Cavalier Badges, 5.

Cavanagh, Private, death of, 565.

Cawnpore, Evacuated, 563.

Central India Campaign, 578.

Ceylon Medal, 8.

Charasia, Battle of, 264.

Chateauguay, Action of, 165.

Chilianwala, Battle of, 325.

China Medals, 278.

Chinese War, the first, 279.

„ „ second, 286.

Chin-Lushai Expedition, 376.

Chrystler’s Farm, Action of, 169.

Ciudad Rodrigo, Storming of, 135.

Civita Vecchia Medal, 642.

Colooncy Medal, 651.

Colours of the 78th. Regiment at Argaum, 31.

Coomassie, Capture of, 600.

Coorg Medal, The, 644.

Corunna, Battle of, 89.

„ Last Survivor of, 95.

Corygaum, Defence of, 40.

Crimean Medal, 378.

Cromwell, O., Letter of, 4.

Cross of the 88th Regiment, 650.

Darien Company’s Medal, 640.

Deccan Medal, 7.

Deig, Battle of, 24.

„ Capture of, 35.

De Lancey, Sir W., Death of, 191.

Delhi, Battle of, 20.

„ Siege of, 546.

“Die Hards” at Albuhera, 127.

Distinguished Service Order, 639.

Doab Field Force, 363.

Duke of Cumberland’s Sharpshooters’ Medal, 651.

Earle, General, Death of, 624.

East India Company’s Medals for Long Service and Good Conduct, and
Meritorious Service, 638.

Edwardes Medal, The, 322.

Egyptian Medal, 8, 58.

Egyptian Campaign (1801), 59.

Egyptian and Soudan Medals, 602.

Elliott’s Gibraltar Medal, 642.

El Teb, Battle of, 610.

Eusufzye Expeditions, 356, 360.

Fatshan Creek, Action of, 287.

„ „ Commodore Keppel’s Account of, 288.

Ferozeshuhur, Battle of, 312.

Fifty-second Regt. at Busaco, 110.

Fordyce, Col., Death of, 209.

Forlorn Hope Medal, 2.

Fort Detroit, Capture of, 144.

French War Medals and Recipients, 446.

Fuentes d’Onor, Battle of, 117.

„ „ Medal for, 122.

Galekas and Gaikas, Campaign against the, 213.

Gate Pah, Action at, 342.

Gawilghur, Storming of, 32.

Gemaizah, Battle of, 631.

German Town Medal, 648.

Ghuznee, Capture of, 237.

„ Recapture of, 256.

Ginnis, Battle of, 631.

Glover Capt., March of, 600.

Gonine, Battle of, 255.

Goojerat, Battle of, 329.

Gordon, General C., at Sebastopol, 423.

„ „ „ Entry in his Diary, 619.

„ „ „ Death of, 622.

Griquas, Campaign against the, 216.

Hackett, Major, at Kambula, 227.

Hardinge, Viscount, Letter of, 314.

Harwood’s, Corporal, Account of the Battle of Alma, 387.

Hazara Expedition, 375, 635.

Honorary Colours of the 76th. Regiment, 21.

Howell, Private, Gallantry of, 324.

Hullock, R., Anecdote of, 61.

Hunza Expedition, 635.

Hyderabad, Battle of, 302.

Indian War Medal, 54.

Indian General Service Medal, 346, 635.

Indian Mutiny Medal, 545.

Indian Order of Merit, 639.

Inkermann, Battle of, 404.

Isandhlwana, Action of, 221.

Java, Capture of, 131.

„ „ Medal for, 135.

Jellalabad, Defence of, 242.

Jones, Capt. J., Anecdote of, 110.

Jowaki Expedition, 369.

Kaffir War, the first, 201.

„ „ second, 204.

„ „ third, 206.

Kandahar, Defence of, 253.

„ March to, 274.

Kelat-I-Ghilzie, Defence of, 254.

Kendal Medal, 2.

Kirkee, Battle of, 37.

Kirbekan, Battle of, 623.

Laswarree, Battle of, 28.

Latham, Lieut., at Albuhera, 128.

Light Brigade, March of, 102.

Looshai Expedition, 366.

Lucknow, Defence of, 557.

„ Relief of, 568.

Magdala, Storming of, 593.

Maharajpore and Punniar, Battles of, and Star for, 304.

Maheidpore, Battle of, 39.

Maida, Battle of, 70.

„ „ Gold Medal for, 73.

Main, Lieutenant, Gallant conduct of, 252.

Manipur, Expedition to, 635.

Martinique and Guadaloupe, Capture of, 105.

McCabe, Sergeant, Gallantry of, 319.

Medals, mode of wearing, 104.

Medal for Distinguished Conduct, 510.

Medal for Long Service and Good Conduct, 636.

Medal for Best Shot in the Army, 644.

Meeanee, Battle of, 299.

Militia, Yeomanry, and Volunteer Medals, 650.

Mohammerah, Bombardment of, 355.

Moodkee, Battle of, 310.

Mooltan, Siege of, 321.

Moore’s, Sir J., Campaign, 80.

„ „ Death of, 93.

„ „ Sword of, 93.

Mysore Medal, 7.

Naga Expedition, 370.

Nagpore, Capture of, 38.

Napier, Sir C., 94.

„ „ wounds of, 94.

Napoleon’s opinion of Medals, 5.

Nepaul Medal, 10.

„ War in, 36.

New Zealand Medal, 322.

„ „ War, the first, 333.

„ „ second, 338.

Nile Expedition, 617.

Ninety-Second Regiment at the Pass of Maya, 152.

Nivelle, Passage of, 167.

Nive, Passage of, 171.

North American Chiefs Medal, 641.

O’Connor, Col., at the Alma, 389.

Old Ninety-fourth Regiment, 14.

Orthes, Battle of, 174.

Paget, General, Anecdote of, 86.

Pearl Brigade, 570.

Peiho or Taku Forts, Capture of, 292, 293.

Peiwar Kotul, Battle of, 231.

Pekin, Occupation of, 295.

Peninsula Medal, 54.

„ „ Notes on, 59, 180.

„ Gold Cross and Clasps, 161.

Perak, Naval Brigades at, 368.

Persian War, 352.

Phillpotts, Lieutenant, R.N., Death of, 335.

Picton, Sir J., Remains of, 190.

Pyrenees, Battles of, 151.

Quatre Bras, Battle of, 181.

“Queen’s,” the losses of, 208.

Red Karens, Expedition against, 373.

Regimental Medals, 645.

Roleia and Vimiera, Battles of, 74.

„ „ „ Gold Medals for, 80.

Rorkes Drift, Defence of, 224.

Royal Irish, winners of prize, 619.

Sahagun and Benevente, Actions of, 81.

Salamanca, Battle of, 141.

„ Anecdotes of, 143.

„ Conduct of the 11th. and 61st., Regts. at, 127.

Samana Expedition, 377.

San Sebastian Medal, 643.

Sardinian War Medal and Recipients, 478.

Scinde Medals and Campaign, 298.

Sebastopol, Bombardments of, 395, 397, 425, 431, 433, 439.

Sekukuni, Operations against, 231.

Seringapatam, Capture of, 13.

Seventy-third Regt. in Ceylon, 649.

Shannon Brigade, 569.

Sikkim Expedition, 374.

Sittana Expedition, 360.

“Slashers,” The, at San Sebastian, 160.

Smith’s, General Sir. H. G., Medal, 644.

Sobraon, Battle of, 318.

Stewart, General Sir. H., Death of, 623.

Stopford, Brigadier, Noble Conduct of, 306.

St. Sebastian, Capture of, 158.

Suakin, Battle at, 626.

Sutlej and Punjaub Medals, 308.

Talavera, Battle of, 95.

„ Gold Medal for, 103.

Tamaai, Battle of, 614.

Tel-el-Kebir, Battle of, 607.

Thibetan Army defeated, 375.

Tofrek, Battle of, 628.

Toski, Battle of, 632.

Toulouse, Battle of, 176.

Tryon, Lieutenant, Death of, 418.

Turkish Medal, 70.

Turkish War Medal, 509.

Twenty-eighth Regt. in Egypt, 66.

Ulundi, Battle of, 229.

Umbeyla Campaign, 361.

Uylett, Sergeant, Noble Conduct of, 245.

Victoria Cross, 511.

„ „ Winners of, 512.

Villiers-en-Couché Medal, 642.

Vittoria, Battle of, 147.

Vittoria and Liepsic Medal, 647.

Walsh Medal, 3.

Waterloo, Battle of, 186.

„ Anecdotes of, 194.

„ Medal for, 196.

Wives of Infidels, 610.

Wood, Sir E. Speech of, 229.

Wood, Captain J. A., Anecdote of, 353.

Wyatt-Rawson, Lieutenant, R.N., Death of, 610.

Zulu War, 218.

-----

Footnote 1:

These Medals were of silver, and oval in shape, having on one side the
head of the Queen, and on the other an Ark on the Sea,
inscribed—_Sœvas tranquilla per undas_.

Footnote 2:

See Naval Medals.

Footnote 3:

Both are in the British Museum; one is in gold and the other in
silver; there is an aperture at the top for the ribbon.

Footnote 4:

It is recorded that when Napoleon surrendered himself on board the
Bellerophon, he was received by a captain’s detachment of the Royal
Marines. After acknowledging the salute, he minutely inspected the
men, and having remarked that they were very fine and well appointed,
the ex-emperor added, “are there none amongst them who have seen
service?” Upon being told that nearly the whole of them had seen much
service, he exclaimed, “What! and no marks of merit.” The officer
explained that it was not customary to confer medals, except upon
officers of the highest ranks. The conversation terminated by Napoleon
remarking, “Such is not the way to excite or cherish the military
virtues.”

Footnote 5:

See Naval Medals.

Footnote 6:

These medals were almost invariably given to the Native troops only.

Footnote 7:

As the 12th. Foot moved forward, a large body of Mysorean cavalry
formed in the shape of a wedge, having an elephant with a howdah on
his back in front, appeared advancing to charge the regiment, and the
British line halted to receive the attack. Immediately afterwards two
other very large bodies of the enemy were discovered in two topes or
woods, preparing to support the first charge. Lieutenant-General
Harris, seeing the danger which menaced the regiment, placed himself
in its rear, frequently repeating the words, ‘Steady, Twelfth!’
‘Steady, old Twelfth!’ and when the wedge approached within a hundred
yards of the line, the Mysoreans discharged their carbines and
pistols, but without doing execution. The 12th. remained steady, with
their muskets at the recover, until the enemy arrived within about
thirty yards, when a well-directed volley, followed by rapid file
firing, carried destruction into the enemy’s ranks; a rampart of
killed and wounded men and horses lying along the front of the
regiment. The rear of the wedge were embarrassed by the killed and
wounded in front, and could not continue the charge. The elephant was
severely wounded, his conductor killed, and the chiefs on his back had
fallen, when, turning round, he directed all his fury on the
Mysoreans, overturning everything in his retrograde movement, and
producing great havoc with a prodigious chain, which he swayed. A few
Mysorean horsemen broke through the regiment, but they were instantly
shot in its rear, and the British artillery arriving, and opening its
fire, the enemy’s cavalry fell back; at the same time the line
advanced, and decided the fate of the day at that part of the field; a
distant cannonade, however, indicated that the battle was raging
elsewhere.

Footnote 8:

Eight stand of colours were captured by the 12th. Foot. A forlorn hope
of each attack consisted of a sergeant and twelve Europeans, followed
by two subaltern’s parties; that of the right column, under Lieutenant
Hill, of the 74th., and that of the left column, commanded by
Lieutenant Lawrence, of the 77th., the father of sons subsequently
memorable in Indian annals, and especially during the mutiny.

Footnote 9:

This was the old 94th., and not the present regiment which was only
ordered to be raised in December, 1823, now known as the 2nd.
Battalion Connaught Rangers. The former was known for years, as the
Scots Brigade, before receiving its numerical title on the 25th. of
December, 1802. This corps had been formed in 1568, for service in
Holland against the oppression of Spain. Being a British corps, it was
demanded from the United Provinces by King James II, on the rebellion
of the Duke of Monmouth, in 1685, after the suppression of which it
returned to Holland. It again embarked for England with the Prince of
Orange, at the revolution of 1688, and remained there until the
Protestant cause had been established, when it re-embarked for
Flanders in 1691, and served in the campaigns of King William III. It
remained in the service of Holland until 1793, until it was decided by
King George III., upon the application of the British officers
remaining in it, to require the corps to return to Great Britain. It
was taken on the British establishment on the 5th. of July, 1793. It
then consisted of three battalions; in 1795 it was reduced to two
battalions, and embarked for Gibraltar. In 1796 it was formed into one
battalion, and embarked for the Cape of Good Hope; it proceeded in
1798 to the East Indies, from whence it returned to England in 1808.
It embarked for Cadiz and Lisbon, and served in the Peninsula War from
January, 1810, to July, 1814. It was disbanded at Belfast on the 24th.
of December, 1818.

Footnote 10:

For the specimen of the ribbon of the Seringapatam medal I have to
acknowledge my obligations to Albert Woods, Esq., Lancaster Herald,
and Inspector of Regimental Colours, who has furnished me with much
valuable information on this and other points. From a letter addressed
to him by the gallant General Sir James L. Caldwell, G.C.B, now in his
91st. year, in reply to a query on this subject, the following
interesting particulars have been afforded:—When the medal was issued
no ribbon accompanied it, but the recipients were given to understand
that it was to be of a deep yellow colour, and about an inch in width.
This colour was adopted in reference to the tiger, selected by the
Sultan Tippoo as his favourite insignia, the golden throne found in
the palace being constructed on the back of that animal, and his
chosen Sepoys being clothed in tiger jackets. The head of this animal
of the throne is now at Windsor Castle, having been obtained by the
Marquis of Wellesley, from the prize agents, together with the ideal
and fictitious bird termed the “Huma,” supposed to ensure perpetual
royalty to the person over whose head it is suspended, and being
regarded as a bird of Mahomedan Paradise: it is shewn to strangers
under the misnomer of the Seringapatam Peacock. The above information
was accompanied by a piece of the ribbon, the colour of which
resembles the light fur of the tiger. It may be added that the name
Tippoo signifies Tiger, and that the tiger-stripe was adopted in the
uniform of the Sultan’s infantry. In the United Service Museum,
amongst other oriental curiosities, are two of Tippoo’s pistols,
having a tiger’s head at the end, and also the dress he wore when
killed. The famous organ of Tippoo representing a tiger tearing a
prostrate British soldier is in the East Indian Museum, together with
his suit of chain armour. When the handle of the organ is turned
sounds are emitted similar to the shrieks of a human being and the
growl of the animal.

Footnote 11:

“I think that General Lake’s capture of Allighur is one of the most
extraordinary feats that I have heard of in this country. I never
attacked a fort that I did not attempt the same thing, namely, to blow
open the gates; but I never succeeded. I have always taken them by
escalade, which appears to have been impossible in this
instance.”—_Wellington Dispatches._

This practice of blowing open the gates has since, on more than one
occasion, been successfully practised in India.

Footnote 12:

The 19th. Dragoons (since disbanded), the 74th. and 78th. regiments,
had honorary colours for Assaye conferred by the Governor-General of
India. In consequence, however, of the inconvenience occasioned by
taking a third officer from his duty to carry it, the 74th. received
the orders of the Commander-in-Chief on the 31st. of August, 1830, to
discontinue the use of the third colour in the field, and to carry it
only at reviews, inspections, and on gala days.

Footnote 13:

The 19th. Light Dragoons, who had their commanding officer,
Lieutenant-Colonel Maxwell, killed, and the 74th. and 78th. regiments
received honorary colours as stated in note at page 22. In the latter
part of the action Major-General the Honourable Arthur Wellesley had a
horse killed under him close to the 78th. Nearly all the mounted
officers lost horses, some having two and even three killed. No part
of the Mysore or Mahratta allies were engaged; their infantry were
left with the baggage, and the cavalry not being in uniform, it was
apprehended that mistakes might have arisen had they been brought into
action.

Footnote 14:

Colonel Thomas Pakenham Vandeleur rode a celebrated race-horse, of a
jet-black colour. Long after the melancholy fate of his rider, this
horse kept his place with the regiment, and afterwards became the
property of Cornet Burrows, who took great care of him until the
regiment left India, when he was shot, that he might not fall into
unworthy hands.

Footnote 15:

The following officers were engaged in this brilliant affair:—_Madras
Artillery._—Lieutenant Chisholm, killed; Assistant-Surgeon Wylie.
_2nd. Battalion 1st. Regiment Bombay Native Infantry._—Captain
Staunton; Lieutenant and Adjutant Pattinson, died of wounds;
Lieutenant Connellan, wounded; Lieutenant Jones, 10th regiment, doing
duty with the 2nd battalion 1st. regiment; Assistant-Surgeon Wingate,
killed. _Auxiliary Horse._—Lieutenant Swanston, Madras Establishment,
wounded.

Footnote 16:

Additional troops proceeded from Madras in the autumn, and before the
close of the year His Majesty’s 47th., with the governor-general’s
body-guard, had joined the expedition, which then amounted to about
thirteen thousand men.

Footnote 17:

“All their artillery, stores, and reserve depôts, which had cost them
so much labour to get up, with a great quantity of small arms, gilt
chattahs, standards, and other trophies fell into our hands. Never was
victory more complete or decided, and never was the triumph of
discipline and valour, over the disjointed efforts of irregular
courage and infinitely superior numbers, more conspicuous. Majors
Dennie and Thornhill, of the 13th. Light Infantry, and Major Gore, of
the 89th., were distinguished by the steadiness with which they led
their men.”—_Brigadier-General Sir A. Campbell’s despatch._

Footnote 18:

In the same general orders it was announced that “Medals also, bearing
a suitable device, are to be distributed to the native troops which at
any period during the war, were employed under the command of
Major-General Sir Archibald Campbell, including the officers and men
of the gunboats serving in the Irrawaddy.” This medal, also designed
by William Wyon, Esq., contained on the obverse a quaint device—the
Asiatic elephant crouching to the British Lion. It was not conferred
on the regiments of the Crown, and therefore does not come within the
scope of this work. When the medal for services in India from 1803 to
1826 was authorized, a bar inscribed Ava was granted.

The 1st., 13th., 38th., 41st., 44th., 45th., 47th., 54th., 87th., and
89th. King’s regiments were permitted to bear the word AVA on their
colours, in commemoration of their gallantry during this service.

Footnote 19:

In consequence of the scarcity of European infantry with the infantry,
it was deemed necessary to call for volunteers from the cavalry, each
King’s regiment to furnish three officers and eighty rank and file.
This number was at once obtained. The officers’ names were Captain
Browne, Lieutenant Windus, and Comet Pearson, of the 11th. Dragoons,
and Captain Luard, and Lieutenants McConchy and Walker, of the 16th.
Lancers. Viscount Combermere had formerly served in the latter
regiment.

Footnote 20:

From the 24th. of December, 1825, to the 18th. of January, 1826, the
expenditure of shot and shells during the twenty-six days was as
follows:—Shot 42,215, shells 17,060, shrapnells 1,096, grape 693, case
404, carcasses 4; in all 61,472.

Footnote 21:

One officer wrote:—“It is very vexatious to honourable feelings, when
we go into society at home and abroad, to meet foreigners of all
nations covered with medals and orders, when we, who have had the
pleasure of licking them in every part of the world, have neither
orders nor medals.”

Footnote 22:

Long before this order was issued, the majority of these old warriors,
the survivors of a hundred fights, had fallen before the irresistible
scythe of Time, with no mark of their glorious services, except the
honourable scars which they had received on the field of battle.

Footnote 23:

As to the rarity of the Peninsula medal, it is very uncommon to meet
with any having more than eight or nine bars, and if any of the bars
should have inscribed on them the actions of “Fort Detroit.”
“Chateauguay,” or “Chrystler’s Farm;” the value of the medal is
greatly enhanced. The clasps for the cavalry actions of “Sahagun” and
“Benevente,” in the Peninsula; and the bars for “Maida,” “Martinique,”
“Guadaloupe,” and “Java,” are also of rare occurrence. The old 45th.,
Sherwood Foresters, bore more Peninsula honours on their colours than
any other regiment.

Footnote 24:

As the soldiers were burying a Highlander of the 42nd. regiment, who
was supposed to be dead, Captain David Stewart, of Garth, requested
them to take him out of the grave, and carry him to the surgeon; he
soon recovered of a swoon, his wound was cured, and he resumed his
duty shortly afterwards. It is to be hoped that this soldier did not
evince his gratitude like the private of the 31st. regiment, mentioned
in the following anecdote:—In 1799, the 31st. regiment was serving in
Holland, and at Egmont-op-Zee crossed bayonets with the French
regiment bearing the same number; a ball fired during the retreat of
the latter, passed through the jaws of a soldier of the former, named
Robert Hullock; in the course of the afternoon he was buried in the
sand-hill where he had fallen, by a soldier of his regiment named John
Carnes. During the night Hullock having been but lightly covered with
sand, crept out and crawled to a picket of his corps posted near. He
was sent to hospital, recovered, and was serving with his regiment in
Malta, in 1809. His face having been much disfigured, and his voice
scarcely intelligible, (a part of his tongue and palate having been
carried away,) he had for some years served as pioneer to his company;
a soldier of it died, and Hullock, as a part of his duty, dug the
grave, in which he was found, on the arrival of the body for
interment, still at work, though then nearly ten feet deep. On being
drawn out he was asked for his reason in making it so unusually deep,
he replied, “Why, Sir, it’s for poor John Carnes, who buried me, and I
think, Sir, if I get him that deep, it will puzzle him to creep out as
I did.” On the burial service being read, he proceeded to fill up the
grave, and actually buried the man who ten years previously had buried
him. Hullock was discharged and pensioned in 1814.

Footnote 25:

When the standard was delivered up to Major Stirling, of the 42nd., he
gave it in charge to a sergeant to remain close to the gun which that
corps had captured, but in a subsequent charge, this non-commissioned
officer was ridden over by the French Dragoons, was stunned in
consequence, and when he returned to consciousness the standard of the
“Invincible Legion” was gone. It was afterwards recaptured from the
French by Private Anthony Lutz, of the Minorca regiment in the British
service, was sent to England, and placed in the Royal Military Chapel,
Whitehall, and subsequently in Chelsea Hospital.

Footnote 26:

The Highland Society, at London, in grateful acknowledgment, and
commemoration of the valour of their countrymen, on this day,
presented the 42nd. regiment with a piece of plate, value one hundred
guineas, inscribed with an appropriate motto and designs. A silver
medal was also struck, in commemoration of the capture of Buonaparte’s
invincible standard; one to be given to each private as well as
officer in the regiment, or, if killed or dead, to their nearest
surviving relations. The cool and intrepid courage of Colonel
Stewart’s foreign corps, and of the 28th. and 42nd. regiments, on whom
the fury of the enemy principally fell, it is agreed on all hands, was
also, on this important day, particularly distinguished. In this
battle, the 28th., now the 1st. Gloucestershire regiment, gained the
privilege of wearing their badge on the back and front of their
helmets. The regiment while in line, was attacked in front by
infantry, and in the rear by cavalry, under cover of the mist. There
was no time to form in square, the rear rank went to the right about,
and thus back to back, the 28th. repulsed both attacks of the enemy.

Footnote 27:

The regiments which proceeded from India were the 10th., 80th., 86th.,
and 88th. regiments; a troop of the 8th. Light Dragoons and the 61st.
regiment embarked from the Cape of Good Hope, joined the army, under
Major-General Baird, at Cosseir, in July, 1801, and proceeded through
the desert to Kenna, on the Nile, where the troops afterwards embarked
for Cairo.

Footnote 28:

The 22nd. Light Dragoons, 20th. (two battalions,) 24th., 25th., and
26th. Regiments, the Ancient Irish Fencibles, and the foreign corps of
De Watteville and Chasseurs Britanniques, joined the Army in Egypt, in
July, 1801.

Footnote 29:

The same incident is related in the “Record of the 52nd. Light
Infantry,” edited by Captain Moorsom, late captain of that regiment,
by which it appears there were three men, one a straggler from the
artillery, another from the guards, and the third a man named Lewis,
of the 52nd. Lewis generally contrived to have an attack of rheumatism
soon after getting into action, and thus got out of sight of his
officers, for the purpose of filling his havresack. Although a sad
plunderer, he was a gallant soldier, and was afterwards killed at
Orthes, by the side of the late Duke of Richmond.

Footnote 30:

“The rear regiments of the reserve only were present when the money
was cast away, and certainly not a man of those left their ranks in
the hope of obtaining a portion. This discipline, however, did not
extend to the ‘followers,’ who, as soon as they arrived at the spot
where the dollars were rolling over the mountain side, at once began a
scramble, in which the wife of the regimental master-tailor, Malony,
(who was a merry one, and often beguiled a weary march to the men with
her tales,) was so successful that her fortune was apparently made.
The poor woman went through all the subsequent perils and hardships of
the retreat, but on stepping from the boat to the ship’s side on
embarking at Corunna, her foot slipped, and down she went, like a
shot, and owing to the weight of dollars secured about her person she
never rose again.”—_Historical Record of the 52nd. Light Infantry._

Footnote 31:

“Our baggage animals were all left on the beach. Major Browne was
fortunate enough to get a pig in exchange for a horse. The Major was
rather unlucky with his pork; for in the hurry of embarkation, piggy
was taken on board one ship, and the Major on board another.”

—_Lieutenant-Colonel Cadell’s Narrative._

Footnote 32:

This sword is now in the possession of the Officers’ Mess of the 43rd.
Regiment (Oxford Light Infantry). It was presented to the regiment by
General Lynedoch Gardiner.

Footnote 33:

The following remarkable circumstance occurred in the 2nd.
Foot:—“Samuel Evans, a private in the Grenadier Company of the 2nd.
Foot, was carried off amongst the wounded at Corunna. He arrived in
England, and died in the military hospital at Plymouth, on the 30th.
of January, 1809. On a _post mortem_, examination being made, it was
discovered that he had been shot through the heart, and yet had
survived sixteen days.”—_Curiosities of War._

Footnote 34:

Major (afterwards Sir Charles) Napier received five terrible wounds at
Corunna, and but for the aid of a generous French drummer, would there
have been killed; he was made a prisoner, and his fate being long
unknown, he was mourned for as dead by his family. In the battle of
Busaco, a bullet struck his face, and lodged behind the ear,
splintering the articulation of the jawbone; yet with this dreadful
hurt, he made his way, under a fierce sun, to Lisbon, more than one
hundred miles! Returning from France, after the battle of Waterloo,
the ship sunk off Flushing, and he only saved himself by swimming to a
pile, on which he clung until a boat carried him off, half drowned,
for the pile was too large to climb up; he had caught it during the
recession of a wave, and was overwhelmed by each recurring surge. He
escaped Cholera, and a second shipwreck off the Indus, and
marvellously recovering from the stroke of a rocket at Kurrachee, was
again firm on horseback, and conducted a dangerous war to a glorious
termination. On the 13th. of December, 1842, whilst in Scinde, he was
observing the practice of a rocket-train, when one of the fiery
missiles burst, rocket and shell together, and tore the calf of his
right leg open to the bone; but neither the bone itself nor the great
artery were injured, and the wound was instantly stitched. His decease
did not occur until some years afterwards.

Footnote 35:

The last survivor of the victory of Corunna, Thomas Palmer, of the
32nd. Regiment, died April 20th, 1889.

Footnote 36:

These two battalions were formed on the 1st. February, 1809, and
consisted of detachments that had been left in Portugal, belonging to
the regiments composing the division of the army which had marched
into Spain under the orders of Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore.

Footnote 37:

The 43rd. and 52nd. are now known as the 1st. and 2nd. Battalions of
the Oxford Light Infantry, the old 95th. being the present Rifle
Brigade.

Footnote 38:

Some of the general officers applied to Viscount Wellington to
ascertain whether, upon ordinary occasions, they might not wear the
ribbon of the medal at the button-hole, instead of round the
neck;—“This,” his lordship remarked, “would be a more convenient way
of wearing it, and they would consequently wear it more frequently,
which would be desirable.” In the reply to the general officers, dated
Cartaxo, 3rd. February, 1811, his lordship acquainted them that an
answer had been received from Lieutenant-Colonel Torrens, Military
Secretary, “stating that the General Officers should wear the ribbon
of the medal at their button-hole, the same as the Field Officers, in
undress; but when the medal is worn itself, it should be round the
neck.”

The medal for Maida was worn at the button-hole, and that mode is
alluded to in a letter from the Marquis of Wellington to Earl
Bathurst, dated Grenada, 20th. April, 1813. “To Earl Bathurst.—We must
have the orders of the Secretary of State for any alteration in the
mode of wearing the medal by the General Officers. It may do very well
for an admiral to wear his medal round his neck on his quarter-deck,
but we on horseback ought to wear it always at our button-hole. Indeed
this is the common practice in all distributions of this description,
and was the rule at first on the grant of the medal for the battle of
Maida; and I don’t know why it was altered.”

Footnote 39:

“Several prisoners were taken by the regiment, and amongst others
the French General Simon. He surrendered himself to Private James
Hopkins, of Captain Robert Campbell’s company, who received a
pension of twenty pounds per annum, as the reward of his bravery on
this occasion. Private Harris, of the 52nd., also shared in the
capture, and a pension was awarded to him in 1843, by the late
Viscount Hardinge, then the Secretary at War, on the representation
of Lieutenant-General Sir J. F. Love, who was present at the capture
of General Simon, and who delivered him as a prisoner to
Brigadier-General Craufurd.”—_Historical Record of the 52nd. Light
Infantry, by Captain Moorsom._

Captain Moorsom also relates the following _medal_ incident:—“When the
head of Simon’s column appeared in the act of deploying, and the 52nd.
advanced to charge, Captain William Jones, more commonly known in the
division by the name of “Jack Jones,” a fiery Welshman, rushed upon
the Chef de Bataillon, who was in the act of giving the word to his
men, and killed him on the spot with a blow of his sword. Jones
immediately cut off the medal with which the major was decorated, and
appropriated it to himself.”

Footnote 40:

In the midst of the engagement, Sergeant Patrick Masterson, of the
87th., seized and kept possession of the eagle of the 8th. French
regiment of light infantry, (which was the first taken in action since
the commencement of the Peninsula war,) and for this His Royal
Highness the Prince Regent promoted him to an ensigncy in the Royal
York Light Infantry Volunteers; he was subsequently removed to the
87th. regiment, now the 1st. Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers.

Footnote 41:

An interesting anecdote has been preserved of this officer’s canine
friend:—“After the battle of Barrosa, the wounded of both nations
were, from want of means of transport, necessarily left upon the field
of action the whole night and part of the following day. General
Rousseau, a French general of division, was of the number; his dog, a
white one of the poodle kind, which had been left in quarters upon the
advance of the French force, finding that the general returned not
with those who escaped from the battle, set out in search of him;
found him at night in his dreary resting-place, and expressed his
affliction by moans, and by licking the hands and feet of his dying
master. When the fatal crisis took place, some hours after, he seemed
fully aware of the dreadful change, attached himself closely to the
body, and for three days refused the sustenance which was offered him.
Arrangements having been made for the interment of the dead, the body
of the general was, like the rest, committed to its honourable grave;
the dog lay down upon the earth which covered the beloved remains, and
evinced by silence and deep dejection his sorrow for the loss he had
sustained. The English commander, General Graham, whose fine feelings
had prompted him to superintend the last duties due to the gallant
slain, observed the friendless mourner, drew him, now no longer
resisting, from the spot, and gave him his protection, which he
continued to him until his death, many years after, at the general’s
residence in Perthshire.”—_Maxwell’s Victories of the British Army._

Footnote 42:

The following British troops were engaged at the battle of
Albuhera. Cavalry, under Major-General the Honourable Sir William
Lumley:—3rd. Dragoon Guards, 4th. Dragoons, and 13th. Light
Dragoons. Second division, Major-General the Honourable W.
Stewart:—3rd. Foot, first battalion, 31st., second battalion,
48th., second battalion, 66th., second battalion 60th., one
company fifth battalion, Lieutenant-Colonel Colborne; 29th. Foot.
48th., first battalion, 57th., first battalion 60th., one company
fifth battalion, Major-General Hoghton; 28th. Foot, second
battalion, 34th., second battalion, 39th., second battalion,
60th., one company fifth battalion, Honourable Lieutenant-Colonel
Abercromby. Fourth division, Major-General the Honourable Lowry
Cole: 27th. Foot, first battalion, 40th., first battalion, 97th
Queen’s Own 60th., one company fifth battalion, Colonel Kemmis;
Fusilier Brigade,—7th. Foot, first and second battalions, 23rd.,
first battalion, Brunswick Oels, one company. First and second
light battalions German Legion, Major-General Baron Charles Alten.

Footnote 43:

No description can surpass that given by Sir William Napier:—“Such a
gallant line issuing from the midst of the smoke, and rapidly
separating itself from the confused and broken multitude, startled the
enemy’s heavy masses, which were increasing and pressing onwards as to
an assured victory; they wavered, hesitated, and then vomiting forth a
storm of fire, hastily endeavoured to enlarge their front, while a
fearful discharge of grape, from all their artillery, whistled through
the British ranks. Myers was killed, Cole, and the three colonels,
Ellis, Blakeney, and Hawkshawe fell wounded, and the Fusilier
battalions, struck by the iron tempest, reeled and staggered like
sinking ships. But suddenly and sternly recovering, they closed on
their terrible enemies, and then was seen with what a strength and
majesty the British soldier fights. In vain did Soult, by voice and
gesture, animate his Frenchmen; in vain did the hardiest veterans,
extricating themselves from the crowded columns, sacrifice their lives
to gain time for the mass to open out on such a fair field; in vain
did the mass itself bear up, and, fiercely striving, fire
indiscriminately upon friends and foes, while the horsemen, hovering
on the flanks, threatened to charge the advancing line. Nothing could
stop that astonishing infantry. No sudden burst of undisciplined
valour, no nervous enthusiasm weakened the stability of their order;
their flashing eyes were bent on the dark columns in their front;
their measured tread shook the ground; their dreadful volleys swept
away the head of every formation; their deafening shouts overpowered
the dissonant cries that broke from all parts of the tumultuous crowd,
as slowly, and with a horrid carnage, it was pushed by the incessant
vigour of the attack, to the farthest edge of the height. There the
French reserve, mixing with the struggling multitude, endeavoured to
sustain the fight; but the effort only increased the irremediable
confusion; the mighty mass gave way, and like a loosened cliff, went
headlong down the steep. The rain flowed after in streams discoloured
with blood, and fifteen hundred unwounded men, the remnant of six
thousand unconquerable British soldiers, stood triumphant on the fatal
hill.”

Footnote 44:

Mustering the living and recording the dead became afterwards our
melancholy duty. On reckoning our numbers, the 29th. regiment had only
ninety-six men, two captains, and a few subalterns remaining out of
the whole regiment; the 57th. regiment had but a few more, and were
commanded out of action by the adjutant; the first battalion of the
48th. regiment suffered in like manner; not a man of the brigade was
prisoner; not a colour was lost, although an eloquent historian most
unwarrantably stated that the 57th. had lost theirs—the 57th. lose
their colours!—never! Major-General Hoghton, commanding the brigade,
and Lieutenant-Colonel Duckworth, of the 48th. regiment, were killed;
Lieutenant-Colonel White, of the 29th. regiment, mortally wounded;
Colonel Inglis, of the 57th., and Major Way, of the 29th. regiments,
very severely. In fact, every field officer of the whole brigade was
either killed or wounded, so that at the close of the action the
brigade remained in command of a captain of the 48th. regiment, and
singular enough, that captain was a Frenchman (Cemetiere.)

Footnote 45:

“During the operations on the right, Colonel Gillespie pursued his
advantage to the left, carrying the enemy’s redoubts towards the rear,
and being joined by Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander M‘Leod, of the 59th.,
with part of that corps, he directed him to attack the park of
artillery, which that officer carried in a most masterly manner,
putting to flight a body of the enemy’s cavalry that formed and
attempted to defend it. A sharp fire of musketry was now kept up by a
strong body of the enemy, who had taken post in the lines in front of
Fort Cornelis, but were driven from them, the fort taken, and the
enemy completely dispersed. They were pursued by Colonel Gillespie,
with the 14th. regiment, a party of Sepoys, and the seamen from the
batteries under Captain Sayer, of the Royal Navy. By this time the
cavalry and horse artillery had effected a passage through the lines,
the former commanded by Major Travers, and the latter by Captain
Noble; and, with the gallant Colonel at their head, the pursuit was
continued, till the whole of the enemy’s army was killed, taken, or
dispersed. Major Tule’s attack was equally spirited, but, after
routing the enemy’s force at Campong Maylayo, and killing many of
them, he found the bridge on fire, and was unable to penetrate
further.”—_Lieutenant-General Sir Samuel Auchmuty’s despatch._

Footnote 46: