War Medals and Their HistorySteward, William Augustus
History
War Medals and Their History
Steward, William Augustus
Great Britain. Army -- Medals, badges, decorations, etc.; Great Britain. Royal Navy -- Medals, badges, decorations, etc.
=La Hogue, 1692.=--For this brilliant victory over the French by the
combined English and Dutch fleets, under Admiral Russell, following a
battle which waged for five days, several medals designed by Rœttier
were ordered to be struck by Queen Mary, who expressed her satisfaction
in the result of the conflict--which secured the throne of England to
her and William, and shattered the hopes of James II--by distributing
£30,000 among the soldiers and sailors who had been engaged in the
battle, and ordering medals for officers. The most important medal,
1·95 in. in diameter, was struck in gold and silver; it bears on the
obverse the busts of William III and Mary II, the king habited in
Roman armour and wearing long hair, the Queen simply draped. Around
the conjoined busts is the inscription GVL : ET. MAR : D : G : B :
F : ET · H : REX · REGINA; and on the reverse the representation of
the French Admiral's flagship, "Le Soliel Royal," in flames. This
ship was, with three others, driven ashore and set on fire by English
fire-ships. Above the scene is the legend NOX · NVLLA · SECVTA · EST
(No night followed), and in the exergue PVGN: NAV: INT: ANG: ET · FR:
21 · MAY · 1692. One of the medals in gold, together with a chain of
the value of £50, was presented to Captain John Tupper "for the good
services performed by him" when in a dense fog he sailed through the
French fleet and brought the news of their presence to Admiral Russell
at Spithead.
After this glorious victory Mary founded Greenwich Hospital as a home
for seamen who had been disabled in the service of their country.
=Special Gold Medals.=--A number of gold medals and chains were awarded
during this reign for service at sea, and, although there is no data to
go upon, it may be assumed that the obverse of the medals was struck
from the die used for the La Hogue medal described; the reverse being
left plain for an inscription, as is the case with the gold medal
awarded to Captain Peter Jolliffe, Master of the "Sea Adventure" hoy,
which bears on the reverse "His Maties' Gift as a Reward to Peter
Jollif, of Poole, for his good service agᵗ the enemy in retaking a
Ketch of Weymouth from a French Privateer, and chaceing the said
Privateer on Shoar near Lulworth in ye Isle of Purbeck, where shee was
broken in pieces, 1694."
=War Medals for Fishermen.=--During the reign of William and Mary
medals were not only given to those actually engaged in the profession
of soldier or seaman, but to fishermen and merchant sailors who
performed gallant deeds. Among the recipients was William Thompson,
the master of a fishing-smack, who, with one man and a boy armed with
a couple of small guns and a few muskets, attacked, on May 30th, 1695,
a French privateer armed with two guns and manned by sixteen seamen,
which he defeated and captured after two hours' fighting. For this
service he was awarded a gold chain and medal of the value of £50, and
allowed to retain the vessel he had conquered.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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