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.
=Callis Gold Medal.=--In 1742 a gold medal and chain of the value of
£100 was awarded to Captain Smith Callis, R.N., for his gallant service
in taking the "Duke" fireship into the Port of St. Tropez in Provence,
on June 14th, and burning five Royal Spanish galleys which had fired
upon the blockading fleet. On the obverse of the medal, which is 2·1
in. in diameter, George II, laureated and attired as a Roman Emperor,
is represented in the act of presenting a medal to an officer. Under
the group, at the top of the plain exergue, is the medallist's name
T. PINGO F:. Above all on a ribbon is PRO TALIBVS AVSIS (For such
enterprise), and on the reverse five galleys in shore with a squadron
of ships-of-war preparing to attack, and in the exergue OB. V. TRIREM.
HISPAN. A. S. CALLIS. COMBVST. V. IVLII. MDCCXLII. The date on the
medal is the day on which the information was given of the successful
venture; but the actual driving into port of the galleys, and the
successful attack by the "Duke," was on June 14th. It is believed that
the medal in silver was awarded to the other officers who took part in
the general affair.
=Hornby Medal and Chain.=--By a decision of the King given at the Court
held at Kensington on September 18th, 1744, a gold medal and chain
of the value of £100 was granted to Captain Richard Hornby, of the
"Wrightson and Isabella" of Sunderland, and a bounty of £5 to each of
his five men, and 40_s._ to each of his three boys, for having engaged
a French privateer armed with ten carriage and eight swivel guns, and
manned by 75 seamen, and, after a contest renewed again and again over
a period of five hours, sinking the French vessel. A gold medal of the
value of one hundred guineas was also awarded to Captain Phillips of
the "Alexander" privateer for the capture of a large French vessel in
St. Martin's Road off the Isle of Rhe. There were 230 men on board the
ship of 22 guns, and Phillips's crew numbered 150, but he successfully
boarded the vessel and brought her into port, when it was discovered
that she was H.M.S. "Solebay," which the enemy had captured a couple of
years previously.
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