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.
The army which landed under Abercromby included the 1st Battalion
of the Coldstreams and the Scots Guards; the 1st Royal Scots; 2nd
Queen's Royal; 8th King's; 13th, 18th Royal Irish; 19th, 28th; 23rd
Welsh Fusiliers; 28th, 30th, 40th (flank companies), 42nd Black
Watch; 44th, 50th, 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 54th, 58th; 79th
Cameron Highlanders; 89th, 90th Perthshire Light Infantry; 92nd Gordon
Highlanders; one squadron of the 11th Light Dragoons; the 12th and 26th
Light Dragoons (unmounted); Artillery and Engineers; also Dillon's
and De Rolle's Regiments; a detachment of Baron Hompesch's mounted
riflemen, and the Corsican Rangers. The army was further strengthened
by a squadron of the 8th Light Dragoons; the 10th and 27th Foot; 1st
and 2nd Battalions of the 89th, and the Queen's German Regiment.
The 22nd Light Dragoons; two battalions of the 20th Regiment; the 24th,
25th, and 26th Regiments; as well as the Ancient Irish Fencibles, the
Chasseurs Britanniques, and De Watteville's Regiment, did not reach
Egypt until July 1801. The medals of men attached to the regiments
which first landed and drove the French off to Alexandria, following up
their retreat, and particularly those who took part in the most furious
fighting, are the most sought after; those of the Black Watch and
Gloucesters being especially and rightly valued, likewise those of the
8th and 13th Foot.
=The Red Heckle.=--There is even now a common notion that the Black
Watch (which lost 54 officers and men killed, and 262 wounded) had
its white heckle changed to red because of its prowess against the
French "Invincible Legion" in the historic ruins outside Alexandria,
where, it is alleged, the heckles in the fallen bonnets became dyed
with the blood of the slain, and in honour of their part in the battle
of Alexandria they were granted this signal favour. Such, however, is
not the correct story, for it is now generally conceded that the red
heckle was granted for their courageous conduct in retaking some guns,
at Gildermaslen on January 4th, 1795, which the 11th Light Dragoons had
abandoned. The Dragoons wore a red feather in their helmets, and this
was passed on, so to speak, to the Black Watch, and the "red heckle"
has distinguished the gallant regiment ever since.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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