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 following regiments took part in the battle: 3rd Dragoon Guards;
4th Dragoons; 13th Light Dragoons; 1st, 3rd Foot (the "Buffs");
1st and 2nd 7th (Royal Fusiliers); 1st 23rd (Welsh Fusiliers); 1st
27th Inniskillings; 2nd 28th; 29th; 2nd 31st; 2nd 34th; 2nd 39th
(Dorsetshire); 1st 40th; 1st and 2nd 48th (Northamptonshire); 1st
57th (West Middlesex); 1st and 2nd 60th and four companies of the 5th
Battalion; 2nd 66th (Berkshire); 97th Queen's Own; 1st and 2nd Light
Battalions of the King's German Legion, and one company of Brunswick
Oels.
=Java.=--The capture of the East Indian island of Java, which the
Dutch called the most precious jewel in their diadem, was effected
after operations lasting from July 27th, 1811, when Lieutenant Edmund
Lyons--after Admiral Lyons--made a daring landing with a few seamen,
until August 26th, ten days after the battle fought at Serondel near
Samarang. During this expedition the storming of Fort Cornelis took
place, when the enemy lost 1,000 killed; and three Brigadiers, 30
Field Officers, 70 Captains, 140 Subalterns, and 5,000 rank and file
prisoners; 400 cannons were captured. A million sterling was received
by the British force as prize money. The British loss (naval and
military) was 150 killed, 788 wounded, and 16 missing. By the Treaty of
Vienna Java was restored to the Dutch in 1814.
=H.E.I. Co.'s Java Medal.=--A medal, 1·9 in. in diameter, was awarded
by the Honourable East India Company to the sepoys who took part in the
expedition. On the reverse is depicted the attack upon Fort Cornelis,
with a British flag flying above the Dutch, and above all CORNELIS. The
following is inscribed in Persian upon the reverse: "This medal was
conferred in commemoration of the bravery and courage displayed by the
sepoys of the English company, in the capture of the Kingdom of Java in
the year of the Hegira 1228." "Java conquered XXVI August MDCCCXI." 133
gold and 6,519 silver medals of this type were struck.
King George III conferred gold medals upon the officers engaged, and
when the Naval and the Military General Service Medals were awarded,
the surviving participants in the capture received a medal with bar
inscribed JAVA. Four distinct medals were issued for this expedition.
The military present at the capture of Java were the 14th (now West
Yorkshire Regiment), 59th (now 2nd East Lancashire Regiment), 69th (now
2nd Welsh Regiment), 78th Highland Regiment (now 2nd Seaforths), 89th
(now Royal Irish Fusiliers), Bengal Volunteers and sepoys of "John
Company."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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