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 French loss in killed and wounded was estimated by M. Thiers at
5,000; the allies' losses were, British 500 killed, 2,300 wounded, and
266 missing; the Portuguese loss was about 150 killed and 900 wounded;
the Spanish losing 89 killed and 460 wounded.
The British regiments present were the 1st and 2nd Life Guards and
Horse Guards, represented by two squadrons; 1st, 3rd, and 5th Dragoons;
3rd, 4th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, and 18th Light
Dragoons; 2nd and 3rd Foot Guards; 1st Royal Scots; 2nd Queen's Royal;
4th King's Own Royal; 5th Northumberland Fusiliers; 6th Royal 1st
Warwickshire; 7th Royal Fusiliers; 9th East Norfolk; 20th; 23rd Royal
Welsh Fusiliers; 24th; 27th Inniskilling; 28th North Gloucestershire;
31st, 34th, 38th Staffordshire; 39th Dorsetshire; 40th; 43rd Monmouth
Light Infantry; 45th Sherwood Foresters; 47th Lancashire; 48th
Northamptonshire; 50th Queen's Own; 51st King's Own Light Infantry;
52nd Oxford Light Infantry; 53rd Shropshire; 57th West Middlesex; 58th,
59th, 60th King's Royal Rifle Corps; 66th Berkshire; 68th Durham Light
Infantry; 71st Highland Light Infantry; 74th Highland Regiment; 82nd
Prince of Wales Volunteers; 83rd; 87th Royal Irish Fusiliers; 88th
Connaught Rangers; 92nd Gordon Highlanders; 94th; 95th Derbyshire.
=Pyrenees.=--The rout at Vittoria gave Wellington possession of the
passes of the Pyrenees, and when in 1849 it was decided to decorate the
surviving soldiers of the Peninsular War, all those who had taken part
in the series of extraordinary actions in the Pyrenees, Roncesvalles,
Maya, Santarem, and Buenzas, from July 28th to August 2nd, 1813, were
awarded the medal with bar inscribed PYRENEES, and those who were
entitled to the medal for other actions received the additional bar.
Napoleon ordered his brother to retire into private life and instructed
the officials not to pay him the respect due to a monarch. Soult was
ordered to take up the command, and did so with a zest and ability that
has called forth the admiration of all who recognise in the dread game
of war that sportsmanlike character which thoughtfully dares all and
takes its rebuffs with a smile.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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