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.
=Rewards for Generals.=--On May 30th, 1814, a treaty of peace was
signed between Great Britain and France, Louis XVIII having been
restored, and Napoleon permitted to retire to the Isle of Elba, where
the allies allowed him to reign as sovereign. The Duke of Wellington
was raised to the rank and dignity of a Duke and Marquis of the United
Kingdom; Parliament suggested an annuity of £10,000, to be "paid
annually out of the consolidated fund for the use of the Duke of
Wellington, to be at any time commuted for the sum of £300,000 to be
laid out in the purchase of an estate," but the sum was objected to as
being too small, and an additional £100,000 was voted. Wellington's
lieutenants--Generals Hope, Graham, Cotton, Rowland Hill, and
Beresford--were also rewarded by pecuniary grants, and raised to the
peerage.
=Nothing for Officers and Soldiers.=--The majority of the officers and
all the men who had participated in this seven years' campaign were,
notwithstanding the generosity of the nation to the leaders, left
undecorated, and, irony of ironies, the Commander-in-Chief, who had
shed tears at the loss of brave soldiers, and who had been so well
rewarded, raised his voice against the bestowal of decorations upon the
men who had fought and bled with him!
CONTINENTAL PENINSULAR MEDALS
=Alcantara Medal.=--For the battle of Alcantara a medal of gold was
given to some of the officers, and Dr. Payne has in his collection
one awarded to Brigadier-General William Mayne, K.T.S., late Colonel
Loyal Lusitana Legion, which by his kindness I am able to illustrate.
It is 1⁷⁄₂₀ in. in diameter, enclosed in a gold-rimmed glass case,
suspended from a gold-hinged waved bar 1⁷⁄₁₀ in. long by a salmon-pink
ribbon 1½ in. wide, with a gold buckle attached thereto. On the obverse
is engraved an outstretched sleeved arm and hand, below is the word
CUIDADO, and above an eye, the whole within a wreath of palm and olive.
On the reverse is the inscription, in bold Roman capitals, AL MERITO,
and underneath, in script, "De la Juntade Gobierno y guerra de la Villa
de Alcantara MDCCCIX." On the rim the name of the recipient is engraved
in Spanish: AL CORONEL MAYNE DE LA LEAL LEGION LUZITANA.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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