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 medals of those regiments marked * are particularly sought after
by collectors. The Dragoons lost heavily in their brilliant charge,
the Scots Greys having 106 officers and men killed and 97 wounded,
and the "Enniskilleners" 86 officers and men killed, their Colonel,
Lieutenant-Colonel, 4 subordinate officers and 101 sergeants and rank
and file wounded. The 27th went into battle with 698 men, and of these
480 were placed _hors de combat_, while the 28th was reduced to four
companies. The 42nd lost at Quatre Bras and Waterloo 51 killed and
247 wounded, the former including their Colonel and a Major who was
mortally wounded, and the latter a Lieutenant-Colonel and a Major.
The 92nd was reduced to less than 300 before 4 o'clock. The following
regiments composing Sir Charles Colville's division, which was located
at Halle owing to Wellington's belief that he might be attacked on his
right flank, also received the medal, although not actually engaged in
the conflict; 2nd Batt. 35th; 1st Batt. 54th; 2nd 59th and 1st Batt.
91st (Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders); likewise two Brigades of
Artillery and the 6th Hanoverian Brigade.
=The British Waterloo Medal.=--When, on March 10th, 1816, it was
decided to bestow upon every soldier, from Commander-in-Chief to
drummer boy, the same type and quality of medal as a reward for
services at Waterloo, the custom was established to grant a medal to
all, irrespective of rank or occupation, who had given war service
to his or her country. It was ten months after that auspicious day
that there appeared in the _London Gazette_ the notification that "a
medal shall be conferred upon every officer, non-commissioned officer,
and soldier present on that memorable occasion," but be it noted "the
ribbon issued with the medal shall never be worn but with the medal
suspended to it."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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