ROYALIST BADGE WORN BY THE PARTISANS OF CHARLES I.
Medals were known to the Ancients. The Greeks, for instance, have left behind them many interesting specimens which can still be seen in our public museums, but none of them were given as recompenses for military bravery. The ordinary soldier of these early days had no status, and therefore received no rewards, whilst the leaders were given crowns of laurel, bracelets, and neck chains of gold for the services they rendered.
It was Queen Elizabeth who first thought of giving medals to British fighting men, and it was the crews of the ships which sailed out to meet the Armada that received them.
The first medals to be given for military, as distinct from naval, honours were struck by Charles I. Probably the very earliest award made by this King was the medal presented to Sir Robert Welch, an officer in the Royalist Cavalry, whose bravery in recovering the standard from the Parliamentary forces at Edge Hill excited the admiration of every member in his party.
Charles gave orders for many other medals to be struck, but most of them were presented to officers holding high posts who had performed special services in times of peace as well as war. Many of these decorations were fashioned in single copies, and as practically none of them bore any inscriptions beyond the title and motto of the King, it is impossible to ascribe them to any definite act of military value. They were all oval in shape, whilst the designs showed considerable artistic merit.
All these medals were intended to be worn suspended around the neck, or fixed brooch-like in the hat. Usually, the ribbons which were worn with them could be selected by the possessor at will, no fixed pattern being officially decreed, as obtains in present times. As may be expected, specimens belonging to this early period are now extremely costly, but they are often obtainable at public sales. A fine collection of them may be inspected in the medal-room at the British Museum.
Charles I evidently had great faith in the value of decorations, for we find that towards the latter part of his reign he instituted a general medal, known popularly as the Forlorn Hope medal, which was to be awarded much on the lines which regulate the granting of the Victoria Cross to-day.
The warrant which announced these awards ran as follows:—