Chats on Military Curios

by Stanley C. Johnson

The Turkish Sultan, also, gave a medal to the British soldiers who took part in this campaign. It is usually spoken of as "The Order of the Crescent."

These early years of the nineteenth century brought the English into many unfortunate conflicts with our present allies, the French. No sooner was strife at an end in Egypt than we once more met our gallant rivals, this time in the Islands of Rodrigues, Bourbon, and Mauritius. It was in the years 1809-10, under the command of General J. Abercromby, who led the 6th and 24th Madras Infantry, also the 4th Bombay Infantry, and Vice-Admiral Bertie, who brought a squadron of ships, that a strong force met and defeated the French. The medal which was afterwards awarded to all natives who took part in the engagement was inscribed, "This medal was conferred in commemoration of the bravery and fidelity exhibited by the Sepoys of the English Company in the capture of the Islands of Rodrigues, Bourbon, and Mauritius in the year of Hegira, 1226." The date as reckoned by the English calendar was also given. The obverse revealed a sepoy standing with our national flag in one hand and a rifle in the other. A cannon was shown just behind him, whilst the background depicted an expanse of sea. Gold and silver pieces were struck by the Calcutta Mint. The following Order in Council of the year 1811 is of interest:—

"On the occasion of the approaching return from the late French islands of the volunteers from Bengal, Fort St. George, and Bombay, to the Presidencies to which they respectively belong, His Excellency the Vice-President in Council considers it to be no less an act of justice than of indispensable duty to record the high sense he entertains of the services performed by the native soldiery, who were employed in concert with His Majesty's troops in the reduction of the Islands of Rodriguez, Bourbon, and Mauritius. He is pleased to signify his approbation of the distinguished merits of the volunteers by conferring honorary medals on all the native commissioned and non-commissioned officers, troopers, sepoys, gaulundauze, and gun lascars employed on that service."

Closely following on the declaration of peace in the three above-mentioned islands of the Indian Ocean came trouble with the Dutch in Java. As was usual, a joint army of home and native troops was dispatched to the scene of conflict. A victory was gained in 1811, and on February 11, 1812, seven thousand medals were struck by the East India Company at Calcutta, for distribution among the Indian troops. The British regiments, the 14th, 59th, 69th, 78th, and 89th Foot, took part in the expedition but, following the usual custom, received no awards. The particulars of this Indian medal were as follows: Obverse—sepoys storming Fort Cornelis, upon which was prominently displayed a flagstaff bearing a British flag above, presumably, a Dutch flag with the word CORNELIS printed above the scene. Reverse—a Persian inscription and August MDCCCX. Java Conquered. XXVI.

The Nepaul medal was the next to be struck by the Honourable East India Company. It bears the date of 1816. In granting this award, a departure was made from the usual custom of giving a decoration to every soldier, or his heirs, who actually set out from home with an expeditionary force. In this case, the medal was granted, first, to officers who reached the fighting area and, second, to the men who conducted themselves with conspicuous bravery. Mayo says that the feeling was probably gaining ground that too many medals were being struck and their value was becoming lessened in consequence. This he suggests was the reason for restricting the number on this occasion.

The obverse of the Nepaul medal showed a stirring picture of hills, strongly fortified, with cannon in the foreground and an array of bayonets just coming into view. The reverse consisted of a Persian inscription.

After Nepaul, a long period followed during which no campaign medals were awarded to Indian troops. Certain individual awards were made to officers, but as in each case less than twenty pieces were struck, we consider it unnecessary to record them in detail.

At this point we must retrace our steps to the year 1806 and speak of the Battle of Maida, which may be described as an outlying encounter in the Napoleonic campaigns. To celebrate Sir John Stuart's victory over the forces led by General Regnier, a medal was struck and presented to thirteen of the highest officers. The award in itself was unimportant, but as it was practically the first royal medal to be given to British soldiers since the time of Culloden, it must be looked upon as an epoch-making decoration. We must admit that Nelson's men at Trafalgar had received awards, and certain regiments which took part in various Napoleonic wars were provided with coveted distinctions, but in every case they were planned and paid for by private individuals and so cannot rank in any way as royal medals. It is perhaps interesting to record, in parenthesis, that the Trafalgar medals were given to the recipients by an engineer of Birmingham named Matthew Boulton.

The last award to be described in this chapter is the Peninsular medal. Two sizes, both in gold, were struck and presented to officers. No men received them. The designs of both were: Obverse—Britannia, seated on a globe, holding out a palm; a couchant lion beside her. Reverse—a laurel wreath framing the name of one of the following battles: Roleia, Vimeira, Sahagun, Benevente, Corunna, Martinique, Talavera, Guadaloupe, Busaco, Barrosa, Fuentes d'Onoro, Albuera, Java, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, Salamanca, Fort Detroit, Vittoria, Pyrenees, St. Sebastian Chateauguay, Nivelle, Nive, Orthes, and Toulouse. The name and rank of the recipient was engraved upon the edge.

The larger medal was awarded to general officers and was provided with an attachment for wearing around the neck, a crimson ribbon with blue edging being specified. The smaller medal was given to junior officers who took command in cases where their superior-commanders had been disabled. This award was provided with a buckle and ribbon as above and was intended for wear upon the breast.