Before turning to the next medal, it is pleasant to recall the Duke of Wellington's brief eulogy of Sir Charles Napier's campaign, which he addressed to the House of Lords.
"Sir Charles Napier moved his troops through the desert against hostile forces, he transported his guns under circumstances of extreme difficulty and in a most extraordinary manner, and he cut off a retreat of the enemy which rendered it impossible for them ever to regain their positions." Meeanee was fought on February 17th, and Hyderabad on March 24, 1843.
THE CHINA MEDAL, 1842-60.
THE EGYPTIAN MEDAL, 1882-9.
Two years after Scinde, the Sutlej Campaign was waged between British troops and Sikhs. The Mint medal struck to commemorate our victories was the second award to carry clasps or bars—the officers' Peninsular medal being the first. The obverse again showed Wyon's head of Victoria: the reverse displayed a stirring picture of Victory holding out a wreath, with a stack of arms at her feet. The words "Army of the Sutlej" encircled the allegory. Of the exergue on the reverse, there were four different types: the first read "Moodkee, 1845"; the second, "Ferozeshuhur, 1845"; the third, "Aliwal, 1846"; and the fourth, "Sobraon, 1846."
The General Order which regulated the granting of this decoration stated that soldiers who took part in more than one engagement were to receive the medal engraved with the name of their earliest encounter, whilst bars were to be added for subsequent victories. From this it is clear that the Sobraon medal cannot be found with any bars. Bars, the decree stated, were to be worn in the following order, counting upwards from the medal: Ferozeshuhur, Aliwal, and Sobraon. Naturally, no bars for Moodkee were issued.
Curious as it may seem, the next decoration to be struck by the Mint was the rankers' Peninsular medal. It will be remembered that on the conclusion of Wellington's campaign in Spain two gold pieces were issued for officers, but that no awards were presented to the ordinary soldiers. This arrangement pleased neither the men nor the officers, who knew how much the country was indebted to the rank and file. As a consequence, the question of the men's medal was constantly discussed in Parliament. In 1844, the matter was thoroughly debated upon in the Lower House, but the opposers urged with a certain amount of success that Wellington had decided years ago that no award should be granted. Sir Charles Napier's answer to this lame argument was to the point. "It is never too late to do a good thing," he retorted amidst the applause of his followers. Two years later, in 1846, the matter was again before the House, and, probably because Queen Victoria was somewhat partial to the granting of distinctions when merited, a favourable decision was arrived at. The men were to have the medal so long withheld from them, as the following General Order of June 1, 1847, explains:—
"Her Majesty having been graciously pleased to command that a medal should be struck to record the services of her fleets and armies during the wars commencing 1793, and ending in 1814, and that one should be conferred upon every officer, non-commissioned officer and soldier of the army who was in any battle or siege, to commemorate which medals have been struck by command of Her Majesty's Royal predecessors and have been distributed to the general or superior officers of the general armies and corps of troops engaged, in conformity with the regulations of the army at that time in force...."