  WAR MEDALS In the reign of Queen Anne medals were struck to commemorate military operations, though it does not appear that these were actually bestowed on the officers who assisted at them. In Boyer's "History of the Reign of Queen Anne" excellent facsimiles are given of the medals enumerated below: 1. The Capture of Kaiserwart, Venloo, and LiÈge, 1702. 2. The Destruction of the Spanish Fleet in Vigo, 1702. 3. The Battle of Blenheim, 1704. 4. The Capture of Gibraltar, 1704. 5. The Battle of Ramillies, 1706. 6. The Relief of Barcelona, 1706. 7. The Battle of Oudenarde, 1708. 8. The Capture of Lille, 1708. 9. The Capture of Sardinia and Minorca, 1708. 10. The Capture of Tournay, 1709. 11. The Battle of Malplaquet, 1709. 12. The Capture of Mons. 13. The Capture of Douay. 14. The Capture of Bethune, St. Venant, and Aire, 1710. 15. The Battle of Almancara, in Spain, July 16, 1710. 16. The Battle of Saragossa, August 9, 1710. 17. The Capture of Bouchain, 1711. The East India Company had for many years been in the habit of granting medals or other rewards to officers and men employed in military operations under the orders of the Governor-General. These had been conferred on officers of the King's as well as on those of the Honourable Company's Services, but in the case of King's officers permission was rarely granted for such medals to be worn outside the Company's dominions. It was not until the year 1815 that the Prince Regent, Prior to this the East India Company had granted gold medals to the British officers and silver to native officers present in the following campaigns: 1. The Campaign in Guzerat in 1778-1782. All ranks. 2. The War in Mysore, 1791-1794. Officers only. 3. The Expedition to Ceylon, 1796. Officers only. 4. The Capture of Seringapatam, 1799. Officers only. 5. The Expedition to Egypt in 1801. Officers only. 6. The Expeditions to Rodriguez, Bourbon, and the Mauritius, in the years 1809-10. Officers only. 7. The Expedition to Java in 1811. Officers only. Then came the issue of the Waterloo Medal by the Prince Regent, subsequently to which the East India Company continued the issue of medals at the close of any important campaign. The medals now took a different form, being assimilated to that issued for Waterloo. These smaller medals were granted for— 8. The War in Nepaul, 1814-1817. 9. The First Burmese War, 1824-1826. 10. The Capture of Ghuznee. 11. The Defence of Jelalabad, 1842. 12. The Defence of Khelat-i-Ghilzai, 1842. 13. A medal for the War in Afghanistan, inscribed with one or more of the following names: Candahar, 1842; Ghuznee, 1842; or Cabool, 1842. Queen Victoria, on being applied to, gave her consent to this medal being worn by officers and men in uniform beyond the dominions of the East India Company. At the same time the young Queen expressed her opinion that there should be but one fountain of honour, and that it should not be left to a company of merchants to award decorations to soldiers of the Crown. The next occasion on which the East India Company bestowed a medal was for— 14. Sir Charles Napier's Expedition in Scinde, when a medal, inscribed "Meeanee" or "Hyderabad," or, in the case of those present at both battles, with 15. For the Gwalior Campaign a bronze five-pointed star was issued; and 16. The First Sikh War of 1846 saw the last issue of a medal by the East India Company. 17. The Medal for the Punjab Campaign of 1848 being authorized by Queen Victoria. The Duke of Richmond, who had served on the Staff of the Duke of Wellington in the Peninsular War, now moved in Parliament that a medal be bestowed on the survivors of the campaigns fought under the Great Duke. The Duke himself, if he did not actually oppose the motion, at any rate threw cold water upon it. The young Queen, however, was a warm supporter of the idea of rewarding the men who had fought for England long years before, and, after lengthy discussions, it was decided that a silver medal should be bestowed on all survivors, officers and men, of the following battles: Roleia, August 17, 1808. Subsequently the issue of the medal was sanctioned to the survivors of the following operations: Egypt, 1801. Efforts were made, but unsuccessfully, to extend the medal so as to include the capture of the Cape of Good Hope, of Mauritius, and the war in Nepaul. It will be noticed that the medal was granted for services extending from the Egyptian campaign of 1801 to the Battle of Toulouse in 1814; yet the medal bears the dates 1794-1814, and is graced with the head of the young Queen Victoria, who was not born until five years after Toulouse was fought. In February, 1851, a similar medal was granted to the survivors of the many campaigns waged in India between the years 1798 and 1826; with it were issued the following clasps: Seringapatam. The issue of the Peninsular Medal inaugurated a new system with regard to the rewards for military services, and henceforth the officers and men of the navy and army have been rewarded with a medal for practically every campaign in which they have been engaged. Times have indeed changed. In the early days of the Peninsular War the Duke of Wellington refused to recommend the issue of the gold medal (which was only granted to field officers) except to those who had been actually under the musketry fire of the enemy. Ninety years later we have seen a medal granted for garrison service in Malta and St. Helena the while a war was in progress in South Africa. |
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