Military General Service Medal (1793-18)

Product History

Campaign: French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars 1793-1814

Description: (obverse) Wyon profile of Queen Victoria; (reverse) a standing figure of the Queen bestowing victor's laurels on a kneeling Duke of Wellington. The simple inscription 'TO THE BRITISH ARMY' appears round the circumference, while the dates 1793-1814 are placed in the exergue.

This medal was authorised by a general order dated 1st June 1847 and issued in 1848, thirty-four years after the last battle it commemorates. This was confined to land actions up to the defeat of Napoleon in 1814 and the conclusion of the war with the United States.

During the Peninsular War (1807-14), the fortress towns of Ciudad Rodrigo and Bandajoz controlled the two main routes between Portugal and Spain. Ciudad Rodrigo was captured from the French (19th January 1812) without too much difficulty but the storming of Badajoz (6th April 1812) involving The Duke of Wellington's troops, saw some of the most savage hand-to-hand fighting of the whole Peninsular war.

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