Waterloo Medal

 

The Waterloo Campaign 1815.

 

Further relevant historical context can be found at the foot of this entry.

 

 

The Waterloo Medal was a British Empire campaign medal presented for service against Napoleon Bonaparte during the Waterloo campaign. The medal was instituted in 1815 and was awarded - along with being credited with two years extra service and pay - to any soldier of the British Army who took part in one or more of the following actions; The Battle of Ligny (16 June 1815); The Battle of Quatre Bras (16 June 1815) and The Battle of Waterloo (18 June 1815).

 

Consequently, the soldiers awarded the medal were known and described as ‘A Waterloo Man'.

 

A total of 39,000 were issued.

 

This is the first medal issued by the British Government to all soldiers present at an action. The Military General Service Medal commemorates earlier battles, but was not issued until 1848. The Waterloo Medal was also the first campaign medal awarded to the next-of-kin of men killed in action.

 

 

The medal is circular, 37mm in diameter and was struck in silver. The obverse of this medal bears the effigy of the Prince-Regent with the inscription; 'GEORGE P. REGENT'.

 

The reverse depicts the seated figure of Victory with the words; 'WELLINGTON' and; 'WATERLOO' below and the date; 'JUNE 15 1815'.

 

The ribbon passes through a large iron ring on top of the medal which is mounted by a steel clip.

 

The recipient's details can be found on the medal's rim impressed in Roman capital letters. Stars are used to fill in any spaces at either end of recipiants details.

 

 

 

The ribbon is 38mm wide and crimson in colour with a narrow blue stripe along either edge.

 

 

None were authorised for this medal.

 

Further relevant historical context can be found at the foot of this entry.

 

 

 

* It should be noted that the values quoted above reflect the average price that a medal dealer may expect to sell this medal for - please see the ‘things you should know’ web page for more details about valuing medals.

 

** The individual medal price will vary considerably based on the recipient’s details.

 

 

This section contains information on:-

 

- The Napoleonic Wars.

- The Battle Of Ligny.

- The Battle Of Quatre-Bras.

- The Battle Of Waterloo.

 

The Napoleonic Wars - The Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) were a series of wars between Napoleon's French Empire and opposing coalitions led by Great Britain. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly owing to the application of modern mass conscription.

 

French power rose quickly as Napoleon's armies conquered much of Europe but collapsed rapidly after France's disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812. Napoleon was defeated in 1814; he returned and was finally defeated in 1815 at Waterloo, and all France's gains were taken away by the victors.

 

Before a final victory against Napoleon, five of seven coalitions saw defeat at the hands of France. France defeated the first and second coalitions during the French Revolutionary Wars, the third (notably at Austerlitz), the fourth (notably at Jena, Eylau, and Friedland) and the fifth coalition (notably at Wagram) under the leadership of Napoleon.

 

These great victories gave the French Army a sense of invulnerability, especially when it approached Moscow. But after the retreat from Russia, in spite of incomplete victories, France was defeated by the sixth coalition at Leipzig, in the Peninsular War at Vitoria and at the hands of the seventh coalition at Waterloo.

 

The wars resulted in the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire and sowed the seeds of nascent nationalism in Germany and Italy that would lead to the two nations' respective consolidations later in the century.

 

Meanwhile, the global Spanish Empire began to unravel as French occupation of Spain weakened Spain's hold over its colonies, providing an opening for nationalist revolutions in Spanish America. As a direct result of the Napoleonic wars, the British Empire became the foremost world power for the next century, thus beginning Pax Britannica.

 

No consensus exists about when the French Revolutionary Wars ended and the Napoleonic Wars began. An early candidate is 9 November 1799, the date of Bonaparte's coup seizing power in France. However, the most common date is 18 May 1803, when renewed war broke out between Britain and France, ending the one-year-old Peace of Amiens, the only period of general peace in Europe between 1792 and 1814.

 

Most actual fighting ceased following Napoleon's final defeat at Waterloo on 18 June 1815, although skirmishing continued as late as 3 July 1815 at the Battle of Issy. The Second Treaty of Paris officially ended the wars on 20 November 1815.

 

This information was taken from ‘Wikipedia’. The original article and details of the authors can be found here. It is reproduced on this web-site under the ‘creative commons’ licence which can be found here.

 

The Battle Of Ligny - The Battle of Ligny (16 June 1815) was the last victory of the military career of Napoleon I. In this battle, French troops of the Armée du Nord under Napoleon's command, defeated a Prussian army under Field Marshal Blücher, near Ligny in present-day Belgium.

 

The bulk of the Prussian army survived, however, and went on to play a pivotal role two days later at the Battle of Waterloo. In contrast to Blücher's forces, the left wing of Napoleon's army (d'Erlon's I Corps) did not join the decisive engagement.

 

The battle of Ligny is a prime example of a tactical win and a strategic loss. However, had the left wing of Napoleon's army succeeded in keeping the Prussian army from joining the British Army under Wellington at Waterloo, as the Emperor had planned, Napoleon might have won the Waterloo Campaign.

 

This information was taken from ‘Wikipedia’. The original article and details of the authors can be found here. It is reproduced on this web-site under the ‘creative commons’ licence which can be found here.

 

The Battle Of Quatre-Bras - The Battle of Quatre Bras, between Wellington's Anglo-Dutch army and the left wing of the Armée du Nord under Marshal Michel Ney, was fought near the strategic crossroads of Quatre Bras on 16 June 1815, two days before the Battle of Waterloo.

 

The battle cost Ney 4,000 men to Wellington's 4,800. Although a tactical draw, the French prevented the allied forces from coming to the aid of the Prussians at the Battle of Ligny. Wellington's Anglo-allied army, upon learning of the Prussian defeat, was forced to retreat north along the Brussels road further away from the Prussians, who retreated north-east towards Wavre.

 

There has been much debate of what would have happened if d'Erlon's I Corps had engaged at either Ligny or Quatre Bras. As he did not, Napoleon chose to follow Wellington with the bulk of his forces and two days later met him at Waterloo.

 

This information was taken from ‘Wikipedia’. The original article and details of the authors can be found here. It is reproduced on this web-site under the ‘creative commons’ licence which can be found here.

 

The Battle Of Waterloo - The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday, 18 June 1815, near Waterloo in Belgium. A French army under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated by the armies of the Seventh Coalition, comprising an Anglo-allied army under the command of the Duke of Wellington combined with a Prussian army under the command of Gebhard von Blücher.

 

Upon Napoleon's return to power in March 1815, many states that had opposed him formed the Seventh Coalition and began to mobilise armies. Two large forces under Wellington and Blücher assembled close to the north-eastern border of France. Napoleon chose to attack in the hope of destroying them before they could join in a coordinated invasion of France with other members of the coalition. Waterloo was the decisive engagement of the Waterloo Campaign and Napoleon's last. According to Wellington, the battle was 'the nearest-run thing you ever saw in your life'.

 

The defeat at Waterloo ended Napoleon's rule as Emperor of the French, marking the end of his Hundred Days return from exile.

 

Napoleon delayed giving battle until noon on 18 June to allow the ground to dry. Wellington's army, positioned across the Brussels road on the Mont-Saint-Jean escarpment, withstood repeated attacks by the French, until, in the evening, the Prussians arrived in force and broke through Napoleon's right flank.

 

At that moment, Wellington's Anglo-allied army counter-attacked and drove the French army in disorder from the field. Pursuing coalition forces entered France and restored King Louis XVIII to the French throne. Napoleon abdicated, surrendered to the British, and was exiled to Saint Helena, where he died in 1821.

 

The battlefield is located in Belgium, about 8 miles (13 km) south by south-east of Brussels, and about 1 mile (1.6 km) from the town of Waterloo. The site of the battlefield today is dominated by a large monument, the Lion's Mound. As this mound was constructed from earth taken from the battlefield itself, the contemporary topography of the part of the battlefield around the mound is not representative of the time of the actual battle.

 

This information was taken from ‘Wikipedia’. The original article and details of the authors can be found here. It is reproduced on this web-site under the ‘creative commons’ licence which can be found here.