IDENTIFIERS ----------- id: 141545 accession number: CM.1451-2009 DATE AUDIT ---------- created: Saturday 6 August 2011 updated: Monday 25 March 2024 DESCRIPTIVE DATA ---------------- object type: Most of the battles of the Napoleonic Wars, except those fought by Admiral Horatio Nelson, were not commemorated with the issue of medals at the time they were fought; instead combatants had to wait until 1848 to receive the Military or Naval General Service Medal. Almost the sole exception was the final defeat of the returned Emperor Napoleon I at Waterloo, on 18 June 1815 by the combined forces of Britain, Russia and Prussia. Napoleon's tactical planning was thwarted by the inability of his subordinate Maréchal Ney to shift the army of General Sir Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, from their positions, preventing the separation of the Coalition forces which thus continued to resist Napoleon's rapidly-raised forces and were eventually able to overturn the French tactical advantage and drive the Emperor from the field. The battle has become an archetype of decisive defeat and the phrase "to meet one's Waterloo" has passed into the language. It is therefore perhaps not surprising that a medal was awarded to all British soldiers who had fought at Waterloo, or the two immediately prior battles at Ligny and Quatre Bras on 16 and 17 June respectively. Such an award was however unprecedented at the time. Soldiers present at these battles were also credited with two years' extra service to count for all purposes. This medal was awarded to Private Hugh Gormley of the 6th or Inniskilling Dragoons; its award has been confirmed from the relevant Roll. Lester Watson purchased the medal at some point before 1928. It had previously been sold by the recipient's niece in November 1866, by which time she was living in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, and believed herself to be Gormley's only surviving kin. The Museum thanks Mr Sean Welch for information on the history of this medal. title: Waterloo Medal (18th June), 1815 NOTES ----- type: history note value: Gift of L. Hoyt Watson; ex Lester Watson Collection, bt before 1928. Sold by recipient's niece in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, November 1866. LICENSING --------- text license status: CC0 image license status: CC-BY-NC-SA OWNERSHIP --------- instutition: The Fitzwilliam Museum department: Coins and Medals collection: Lester Watson Collection creditline: Given by Lester Watson through Cambridge in America, 2009 STABLE URL ---------- url: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/141545 TECHNIQUES ---------- struck CATEGORIES ------ category: medal DATING ------ creation date: 1815 - 1815 creation date earliest: 1815 creation date latest: 1815 CREATORS -------- maker: London maker: George IV (1820-30) maker: Wyon, Thomas maker: George III (1760-1820) maker: George P. Regent DIMENSIONS ---------- dimension: Diameter units: mm value: 36 dimension: Weight units: g value: 37.66 CITATIONS -------- British Battles and Medals 7th edn British and other Campaign and Gallantry Medals From the Collection of Lester Watson (d. 1959) --- IMAGES surrogate: large format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0334_281_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 141 pixels surrogate: mid format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0334_281_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 141 pixels surrogate: original format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0334_281_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 141 pixels surrogate: preview format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0334_281_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 141 pixels surrogate: large format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0334_282_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 135 pixels surrogate: mid format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0334_282_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 135 pixels surrogate: original format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0334_282_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 135 pixels surrogate: preview format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0334_282_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 135 pixels surrogate: large format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/portfolio/F25982D9_7CB9_CFFF_028E_8BBFC531887C/563/283/large_CM_1451_2009_1_201503_mfj22_mas.jpg height: 1534 pixels width: 1024 pixels surrogate: mid format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/portfolio/F25982D9_7CB9_CFFF_028E_8BBFC531887C/563/283/mid_CM_1451_2009_1_201503_mfj22_mas.jpg height: 749 pixels width: 500 pixels surrogate: original location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/CM.1451-2009_1_201503_mfj22_mas.tif surrogate: preview format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/portfolio/F25982D9_7CB9_CFFF_028E_8BBFC531887C/563/283/preview_CM_1451_2009_1_201503_mfj22_mas.jpg height: 375 pixels width: 250 pixels surrogate: zoom format: pyramid tiff location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/portfolio/F25982D9_7CB9_CFFF_028E_8BBFC531887C/563/283/CM_1451_2009_1_201503_mfj22_mas.ptif height: 7360 pixels width: 4912 pixels surrogate: large format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/portfolio/F25982D9_7CB9_CFFF_028E_8BBFC531887C/563/292/large_CM_1451_2009_2_201503_mfj22_mas.jpg height: 1534 pixels width: 1024 pixels surrogate: mid format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/portfolio/F25982D9_7CB9_CFFF_028E_8BBFC531887C/563/292/mid_CM_1451_2009_2_201503_mfj22_mas.jpg height: 749 pixels width: 500 pixels surrogate: original location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/CM.1451-2009_2_201503_mfj22_mas.tif surrogate: preview format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/portfolio/F25982D9_7CB9_CFFF_028E_8BBFC531887C/563/292/preview_CM_1451_2009_2_201503_mfj22_mas.jpg height: 375 pixels width: 250 pixels surrogate: zoom format: pyramid tiff location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/portfolio/F25982D9_7CB9_CFFF_028E_8BBFC531887C/563/292/CM_1451_2009_2_201503_mfj22_mas.ptif height: 7360 pixels width: 4912 pixels