1592970597000 1312637261000 Standard Record object-141545 1747245966185 1711380512000 1747245848565 adlib fitz-online adlib-object-141545 https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/141545 33b61f55-afb5-3ad8-b27a-6056537b3d65 11 reference term-42993 adlib-term-42993 93884c6f-c60c-39f7-a75d-f84d65288fe0 medal reference term-122711 adlib-term-122711 1db96904-a474-3b61-a8e5-6c2d9dd557ab Lester Watson Collection Coins and Medals 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. CM.1451-2009 1 accession number CM.1451-2009 141545 priref 141545 Watson Catalogue 374 ordering M-0334 previous object number LW.0334 uri https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/141545 https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/141545 Bust of George facing left wreathed obverse GEORGE P. REGENT design Victory seated on plinth above panel inscribed "WATERLOO"; exergue inscribed "JUNE 18 / 1815" reverse design reference agent-149638 adlib-agent-149638 7376d833-d0a7-3be0-916e-9c892b7a24d8 The Fitzwilliam Museum Given by Lester Watson through Cambridge in America, 2009 reference agent-206432 adlib-agent-206432 e0b1da8e-f9e4-30be-9257-f82c89d45afb Watson, Lester 2009 2009 2009 given on loan to the Fitzwilliam Museum 2005-2009 1815 1815 1815 mint reference agent-149658 adlib-agent-149658 4cb81521-c6ef-3826-8224-de2a104139c5 London struck in the name of ruler reference agent-160978 adlib-agent-160978 74b3a1d7-757e-36b1-88f1-8aa56a91f719 George IV (1820-30) artist reference agent-175003 adlib-agent-175003 0b2b110c-1381-35f3-9baa-df6a80e1764d Wyon, Thomas inferred ruler reference agent-51006 adlib-agent-51006 96512349-0740-3b52-b3d9-08460e8d9530 George III (1760-1820) with the title of ruler reference agent-175004 adlib-agent-175004 5d058e3a-1376-3437-af66-dee60575a81b George P. Regent reference term-106216 adlib-term-106216 825b8379-ec94-388e-9a59-624e40c090d0 London reference term-39778 adlib-term-39778 8bd60ed6-968d-3faf-8ad5-b4e4ee9bb245 silver Diameter mm 36 Weight g 37.66 reference media-116641 adlib-media-116641 744895aa-51bd-3ea3-b2c8-6df3eeb21cd9 jpeg cm/cm15/LW_0334_281_29.jpg 1 height pixels 365 width pixels 141 1742589766467 1 image jpeg cm/cm15/LW_0334_281_29.jpg 1 height pixels 365 width pixels 141 1742589766467 1 image jpeg cm/cm15/LW_0334_281_29.jpg 1 height pixels 365 width pixels 141 1742589766467 1 image jpeg cm/cm15/LW_0334_281_29.jpg 1 height pixels 365 width pixels 141 1742589766467 1 image 0 media image reference media-116642 adlib-media-116642 69dd2e7b-7355-33db-8b03-083fff87efe4 jpeg cm/cm15/LW_0334_282_29.jpg 1 height pixels 365 width pixels 135 1742589839550 1 image jpeg cm/cm15/LW_0334_282_29.jpg 1 height pixels 365 width pixels 135 1742589839550 1 image jpeg cm/cm15/LW_0334_282_29.jpg 1 height pixels 365 width pixels 135 1742589839550 1 image jpeg cm/cm15/LW_0334_282_29.jpg 1 height pixels 365 width pixels 135 1742589839550 1 image 1 media image reference media-3787690340 portfolio portfolio-media-3787690340 0cd3ebb5-e31c-315c-b556-fc2f511cf6ce jpeg portfolio/F25982D9_7CB9_CFFF_028E_8BBFC531887C/563/283/large_CM_1451_2009_1_201503_mfj22_mas.jpg 1 height pixels 1534 width pixels 1024 1537140215000 1 image jpeg portfolio/F25982D9_7CB9_CFFF_028E_8BBFC531887C/563/283/mid_CM_1451_2009_1_201503_mfj22_mas.jpg 1 height pixels 749 width pixels 500 1537140215000 1 image CM.1451-2009_1_201503_mfj22_mas.tif 1537140215000 1 1 image jpeg portfolio/F25982D9_7CB9_CFFF_028E_8BBFC531887C/563/283/preview_CM_1451_2009_1_201503_mfj22_mas.jpg 1 height pixels 375 width pixels 250 1537140215000 1 image pyramid tiff portfolio/F25982D9_7CB9_CFFF_028E_8BBFC531887C/563/283/CM_1451_2009_1_201503_mfj22_mas.ptif 1 height pixels 7360 width pixels 4912 1537140215000 1 image 2 media image reference media-2159786981 portfolio portfolio-media-2159786981 2249094b-9451-3be4-a3e3-eb10b8bd98c7 jpeg portfolio/F25982D9_7CB9_CFFF_028E_8BBFC531887C/563/292/large_CM_1451_2009_2_201503_mfj22_mas.jpg 1 height pixels 1534 width pixels 1024 1537140221000 1 image jpeg portfolio/F25982D9_7CB9_CFFF_028E_8BBFC531887C/563/292/mid_CM_1451_2009_2_201503_mfj22_mas.jpg 1 height pixels 749 width pixels 500 1537140221000 1 image CM.1451-2009_2_201503_mfj22_mas.tif 1537140221000 1 image jpeg portfolio/F25982D9_7CB9_CFFF_028E_8BBFC531887C/563/292/preview_CM_1451_2009_2_201503_mfj22_mas.jpg 1 height pixels 375 width pixels 250 1537140221000 1 image pyramid tiff portfolio/F25982D9_7CB9_CFFF_028E_8BBFC531887C/563/292/CM_1451_2009_2_201503_mfj22_mas.ptif 1 height pixels 7360 width pixels 4912 1537140221000 1 image 3 media image reference term-123073 adlib-term-123073 442aacf0-12a8-39af-8c53-6d2c458b729d Waterloo Medal (18th June), 1815 denomination reference term-98222 adlib-term-98222 b5ccc43a-7491-344e-b6ca-5df39a11c50e medals series reference term-108659 adlib-term-108659 cc732dec-4543-389e-a737-cf22bb7d2ee2 Military subseries reference term-107681 adlib-term-107681 e80da827-45c6-3b71-a3ef-28794a05e4a8 Britain subsubseries reference term-122717 adlib-term-122717 140af9ad-d215-34d9-9d42-52ecb5d3fead British Army subsubsubseries history note Gift of L. Hoyt Watson; ex Lester Watson Collection, bt before 1928. Sold by recipient's niece in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, November 1866. reference agent-149638 adlib-agent-149638 7376d833-d0a7-3be0-916e-9c892b7a24d8 The Fitzwilliam Museum 177-190 reference publication-5886 adlib-publication-5886 a6056c29-399c-38dd-9710-5b3f2d44b8a6 British Battles and Medals 7th edn reference publication-5910 adlib-publication-5910 0d1d8526-5493-32bd-93b4-acd4cdcec7f9 British and other Campaign and Gallantry Medals From the Collection of Lester Watson (d. 1959)

reference term-123073 adlib-term-123073 442aacf0-12a8-39af-8c53-6d2c458b729d Waterloo Medal (18th June), 1815

Waterloo Medal (18th June), 1815 reference term-119622 adlib-term-119622 dd6626e9-5822-307d-aa31-13c8813e7555 struck object OBJECT