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Auction: 17003 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 682

(x) The outstanding G.C.B. and Army Gold Cross awarded to General Sir Matthew Whitworth-Aylmer, 5th Baron Aylmer, a long-served and gallant officer of the 49th Foot and Coldstream Guards, who rose to the command of a Brigade in the Peninsular

Highly regarded by the Duke of Wellington, the latter recommended him as a worthy recipient of the newly instituted Army Gold Medal - writing that, ' … there are no Officers in the army who are more deserving of His Majesty's favour … '

Wellington's high opinion of Aylmer continued for at least the next two decades and culminated in his appointment as Governor-General of Lower Canada in the 1830s, a challenging appointment undertaken in the face of unflinching resentment from the French-Canadian community

Yet Aylmer, who was blessed with both physical and moral courage - and an unstinting sense of duty - gained the respect of his most determined detractors: that sense of duty well stood the test of time for, in his 70s, he turned out as a special constable during the Chartist disturbances in London in 1848

(i)
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath (G.C.B.), Military Division, breast star, silver, gold and enamel applique centre, the reverse engraved, 'Rundell Bridge & Co., Jewellers to Their Majesties and All the Royal Family, Ludgate Hill, London', gold reverse pin for wearing, 104 by 95 mm., contained in its original leather case

(ii)
Army Gold Cross 1806-14, for Talavera, Fuentes D'Onor, Vittoria and Nive, 1 clasp, Busaco (Major Genl. Lord Aylmer), complete with all original wearing fitments and riband, in its original red leather case of issue, rivet heads on middle left and right arms lacking and central lions slack, otherwise good very fine (2)

Matthew Aylmer was born on 25 May 1775; he was the eldest son of Henry, 4th Baron Aylmer of Balrath, in the Peerage of Ireland, and succeeded to the title, and a baronetcy, on the death of his father in October 1785. Two years later, aged twelve, he was purchased an ensigncy in the 49th (or the Hertfordshire) Regiment of Foot, then stationed at Kinsale, Co. Cork. When the 49th sailed for Barbados in the Spring of 1788, Aylmer remained at home, probably to finish his education, and did not join his regiment until late 1790. Having served about six months in Barbados, he returned home on six months' sick leave in May 1791. When his sick leave ended, he returned to the island - having been purchased promotion to Lieutenant in October 1791 - in time to accompany the 49th to Jamaica in February 1792.

Off to war - St. Domingue - wounds

The outbreak of the war with Revolutionary France in 1793 brought his first experience of active service. In September 1793, as one of the Lieutenants in the 49th's Grenadier Company, he landed on the French island colony of St. Domingue: the flank companies of the 49th formed part of a small force, which was reinforced a month later, sent to assist French Royalist forces combatting French Republican forces allied to freed French slaves. The situation was, to put it mildly, confused.

Aylmer spent the next eleven months in St. Domingue, participating in two attacks on Tiberun, in the storming of Fort L'Acul and in the capture of Port-au-Prince, as well as being wounded in a skirmish at Bombard: as a grenadier officer, he would have been - with his men - in the forefront of most assaults. In 1794, he briefly held the rank of Captain-Lieutenant, commanding the Colonel's Company, before being promoted Captain and given his own company later in the year. Later in 1794, he returned home on six months' sick leave and may not have returned to the West Indies. The remnants of the 49th returned home, initially to Ireland, early in 1796 but the battalion was stationed in Chelmsford, Essex, in 1797, at which time Aylmer served as aide-de-camp to Major-General John Leland, who commanded the Eastern Military District of England.

Flanders - prisoner of war

In 1798, the 49th marched to Great Yarmouth and then to Sandwich, Kent, from which its flank companies embarked, in May 1798, as part of a small force whose objective was to destroy a lock at Ostend and shipping at Blankenburg and, if possible, to attack Flushing. Aylmer commanded the 49th's Grenadier Company in the expedition. At first, most objectives were attained but poor weather prevented re-embarkation and, on 20 May 1798, the British force was attacked by a much larger enemy force, to which the British eventually surrendered. Aylmer and the officers and men of his company were made prisoners of war and incarcerated in the citadel at Lille before being exchanged after six months' captivity, duly rejoining the 49th in Winchester.
In the following year, Aylmer and his company were again seconded from the 49th to help form a composite Grenadier Battalion in a force that attacked the Helder in August 1799. It is clear that he and his men were in the thick of the fighting for the next two months, at battles fought at close quarters in September and October, but - the campaign proving eventually inconclusive - the British withdrew at the end of October and Aylmer and his company rejoined the 49th, which was then stationed at Norwich.

Promotion

For a year, Aylmer was detached from the 49th to serve as Aide-de-Camp to Major-General Lord Charles Somerset but in October 1800, he was promoted, without purchase, to the rank of Major in the newly raised 2nd Battalion of the 85th Regiment of Foot (or Buckinghamshire Volunteers). Shortly after his appointment, the Battalion was posted to St. Helier, Jersey, for a few months, returning to the Isle of Wight and then to Portsmouth in 1801, where it remained until early 1802. While his battalion was stationed in Portsmouth, in August 1801, Aylmer married. His wife was Louisa, one of four daughters of Sir John Call, Bart., an East India Company engineer and nabob, who had died the previous March. Early in 1802, the Battalion was ordered to Jamaica, arriving at Port Royal in February, and - in the following month - Aylmer purchased executive command of the Battalion, in the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. Seven months later, in October 1802 and as a result of the Peace of Amiens signed with France, the Battalion was disbanded and Aylmer transferred to the Half Pay list.

The resumption of hostilities - Coldstream Guards - further active service

The resumption of the war with France led to Aylmer exchanging from the Half Pay list, in June 1803, into the 1st Battalion of the Coldstream Guards in the rank of Captain and Lieutenant-Colonel. At the time, and until 1855, the three regiments of Foot Guards maintained a system of 'double-rank' whereby a Captain in a regiment of Foot Guards equated to a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Army. Aylmer spent the next four years as a regimental officer in the Coldstream, accompanying his battalion to northern Germany in Lord Cathcart's abortive expedition in aid of Austria late in 1805 and in the pre-emptive strike against Denmark, and the attack upon Copenhagen, in the autumn of 1807. Following the Battalion's return home, to barracks in Chatham, in October 1807, Aylmer was detached on appointment as Assistant Adjutant-General (A.A.G.) to the Kent military District.

The Peninsular

His experience of staff work as an A.A.G. may have given his a taste for that type of soldiering since, in January 1809, he was appointed Deputy Adjutant-General in the expedition to the Peninsula commanded by Major-General John Sherbrooke. Sherbrooke's force included the 1st Battalions of the Coldstream and 3rd Guards and landed in Portugal in March 1809. With the reorganisation of the British Army in Portugal in April 1809, newly under the command of Sir Arthur Wellesley, Aylmer was appointed one of eight A.A.G.s in the Army's Adjutant-General's Department and attached to the 1st Division of the Army.

As such, he experienced the first of his Peninsular battles, at Talavera late in July 1809. In July 1810, he was advanced by brevet to the rank of Colonel and made A.D.C. to the King - an honorary appointment that did not require his presence at Court. In September 1810, he was at the battle of Busaco and in December of that year was among those officers whom Wellington recommended as worthy of receipt of the newly instituted Army Gold Medal - Wellington writing that, ' … there are no Officers in the army who are more deserving of His Majesty's favour.'

Adjutant-General - Major-General - Brigade Command - K.C.B.

After a period with the Army behind the Lines of Torres Vedras, Aylmer saw action again at the battle of Fuentes d'Onor early in May 1811 but then went home on sick leave, not returning to the Peninsula until November 1812, at which point he was appointed acting Adjutant-General. The Duke had earlier recommended him to Lieutenant-General Thomas Graham, writing in January 1811:

'I assure you that you could not have an Officer at the head of the department of the Adjutant General at Cadiz more fit for the situation, and better calculated to give you satisfaction, than Lord Aylmer… and I am convinced that if you should think it proper to recommend that he should be sent to you, you will find him a most useful Staff Officer.'

On 11 June 1813 he was promoted Major-General and ten days later was present at the battle of Vittoria, having reverted to being Deputy A.G. and being singled-out for praise in Wellington's 'Vittoria' dispatch. In the following month, he was given command of an independent Brigade of Infantry, a command that he retained until the end of the war - although the composition of his brigade changed from time to time. Aylmer commanded his brigade at the crossing of the Bidassoa in October 1813 and at the battle of Nive, in December 1813, Aylmer's brigade led the assault on the village of Barrouillet. The brigade was occupied in the fighting around Bayonne early in 1814 and in the attack on that town.

Thus, with the exception of his fifteen months' sick leave, Lord Aylmer experienced almost the entirety of the Peninsular War, distinguishing himself in five major actions and earning the respect not only of his peers and subordinates but also that of Wellington who, as all sources agree, thought very highly of him, not least as a Brigade Commander.

In January 1815, he was appointed a Knight Commander of the military division of the newly enlarged Order of the Bath (K.C.B.) and wore the Army Gold Cross for four actions, with a clasp for the fifth.

Irish sojourn - gallant deeds in Rome

Aylmer returned home and was appointed to the Staff in Ireland, initially in the Central District and then in the Eastern District. He was appointed Adjutant-General and Inspector of the Recruiting Service in Ireland, posts that he held until 1822. In 1817, the Corporation of Dublin conferred the Freedom of the City upon him and in 1819 he was appointed one of the governors and Deputy Master of the Royal Military Hospital at Kilmainham.

Leaving the Irish Staff in 1822, Aylmer and his wife spent some time travelling on the Continent. Further evidence of his physical courage was manifest in February 1824 when he was a member of a party riding near Rome and his niece, Rose Bathurst, was swept into the Tiber, then in spate, together with her horse. Despite being unable to swim, Aylmer threw himself into the swollen river, twice, in attempts to rescue Rose but was unable to do so and nearly drowned in the attempt. Rose's body was recovered from the river six months later.

In May 1825, Aylmer was promoted to Lieutenant-General and in July that year, following the death of his uncle, Lord Whitworth, he added the Whitworth name and Arms to his own. In October 1827, he was appointed Colonel of the 56th (or the West Essex) Regiment of Foot.

Governor-General and C.-in-C. of Lower Canada 1830-35

In 1830 he was asked by the Duke of Wellington's administration to go to Lower Canada as Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of the forces. Aylmer was chosen for the post since he had a proven record as an administrator, albeit a military one, since he spoke French fluently and was a francophile and since, as an Irishman, it was felt that he might understand Lower Canada's religious divisions - between the Roman Catholic French-Canadians and the largely Protestant Canadians of British descent - and be able to broker a better relationship between the two communities.

The post was, though, an irreconcilably poisoned chalice that would have defeated the best efforts of the most skilled diplomat-administrator: for all his many qualities that was not a title that Aylmer would have claimed for himself and the requirements of the post, together with the intransigence of the Lower Canada's two communities, had defeated several of his predecessors and would eventually lead to the rebellion of 1837-38. Although Aylmer began well, was loyally supported by his wife and won good opinions for his francophile urbanity and hospitality, the unflinching resentment of the French-Canadian community at what they saw as British rule eventually rendered his task impossible and he was recalled after five years.

Final honours

While in Canada, in July 1832, he transferred to the Colonelcy of the 18th (or the Royal Irish) Regiment of Foot. Following his return, in September 1836, he was advanced in the Order of the Bath to Knight Grand Cross (G.C.B.) and promoted General in November 1841.

Ever active, with his profound sense of duty undiminished, he enrolled as a special constable during the Chartist disturbances in London in 1848. He died as the result of a heart attack in February 1850 and - since he and Lady Aylmer were childless - was succeeded in the barony and baronetcy by his younger brother, Frederick.


Reference sources:

Anon, The History of the Corps of The King's Shropshire Light Infantry (Shrewsbury 1970), typescript, Vol. II, pp. 39-42.

Aylmer, Sir F.J., The Aylmers of Ireland (London, 1931), pp. 257-263.

Burnham, R. & McGuigan, R., Wellington's Brigade Commanders: Peninsula and Waterloo (Barnsley, 2017), pp. 29-33.

Gurwood, J., Dispatches, Wellington (London, various dates): Vol. II, pp. 196 et seq.; Vol. VII, pp. 20, 40 & 140; Vol. VIII, p. 559 and Vol. X, p. 549.

Gurwood, J., Dispatches, Wellington, Supplementary (London, various dates): Vol. VII, p. 626; Vol. VIII, p. 66, 217, 364, 424 & 513.

Mackinnon, D., Origin and Services of the Coldstream Guards (London, 1833), Vol. II, pp. 87-107 & 506.

Myatt, F., The Royal Berkshire Regiment (the 49th/66th Regiment of Foot) (London, 1968), pp. 18-23.

Petre, F.L., The Royal Berkshire Regiment (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) (Reading, 1925), Vol. I, pp. 49-76.

Philippart, J., The Royal Military Calendar (London, 1815), Vol. II, pp. 126-127.

Sketches from the Diaries of Rose, Lady Graves-Sawle (privately printed, 1908), pp. 25-28.

The National Archives: WO 17/162 - Monthly Returns, 49th Foot 1787-91.

The National Archives: WO 43/890 - Statement of the Services of General Lord Aylmer 1850.









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