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Auction: 18003 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 23

Waterloo 1815 (Denis Brogan, 2nd Batt. 30th Reg. Foot.), replacement steel clip and split-ring suspension, minor edge nicks, good very fine

Denis Brogan was born at Mullingar, County Westmeath, in 1789. He enlisted into the 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot on 25 August 1808, and served during the Hundred Days' Campaign as a Private with Captain Skerrow's Company, 2nd Battalion, 30th Foot. Part of Major-General Sir Colin Halkett's 5th British Brigade, the 30th were heavily engaged at Quatre Bras on 16 June 1815. At around 5.30 p.m., Halkett's troops were surprised by a brigade of cuirassiers under General Kellerman. While the 33rd (West Riding) and 73rd (Perthshire) Regiments fled for the safety of Bossu Wood, the 69th (South Lincolnshire) Regiment was cut to pieces. The cuirassiers captured the 69th's King's Colour, the only colour ever lost under Wellington's direct command.

Only the 30th Foot, Halkett's final unit, stood firm. Lieutenant-Colonel Bailey calmly ordered the regiment to form square, and its close-range volleys proved devastating to the cuirassiers. The regiment's steadiness, as compared with Halkett's other units, may be explained by the fact that only the 30th had served in Spain. Brogan was himself a Peninsula veteran, entitled to a Military General Service Medal with clasps for 'Fuentes d'Onor' and 'Salamanca'.

Following the 30-mile retreat from Quatre Bras, Halkett's much-reduced Brigade took up positions on the reverse slope of the Mont St. Jean ridge, just nine miles south of Brussels. Stationed just west of the Brussels-Charleroi road, the 30th Foot held the exact centre of Wellington's line, cruelly exposed to the fire of the French 'Grand Battery'. When the French cavalry attacked at 4 p.m., the 30th and 73rd formed a joint square, so depleted were their numbers. Wellington himself sheltered within this square, which became his Headquarters for the next two hours. When the Middle Guard recoiled at 8 p.m., the 30th sprang forward with the general advance, recapturing La Haye Sainte.

Brogan was discharged on 11 March 1816, after 9 years and 200 days with the Colours; sold with copied discharge papers.


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Sold for
£1,800