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Auction: 20002 - Orders, Decorations, Medals & Space Exploration
Lot: 13

The interesting Military General Service Medal awarded to Patrick Price, 6th (Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot, a long-serving soldier whose somewhat chequered career nontheless concluded with the prestigious appointment of Drum Major

Military General Service 1793-1814, 2 clasps, Vittoria, Nivelle (Patk. Price, Drum Major, 6th Foot), nearly extremely fine

Patrick Price, from County Westmeath, Ireland, attested for the British Army on 11 September 1810, listing his trade as 'Labourer' and with prior service in the Militia; he is described as being 5ft. 10ins. in height with brown hair, hazel eyes, and 'fresh' complexion. Undoubtedly he was one of thousands of new recruits so desperately needed to replenish regiments decimated by fever during the Walcheren Expedition of 1809 and the 6th Foot was one such regiment: when they returned to England in December 1809 they had a mere 93 effectives from an initial strength of 1086 officers and men.
In October 1812 the 1st Battalion 6th Foot embarked for service in the Iberian Peninsula; upon landing in November they marched up-country to join the main British army in time for the campaign season of 1813.

Vittoria and a 'Mention'

The 6th Foot, as part of Lord Dalhousie's Seventh Division, arrived at Vittoria too late to take much part in the fighting though they later participated in a fierce little engagement assisting in the defence of the Pass at Roncesvalles in July 1813. A month later the regiment fought a creditable action assaulting the Heights of Echalar which drew direct comment from Wellington himself:

The most gallant and the finest thing, it is impossible that I can extol too highly the conduct of these brave troops.

High praise indeed from a man notoriously difficult to please. William Napier later elaborated:

By sheer force of arms, 1500 men had driven 6000 good French troops from a position so rugged that there would have been little to boast of if the numbers had been reversed and the defence made good.

From here, the regiment saw further service at the battles of the Nivelle and Orthes, the latter action being a particularly hotly-contested affair that cost the 6th no fewer than twenty officers and men killed & 136 wounded. It was to be their last battle in Europe: upon the cessation of hostilities they were quickly redeployed to North America to participate in the War of 1812.

To Canada - and Desertion

Patrick Price and 500 men of the 6th Foot arrived in Canada in July 1814, being quickly deployed to join Lt-Gen Drummond's force then undertaking the siege of Fort Erie; on 6 September one company of the regiment successfully captured an American piquet - though ultimately the siege was unsuccessful and Fort Erie eventually blown up by U.S. forces to prevent its' capture.
During the spring of 1815, regimental records state that Patrick Price deserted for three days (25 - 28 April) but it appears he was not immediately punished; he was certainly with the regiment when it returned to Europe in August of that year, spending three years with the Allied Army of Occupation in France after the fall of Napoleon.

Home - and Foreign - Service

October 1818 found the 6th Foot stationed in and around the north of England and Scotland, essentially on 'public order' duties to ensure the quelling of any unrest or 'riotous assembly'. A task that few relished, they must have been grateful to be ordered abroad in 1821.
It was at the Cape, whilst engaged in border patrols and frontier duties, that Patrick Price was court-martialled, found guilty, and sentenced to three weeks' imprisonment: had his desertion six years earlier finally caught up with him? After four years in South Africa the regiment was embarked for service in India, landing at Bombay on the last day of May 1825.
It was during this time that Price appears to have determined on some self-improvement, albeit somewhat shakily: in October 1826 (with 15 years' service behind him) he was promoted Corporal - though reduced in rank twice over the next 10 years. However, by January 1836 he is recorded as Drum Major - it was in this rank and capacity that Price was discharged 'Worn Out', aged 45, in England in June 1838.
Sold with an excellent and comprehensive file of modern copied research.

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Sold for
£1,300

Starting price
£550