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Auction: 22133 - Orders, Decorations and Medals - e-Auction
Lot: 5

Military General Service 1793-1814, 4 clasps, Busaco, Fuentes d'Onor, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz (R. Hawke, 5th Foot.), attempted erasure of surname, a few small edge knocks and scratches, otherwise good very fine

One of four awards with this combination of clasps to the 5th Foot, of whom two are officers.

Richard Hawke served with the 5th (Northumberland) Regiment of Foot during the Peninsula War and is confirmed on the roll with entitlement to this Medal and clasps. The unit saw a great deal of service in Spain and Portugal, earning themselves nicknames including "The Old and Bold"; "The Fighting Fifth"; and "Lord Wellington's Bodyguard" along the way. They played a particularly prominent part in the Battle of El Bodon (25 September 1811) when, as part of a rearguard they defended a position against repeated attacks by the French - at one stage even carrying out a bayonet charge against French cavalry which had captured a battery of Portuguese artillery. The battalion commander, Major Henry Ridge, left an account of the action and was praised by Wellington himself on the dispositions he had made to resist their foe, later being mentioned by name in a General Order.

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Sold for
£1,300

Starting price
£500