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Auction: 23002 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 8

Military General Service 1793-1814, 2 clasps, Albuhera, Vittoria (George Cooper, 28th Foot.), lightly polished, a few minor edge knocks, very fine and better

George Cooper, a native of Tiverton in Devon and born in 1778, is confirmed on the Roll with entitlement to this Medal and clasps: it is worthy of note that only six members of the 28th claimed this number and combination of clasps.

Infamously the bloodiest battle of the Peninsular War, at Albuhera (16 May 1811) the 2nd Battalion 28th (North Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot were part of Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Abercrombie's 3rd Brigade, and whilst they mostly avoided the horrendous casualties inflicted upon the men of both the 1st and 2nd brigades, the 28th (along with the 34th and 39th) participated in a bayonet charge towards the end of the day which finally forced the French to withdraw from the field.
At the Battle of Vitoria (21 June 1813) were again in the thick of the fighting, suffering 171 casualties - one of whom was Cooper, being severely wounded in the right leg. He was discharged in consequence of his wound, to a pension of 9d per diem, giving his intended place of residence as his old home town of Tiverton.

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£2,000

Starting price
£1100