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Auction: 24003 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 10

'The fleet stood in the bay of Algiers early in the morning of the 27th August 1816. I was on board the 'Impregnable', 98, Captain E. Bruce, with 39 Royal Sappers and Miners. It was intended the company should land, each man was to carry two hand grenades and a piece of slow match, besides his musket and ammunition (it was only the previous year men of the Royal Sappers and Miners had been armed with firelocks)...Our ship, Impregnable, was raked fore and aft, and suffered severely. We were anchored too far from the shore, our ship being a large and conspicuous object made a good mark. She suffered more than any ship in the squadron, having 268 shots in her hull, and her mainmast damaged in fifteen places...The sappers behaved nobly at the guns, and were of great use and assistance after the action as carpenters, smiths, etc. in repairing the damage done to the ships, and were thanked in General Orders.' Lieutenant Frederick Whinyates, Royal Engineers, describes in vivid detail his experiences of the Bombardment of Algiers, 27 August 1816.

The Naval General Service Medal awarded to Private R. Parry, Royal Engineers, a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars and one of only three members of that Corps to claim this Medal and clasp. Parry would have seen the same sights as described above by his Commanding Officer

Naval General Service, 1 clasp, Algiers (Richard Parry.), good very fine

Provenance:
Sotheby's, 1990, ex-Perkins collection.
Spink, 1992.
Ackeroyd, 2016.

Richard Parry (actually 'Perry'), a native of Wendron in east Cornwall, was born in 1783 and was a tin miner by profession before attesting for military service on 18 December 1813 with the Corps of Royal Sappers and Miners. Posted to the 2nd Company, 2nd Battalion (at that time in northern Spain participating in the final engagements of the Peninsular War), in the spring of 1815 Parry and the men of the 2nd Company were sent to Ostend for service during the Hundred Days Campaign. Though the Sappers & Miners and the Royal Engineers played little part in the battles of Quatre Bras or Waterloo, they were at the forefront of operations during the subsequent advance into France. Parry's Company was in the thick of the fighting at the assault on the fortress at Peronne: they led the storming columns, carrying fascines and ladders to ease the progress of the infantrymen behind them. After a short but sharp action and some initial resistance, Peronne surrendered. Parry had had his first taste of action.

From Army to Navy

Not forming part of the subsequent Army of Occupation, the Corps was sent home. However, in short order Parry was transferred to the 7th Company which was under orders to join a fleet being formed under the command of Admiral Lord Pellew for service in the Mediterranean - his objective being the protection of British interests and the complete eradication of the Christian slave trade ruled over by the Dey of Algiers.

After an initially promising start, negotiations stalled and Pellew's Anglo-Dutch force prepared for battle. The plan at attack called for his ships-of-the-line to approach the fortifications and come to anchor at an exposed point outside of the Algerian artillery arcs of fire; they would then bombard the defences into submission before soldiers were to be landed (including Parry and the men of the Sappers and Miners carrying the aforementioned grenades and slow match) to complete the destruction. For this reason, the contingent was divided between the Flagship (H.M.S. Queen Charlotte) and the next largest vessel, H.M.S. Impregnable - it was this latter ship to which Parry was assigned.

With several Allied ships anchored only 80 yards from the enemy defences, the Algerians fired the first shot and at 3.15pm on 27 August 1816 the action commenced. Unfortunately for the men of Impregnable, Admiral Milne had her anchored almost 400 yards out of the agreed position and therefore both too far away from the defences and within the arcs of fire of the Algerian artillery, which was well-served and of heavy calibre. Due to her size she quickly became a large and easy target for the enemy batteries, who pounded her mercilessly. Lieutenant Whinyates continues the story: 'On the middle deck the first thing we saw was eight men lying between two guns, each in a different convulsed attitude in which he had expired. One man had one arm extended, the other close to his breast, both fists clenched in a boxing attitude, whilst his right leg lay beside, having been cut in two by a cannon ball close to the hip. Near him was another poor fellow extended on his belly, his face downwards, his back exposed; between his shoulders was buried an 18 pound shot, for men fought stripped to the waist, and butts of water mixed with vinegar having tin mugs attached were placed along the decks for them to drink; legs, arms, blood, brains and mangled bodies were strewn about in all directions. You could scarcely keep your feet from the slipperiness of the decks, wet with blood.' Parry was lucky to come through the engagement unscathed,Impregnable had by far the highest casualties in the fleet with 50 men killed and 160 wounded. The bombardment had successfully achieved the overall objective, though troops were never landed ashore to complete the destruction of the defences.

Upon return to Britain, the Corps of Royal Sappers and Miners was reduced by half, from 24 companies to 12, and Parry was discharged at the age of 36. Though he had only seen six years' service, they were undeniably eventful. Heading home to Cornwall he resumed his former occupation as a miner, both in tin and copper for which the region is so famous; he died on 8 November 1861 at the age of 78 - his Death Certificate correctly noting his surname as 'Perry'.

Sold together with a bound booklet of comprehensive research.

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Estimate
£1,400 to £1,800

Starting price
£1100