A TRULY MAGNIFICENT & HISTORICALLY IMPORTANT WATERLOO MEDAL.

A SHEER CLASSIC IN THE FINEST CONDITION IMAGINABLE.
EF+ WITH ORIGINAL STEEL BLUE LUSTRE.

Officially Impressed To:
* * HECTOR BROWN. 1st BAT. 92nd Highlanders. * *

(Pte HECTOR BROWN 1st 92nd Foot (The Gordon Highlanders)



A Seriously Rare Medal in Superlative Condition to the Premier Scots Infantry unit at the Battles of Quatre Bras & Waterloo.

SEE "NEW" SLIDE SHOW FEATURE BELOW

[BIOGRAPHY 1776 -Est,C.1820]
Hector Brown was born in 1776, the year of American Independence, in the Parish of Keddie, in or near the town of Campbeltown, County of Argyle, Scotland.

He was a labourer by trade and was clearly illiterate as he had "made his mark X " on his discharge papers.

In June of 1799 at the age of 23 he enlisted into the Argyle Fensibles in which he served until September 1802.

We are able to track Hector's British army service from October of 1803 where he is first seen on the Army regimental pay lists of Captain A. William Wainhouse's Company of 2/26th (Cameronians) Foot Regt which was based at Linlithgow, Mid-Lothian, Scotland. He served with this unit from 1st October 1803 until he joined 1/92nd (Cameron Highlanders) Foot Regt on 8th August 1806. This long period of service amounts to 3 years and 335 days but oddly this service is not mentioned on his army discharge papers of 27th October 1817.

He is next seen on 8th August 1806 being discharged from Captain P Graham's Company of 2/26th Foot by volunteering to serve with the 1/92nd (Gordon Highlanders) Foot Regt where he joined Captain William McKay's company at Dublin on 9th August 1806 volunteering to serve for 'an unlimited period'.

By 1806 he was already 30 years old.

[SERVICE WITH 1st Bn / 92nd FOOT (THE CAMERON HIGHLANDERS)
He was to serve throughout the rest of his career with the 1/92nd Foot. This was the unit with which he fought in Spain during the Peninsular War and with which he later fought at the Battle of Quatre Bras on 16th June 1815 and two days later at The Battle of Waterloo on 18th June 1815. Hector Brown served with Captain Maxwell's Company.

The 1/92nd fought with great fame and distinction at Waterloo and took part in some of the most famous individual actions on the day. Comprised of 588 officers and men, the regiment suffered the fourth highest number of casualties (441) during the battle with a total of 75 killed and 366 wounded ....and the highest percentage casualty rate of any unit at exactly 75% !

[DISCHARGE PAPERS, 27th October 1817]
Wonderfully, and in further support of such an important medal, Hector Brown's discharge paperwork has survived. His record was recently published as part of the "KILMAINHAM HOSPITAL" papers which contain 20,000 of the early 18th century private soldier's records. This gives a rare and most interesting insight with background information into his life and career. We also have several sheets showing his pay records from 1803 and his immediate unit commanding officers as he moved from unit to unit. So many early medals no longer have any surviving papers, so in this respect the medal is a doubly exceptional example.

His papers state that he served for a total of 16 years & 180 days, but as his service of 3 years 335 days with 2/26th foot should be added, this actually gives him a total service time of 20 years 150 days ....with a discharge date at Dublin at age 41 on 27th October 1817, as:
Being considered unfit for further service by chronic rheumatism" (By Surgeon George Hicks of 92nd Regt). His papers are signed off by his immediate officer Major Maxwell 92nd and the C.O. Lt Col J. Mitchell 92nd.

His description upon discharge was:
"He is about 41 years of age & 5ft 4" has brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion and is by trade or occupation a labourer"

"Served at Waterloo, Character Good and that his collarbone had been broken in consequence of a cannon shot having caused a wall to fall on him while in action with the enemy at ALBA-DE-TORMES in Spain in 1812.

[THE PENINSULAR WAR. "BATTLE OF ALBA DE TORMES" SPAIN, 1812]
Hector Brown was clearly entitled to an M.G.S. for his service in Spain during the Peninsular War. For his participation in the battle of Alba de Tormes he would have qualified for the "Salamanca" clasp. Most men of the 92nd qualified for an average of 5 clasps. However, Hector clearly never claimed his award as there is no entry for him on the medal roll. Claims were accepted from men still living in 1848 and by the final M.G.S.claim date of 1851 he would have been 75 years old, and like so many of the men who fought in the Peninsula War, and having, as in his case, had a rough time in action and also suffering from a progressive illness he was probably already well deceased many years before the final claim date.

Research into local Scottish records may well turn up his date of death. The Waterloo Medals were sent out fairly promptly in 1816 but clearly having never worn his medal it's an odds on bet that Hector may have succumbed to illness at a fairly young age and under 50 and maybe over 20 years before the M.G.S. was available. As the medal is practically unworn (and everyone wore their medals) we have estimated that he died in about 1820 at the age of 44.

Applications for the M.G.S medal were invited in the newspapers of the day, (1848) so, even if alive and being unable to read and write he probably omitted to make a claim.

As a result of the 40 year delay in the issuance of the M.G.S. it became known as "The Dead Man's Medal"

[THE 92nd FOOT CHASE THE FRENCH' AT QUATRE BRAS, 16th JUNE 1815.]
Gordon Highlanders of the 92nd Regiment charge a French position at Quatre Bras. At one point, they pursued the fleeing enemy for half a mile before stopping for breath.

The 92nd were attached to Pack's Brigade, part of Picton's 5th Division. Hector served under Captain William McKay. The Battle of Quatre Bras was a bloodbath for the 92nd who lost 286 men including their Commanding Officer Lt Col Cameron who had led his men through the Peninsular War. On the 18th June at the Battle of Waterloo the 92nd joined the famous charge of the Royal Scots Greys, where many of the men grabbed the stirrups of the cavalry men to carry them into battle.

[THE 92nd FOOT "CLIMBING ON THE STIRRUPS OF THE SCOTS GREYS]


[BATTLE OF WATERLOO, 18th JUNE 1815]
"Gordons and Greys to the Front", an 1898 painting by Stanley Berkeley, showing the incident at Waterloo, when the 92nd joined the charge of the Scots Greys by hanging on to their stirrups on 18th June 1815.

The 92nd lost another 116 men at Waterloo.

The fabled Scottish Highlanders, including the 92nd, 79th and 42nd Regiments, marched into battle at Quatre Bras and Waterloo behind beating drums and shrieking bagpipes, shouting their fierce war cry, 'Scotland forever!'

[SUMMARY]
This is one of the finest Waterloo Medals we've ever had the privilege to offer.

If you are a serious collector of this series you will well know what this wonderful medal represents and will be aware of its position in the market.

The chances are that you've been looking for such a medal for most of your life. I think we've seen about a dozen fairly worn (VG- F-VF) examples from this unit in the last 41 years !
This is perhaps a once in a lifetime opportunity to aquire a medal from the 92nd in what is frankly the very best condition imaginable. This is most probably the finest surviving example from the Gordon Highlanders.

"And what would you do if your dreams came true?"

It's become pretty obvious that Hector didn't survive for very long after his discharge from the Army as the medal is EF+ and practically as struck and obviously unworn. It only has the very slightest levels of naturally occurring contact marks here and there and only the slightest friction to the high points of the design, so, numismatically the medal grades a strict EF+. It also retains its superb original time developed deep graphite blue-black colour. I doubt it's ever been cleaned and the ribbon which is in a very unusual early cloth is probably it's original. On its original steel clip and with a very early replacement split ring.

FIT FOR INCLUSION IN THE FINEST COLLECTION.

Most of the tiny number of extant medals to this famous unit arrive in typically well used condition.

The surviving men of the 92nd, and indeed all the Waterloo veterans were so proud of their service and participation in the battle that they wore the medals on their jackets for the rest of their lives, in many cases almost to destruction, as it was a guarantee of a free pint in any pub in the land.


A MAJOR RARITY & PROBABLY THE FINEST SURVIVING EXAMPLE FROM THE FAMOUS 92nd FOOT, THE CAMERON HIGHLANDERS.

—SOLD—