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MEDALS AS WAR
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MEDALS AS See also:WAR
DECORATIONS
Although the striking of medals to commemorate important events is a practice of considerable antiquity, yet the See also:custom of using the See also:medal as a decoration, and especially as a decoration to do See also:honour to those who have rendered service to the See also:state
of See also:art at a small outlay
.
in See also:time of See also:war, is comparatively See also:modern
.
It has been supposed that the circular ornaments on the See also:Roman See also:standards had medals in their centres, but there is no See also:evidence to show that this was the See also:case, and the standards shown on the See also:column of See also:Trajan appear only to haveF had See also:plain bosses in their centres
.
It is true that the See also:Chinese are said to have used military medals during the Han See also:dynasty (1st See also:century A.D.), but, as far as the See also:West is concerned, we have to come to the 16th century before we find the custom of wearing medals as decorations of honour a recognized institution
.
The wearing of decorative medals was See also:common in See also:England in the reign of See also:
On the See also:reverse is an ark on waves, with above the rays of the See also:sun, and around the See also:legend, SAEVAS TRANQVILLA PER VNDAS
.
This medal See also:dates from 1588, and in the following See also:year there was given another medal, a little larger (2.3 by 2.1 in.) and struck in See also:gold, silver and See also:copper
.
The obverse of this second medal See also:bore a full-See also:face bust of Elizabeth, with the legend, characteristic both of the monarch and the See also:period, DITIOR IN TOTO NON ALTER CIRCULUS ORBE
.
The reverse has an See also:island around which See also:ships are sailing and See also:sea-monsters See also:swimming, and on the island there are houses, a flourishing See also:bay-See also:tree, See also:standing uninjured by a See also:storm of See also:wind, and See also:lightning emerging from heavy clouds above
.
The island is inscribed NON IPSA PERICVLA TANGVNT
.
These medals are of See also:special See also:interest as demonstrating thus See also:early the existence of a See also:doctrine of sea-See also:power
.
In fact, in the medals of See also:
The great wars of the 19th century were divided by See also:long intervals of See also:peace, and the result is that with most of the great military See also:powers the issue of See also:campaign medals has been on a small See also:scale, and in the See also:main decorations have taken the See also:form of " Orders " (see See also:KNIGHTHOOD AND See also:CHIVALRY: Orders), or purely personal decorations for some meritorious or exemplary service
.
During the reign of See also: 22, 1648 and See also:April 7, 1649 (cap . 12, 1648 and cap . 21, 1649), and Orders in Council of May 8 and Nov . 19 and 21, 1649, and Dec . 20, 1652 . There is no doubt whatever that there was a " Medal of the Parliament " for sea service issued in 164.9 . This medal, oval (.95 by •85 in.) and struck in gold and silver, had on the obverse an See also:anchor, from the stock of which are suspended two See also:shields, one bearing the See also:cross of St See also:George, and the other the Irish See also:harp . The See also:motto is MERVISTI . On the anchor stock, T . S' The reverse has on it the See also:House of See also:Commons with the See also:Speaker in the See also:chair . This medal is referred to in a See also:minute of the Council of State of Nov . 15, 1649: " (5) That the Formes of the medalls which are now brought in to be given to the severall Mariners who have done See also:good service this last Sutter be approved off, viz': the Armes of the Colton See also:wealth on one See also:side with Meruisti written above it, and the picture of the House of Cornons on the other." That there was a " Medal of the Parliament " for See also:land service as well, is proved by the following See also:extract from the See also:Journals of the House of Commons (vii .
6, 7) :
" Resolved, That a See also:Chain of Gold, with the Medal of the Parliament, to the Value of One See also:Hundred Pounds, be sent to See also:Colonel Mackworth, See also:Governor of See also:Shrewsbury, as a See also:mark of the Parliament's Favour, and good See also:acceptance of his fidelity: And that the Council of State do take care for the providing the same, and sending it forth-with."
This See also:order was duly carried out, as is shown in the minutes of the Council of State, See also:June 2 and See also:July 30, 1652, but there is no trace to-day of either medal or chain
.
It is not unlikely that this medal is one figured at See also:page 117 of See also:Evelyn's Numismata (the See also:engraving, unnumbered, is placed betwee"n
.
Nos
.
39 and 40, and there is no allusion to it in the See also:text), which has On the obverse a See also:representation of the parliament, and on the reverse a bust of the See also:Protector with a See also:camp and troops in the background
.
The most splendid of all the naval awards of this period were those given for the three victories over the Dutch in 1653, namely:
1 Thomas See also:Simon, See also:master and chief graver of the mint
.
Most of the medals of this period were his See also:work, and they are considered to be amongst the best specimens of the medallic art that have been produced in the See also:country
.
service in the Forlorn-hope."
From the foregoing it must not be deduced that this medal
1
.
The fight of Feb
.
18/2o, when See also:Blake, 'See also:Deane and See also: The medals, all oval, and in gold, were given in three sizes, as described below: A (2.2 by 2 in.) . Only four of these medals were issued, to Admirals Blake and Monk, each with a gold chain of the value of £300, and to See also:Vice-See also:Admiral Penn and See also:Rear-Admiral Lawson, each with a gold chain of the value of £See also:ioo . On the obverse is an anchor, from the stock of which are suspended three shields, bearing respectively St George's cross, the saltire of 4 See also:Andrew, and the Irish harp, the whole encircled by the See also:cable of the anchor . On the reverse is depicted a naval battle with, in the foreground, a sinking See also:ship . Both obverse and reverse have broad, and very handsome, See also:borders of naval trophies, and on the obverse side this border has imposed upon it the arms of Holland and See also:Zeeland . Of these four medals three are known to be in existence . One, See also:lent by the See also:warden and See also:fellows of Wadham See also:College, Oxford (Blake, it may be noted, was a member of Wadham College) was exhibited at the Royal Naval See also:Exhibition of 1891 . A second is in the royal collection at See also:Windsor See also:Castle . The third, with its chain, is in the See also:possession of the See also:family of See also:Stuart of Tempsford House, See also:Bedfordshire . This latter medal is known to have been the one given to Vice-Admiral Penn, an ancestor of the Stuart family . The one at Windsor is presumably Blake's, as See also:Tancred states " the medal given to Blake was See also:purchased for William IV. at the See also:price of 150 guineas (Tancred, See also:Historical Records of Medals, p . 30) .
The medal at Wadham was formerly in See also:Captain See also: It was in all probability one that was issued in some numbers to the captains and other See also:senior officers of the See also:fleet . Some of these medals have in the plate of the reverse an inscription: FOR EMINENT SERVICE IN SAVING Y See also:TRIUMPH FIERED IN FIGHT WH Y DVCH IN JULY 1653 . The medal so inscribed was given only to those who served in the " Triumph," and commemorates a special service . Blake, incapacitated by wounds received in the fight of February, took no See also:part in this action, but his historic flag-ship; the " Triumph," formed part of the fleets and early in the battle was fired by the Dutch See also:fire-ships . Many of the See also:crew threw themselves overboard in a panic, but those who remained on See also:board succeeded by the most indomitable and heroic efforts in subduing the flames, and so saving the See also:vessel . But undoubtedly the most interesting of all the medals of the Commonwealth period, is that known as the " See also:Dunbar Medal," authorized by parliament, See also:Sept . Io, 165o, in a See also:resolution of which the following is an extract: "Ordered, that it be referred to the See also:Committee of the Army, to consider what Medals may be prepared, both for Officers and Soldiers, that were in this Service in See also:Scotland; and set the Proportions and Values of them, and their number; and See also:present the Estimate of them to the House . (Journals of the House of Commons, vi . 464-465.) So came into being, what, in a degree, may be regarded as the prototype of the " war medal " as we know it to-day, for the " Dunbar Medal" is the very earliest that we know was issued to all ranks alike, to the humblest soldiers as well as to the See also:commander-in-chief . It differed however in one very material point from the war medal of to-day—in that it was issued in two sizes, and in several different metals . There is no evidence to show what was the method that governed the issue of this medal; but the medal itself undoubtedly varied in See also:size or See also:metal, or both, according to the See also:rank of the recipient . Of the two sizes in which the medal was issued the smaller, r by •85 in. was apparently intended for seniors in the respective grades, for it was struck in gold, silver and copper . The larger, 1.35 by I.15 in. was struck in silver, copper and See also:lead (see Mayo. op. cit. i . 20-21).1 On the obverse of both issues of the " Dunbar Medal " is a See also:left profile bust of See also:Oliver See also:Cromwell, with, in the distance, a battle . The reverse of the larger medal has the parliament assembled in one House with the Speaker; and, on the left, a member standing addressing the chair . The reverse of the smaller medal is the same as that of the larger, except that the member addressing the House is omitted . Cromwell himself expressed a wish to the " Committee of the Army, at See also:London," in a letter dated the 4th of February 1650/51, that his likeness, to procure which accurately the,committee had sent Mr Simon to Scotland, should not appear on the medal . He writes: " If my poor See also:opinion may not be rejected by~ you, I have to offer to which I think the most See also:noble end, to witt, The Commemoracon of that great See also:Mercie att Dunbar, and the Gratuitie to the Army, which might be better expressed upon the Medall, by engraving, as on the one side the Parliament which I hear was intended and will do singularly well, so on the other side an Army, with this inscription over the See also:head of it, The See also:Lord of Hosts which was our Word that day . Wherefore, if I may beg it as a favour from you, I most earnestly beseech you, if I may do it without offence, that it may be soe . And if you think not fitt to have it as I offer, you may alter it as you see cause; only I doe think I may truly say, it will be very thankfully acknowledged by me, if you will spare the having my Effigies in it." In spite of this See also:request Cromwell's " Effigies " is made the prominent feature of the obverse of the medal, to which the representation of the " Army " is entirely subordinated . His wish that the " word " for the day should be commemorated is, however, observed in the legend on the obverse, as is also, on the reverse, his See also:suggestion that on one side of the medal there should be a representation of the parliament . During the reign of Charles II. the issue of medals was numerous, and though we have it on the authority of Evelyn that many of these were bestowed as " gratuities of respect," yet many were given as naval awards; and, for the first time, there appears See also:official authorization for the conferring of particular awards on those who had succeeded in the very hazardous service of destroying an enemy's vessel by the use of fire-ships . In what are probably the earliest " Fighting Instructions " issued—those of Sir William Penn, in 1653, and again in an abridged form in 1655—no allusion to these awards is made, but that the custom of rewarding this special service prevailed, there is a piece of strong indirect evidence to show, in the shape of an amusing letter from a certain Captain Cranwill, of " ye See also:Hare Pinke," to the See also:Admiralty Committee, dated Feb . 4, 1655: 1 An excellent See also:reproduction of this medal, both obverse and re-See also:verse, is given in Plate 8, See also:figs .
4 and 5, of the same work, and on Plate 9 will be found equally well reproduced facsimiles of the three medals for " Victories over the Dutch, 1653," figs
.
1, 2 and 3 and of the " Medal of the Parliament, for Sea Service, 1649," fig. r
.
" As for ye Pay yor Honrs were please to order mee for my service in ye Hare Pinke, I return most humble thankes, and am ready to serve yor Honrs and my Country for ye future
For though ye Hare be mewsed in ye See also:sand yet Cranwell at your See also:mercy still doth stand A fire Ship now doth hee Crave,
And the See also:Fox See also:fain would he Have,
then has hee had both Fox and Hare,
then See also:Spanish Admirall stand you cleare,
For Cranwell means ye Chaine of goold to See also:ware; Sett penn to See also:paper it is done,
for Cranwell still will be your man,"
all of which goes to show that it had not been unusual to bestow gold chains, with or without medals, on the captains of fire-ships
.
By the " Fighting Instructions" issued loth of April, 1665, by James, See also:duke of See also:York, lord high admiral, it was provided as follows
.
In the case of the destruction of an enemy's vessel of See also:forty guns or more, each See also:person remaining on board the fire-ship till the service was performed was to receive £10, " on board ye Admirall imediately after ye service done," and the captain a gold medal and " shuth other future encouragement by preferment and commande as shall be fitt both to reward him and induce others to perform ye like Service." If it was a flag-ship that was fired " ye Recompense in See also:money shall be doubled to each man performing itt, and ye medall to ye Commander shall be shuth as shall particularly ezpress ye Eminensye of ye Service, and his with ye other officers preferement shalbe suitable to ye meritt of itt." This was followed by an " See also:Oder of the King in Council " dated See also:Whitehall 12th of See also:January 1669-1670, in which the lord high admiral is authorized " to distribute a Medall and Chaine to such Captaines of Fire Shipps as in the last Dutch Warr have burnt any Man of Warr, as also to any of them that shall perform any such service in the present Warr with See also:Algiers
.
Which Medalls and Chaines are to be of the price of See also:Thirty Pounds each or thereabouts "
To See also:complete the See also:story of fire-ship awards, it may here be noted (though out of See also:chronological order) that in 1703 revised " Fighting Instructions " were issued by Admiral Sir George Rocke, in which it was provided that the captain was to have his choice between a gratuity of £See also:loo, or a gold medal and chain of that value
.
Lastly an order of the king in council, dated, St James's, 16th of See also:December, 1742, ordered that all lieutenants of fire-ships (which originally carried, no officers of this rank) should be entitled to a gratuity of £5o " in all cases where the Captain is entituled to the Reward of boo." Though probably others were conferred, so thorough an investigator as the See also:late See also: |