Military General Service Medal 1794-1814 

very good

I am truly astonished at how much time it took - and how surprisingly controversial! - it was to grant a small token of recognition to the remaining veterans. A medal is a small expense compared to pensions and VA hospitals.

отлично!

My great grandfather joined the 38th Staffordshire 1st of foot in 1855, like most used an alias, as he was already married, he actually took his wife in both Crimea and India, the women were an assist and used for cooking, cleaning and repairing uniforms, he got 3 medals. Unknown to me, the Lucknow medal he would have actually worn was sold at SPINK for £240, he served 19 years

Given the unscrupulous political situation around the authorization of the medal, this should come as no surprise but the medal largely seems to only commemorate unambiguous victories, meaning that the scope of the award is limited. I am noting this because my area of interest is the North American War of 1812, and although the war lasted until 1814 in Canada (and until 1815 in the Atlantic Campaign which saw battles at Washington, Baltimore, and New Orleans) only THREE clasps are recognized in total. The amount of exclusion here is extremely disappointing, as it means that the majority of war participants were completely unrecognized for anything beyond one battle in Upper Canada (Fort Detroit) and two battles in Lower Canada (Crysler's Farm and Châteauguay). There are a number of key battles that went completely unrecognized, including Ogdensburg, Fort Oswego, Bladensburg, Queenston Heights, Buffalo, Lundy's Lane, Stoney Creek, Beaver Dams, Fort Michilimackinac, and Lacolle Mills - among others (these are only the clear 'victories' too, there are still more battles). Granted, Detroit, Crysler's and Châteauguay were key battles, but it also meant that only a portion of militia, warriors, and regulars were officially commemorated in North American service. There are actually very few medals from the War of 1812 that have more than one clasp included. Most medals with two clasps feature Crysler's Farm and Châteauguay. I think there are also only two medals (one is 89th Reg't, other is Artillery) in which a European battle is alongside a North American battle. There are three extant medals recorded as having ALL three clasps: one is for an indigenous warrior, and two are for French-Canadian militia (how two Quebecers were at Detroit is unknown to me). Unfortunately, these 1812 clasps are also extremely expensive. A medal with just a single 1812 clasp can run ~C$6,000 minimum. An interesting tangent: there are two known citizens from my town's historic 1812 militia regiment who received this medal, both of them for Fort Detroit. One of them has an image of him with the medal. As final a side note, the Naval equivalent of this medal does not recognize freshwater service on the Great Lakes either. The inland, freshwater lakes were some of the most crucial theatres of the war, and by 1813-1814 the Royal Navy was the official administrative authority of the Lakes Fleet (whereas prior there was a localized naval branch called the Provincial Marine operating on the Lakes). They went completely unrecognized, however, and the only naval battles from the war considered on the Naval medal are the Atlantic duels with the US Navy (e.g. Shannon vs. Chesapake). None of the Atlantic raids on the mainland US (such as on Baltimore and Washington) are included either.