GENERAL REMARKS.]

HONORARY MEDALS.

45

and for other Actions in the Field, were formed upon almost as exclusive aplan. As a general rule, no Officer below the rank of Major was deemedeligible; but unlike the Naval Medal, the Officer (whatever might be his rank),who succeeded to the command of a Battalion during an engagement, receivedthe Medal. With one solitary exception, the Naval Medal was never givenfor services rendered by a Commander; but numerous Majors, several Captains,and even eight Lieutenants of the British or Portuguese Army, were honouredwith the Military Medal. It appears, therefore, that there was no uniformity ofprinciple between the two Services on the subject; and restrictive as the rulewas in relation to the Army, it was still more so in the case of the Navy.

The Duke of Wellington has observed, that “ he never could see the reasonfor excluding Captains of the Army from the Order of the Bath, or theMedal;” 5 and posterity may feel equal difficulty in discerning the justice ofexcluding subalterns, or even private soldiers, whose bravery and conduct wereeminently conspicuous, from Honorary rewards; more especially since a totallyopposite principle was acted upon after the Battle of Waterloo, on the recom-mendation of the great Chief himself, who said he was convinced that thedonation of a Medal to the Non-commissioned Officers and Soldiers engagedin that conflict “ would have the best effects in the Army.” 6

It is curious to contrast the various systems upon which Honorary Medalshave been given to the Army and Navy between 1794 and 1815.

In the Navy, the Medal (with the three exceptions already noticed,) hasbeen confined to Post Captains in the command of Ships in General Engage-ments, or in Actions with those of equal or superior force; and no Officer everreceived it who succeeded to a command after the commencement of a Battle.

In the Army, every Officer who was in the command of a Battalion, orCorps equivalent thereto, at the commencement of an Action, or who succeededto the command afterwards, has received a Medal.

Except under the above circumstances, neither Medals, nor any otherDecorations, were given either to Officers or Soldiers, in any one of the twenty-four Battles or Actions for which Medals have been conferred on General andField Officers.

5 Duke of Wellington’s Dispatches, vol. XII. p. 519. Vide History of the Order of theBath, p. 271.

6 Duke of Wellington’s Dispatches, vol. XII. p. 519. Vide p. 39, antea.