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Auction: 25001 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 48

Pair: Corporal J. Wadhams, 1st Royal Dragoons

Military General Service 1793-1814, 3 clasps, Fuentues D'Onor, Vittoria, Toulouse (J. Wadhams, Corporal, 1st Royal Dragoons.); Waterloo 1815, replacement silver straight-bar suspension (Joseph Wadhams, 1st or Royal Dragoons.), very fine (2)

Purchased Spink Numismatic Circular September 1980, Item 7809.

Joseph Wadhams was born circa 1788 at Birmingham and joined the 1st Royal Dragoons at Stafford in September 1805 for unlimited service.

They joined the Peninsular War in 1809, disembarking at Lisbon to join General Slade, and first saw action at the Battle of Fuentes de Onoro on 5 May 1811, where they participated in a charge of the French cavalry to cover the Light Division's retreat.

After the battle, the unit moved south to join General Hill and were heavily involved in the Battle of Maguilla in June 1812, where Slade led them in an eight-mile pursuit of General Lallemand's cavalry. However, French reserve troops were waiting for them at the end of the chase and the resulting French counter attack was disastrous enough to be called 'the unluckiest combat that was ever fought by the British cavalry during the Peninsular War'. Slade was ordered home afterwards, his ill-fated charge prompting the then Viscount of Wellington to comment 'it is occasioned entirely by the trick our officers of cavalry have acquired, of galloping at everything - and then galloping back as fast as they galloped on the enemy'.

The Regiment was present at both the Battle of Vittoria in June 1813 and the Battle of Toulouse in April 1814 but did not extensively participate in either engagement. They returned to England at an unknown point before coming back to the continent in May 1815, disembarking at Ostend and joining Major-General William Ponsonby's Union Brigade. At the Battle of Waterloo, they were positioned just east of the Brussels-Genappe road and charged and routed the 1st Cuirassiers after an attack on the British left flank. The Brigade later rode to Napoleon's Grand Battery where they were met with heavy fire and suffered a 50% casualty rate, Wadhams being confirmed with Captain Methuen's No. 7 or 'D' Troop.

Discharged in Ireland in November 1818 on reduction of the unit, Wadhams was recommended for a Bounty of the Royal Hospital of Kilmainham and joined the 3rd Veteran Regiment in June 1821. Settling in Hockley, Birmingham, Wadhams worked as a cabinet maker and died in May 1874.

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Estimate
£3,000 to £5,000

Starting price
£2600