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138
A rare and important Military General Service Medal for Maida
awarded to Major W. S. Plenderleith, who commanded the 81st Foot
on that occasion: though favourably “mentioned” in Major-General Sir
John Stuart’s despatch immediately following the battle, his leadership
later appears to have become the subject of a secretive but nonetheless
telling smear campaign - so much so that he was never awarded the
Maida Gold Medal to which he was properly entitled
MILITARY GENERAL SERVICE 1793-1814, 1 clasp, Maida (W. J. Plenderleith,
Majr., 81st Ft.), note second initial, good very fine £3500-4000
William Smythe Plenderleith was originally appointed an Ensign in the 60th Foot in November 1793, but shortly afterwards transferred
to the Royal Fusiliers, and thence the 81st Foot, in which latter regiment he purchased a Captaincy in February 1797 and a Majority in
April 1803.
His subsequent command of the Regiment at Maida in July 1806 seems to have become a topic of heated and unfavourable debate in
the years following that great victory, but in terms of his immediate “mention” in Major-General Sir John Stuart’s despatch dated 6 July
1806, his leadership appeared anything but contentious:
‘Brigadier-General Ackland, whose Brigade was immediately on the left of the Light Infantry, with great spirit availed himself of this
favourable moment to press instantly forward upon the Corps in his front; the brave 78th Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel
MacLeod, and the 81st Regiment, under Major Plenderleath, both distinguished themselves on this occasion. The enemy fled with
dismay and disorder before them, leaving the plain covered with their dead and wounded ... ’ (London Gazette 5 September 1806
refers).
As, however, revealed in a memorandum written in July 1828 by a fellow officer, Major (afterwards Major-General) Stewart of Garth,
and published in The Military History of Perthshire in 1908, Plenderleith was responsible for almost turning victory into defeat as the
battle reached its zenith:
‘Major-General Stewart had an opportunity of performing some important pieces of service at the battle of Maida. The circumstances
being of such a nature that a public notice of them might be injurious to the character of some brother officers, long dead, he has
foreborne speaking of the subject and cautioned the officers who were present to do the same; and now he will only state a few brief
particulars.
After the enemy had been driven by the first charge at the battle of Maida, Major Stewart observed the Officer Commanding the 81st
Regiment did not seem to understand or act to his instructions; he therefore rode to his part of the field and remonstrated with him, a
remedy was instantly applied, and by his timely interference, was prevented a serious calamity which might have affected the character
of that officer and the general success of the day ... Fearful, as he had already observed, that the circumstances if known would prove
injurious to the officers, Major Stewart requested of General Sir John Stuart not to represent the case to the Secretary of State as he
expressed a wish to do, in justice, as he said, to an officer to whom he owed so much - for the question rested upon this, whether
Maida was to be an honourable achievement, or a thorough defeat - but that disaster was prevented.
Now as 20 years had elapsed and as the present representation is intended for a foreign power which will ask for no names, Major
Stewart trusts that there is no impropriety in mentioning the subject thus confidentially.’
Plenderleith briefly held an appointment in the 100th Foot following Maida, but was suddenly placed on the Retired List in June 1808.
He died at his residence in Ramsgate on 5 June 1863, aged 88 years - never having received the Maida Gold Medal to which he was
entitled and not, as suggested by Tancred, in his Historical Record of Medals & Honorary Distinctions having ‘died before the Medal
was issued’: surely further evidence if it were needed that his reputation had been smeared by his old comrades and of a deliberate
campaign to prevent him receiving his due entitlement to that rare distinction.
139
MILITARY GENERAL SERVICE 1793-1814, 1 clasp, Corunna (H. Holder, 14th
Foot) good very fine £700-800
Ex Glendining November 1927.
140
MILITARY GENERAL SERVICE 1793-1814, 2 clasps, Vittoria, St. Sebastian, naming erased, signs of brooch mounting, heavy
edge bruising, nearly very fine £80-100
141
MILITARY GENERAL SERVICE 1793-1814, 2 clasps, Vittoria, Toulouse (W. Chapman, 3rd Dragn. Gds.) edge bruising and a little
polished, otherwise nearly very fine £800-900
142
MILITARY GENERAL SERVICE 1793-1814, 2 clasps, Vittoria, Toulouse (P. Hessford, R. Arty.) minor edge bruising and polished,
otherwise nearly very fine £700-800
Medal roll gives additional entitlement to clasps for Pyrenees and St Sebastian.
www.dnw.co.uk
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