The Collection of Napoleonic War Medals formed by the late R.W. Gould, M.B.E. 18
The Peninsula War medal awarded to Major-General Henry von Brandensteen, commander-in-chief of the Brunswick Army, late Brunswick Oels Light Infantry, who fought in Germany, the Peninsula and at Waterloo, and was four times wounded during his career MILITARY GENERAL SERVICE 1793-1814, 6 clasps, Fuentes D’Onor, Salamanca, Vittoria, Pyrenees, St. Sebastian, Nive (Henry Von Brandensteen, Capt. Brunsk. Lt. Infy.) extremely fine
£3000-3500
Henry von Brandensteen was born at Prenslau on 26 July 1787, and was appointed Corporal in the Infantry Regiment von Kleist No. 12 on 1 March 1800. He was promoted to Ensign in February 1804, and to 2nd Lieutenant in March 1806. On 6 November 1806 he was wounded at Lubeck and taken prisoner on the following day, on the capitulation of Ratkau. In April 1809 he was appointed 1st Lieutenant in the Brunswick Corps and Adjutant of the 2nd Battalion, and the following September joined the English Brunswick Regiment. He became Captain and Commander of the 9th Company in February 1811. On 13 October 1812 he was wounded at Monasterio, in the Peninsula. In the following year he took command of the 2nd Company, was present at the siege of San Sebastian in August, and was wounded at Bidassoa on 7th October. He was promoted to Major in the Brunswick service in December 1814 and in January 1815 was given command of the 2nd Light Battalion. This regiment he commanded at the battle of Waterloo, where he was once again wounded, on the 18th June.
Brandensteen was placed on Half Pay in February 1816. He was given command of the 1st Line Battalion in October 1819, of the Light Battalion in November 1820, and of the Garde-Grenadier Battalion in February 1824. He became Brunswick Town Major in May 1827, Lieutenant-Colonel in December 1828, and in October 1830 was placed in command of the Brunswick Infantry Regiments. He became Colonel in October 1836; Major-General, retired, in September 1841; and was appointed City Commander of Brunswick on 14 August 1846. Henry von Brandnsteen died at Dresden on 25 September 1851.
19
The Peninsula War medal awarded to General Sir Thomas Napier, K.C. B., 52nd Foot and Chasseurs Britannique, he lost his left arm at Nive and was later Colonel of the 71st Highland Light Infantry MILITARY GENERAL SERVICE 1793-1814, 7 clasps, Corunna, Fuentes D’Onor, Vittoria, Salamanca, Pyrenees, Nivelle, Nive (T. E. Napier, C.B. A.D.C. & Chasrs. Brit.) clasps mounted on wide-spaced carriage in order listed, fitted with silver ribbon buckle, good very fine and rare £5000-6000
Thomas Erskine Napier was born near Falkirk on 10 May 1790, and raised in Edinburgh. He was the second son by his second wife of Captain Charles Napier, of Merchiston, Stirlingshire, brother to Admiral Sir Charles Napier, and first cousin to the famous‘Peninsular’ Napiers. He was appointed Ensign in the 52nd Foot on 3 July 1805, aged 15, and promoted to Lieutenant in May 1806. He served with the 52nd at the siege of Copenhagen and the battle of Kioge in 1807. As Aide de Camp to Lieutenant-General Sir John Hope, a relative of his mother, he took part in the expedition to Sweden in 1808 and afterwards in the Peninsula, including the retreat to Corunna in 1809. Having been promoted Captain in the Chasseurs Britannique in October 1808, he now joined his new regiment, a corps of foreigners in British pay, and served with them in Sicily and Spain, including Fuentes d’Onor, the defence of Cadiz, second siege of Badajoz, and the battles of Salamanca and Vittoria. It is interesting to note that ‘Colonel Custis and Captain Napier are the only British in the regiment’. When Sir John Hope returned to Spain in 1813, Napier resumed his post as Aide de Camp.
In his final engagement at Nive, during the various contests near the Mayor’s house, Napier was slightly wounded on 10 December 1813, and severely wounded the following day, whereby he lost his left arm. William Napier wrote to his wife shortly afterwards, ‘Poor Tom Napier has lost his arm, his left, above the elbow, but is doing as well as possible and is to get the brevet’, and again a few days later, ‘Send me, or buy at least, and keep till further orders, a knife and fork like George’s. I want to buy one for Tom Napier; it is a silver fork with a cutting edge on the side for one-armed people.’ He subsequently received a pension of £300 per annum for the loss of his arm. Napier was duly promoted Major by brevet on 26 December 1813, whilst still recovering from his wounds. The Chasseurs Britannique were disbanded in 1814 and Napier was placed on half pay. He received further promotion to Lieutenant-Colonel in June 1817, to Colonel in January 1837, and was made a Companion of the Bath in July 1838. Advanced to Major-General in November 1846, he was for some years Assistant Adjutant-General at Belfast, and then general officer commanding troops in Scotland and Governor of Edinburgh Castle until his promotion to Lieutenant- General in June 1854. He was appointed Colonel of the 16th Foot in 1854 and transferred to the 71st Foot in May 1857, and was advanced to Knight Commander of the Bath in May 1860. He received his final promotion to full General in September 1861 and died at Polten House, Lasswade, near Edinburgh, on 5 July 1863, aged 73.
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