SINGLE CAMPAIGN MEDALS 25
The Field Officer’s Gold Medal awarded to Colonel G. H. Zulke, C.B., 2nd Caçadores, late 5/60th Rifles, fighting with whom he was severely wounded at Talavera and taken prisoner by the French
FIELD OFFICER’S GOLD MEDAL 1808-14, for Vittoria, 2 clasps, Pyrenees, Orthes (Major Geo. H. Zulke) complete with gold ribbon buckle, extremely fine
£15000-20000 From the Collection of Napoleonic War Medals formed by the late R. W. Gould, M.B.E .
George Henry Zulke (variously spelt Zuhlcke, Zuhlche, and Zuhleke) entered the service of Hesse Cassel on 1 February 1794, as Fahnenjunker (Ensign) in the regiment of Grenadier Guards. He took part in the campaigns in Germany and the Netherlands of 1793 -95; of 1793, in the army under the King of Prussia, taking part in the siege of Maynz; of 1794-95, in the army under the Duke of York, being engaged in an action near Cambray, in the battle of Trois Ville, or of Cutillon, and in an action near Lamain.
On 25 December 1797, he obtained a commission in His Majesty’s service, as Ensign in the 5th battalion 60th Regiment, and served with the battalion in Ireland in the ‘War of Rebellion’ in 1798, being engaged in the action at Goff’s Bridge, near Horse Town, and in several inferior actions in the mountains of the County of Wicklow. He afterwards served in the West Indies, 1799-1802, where he participated in the taking of Surinam.
Zulke was promoted to Lieutenant in the 5/60th Rifles in August 1800, but did not see further action until the campaigns in Portugal and Spain of 1808-09, where he took part in the battles of Rolica and Vimiera, in the retaking of Oporto, and in the battle of Talavera, in which battle he was severely wounded. Being left in hospital at Talavera, he was consequently taken prisoner by the French when they reoccupied that town on Wellington’s retirement across the Tagus. From Talavera Zulke was taken to Madrid, from where, on 29 December 1809, to Major Davy, he wrote:
‘Of the regiment under your command nobody but Captain Wolf and me are here now... Captain Wolf desires to be most respectfully remembered to you; he is recovering; one of his wounds healed up, but he has lost his marital attitude. My wounds have a good appearance, but there are still rags or bones in them which retard the healing. We inhabit the cells of the Convent St Francis converted into a hospital, and are well treated.’
Whilst still in captivity Zulke received promotion to a company in the 60th Rifles, 10 January 1810, upon the recommendation of Major Davy. Once his wounds were ‘nearly cured’, Zulke made his escape from Madrid on 26 April 1810, and on arrival in Lisbon applied to the Duke of Wellington to be placed in the Portuguese service. In October of that year he was appointed Major in the 2nd battalion of Caçadores. With them he was present at Fuentes d’Onor, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, and Salamanca. During the subsequent retirement from Burgos to Salamamca in 1812, Zulke defended with a detachment the Bridge of Valladolid, and on 17 November was in action near the village of San Munos. During that same month the command of the battalion fell to him.
Zulke subsequently commanded the 2nd Caçadores at the battle of Vittoria, 21 June 1813, receiving on 30 July the Brevet, and on 27 August the substantive rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He fought in the battles of the Pyrenees, being engaged on the 29th, 30th and 31st of July. On 2 August he took part in an action near Eschallar and on the 31st in another near Zagarramurdi, and in the battles of Nivelle and Nive in November and December of that year. In France in 1814, he assisted in the action near the village of Hastingues on 27 February, in the battle of Orthes, and in the action near the town of Blaye on 5 April.
Zulke was appointed a Companion of the Bath on 5 June 1815, and placed on half-pay on 25 December 1816, as a result of the general reduction of the officers serving in Portugal. In respect of his wound received at Talavera, he was granted a pension of seventy pounds per annum, commencing on 25 December 1811. He received the Gold Medal for Vittoria, Pyrenees and Orthes, was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in September 1817, and to Colonel in January 1837. Colonel George Zulke died on 14 June 1846. Sold with copied statement of services and other research.
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