Single Campaign Medals 366
The Field Officer’s Gold Medal for Corunna 1809 awarded to Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Hull, 43rd Foot, who was taken prisoner of war and escaped during service in the West Indies in 1794-95, commanded the 2/43rd in the retreat to Corunna and subsequent battle there, and commanded the 1/43rd as part of General Craufurd’s Light Division at the combat on the Côa where he was killed in action on 24 July 1810
Field Officer’s Small Gold Medal, for Corunna 1809 (Lieut. Col. Edwd. Hull, 2nd Bn. 43d Ft.) complete with integral gold ribbon buckle in its original but much distressed, red leather case of issue, lunettes chipped in places and both long-since replaced, good very fine
£16,000-£20,000
Edward Hull was gazetted as a Lieutenant in the 43rd Foot on 31 December 1791. He served in the expedition to the West Indies in 1794-95, under Sir Charles Grey, for the reduction of Martinique, Guadaloupe, and St Lucia. He was part of the Garrison at Guadaloupe which, too weak for duty and much reduced by distemper, was assailed by a French expedition of 2000 troops early in June 1794, who successfully stormed and carried the Fort of Fleur d’Epée. ‘Their success was greatly accelerated by the treachery or cowardice of the French Royalists, then in the fort, who, after volunteering to sally on the besiegers, no sooner approached them than they turned and fled. The British merchants and sailors had thrown themselves into the fort to assist the decimated garrison, and this little band, headed by Lieutenant-Colonel Drummond [43rd], did all that gallant mortals could, but, opposed to so many French regulars, at length were obliged to retreat.’ The French commissioner, Victor Hughes, a man of cruel and remorseless temperament, liberated the negro slaves, stimulating them with promises of unlimited plunder and division of the spoils. After a half-hearted attempt by 3 battalions of British and one of seamen under Brigadier-General Symes failed to retake Guadaloupe on 2 July, Sir Charles Grey then abandoned his attempt to expel the French from Guadaloupe, and sailed for Martinique. At this time the 43rd could not afford a corporal and three privates for patrol. On September 1st their strength was, rank and file fit for duty, 32; sick, 176.
‘On the 26th of September the enemy, with a large body of troops, landed on the southern part of Guadaloupe. One portion marched on Petit Bourg, where Lieutenant-Colonel Drummond, with some convalescents and a party of Royalists met them; but perceiving their great superiority of numbers, found it necessary to retreat and take post at a battery called Point Bacchus. The French, on entering Petit Bourg, committed outrageous cruelties, putting to death all the sick in the hospitals, including many women and children, and otherwise mutilated the bodies.’
Their next move was to Point Bacchus, where Lieutenant-Colonel Drummond and his detachment, being surrounded, were compelled to surrender. As some of the prisoners, enfeebled by exhaustion and illness, fainted on the march, they were instantly bayoneted; and many civilians of all ages and conditions, regardless of sex, were condemned to the guillotine.’
During the year of 1794, the 43rd lost thirteen officers to the fever or other incidental disorders, while at the end of that year, there were surviving at Point à Pitre, and prisoners to Victor Hughes, Lieutenant-Colonel Drummond and ten officers of the 43rd, including Lieutenant Edward Hull. ‘Very early in the year [1795] these officers, with others of the 35th Regiment, resolved to attempt escape from the hulk in which they were imprisoned. Seizing the felicitous moment when a boat was alongside, they overpowered the guard, leaped in, and rowed off. Luckily there was no vessel to pursue, and once beyond the reach of the guns they were safe. Before long the British prisoners were exchange, on cartel. The officers, non-commissioned officers, and a few privates of the 43rd forming the skeleton of their once numerous battalion, returned to England and joined the section which had remained at home to recruit.
Hull was promoted to Captain on 1 September 1795. In March 1797, the 43rd, under the command of Colonel Drummond, again sailed for the West Indies, disembarking at Fort George in Martinique on 23 April. In September they removed to Fort Edward, and at the beginning of 1798 they were sent round to St Pierre, where they remained until February 1800, and suffered terribly from the pestiferous atmosphere. Removing then to Fort George, headquarters of the West Indies, the entire strength of the regiment had dwindled below 300. On 25 April 1800, the regiment, Captain Cameron in command with Hull as second Captain, embarked from Port Royal on board H.M.S. Prince of Wales, landing at Portsmouth late in June.
He was promoted to Major on 10 August 1804, he next took part in Lord Cathcart’s expedition to Copenhagen in August 1807, where, the city of Copenhagen having surrendered, on 20 October the 43rd re-embarked under command of Major Edward Hull, Colonel Stewart having been removed to the staff as Brigadier-General. Hull proceeded in command of the 2nd battalion of the 43rd to Portugal in August 1808, where he fought in the battle of Vimiero on 21 August, being mentioned in despatches and receiving promotion to Lieutenant-Colonel on 8 September 1808.
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