Owen

I thought some of you might be interested in the Sainte Helene medal and associated documents I have relating to an interesting Surgeon of Napoleons marines - Major Jean-Joseph Marie Guichard, a military Surgeon who served with the 106th and 37th Line Regiments. I am carrying out some (rather slow) research but (so far) find him described as having 58 years of military and civil service, surviving 5 campaigns, including service on board the Fench 74-gun Temeraire Class Frigate 'Ajax' (described in an action in November 1813 against the British Fleet blockading Toulon) and being a prisoner of war. Born in 1783 (in Toulon), he joined the Marines (106th Regiment), at Toulon, in 1807, qualifying as a Surgeon 3rd Class, and then rising through the Surgeon ranks as a Surgeon 'Sous Aide Major' with the 37th Regiment of Line and Surgeon Aide Major back with the 106th Regiment of |Line. In 1861 he became a Knight of the LoH and he died in 1866 . The above is a very brief resume of Major Guichard, drawn from a number of internet references to him and of course the original documents in my possession: At this link (http://www.stehelene.../jjguichard.jpg), the quite excellent stehelene.org website provides a picture of Major Guichard wearing his Ste Helene medal and, through an advanced search on their website, provides two entries for the same man: nom: GUICHARD prenom: Jean Joseph Marie annee_de_naissance: avant 1783 commune_de_residence: Tillac departement: Gers code: F32 pays: France grade: chirurgien regiment: Marine Royale divers: source perso : smetivier et hlannes/chirurgien, Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur le 11 juin 1861 (58 ans de services militaires et civils, 5 campagnes, prisonnier de guerre - Moniteur du 18 juin 1861), ancien chirurgien de marine licencié en 1815. décédé le 4 décembre 1866. Source : AN série F70 138 à 146/marié à Joséphine Thérèse Victoire Laugier décédée le 14-12-1834 à Tillac (32 - Gers) dossier : nom: GUICHARDprenom: Jean-Joseph Marie pays: France grade: médecin chirurgien regiment: 106e de Ligne periode: 1799 à 1814 divers: source perso : ebay (portrait/diplôme/medaille)/LH Enregistré registre 41 F° 196 N°98960 Le 29 juin 1861/entré au service de la marine en qualité d'officier de santé de 3° classe en 1807 puis devenu chirurgien sous-aide major puis chirurgien aide-major au 106eme régiment de ligne. Puis embarqué au grade de chirugien de 2ème classe sur le vaisseau l'Ajax de 1811 à 1814/Sa photo : http://www.stehelene.../jjguichard.jpg dossier : 36143 [*]At this link (http://www.worthpoin...rvice-documents), there is a reference to 2 'Napoleon Marine' service documents describing the service of Jean Joseph Marie Guichard who served as a 2nd Class Officer in the Marines with service on the vessel Ajax, among other locations and ships, and service in St.Dominque and Germany. [*]Here is his Sainte Helene Medal and certificate: [*] [*]Here is part (the only part I have) of his original service record: [*]These are 2 close-up scans of the service record: and [*]I know this is a Ste Helene thread, but (for completeness) here are his LoH documents (found on the great LoH resource website http://www.culture.g...ore/leonore.htm ): and There is much research to do to fill in the blanks on this (I believe) quite extraordinary man. If anyone has any other information about him, I would be very interested to hear.

Great to see the Eagle on an original ribbon. Looking closely at the three different Eagles posted here - there are quite notable differences between them (particularly the way the wings, legs and head are positioned. Not sure what this means, but I have a sense that (stylistically) yours is closer to the Eagles posted earlier in this thread by Cussonneau (so it makes me wonder about the one I have)::

Many thanks for your interesting comment - are you able tp post a picture of yours?

Thanks for taking the time to reply, your observations are helpful in understanding the items (tourist tat!). I realise that 'knick knacks' such as these will be of very limited interest (perhaps only me!), so I'm not too disappointed by the lack of other responses. Thanks again.

Many thanks to all for your comments, I am pleased that it has been of interest. I agree that it is likely to be a generic Volunteer Artillery medal and, as such, there ought to be other examples. My gut feeling is that it is not of any real monetary value, but I will keep up the research and will certainly take it up to London for an opinion next time I'm there. Thanks again and I have to say that a big part of the pleasure in having these medals is sharing them and hearing your thoughts.

I know this isn't a Gallantry or Campaign medal, so my apologies if it doesn't belong here...just wasn't sure where else to post it. It is an E Bay purchase, bought simply because it interested me. It is actually outside my collecting area of Peninsular War/Napoleonic era medals. Still, I thought someone else might be interested in it too. The medal is engraved: QUO FAS ET PATRIA DU###### &1ST STIR VOL ARTY,GRANGEMOUTH (diameter of medal is 37mm and is on a swivel suspender). Quo fas et gloria du######: = Where duty and glory lead. Based on a small amount of research, I think it dates to between 1863 - 1880. A small amount of research has thrown up the following history on the Stirlingshire Artillery Volunteers and is taken from the book 'Records of the Scottish volunteer force, 1859-1908 (1909)' by Sir James Moncrieff Grierson (1859-1914). His book is digitized on the online library at www.archive.org (http://www.archive.o...ottis00grierich). The 1st Stirlingshire Volunteer Artillery were a part of the Fife Artillery which was formed in 1860, with several coastal towns forming batteries. The various batteries were attached to the 1st Administration Brigade Fifeshire Artillery Volunteers when it was formed on 27th November 1860. The Brigade HQ was initially at Kirkcaldy but moved to St. Andrews in 1861. In 1863 the Stirlingshire Artillery Volunteers were added to the Brigade (Grangemouth had formed on March 27th 1860). In 1880 the brigade was consolidated and retitled the 1st Fifeshire Artillery Volunteers, headquarters at St. Andrews, the Fife batteries retaining their previous numbers and the Stirlingshire corps becoming the 12th and 13th batteries. The following extracts are from the on-line book above and describe the uniform of the Stirlingshire Volunteers and a bit more history & pictures of the medal follow:

I wanted to share these two small pendants, which I guess were relatively cheap souvenirs of Napoleon I dating to the late part of the 19th century (maybe for Waterloo Battlefield tourists of the time?). They are both tiny (the Napoleon/Josephine pendant is the larger at 2.5 cm diameter). If you know anything about them, I would be interested to know.

Jaybo was right, I do want all 4 in the series! It has taken me a while, but I finally have another and wanted to share it...its the 1815 medal, with what I believe is an .original but very fragile ribbon. The condition seems generally good, but there is some surface discolouration (the black) which I am not touching. Here are some pictures:

Many thanks...I think a visit to Kew is in order when I am next home (searching their archives online produces many references to Brunswick, but not medal rolls or muster records specifically...so need to visit in person). I will also follow up on your other suggestions. Regards, Owen

I am British, but based overseas in Kosovo and find it difficult to research in any way other than internet (and the books I collect when back in UK). I have a Brunswick Waterloo medal to a Surgeon of the 1st line Bn, but am struggling to find out how I can reserach his name (Christian Krug)...I understand, from posts on this site, that the Brunswick medal rolls are available, but no idea how to get hold of them or how to do any other research on Krug. Any help/advice very gratefully received. Many thanks, Owen

Hello Leopold, I suppose I am still very naive about medal collecting...is counterfeiting a problem with medals of this era? Thank you for forewarning me...:blush:

Just wondered what people thought of the Brunswick 1815 medal currently on eBay......seems to be shooting up? (BTW, I am not the seller or connected with the seller in any way!) I was going to bid, but I have no real idea of the value and it might be sneaking out of my budget range... http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150566598662&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Wild Card, You have raised the bar with your knowledge; motivating and very very interesting. Thank you. Owen

Many thanks Eitze, that is really helpful. Regards, Owen

Timing! I was actually reading about this medal and the Guelphic order last night (in Tancred's book, Historical Record of Medals & Honorary Distinctions...). Tancred includes a line drawing of the medal, so one of my 'jobs' today was to find some pictures. Job done! Tancred mentions that this medal was also struck (rarely) in gold and that both the silver and gold variants were rare...probably because of the pension that went with the medal. Your medal looks to be virtually mint condition - amazing. Thanks for sharing!

Hello Eitze, I think that this is a beautiful and really very interesting medal and definitely on my shopping list - to which end, I have been doing a bit of online reading. The reading has left me with a couple of questions: Firstly, I read one account that the medal is silvered bronze and another that it is solid silver - do you know which is true (or perhaps both are true..)? Secondly, I read a note that because the medal was issued in quite limited numbers...later copies were produced in Paris for study and collecting purposes. Do you know anything about this and are there details that distinguish the original from the later copy? Many thanks, Owen

Hello Eitze & Wild Card, Many thanks for your replies and for sharing your very fine 1813 Hanover and Brunswick medals - seeing the medals held by other collectors is the real joy of this hobby (well having them in my hand is better of course!). I have long had an interest in the Napoleonic wars, but mostly from the (ahem) British soldiers perspective and had not really thought to collect the medals (although I have long wanted the British Waterloo medal). Anyway, having recently bought a British Waterloo medal and - more importantly - handled it, the tangible link between the battle and the 'here and now' was established and having the medal just seemed such a logical extension of my interest. As my medal research increased it piqued my interest in the allied medals ...and of course the French...related to Waterloo ...I naively thought collecting all the other associated Waterloo medals would be a relatively simple task..I hadn't counted on getting the medal bug quite badly and consequently extending my interest to the medals from the wider Napoleonic era ...nor had I appreciated the number of German/Prussian medals that were issued by the different States....all of a sudden my previously tight collecting boundaries had been blown apart (pardon the military pun). Where does it all end! I really need to re-establish some boundaries! I am based in Kosovo at the moment, so physical collecting is difficult and I have to live my interest vicariously through you! Periods of leave back in UK are when I can add medals and time in Kosovo is about researching. Thank heavens for the interweb! Once again, thanks for your advice and thoughts on the subject. Owen

I know that a few of you have already posted pictures of the Hessen-Kassel (or Hesse-Kassel) 1814-1815 KDM, so I hope you don't mind me joining in....I have just acquired one for my collection and wanted to share it. I believe that it is on an original ribbon. I think it is a super medal and like my previous purchase (above) even better because it hasn't broken the bank to acquire! I also wanted to add that I get a great deal of enjoyment form this forum and the immense knowledge you all seem to have. As a true beginner, I am really scratching the surface, but learning as I go... I am also curious...I have seen this medal referred to as both a campaign medal and as a commemorative medal...can anyone tell me which it is? If it is the delay in issuing (i.e. 1821) that makes it a commemorative medal, then shouldn't this apply to many other medals that were issued quite some years after a campaign or action/battle?

I am back for a spot of leave in UK and have photographed the commendation in its frame (sorry for the delay):

Hi Jaybo, Thanks for your reply - as a beginner, it's great to get some feedback. I agree that it is nice to find some medals that are affordable and I will be looking to add the 3 other medals in this series. Given the extraordinary investor prices for some pieces, I really think medals like this are excellent value - especially with the history they represent. They may not have a high intrinsic value, but as an ' old soldier' I fully appreciate what they represent. Regards, Owen

Dear Elmar, Many thanks for adding your knowledge. I fear that the Commanders gold medal might be outside my collecting budget! Kind regards, Owen

A new one for my collection - a silver medal issued *by Emperor Franz II) to non commissioned officers and enlisted men, for their part in defending the Tyrol from French invasion. Medal is 39mm diameter and sadly without its ribbon. I believe that the medal was also issued in a gold version for officers and in iron for non combatants: All the information I have comes from the following very informative websites (so, I won't repeat their content here), which I am sure most of you will be familiar with : http://www.antiquesatoz.com/napoleon/ausnapms.htm http://gen.declercq.free.fr/phaleristique/new%20pages/AUTRICHE.htm

Wanted to share one of my latest purchases, a Prussian Kriegsdenkmunze 1814 for combatants. It appears to have the original ribbon, but to a newbie collector (me!) , it seems an odd way to fix the medal ribbon? I am sure you will know better... This was an E Bay purchase and, in correspondence after the sale had been completed, the seller told me that the medal had been passed down his German wife's side of the family. There may be scope for research here.

Thought you might be interested in a recent purchase - a Regimental Medal to the 26th Regt (Cameronians), dated 1823. A little outside my collecting area of interest (Napoleonic period), but I couldn't resist it - just so beautifully detailed, with its original ribbon: The medal, which is listed in George Tancred (Historical Record of Medals and Honorary Distinctions) and in J.L. Balmer (Regimental and Volunteer medals, Volume 1, Regular Army), is unfortunately not named. This medal was commissioned privately by the Commanding Officer, Lt Col Henry Oglander and was struck by the very well known London Goldsmiths 'Rundell, Bridge and Rundell'.

Hi, not sure if this helps in any way...but, the Kenya clasp was awarded for anti Mau Mau operations in the 50's and I know that the (Colonial) Kenya Police had an Air Wing, which was used against the Mau Mau.