Portugal - Commander's Cross

[JBFloyd]

Here's an exceptionally rare Portuguese Commander's Cross for 8 Actions in the Peninsular War. The actions were “Busaco”, “Nivelle”, “Cd. Rodrigo”, “Toulouse”, “Albuhera”, “Nive”, “Badajos” and Orthes”.

These medals were individually made based on the officer's record and the recipient's initials are in the reverse center.

[Hugh]

Now there's a medal which means something!

H

[JimZ]

What a difference to simply stamping or engraving a name or number!!

Could you give us more about the history of this medal.

Thanks

Jim :cheers:

[JBFloyd]

The Commander’s Cross was established in 1816 for those officers, Portuguese or British, who had been in command of a Portuguese battalion, regiment, brigade or division in specified actions. Officers who took command when a senior officer was killed or wounded in action also received it. Officers who qualified in three or more actions received the Commander’s Cross, while those who qualified in one or two actions received the Commander’s Medal. The number of arms on the star varied with the individual's qualifications. The Commander's Cross started with 3 arms and went as high as 12.

Sources vary on who received the Cross or Medal, but it appears that a total of 161 awards were made. I find one Portuguese officer with these initials (Conde de Villa Flor) who meets the 8 action criterion and Gordon's notes that 2 British officers qualified at the 8 action level as well.

[JBFloyd]

Here is Commander's Medal for two actions (Nive and Nivelle). These cannot be attributed, unfortunately.

[JPL]

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for the excellent images of this rare award. I must admit that I really like this concept of a "made to order" award denoting the actions in which the recipient took part in. This certainly takes away the possibility of the recipient "adding" bars to his award.

Is the ribbon for the Cross the same as for the medal? The image of the Cross doesn't show enough of the ribbon.

Thanks

Jean-Paul

[JBFloyd]

There are several variant ribbons that have appeared with these awards, but the style seen on the Commander's Medal is the one most commonly seen. The ribbon on the Commander's Cross is a blue and white striped ribbon that is not original to the piece (it looks bavarian or Greek).

[JPL]

Hi Jeff,

Thank you for the information.

Jean-Paul

[Megan]

Fascinating... not seen these before.

Er, Jeff, any chance you'd give permission to use the images on my site?

[Jeff Mc William]

There are several variant ribbons that have appeared with these awards, but the style seen on the Commander's Medal is the one most commonly seen. The ribbon on the Commander's Cross is a blue and white striped ribbon that is not original to the piece (it looks bavarian or Greek).

Hi Jeff

Hang on to that ribbon...it could well be original.

I havebeen researching this award for some time now and my notes indicate that there were several changes of ribbon throughout the lifetime of this rare decoration, and this included pale blue and white stripes ! I will try and dig out my details for you. In the meantime, do you happen to have a slightly wider shot which shows the ribbon detail more clearly. Regards Jeff