A good Peninsula War Battle of Toulouse and later Battle of Waterloo pair awarded to Serjeant, later Bombardier W. Edmonds, ‘E’ Troop, Royal Horse Artillery who having taken part in the Battle of Toulouse on 10th April 1814 would participate in the Battle of Waterloo as part of Lieutenant Colonel Gardiner’s E Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, he would subsequently transfer to Captain Mercer’s G Troop, being discharged in February 1829 as unfit for further service. 1 of only 7 single clasp Toulouse medals to the Royal Horse Artillery.
Pair: Military General Service Medal 1793-1814, 1 Clasp: Toulouse; (W. EDMONDS. SERJT. ROYAL H. ARTY.) Waterloo Medal 1815 with original clip and ring suspender; (WILLIAM EDMUND. BOMB. ROYAL HORSE ARTILLERY.) mounted for display.
Condition: traces of lacquer contact wear throughout, particularly on the rim, which affects the naming at 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock on both medals, thus Good Fine
William Edmonds born Lanarkshire in January 1789, enlisted in the Royal Horse Artillery in January 1805, served in the Peninsula and with Lieutenant Colonel Gardiner’s E Troop, Royal Horse Artillery during the Waterloo Campaign. The published Waterloo Roll stating that he later transferred to ‘G’ Troop which Captain Mercer commanded during the battle. The Battle of Toulouse (10 April 1814) was one of the final battles of the Napoleonic Wars, four days after Napoleon's surrender of the French Empire to the nations of the Sixth Coalition. Having pushed the demoralised and disintegrating French Imperial armies out of Spain in a difficult campaign the previous autumn, the Allied British-Portuguese and Spanish army under the Duke of Wellington pursued the war into southern France in the spring of 1814.
Toulouse, the regional capital, proved stoutly defended by Marshal Soult. One British and two Spanish divisions were badly mauled in bloody fighting on 10 April, with Allied losses exceeding French casualties by 3,000. Soult held the city for an additional day before orchestrating an escape from the town with his army, leaving behind some 1,600 of his wounded, including three generals. Wellington's entry on the morning of 12 April was acclaimed by a great number of French Royalists, validating Soult's earlier fears of potential fifth column elements within the city. That afternoon, the official word of Napoleon's abdication and the end of the war reached Wellington. Soult agreed to an armistice on 17 April. Edmund would later serve with ‘E’ Troop at the Battle of Waterloo where the Royal Horse Artillery played an important role in protecting the flank during the retreat from Quatre Bras and later defeating the French cavalry in the main battle.
William was discharged in February 1829 after 24 years and 59 days’ service in consequence of general disability and a pectoral complaint which rendered him unfit for further service. He had 2 years of his service deducted for service under the age of 18 years, but 2 years added for his service at Waterloo.
His conduct rated as ‘Good’ he was able to sign his own name on his discharge, when he was given 15 shillings and 9 pence ‘marching money’ and given free passage by ship back to Glasgow where he enlisted.
1 of 7 single clasp Toulouse Military General Service Medals to the Royal Horse Artillery and the only one to ‘E’ Troop.