The very fine and regimentally unique Military General Service Medal 1793-1814, 1 Clasp: Vimiera awarded to George Peach, Surgeon, 52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot who having initially seen serve as an Assistant Surgeon with the 35th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot would be present at the reduction of Malta on 4th September 1800. Transferring to the 52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot he would be present at the Battle of Vimiera on 21st August 1808 where the British under General Arthur Wellesley (who later became the Duke of Wellington) defeated the French under Major-General Jean-Andoche Junot near the village of Vimeiro near Lisbon, Portugal, during the Peninsular War. He would later serve with the 9th Dragoons being present in the Walcheren campaign of 1809 and again in the Peninsular between July 1811 and April 1813, before travelling to Ireland with the regiment and retiring on half pay on 16th February 1815. He would later act as a Justice of the Peace. Peach was noted for his treatment of Egyptian Ophthalmia, an infectious complaint that resulted in potential loss of sight, his methods of treatment said to have significantly changed the outcome for patients.
Military General Service Medal 1793-1814, 1 Clasp: Vimiera; (G. PEACH. SURGN. 52ND FOOT.)
Condition: Extremely Fine
George Peach was born in Leicestershire on 30th June 1778 and was subsequently appointed a Hospital Mate on 7th October 1799. He would then be appointed Assistant Surgeon in the 35th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot embarking on the Downs on an Expedition under Lt. Gen. Henry Pigot to Minorca and Malta where the 2/35th Foot reinforced the 30th and 89th Foot in the blockade of the French garrison which the Maltese insurgents had besieged since September 1798.
In November 1802 he was ordered home in consequence of the reduction of the army following the cessation of hostilities with France and on 14th April 1803 he left for England having three days previously been appointed Assistant Surgeon Royal Horse Guards.
On 15th August 1803 he would be appointed Surgeon with the 52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot and on 26th November 1803 would receive his first payment of £43 4s 6d in prize money from the proceeds of the property captured in Malta on 4th September 1800. He would then receive a second payment of £14 1s 0d on 9th November 1804.
In July 1805 Peach was serving with the 2nd Battalion 52nd Foot, which had been firmed in November 1804 at Bambury. On 9th June 1805, it was joined in Hythe Barracks by 500 volunteers from the Irish Militia. A number of soldiers of the Londonderry Militia had been infected with the Egyptian Ophthalmia by the 79th Foot which had recently returned from Egypt and had been quartered in the same barracks as the Militia.
In June 1805, Egyptian Ophthalmia spread to the 2nd/52nd Regiment and continued unabated until 23rd December 1807. From July 1805 to July 1806, 606 cases of the disease including relapses, occurred among a battalion of 700 men. Of these, 50 lost their sight in both eyes, and 40 the sight in one eye. On 9th May 1806, the 2nd/52nd Foot moved from Hythe Barracks to Riding Street Barracks, Romney Marsh, Kent. Assistant Surgeon John Vetch of the 2nd Battalion, 52nd Foot believed that the disease was propagated ‘by contact of the discharge which takes place from the eyes of the diseased with those of the healthy’. He attributed its severity to the influence of the moisture from the marsh.
Peach however was not exceptional in resorting to venesection to the point of producing syncope, as a panacea for most diseases. His observation that the loss of vision in those copiously bled, (50 to 60 ounces of blood) was much lower than those who had been lightly bled (20 ounces of blood) led him to proclaim liberal venesection ‘even ad deliquium animi, an infallible remedy’ and the ‘sovereign remedy for this disease’. In addition the bowels were kept loose, the head was shaved and kept continually wet with water or vinegar, and the scalp blistered.
He would serve at Copenhagen in 1806 and would remain with the 2nd Battalion, 52nd Foot throughout 1807.
Travelling to Portugal he would be present at the Battle of Vimiera on 21st August 1808 where the British under General Arthur Wellesley (who later became the Duke of Wellington) defeated the French under Major-General Jean-Andoche Junot near the village of Vimeiro near Lisbon, Portugal, during the Peninsular War. This battle put an end to the first French invasion of Portugal.
Four days after the Battle of Roliça, Wellesley's army was attacked by a French army under General Junot near the village of Vimeiro. The battle began as a battle of manoeuvre, with French troops attempting to outflank the British left, but Wellesley was able to redeploy his army to face the assault. Meanwhile, Junot sent in two central columns but these were forced back by sustained volleys from troops in line. Soon afterwards, the flanking attack was beaten off and Junot retreated towards Torres Vedras, having lost 2,000 men and 13 cannon, compared to 700 Anglo-Portuguese losses. No pursuit was attempted because Wellesley was superseded by Sir Harry Burrard and then Sir Hew Dalrymple (one having arrived during the battle, the second soon after).
Transferring to the 9th Dragoons on 15th August 1809 he would continue to serve as a Surgeon including during the Walcheren Expedition. The regiment would come back to Great Britain and would be stationed in Exeter, Devonshire. He went to the Peninsula with the regiment in July 1811 and served there until April 1813, he was present with the regiment at both Arroyo dos Molinos and Alba de Tormes. The regiment would then be stationed in Ireland from 1814 to March 1815.
He would retire on half pay on 16th February 1815 and married in Mapperton, Dorset in 1816. He would go on to have four daughters and a son and would act as a Justice of the Peace. A successful country squire he died on 21st July 1856 with an estate valued at £8.000.
Peach is one of 2 officers and 4 men of the 52nd Regiment of Foot to receive a single clasp medal for Vimiera.
