Orders, Decorations and Medals

Military General Service 1793-1814, 3 clasps, Barrosa, Ciudad Rodrigo, Salamanca (J. Walpole, Lieut. Coldst. Gds.) good very fine £1800-2200

Ex Lothian Collection.

The Hon. John Walpole was born in 1788, son of Horatio, 2nd Earl of Orford, and entered the Coldstream Guards as an Ensign in February 1804, gaining advancement to Lieutenant and Captain in June 1808. Present at Barrosa, Ciudad Rodrigo and Salamanca, he was severely wounded at the siege of Burgos in October 1812.

‘The Coldstream had 3 officers killed and 3 wounded; the 3 killed were Admiral Harvey’s son, Sir Bland Burgess’s son and Mr Buckeridge. The three wounded were Lord Orford’s second son who I fear will lose his arm, Capt. Fraser who will very likely lose his leg, and Capt. Crofton slightly.’ (Ref A Guards Officer in the Peninsula - The Peninsula letters of John Rous, Coldstream Guards 1812-1814, edited by Ian Fletcher).

Walpole received a Pension of £100 per annum for his wounds, commencing 19 October 1813. He was advanced to Captain and Lieutenant-Colonel in the Coldstream Guards in July 1814 but subsequently held the local rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, possibly in the Kent district, where he had served as Assistant Quartermaster General soon after the Peninsular war. Lieutenant-Colonel Walpole died in 1859.