Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Lieutenant-Colonel William Ross, Royal Welch Fusiliers, who served with the 17th Foot in India under Lord Lake, with the 14th Foot in the Waterloo campaign, and commanded the 23rd Foot in Canada during the rebellion in 1838

Waterloo 1815 (Captain William Ross, 3rd Batt. 14th Reg. Foot.) fitted with contemporary replacement silver ball and bar suspension, contact marks to the obverse, nearly very fine, reverse better £4000-5000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Napoleonic War Medals.

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William Ross was born on 3 October 1787, at Portpatrick, North Britain, and was commissioned Ensign in the 17th Foot on 7 September 1804, becoming Lieutenant on 5 June 1806. He served with the 17th in India under Lord Lake in 1805-06; was present at the siege and storming of Fort Comona in Bengal, 18 November 1807, on which occasion two-thirds of the officers were either killed or wounded; the siege and reduction of Fort Gunnowrie and in the campaign against the Sikhs in 1809.

Ross was promoted to Captain in the 23rd Foot on 16 December 1813, but transferred in the same rank to the 14th Foot on 11 January 1814, and was instrumental in forming the 3rd Battalion of the regiment. He commanded the Light Company of the 14th Foot throughout the campaign of 1815 and was present at the battle of Waterloo, the storming of Cambrai, and the capture of Paris.

Ross was placed on half-pay in February 1818, on reduction of the 3rd Battalion, and transferred to the full pay of the 23rd Foot in April 1820, becoming Major, by purchase, in August 1826, and a Lieutenant-Colonel in March 1837. He commanded the regiment in Canada during the rebellion in 1838, and retired on half-pay on 15 October 1841. Lieutenant-Colonel Ross died at Oakdean, Kent, on 20 August 1848, aged 61. Sold with copied statement of service and other research.