Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Military General Service 1793-1814, 7 clasps, Corunna, Salamanca, Pyrenees, Nivelle, Nive, Orthes, Toulouse (Alexr. Gillies, 42nd Foot.) very minor edge nicks, otherwise nearly extremely fine £1,800-£2,200

Provenance: J. B. Hayward & Son, October 1972.

Alexander Gillies was born at Glasgow, Lanarkshire, and enlisted into the 42nd Foot in Essex on 19 March 1804, aged 20, for unlimited service, a weaver by trade. He was wounded in the arm at Corunna, afterwards taking part in the expedition to the Walcheren in 1809, from which he suffered a long and severe attack of Walcheren Fever. He was wounded in the thigh at Burgos, and also in the leg at Toulouse. He was present at the battle of Waterloo where he served in Captain Alexander Fraser’s Company. He was discharged at Dublin on 26 October 1823, in consequence of ‘chronic rheumatism’, with a total service of 21 year 8 months, including 2 years for Waterloo. Admitted to Chelsea Hospital out-pension on 17 December 1823, he died at Glasgow on 21 November 1855.

Sold with copied discharge papers and extracts from Chelsea out patient registers.