Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The Peninsula War medal awarded to Lieutenant-Colonel P. J. Willats, who fought with the 77th Foot in the Peninsula and later commanded a detachment of the 48th Foot in the Coorg Rebellion of 1834

Military General Service 1793-1814, 2 clasps, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz (P. J. Willats, Lieut. 77th Foot.) polished, therefore very fine £2,400-£3,000

Provenance: Brian Ritchie Collection, Dix Noonan Webb, September 2004.

Peter John Willats was born in Oxfordshire in 1793 and entered the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, as a Gentleman Cadet for the Royal Artillery, at the age of fifteen. But, on 13 July 1809, Willats’ uncle wrote from Pheonix Park, Dublin, to Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon, at Horse Guards, requesting an Ensigncy for his nephew, who was ‘very anxious to get into a Regiment on active foreign service ... in consequence of having no turn for Mathematics, so essential for the Artillery Service.’ Furthermore, his uncle added, ‘he has no prospect of advancement in that branch.’ Accordingly Willats was commissioned into H.M’s 8th Regiment of Foot, without purchase, on 31 August 1809. On 2 June 1811 he was promoted Lieutenant in the 77th Regiment then serving at Halifax, Nova Scotia. On that regiment’s return from Canada, he served with it in the Peninsular Campaigns of 1812, 1813 and 1814, being present at the sieges of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz. On 1 June 1815, Willats was advanced to the rank of Captain in the 69th Regiment and, too late for Waterloo, served with the Army of Occupation in France until August 1816, when his name was transferred to the rolls of the Royal African Corps, with whom he served ‘nearly five years on the Frontier of the Cape of Good Hope’. On 25 March 1824, he exchanged into H.M’s 48th Regiment at Madras, which had just arrived on completion of a seven year tour in Australia.

In March 1834, the 48th Foot was called upon to undertake a campaign against the Rajah of Coorg, whose territory lay between Mysore and the Malabar Coast. The Rajah’s grandfather had been a loyal ally of the British during the Mysore Wars and as a reward had been allowed to govern his own state. On his death, however, there was a dispute as to his successor between his children, and the throne was usurped by a younger son, who ruled as a barbarous tyrant, killing all possible claimants to the throne. On his death his son continued in the same vein and issued a proclamation urging all India to help him in ‘driving the infidels from the land’. Accordingly a force was assembled under Colonel Lindsay C.B. to seize his capital, Mercara.

The plan of campaign was to divide the troops into five columns and advance on Mercara from the east, north and west. For this purpose the 48th Regiment was divided, with 300 men joining the Western Column, and two companies under Willats joining the so-called Western Auxiliary Column. The task of Western Auxiliary Column was to occupy the village of Combla on the Coorg frontier and as it was thought that the country through which it would have to pass was friendly and not involved in the dispute, orders were issued to Colonel Jackson, commanding the column, not to fire unless he was fired upon. On the 29th, however, the column came upon a stockade manned by Coorgs, blocking the line of advance. In forcing a passage through the stockade the Coorgs opened fire and hostilities commenced. Next day another stockade was encountered and the native elements of the expedition became extremely demoralised. The guides deserted, as did a large proportion of the doolie bearers, leaving the force in a labyrinth of paths and encumbered with wounded. For three days the troops had nothing to eat but ‘bad biscuit’, Willats and his officer friends being obliged to abandon their tents and baggage, for which they afterwards were ‘refused any allowance by the East India Company Service Government at Madras’. The column struggled on for a week being frequently attacked and suffering numerous casualties until 8 April, when at Combla, word was received that successes achieved elsewhere had brought the campaign to an end. In an order to the force dated 27 April, Colonel Jackson thanked Willats, ‘commanding the 48th detachment, for his zealous and steady support and assistance’. Willats was promoted Major on 4 November 1838, and was advanced to Lieutenant-Colonel on 28 November 1854. Colonel Willats died at Cheltenham on 20 February 1875.