| The battle of Rolica was the first battle of the Peninsular War in which
Sir Arthur Wellesley had more men than La Borde, his French opponent. The
numbers of men actually engaged were about equal and the French casualties
amounted to about 700 men compared with 485 British. |
| The battle of Vimiera was fought on the 21st August
at the village of that name some nine miles from Torres Vedras. Sir Arthur
Wellesley took up a defensive position on two ridges and high ground which
necessitated Junot's attacking this position. As a result of some attempted
outflanking movements by the French they found themselves in ravines which
stopped their progress. The French assault on the centre was repulsed and
a final cavalry charge by the British completed the rout of the French
army. The defeat at Vimiero was still a matter of astonishment to the French,
in spite of being out-numbered, for the French army, attacking in open
field, had not been defeated for many years. French losses amounted to
some 2,000 men including 1,200 wounded in addition to at least 13 artillery
pieces captured. The British losses were 135 killed, 534 wounded and 51
taken prisoner or counted as missing. |
| One of a set of medals issued in 1815 (see No.
888). |
|
from British Historical Medals, Volume
1, p. 156
|
| |
| Someone made a terrible hash of the names of the battles. But was it
the engraver (probably) or BHM? Of course it's possible that this piece
was an early strike that was later corrected. |
