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Auction: 8016 - Orders, Decorations, Medals & Militaria
Lot: 337

The Maximum Six Clasp Military General Service Medal to the Regiment to Sergeant T. Beardsmore, 4th Dragoons, Who Distinguished Himself During the Retreat to Torres Vedras, Capturing a Dozen French Musketeers Military General Service 1793-1814, six clasps, Talavera, Busaco, Albuhera, Salamanca, Vittoria, Toulouse (T. Beardsmore, Serjt. 4th. Lt. Dragns.), good very fine Estimate £ 1,600-1,800 Troop Sergeant Major Thomas Beardsmore, enlisted Private, 4th Dragoons, October 1807; embarked for the Peninsula, April 1809; served with the Regiment throughout the Peninsula War, 1809-1814. The 4th Dragoons in the Peninsula The 4th Dragoons arrived at Lisbon, 25.4.1809, with a strength of 29 Officers, 37 Sergeants, and 674 other ranks, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Lord Edward Somerset. Their first action came at Talavera, 27-28.7.1809, where it took part in the celebrated charge that saw the 23rd Light Dragoons plunge headlong into a hidden ditch: the 4th Dragoons advanced at a much more leisurely pace, and came through unscathed. Held in reserve until the Battle of Busaco, 27.9.1810, the Regiment then withdrew to the defensive lines of Torres Vedras. In early 1811 the Regiment was sent to assist in the operations around Badajoz, before taking part in the battle of Albuera, ´´one of the fiercest on human record´´, 16.5.1811- the 4th Dragoons attacked the Polish Lancers who had earlier overwhelmed Colborne´´s Brigade, but lost 29 men during the battle. Took part in the victory at Usagre, 25.5.1811- a brilliant exploit where the Allies defeated a much larger French force, although no clasp was given for it. For the remainder of 1811 the Regiment was involved in much skirmishing around Ciudad Rodrigo, which was besieged in January 1812, the Regiment forming part of the covering force during the operations. In March 1812 the Regiment was again involved in covering siege operations, this time at Badajoz, but did not qualify for either clasp. Fought at the Battle of Salamanca, 22.7.1812, where the Regiment helped smash several French Battalions, at a loss of 8 men killed and 20 wounded. Present at the Battle of Vittoria, 21.6.1813, although they took no part in the actual fighting, the Regiment remained in quarters close to Vittoria until February 1814 when it marched north and entered France. Present at the Battle of Toulouse, 10.4.1814, the last of the Peninsula War general actions, and on 1st June, the War having ended, the Regiment marched north to Calais, arriving back in England in July 1814. Action at Torres Vedras ´´Following on from the Battle of Busaco, the Allied Army withdrew behind the defensive lines of Torres Vedras, thirty miles north of Lisbon, stretching for twenty five miles from the Atlantic to the estuary of the Tagus, behind which Wellington´´s Army could winter in safety. As the Army marched south to the Lines, the 4th Dragoons were covering the retreat, with the enemy close behind them. Sergeant Beardsmore was on patrol with five dragoons when he came across a dozen French musketeers, also commanded by a sergeant. The French formed up and loaded their muskets to fire at the dragoons as they rode off. Instead Beardsmore gave the order to charge. The astonished enemy hesitated, threw down their muskets, and surrendered.´´ (The Story of the 4th Queen´´s Own Hussars, by D.S. Daniell, refers). Beardsmore was appointed Corporal, April 1810; Sergeant, January 1814; served with the Regiment in Ireland, August 1814-June 1819, during which the Regiment became Light Dragoons, 1818; Troop Sergeant Major, September 1819; discharged, June 1821, after nearly 14 years with the Colours.

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£2,300