Pair: General Sir Richard Llewellyn, K.C.B., 28th Foot, who was promoted and awarded the C.B. for Waterloo, where he was severely wounded, and later Colonel in Chief of the 39th Foot

Military General Service 1793-1814, 2 clasps, Busaco, Albuhera (Richd. Lluellyn, Capt. 28th Foot); Waterloo 1815 (Major Richard Llewellyn, 28th Regiment Foot) rank engraved, fitted with replacement silver bar suspension, the second with contact marks, otherwise very fine (2) £10000-12000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Militaria to the Gloucestershire Regiment (28th and 61st Foot).

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C.B. London Gazette 22 June 1815 (for Waterloo).

Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel London Gazette 18 July 1815: ‘The Prince Regent has been pleased in the name & on the behalf of His Majesty, to grant promotions to the following Majors & Captains recommended for Brevet Rank for their conduct in the Battle of Waterloo - Major Richard Llewellyn of the 28th Foot.’

K.C.B. London Gazette 10 November 1862: ‘General Richard Lluellyn, C.B.’

Richard Lluellyn/Llewellyn entered the army in 1790 as a Captain with temporary rank, and served as such in the 52nd regiment at Ferrol and Cadiz, and the Mediterranean in 1800 and 1801, under Sir Ralph Abercromby and Sir John Moore. On peace being concluded he was reduced on half-pay; but on the war again breaking out he relinquished the half-pay of Captain and purchased an Ensigncy, bearing the date of July 1802, and a Lieutenancy in October 1804; and succeeded to a company, by purchase, in the 28th regiment, 28 February 1805. He served in Portugal, Spain, and France, during all the campaigns from the year 1809, when he landed at Lisbon, to that of 1814, when he embarked at Bordeaux, including the actions of Busaco, first siege of Badajoz, Albuhera, Arroyo dos Molinos, Almarez, and the retreat from Burgos. He obtained the brevet rank of Major on 23 April 1812. He served in Flanders in 1815, and was engaged in the battles of Quatre Bras and Waterloo, where he was severely wounded (London Gazette 3 July 1815: ‘Captain Richard Llewellyn (Major) severely’. For his services in the latter action the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, dated 18 June 1815, was conferred on him, as well as the Order of a Companion of the Bath, and a pension of £300 per annum in respect of his wounds.

Placed on the half-pay of the regiment, 25 February 1817, his subsequent ranks were Brevet Colonel, 10 January 1837; Major-General, 9 November 1846; Lieutenant-General, 20 June 1854; and General, 18 January 1861. He was appointed Colonel in Chief of the 9th Foot on 17 January 1853, and advanced to a Knight Commander of the Bath in 1861. General Sir Richard Lluellyn died on 7 December 1867. His portrait was painted by William Salter for inclusion in his large composition, ‘The Waterloo Banquet at Apsley House, 1836’.

The following letter from Colonel Llewellyn, dated 16th March, 1837, was published in Siborne’s Waterloo Letters:

‘I have already thought the Battle of Quatre Bras one of the most splendid achievements of the war, reflecting the greatest credit on the British troops engaged, sustaining and repelling one of the most determined attacks (of all arms), in my little experience, I can remember, and had it not been so closely followed by the very decisive and important, but all-absorbing Victory of Waterloo, perhaps the gallant exploits and unexampled bravery that marked that day would, under other circumstances, have excited even more admiration than was actually associated with it.

The rye in the field was so high, that to see anything beyond our own ranks was almost impossible. The Enemy, even, in attacking our Squares, were obliged to make a daring person desperately ride forward to plant a flag, as a mark, at the very point of our bayonets. On this they charged, but were invariably repulsed.

It fell to the lot of the 28th to bear a leading share in this Action, and I may say that they lost there none of their former reputation.

They were frequently hardly pressed, but never lost their discipline and their self-possession.

Once, when threatened on two flanks by what Sir Thomas Picton imagined an overwhelming force, he exclaimed, “28th, remember Egypt.” They cheered and gallantly beat back their assailants, and eventually stood on their position.’