Orders, Decorations and Medals

A Peninsula War group of three awarded to Colonel Henry Thornton, C.B., 40th Foot

Army Gold Cross 1806-1814, for Talavera, Nivelle, Orthes, Toulouse (Lt. Colonel, 40th Foot) fitted with gold ribbon buckle, naming restored, see note below; Field Officer’s Gold Medal, for Talavera (Major) naming restored; Military General Service 1793-1814, 4 clasps, Roleia, Vimiera, Busaco, Pyrenees (H. Thornton, C.B. Major, 36th Ft.) extremely fine (3) £12000-15000

See Colour Plate V

Ex Captain Whitaker Collection 1890 and David Spink Collection 1985.

In Captain Whitaker’s catalogue of 1891, Thornton’s Gold Cross and Medal are described as “Name erased - Colonel T”, the naming being mostly erased but still identifiable. Whitaker’s impressive collection was purchased privately by Spink during the 1950’s and 1960’s, this group being retained by David Spink for his personal collection. He subsequently had the naming expertly restored on Thornton’s Cross and Medal. In any event, the combination of battles on this cross is unique and can only be the one awarded to Thornton.

The M.G.S. is correctly impressed as described above, albeit with an unexplained error in the regiment, Thornton never having served in the 36th Foot. It is interesting to note, however, that the entry above Thornton’s on the official roll is an officer of the 36th Foot and the clerk must have been on auto-pilot when he recorded Thornton, also, as an officer of the 36th. As the naming lists were prepared from this official roll, this unfortunate error was carried forward to his medal.

Henry Thornton was a Lieutenant in the Scots Greys in 1796, became Captain in the 40th Foot on 25 November of the same year. He served in the West Indies for one year before accompanying the expedition to Holland in 1799, where he was wounded at the siege of Valcoog. He became Major on 2 August 1802, and on 4 June 1811, he received the Brevet rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the regiment. He commanded the 1st battalion during some of its most arduous service in the Peninsula, and received the Gold Cross for Talavera, Nivelle, Orthes, and Toulouse, in addition to the silver medal with four clasps, and a Companionship of the Bath, to which he was appointed on 4 June 1815. He was slightly wounded during the repulse of a sortie from Badajoz on 10 May 1811, and severely wounded at the battle of Nivelle on 10 November 1813.

Being called as a witness at a general court martial in London, on return of the 40th from America, early in 1815, Thornton was not present with his regiment at Waterloo, but rejoined it shortly afterwards in France. He commanded the regiment from that time until 1827, when he exchanged with Colonel Valiant into the 82nd Regiment. He retired the following year, and died at Camberwell in April 1856, aged seventy-seven.