Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria. To coincide with the OMRS Convention

The group of three miniature dress medals attributed to Lieutenant-General Sir James Campbell, Order of the Bath, Military Division, 14 x 14mm., gold and enamel; Army Gold Cross, 13 x 13mm., arms uninscribed, gold; Portugal, Order of the Tower and Sword, 1832 type, 16 x 15mm., gold and enamel, these set upon a gold slip bar with ornamented borders, 65 x 19mm., enamel missing from Bath wreath, good very fine, scarce £2000-2200

Ex Glendining’s 13 November 1997, lot 183.

General Sir James Campbell was born in 1773 and entered the Army as an Ensign in the 1st Royals and was promoted Lieutenant in the same regiment on 20 March 1794 and Captain in the 42nd Regiment on 6 September 1794. Campbell joined the 42nd at Gibraltar and was engaged in the capture of Minorca by Lieutenant-General the Hon Sir Charles Stuart in 1798. In 1802 he became a Captain in the 94th Regiment, a regiment he was to remain with until 1813, then stationed in Madras. He served in the Maharatta War under Major-General the Hon. Arthur Wellesley and distinguished himself throughout the war, being specially thanked for his services at Argaum. On 27 October 1801 he was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel. After a period of service in England 1807-10, he went with his regiment to Portugal and thence to Cadiz where he commanded a brigade, and for a time, the garrison. In September 1810 he returned to Lisbon with his regiment and the following year served in the battle of Fuentes d’Onor, 5 May 1811. He commanded a brigade at the storming of Ciudad Rodrigo, January 1812 and commanded a division at the storming of Badajoz, 17 - 18 March 1812. At the battle of Salamanca, 22 July 1812, commanding a brigade, he was wounded and at the battle of Vittoria, 21 June 1813, commanding the 94th, he was severely wounded and was forced to relinquish his command and return to England. For his great services he was promoted Colonel on 4 June 1813 and awarded the C.B., the Army Gold Cross with one clasp and the Portuguese Order of the Tower and Sword. In 1822 he was created a K.C.B. Post-war appoitments included that of the Governor of Grenada, 1825-33. In 1833 he was made Colonel of the 9th, and in 1834, of the 74th Regiment. Attaining the rank of Lieutenant-General, he died in Paris on 6 May 1835.