Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The Waterloo medal awarded to Captain James MacGregor, 2nd Battalion, 59th Foot, who was severely wounded at Vittoria and was lost in the wreck of the Sea-Horse in Tramore Bay, near Waterford, Ireland, on 30 January 1816

Waterloo 1815 (Capt. J. Macgregor, 2nd Batt. 59th Reg. Foot.) fitted with original steel clip and ring suspension, nearly extremely fine £4,000-£5,000

James MacGregor was born at Ardersier, Inverness, on 11 July 1791, the younger brother of Colonel George McGregor of the 1st Battalion, 59th Foot, and of Thomas Howard McGregor, also an officer in the regiment who was killed in a duel in Calcutta in 1810. He was appointed Ensign in the 2nd Battalion, 59th Foot, in July 1807; Lieutenant, 3 June 1808; Captain, 25 September 1813. He served in the Peninsula from September 1808 to January 1809, being present at Corunna. He accompanied the ill-fated expedition to Walcheren in July 1809, and returned to the Peninsula in September 1812, being present at Cadiz, and at the battle of Vittoria, where he was severely wounded. He was afterwards present at Nivelle, Nive and Bayonne. He was also present at Waterloo, in reserve at Hal, at the storming of Cambrai and with the Army of Occupation.

Captain MacGregor was lost in the Sea-Horse shipwreck in Tramore Bay, near Waterford, off the coast of Ireland on 30 January 1816. This troopship was conveying the 2/59th from Ramsgate to Cork but foundered in a violent storm with the loss of 338 lives. It is recorded that Captain MacGregor, ‘being an excellent swimmer, bade adieu to his friend Lieutenant McPherson, and, stripping off his jacket, jumped into the sea. After buffeting the tremendous surge for some time, he had nearly reached shore, when a part of the wreckage struck him on the head, and he sank for the last time.’

He was 25 years old and the younger brother of Colonel George MacGregor who commanded the 1st Battalion, 59th Foot, in India. The memorial in Tramore incorrectly records his age as 23, two years younger than he was.

The tragic loss of the transport ship Sea-Horse was a notable example of military discipline in desperate circumstances. It is said that ‘There was no hope for the soldiers. They stood firm on deck and the only sounds, besides the raging of the storm, were the cries of those who were washed off and the prayers of the rest.’