Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A very fine Heavy Cavalry Commander’s C.B. and Army Gold Medal pair awarded to Lieutenant-Colonel Serjeantson Prescott, 5th Dragoon Guards, who was slightly wounded when in command of his regiment in their famous famous charge at Llerena on 11 April 1812, when the French cavalry was thrown into confusion and swiftly broken; he subsequently commanded the 5th Dragoon Guards at Vittoria and Toulouse, for which he received the Gold Medal with Clasp, and was appointed C.B. in June 1815 - his premature death in June 1816 ‘was a very great loss to the regiment’

The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, C.B. (Military) Companion’s breast badge, 22 carat gold and enamels, hallmarked London 1815, maker’s mark ‘IN’ for John Northam, complete with correct 2-inch wide gold swivel-ring suspension and gold ribbon buckle; Field Officer’s Small Gold Medal, for Vittoria, 1 clasp, Toulouse (Lieut. Colonel S. Prescott) complete with gold ribbon buckle, the medal and the clasp each in their own individual silk-lined red leather Rundell Bridge & Rundell cases of issue, together with his Order of the Bath Chapel Stall Plate inscribed ‘Serjeantson Prescott Esquire, Lieutenant-Colonel in the 5th (or Princefs Charlotte of Wales’s Regiment of Dragoon Guards Companion of the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath Nominated 4th June 1815’, a few very minor chips to the wreaths of the first, otherwise extremely fine (4) £24,000-£28,000

Serjeantson Prescott was appointed Lieutenant in the 5th Dragoon Guards on 8 March 1807, from Lieutenant, 91st Foot, becoming Captain on 14 March 1810. He was promoted Major on 26 December 1811, and Lieutenant-Colonel on 14 June 1815. He served with the regiment in the Peninsula from September 1811 and, in the absence of Ponsonby, commanded the regiment at Llerena (Villa Garcia) where he was slightly wounded and mentioned in despatches:

“While the Major-General [Le Marchant] is perfectly satisfied with the zeal shown by every individual of the brigade in the execution of his duty on that occasion, he considers that the charge made by the 5th Dragoon Guards deserves his particular admiration and approval, and he requests that Major Prescott and the officers of that corps will accept his nest thanks as well for their services as for the credit which their gallant conduct reflects on the command, which he has the honour to hold.”

Prescott was again in command of the regiment at the battles of Vittoria and Toulouse, at which last battle the 5th Dragoon Guards were instrumental in saving the Portuguese guns from capture. At the end of the war he received a gold medal with one clasp, and the C.B. Although the regimental history makes no specific mention of his presence at Salamanca, his presence there is confirmed in Challis’s Peninsula Roll Call. After the death of Le Marchant at Salamanca, Colonel Ponsonby took over the command of the brigade, Prescott getting the command of the 5th Dragoon Guards. Lieutenant-Colonel Prescott died on 23 June 1816.

The charge at Llerena (Villa Garcia)

On the evening of 10 April 1811, General Stapleton Cotton climbed the steeple of a church in Bienvenida. He knew that the French were occupying Llerena and saw that there were considerable numbers of French cavalry five miles closer to him near the village of Villagarcia. Cotton decided that he should attempt to trap the French cavalry with his superior forces. During the night he despatched Ponsonby with the 12th and 14th Light Dragoons to probe the Villagarcia area, whilst Le Marchant was sent on a circuitous march to get on the French left flank and, it was hoped, cut off their retreat. Slade was also instructed to concentrate his brigade on Bienvenida, though he seems to have been tardy in moving. Cotton retained the 16th Light Dragoons as a reserve. At some time during the night Cotton realised that Ponsonby's force might alert the French before Le Marchant was within striking distance and despatched an aide-de-camp with orders to halt the light cavalry; unfortunately the order arrived too late.

Two squadrons of the British light cavalry had forced the French vedettes out of the village of Villagarcia but, around dawn, had run into the full force of the French cavalry and were then chased back. Ponsonby subsequently found his two regiments faced by the three strong regiments under Lallemand and had to make a controlled withdrawal whilst skirmishing against heavy odds.

Following his orders, Le Marchant had moved his brigade through the night over tortuous terrain for a considerable distance. Coming down from rugged hills bordering the plain where the action was fought, Le Marchant and the 5th Dragoon Guards had pulled considerably ahead of the other two regiments of the brigade. Le Marchant noticed, looking through the trees of the wood his men were moving through, that French cavalry, drawn up in two deep columns of squadrons, were pushing the six squadrons of light dragoons back towards a narrow ravine flanked by stone walls. Le Marchant realised that an immediate charge was needed before Ponsonby's squadrons were forced into the congested and broken ground to their rear.

Lallemand, it is recorded, caught a glimpse of red-coated figures in the woods to his left and rode to alert General Peyremmont, who was leading the 2nd Hussars. Peyremmont scorned Lallemand's concerns, saying that the British dragoons were probably a small detachment who had lost their way.

At this point the advantage that the French had enjoyed in the action was suddenly reversed and Le Marchant, with the 5th Dragoon Guards, who were his leading regiment, emerged out of the woods entirely unobserved. Instantly realising the situation, he did not wait for the whole of his brigade, but, forming the 5th Dragoon Guards into line of echelon of squadrons as they came out of the defile, bore down at their head straight on to the left flank of the five French regiments, completely rolling them up and pursuing them for four miles, almost into Llerena. The French rallied briefly at a ditch halfway to Llerena, but they were outflanked by the 16th Light Dragoons and were forced into flight once more. A few hours later the French abandoned Llerena and continued their retreat out of Extremadura.

Llerena, though now almost forgotten, created a great stir at the time, and rightly so, as it was a most gallant feat of arms, never excelled on any occasion, even by British cavalry.

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