A Collection of Napoleonic War Medals

Major John Blakiston, 17th Portuguese Infantry, late Madras Engineers, who served in the Mahratta war of 1803, directed the guns by which the gates of the fort were blown in at the mutiny at Vellore in 1806, was appointed A.D.C. to Sir Samuel Auchmuty on the expedition to Java in 1811, and was severely wounded when Acting Engineer at the Siege of St Sebastian; he later published an extensive memoir of his military adventures in India and the Peninsula

Military General Service 1793-1814, 6 clasps, Java, Vittoria, St. Sebastian, Nivelle, Orthes, Toulouse (J. Blakiston, A.D.C. & Portuguese Service) edge bruise and contact marks, otherwise good very fine £3500-4500

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Napoleonic War Medals.

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Provenance: Glendining, December 1865; Stanley Gibbons, March 1980.

John Blakiston was born on 8 February 1785, second son on Sir Matthew Blakiston, 2nd baronet. He was educated at Winchester and, having passed through the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich in 1802, he proceeded to India as a Cadet in the East India Company’s Service, and was appointed to the Corps of Engineers on the Madras Establishment, being then on half-pay as a Lieutenant in H.M. Service. In 1803 he served in the campaign against the Mahrattas, and was engaged in the battles of Assaye and Argaum, and at the sieges and assaults of Ahmednuggur and Gawilghur (Medal and three clasps). At the suppression of the mutiny at Vellore on 10 July 1806, Blakiston directed the galloping guns of the 19th Light Dragoons by which the gates of the fort were blown in. After gaining possession of the fort, in retribution for the 200 British troops who had been massacred, upwards of 100 sepoys were brought out and, recalled Blakiston, ‘by Colonel Gillespie’s order, placed under a wall, and fired at with canister-shot from the guns till they were dispatched. Even this appalling sight I could look upon, I may almost say, with composure. It was an act of summary justice, and in every respect a most proper one; yet, at this distance of time, I find it a difficult matter to approve the deed, or to account for the feeling under which I then viewed it.’

In 1810, Blakiston acted as Chief Engineer at the capture of the Island of Bourbon. Having been employed in reconnoitring the coast of the Isle of France previous to the arrival of the expedition, he was instrumental in discovering the spot where the descent was made; and, having been appointed to the charge of the Guides, he led the advance of the Army until the surrender of that Island. For his services on this occasion he was appointed Extra Aide-de-Camp to the Commander-in-Chief, Sir Samuel Auchmuty, on the expedition to Java in 1811; and having been sent in advance with the Chief Engineer to fire on the point of landing, he was engaged in a serious affair on the coast in the boats of H.M. Ships Barracouta and Leda, On the landing of the Army he was engaged in the affairs of Wellevrieden and Samarang, and at the siege and assault of the fortified position of Cornelis.

In 1812, having attained the rank of Captain in the Corps of Madras Engineers, he returned on furlough to England. Shortly afterwards, having been placed on full pay in H.M. 87th Regiment, he was appointed to a company in the 17th Portuguese Infantry, with which he served in the Light Division of the Peninsula Army until the conclusion of the war. He was present at the battles of Vittoria, Nivelle, Nive, Orthes, and Toulouse, and in all the affairs in which the Light Division was engaged. At the siege of St Sebastian, by invitation of the Duke of Wellington, he volunteered as an Engineer, and while so engaged was severely wounded. For his services on this occasion he was promoted to a company in the 27th Regiment.

In 1816, Blakiston was placed on half-pay, in which situation he remained until 23 June 1843, when he was brought on full pay of the 5th Regiment, and retired by the sale of his commissions. He was appointed to the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms on 8 December 1843, which appointment he held until 1865. He died at Mobberly Hall, near Knutsford, Cheshire, on 4 June 1867.

Blakiston was the author of Twelve Years’ Military Adventure in three quarters of the globe; or Memoirs of an officer who served in the armies of his Majesty and of the East India Company, between the years 1802 and 1814, in which are contained the campaigns of the Duke of Wellington in India and his last in Spain and the South of France, 2 vols. 1829; and also of Twenty Years in Retirement, 2 vols. 1836.