An Important Collection of Medals to The King's German Legion, the Property of a Gentleman

The Waterloo Medal to General Sir Colin Halkett, G.C.B., G.C.H., K.T.S., who raised the 2nd Light Battalion, K.G.L., commanded the 5th British Infantry Brigade at Waterloo, where he received four severe wounds, and was later Governnor of Jersey and Commander-in-Chief at Bombay

Waterloo 1815 (Major-General Sir Colin Halkett, K.C.B.) fitted with original steel clip and ring suspension, some light edge bruises and contact marks, otherwise good very fine and an important medal to a senior commander at Waterloo £5000-6000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, An Important Collection of Medals to The King's German Legion, the Property of a Gentleman.

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See Colour Plate III.

General Sir Colin Halkett, G.C.B., G.C.H., K.T.S., was born at Venlo on 7 September 1774, son of Major-General Frederick Godar Halkett, then a Major in the regiment of Gordon of the Scots Brigade. The Halketts were a Scottish family of very ancient descent with a long history of service in both Scots regiments and in those of the Dutch service. In March 1792, having previously served seven months as a regimental cadet, Colin Halkett was nominated Ensign with the rank of Lieutenant in Lieutenant-General Van Aerssens van Royeren van Vorhol’s company of the 2nd Battalion Dutch Foot Guards. He became effective Ensign in Lieutenant-Colonel Pagniet’s company on 14 July 1792, and subsequently Lieutenant with the rank of Captain in General-Major Schmid’s company 1st Battalion of Dutch Foot Guards. By a resolution of the committee of land affairs of the confederacy, he was permitted to retire at his own request in April 1795.

In January 1799, Halkett was appointed Ensign in the 3rd Buffs, which he never joined, resigning his commission in February 1800, when the Dutch levies, which had been serving on the continent under the Prince of Orange, were taken into British pay. He became Captain in the 2nd Dutch Light Infantry, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel T. Sprecher van Bernegg, and quartered in Guernsey. These troops never appeared in the Army List. They were stationed in the Isle of Wight and the Channel Islands until the Peace of Amiens, when they were sent to certain towns in Holland to be disbanded, Halkett and the other officers receiving special gratuities on discharge.

In August 1803, on the dissolution of the Hannoverian army after the convention of Lauenburg, when many discharged soldiers were looking to England for employment, Halkett, described as a Major in the Dutch service, was authorised by the English Government to raise a battalion of Light Infantry in Hannover, to consist of 489 men. Halkett was to have rank as Major-Commandant, with the promise of a Lieutenant-Colonelcy when the numbers reached 800 men. German recruits offering in England in great numbers, the formation of a German Legion, under command of the Dike of Cambridge, was decided on soon after. Recruiting for the independent levies of Baron von der Decken and Major Halkett in Germany then ceased, and these two corps became respectively the 1st and 2nd Light Battalions of the new King’s German Legion. They were dressed as riflemen and stationed at first in the New Forest, and afterwards at Bexhill, Sussex. Halkett was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel on 17 November 1803.

At the head of the 2nd Light Battalion K.G.L., Halkett served under Lord Cathcart in the north of Germany in 1806-6, and in Ireland in 1806. He was shipwrecked with part of the battalion in the Northumberland transport on Rundle Stone rock off the Land’s End in May 1807, all persons being successfully transferred to an adjacent transport before the ship went down, taking with her the baggage and arms of Halkett’s detachment. He was afterwards at the Isle of Rugen and in the Copenhagen expedition of the same year. He was in Sweden and Portugal in 1808; in Moore’s retreat through Spain, when the German light battalions were among the troops that retired on Vigo; and in the Walcheren expedition, where these battalions repeatedly distinguished themselves.

In command of his battalion in the German light brigade of Charles Alten, Halkett joined Beresford’s army before Badajoz, in April 1811, a few days before the fall of Olivença, and commanded the brigade at the battle of Albuhera. He became brevet Colonel on 1 January 1812, was with his battalion at Salamanca and in the operations against Burgos; and commanded the German light brigade with the 7th Division in the Burgos retreat, where he won the special approbation of Lord Wellington; in the affair at Venta del Pozo, where the 2nd Light Battalion was commanded by his younger brother, Hugh Halkett; and at the bridge of Simancas. He commanded the German light brigade during the succeeding campaigns, including the battle of Vittoria, occupation of Tolosa, passage of the Bidassoa, and the battles on the Nive and at Toulouse. He was promoted to Major-General on 4 June 1814.

In the Waterloo campaign, Halkett had command of a British brigade composed of the 30th, 33rd, 69th and 73rd regiments, in the 3rd Infantry Division, which was very hotly engaged at Quatre Bras and Waterloo, where Halkett himself received four severe wounds. The Duke of Wellington referred to him in a despatch as ‘a very gallant and deserving officer’. On the occasion of receiving his fourth wound during the battle, Halkett’s brigade was in an advanced position, particularly since he had pushed forward his two right regiments in support of the charge by Maitland’s brigade of guards; ‘and so great was the pressure upon it, in this exposed situation, that it fell into some confusion. The Duke observing this, said to some of his staff, “See what’s wrong there.” Major Dawson Kelly, of the Quarter-Master-General’s department, immediately rode up to the brigade, and while addressing himself to Sir Colin Halkett, the latter, at the instant, received a wound in the face, a ball passing through his mouth, and he was consequently obliged to retire to the rear.’

Halkett remained in the British service and was later appointed Lieutenant Governor of Jersey, and commander-in-chief at Bombay from July 1831 to January 1832. He became General in 1841, and was appointed Colonel in succession of the 71st Highland Light Infantry, 31st and 45th regiments. He was a G.C.B. and G.C.H., Knight Commander of the Tower and Sword of Portugal, Knight Commander of the Bavarian Order of Maximilian Joseph, Commander of the Military Order of Wilhelm of the Netherlands, and held the Gold Cross for Albuhera, Salamanca, Vittoria and Nive, in addition to the Waterloo Medal. His Gold Cross and Small Gold medal with 2 clasps, together with various of his orders, were in the famous Whitaker Collection, later sold by Spink.