A Collection of Medals to the 23rd Foot Royal Welsh Fusiliers

The Waterloo medal awarded to Captain Henry Wynne, 23rd Foot, who was severely wounded at Orthes in February 1814 and commanded the Light Company in the Waterloo campaign

Waterloo 1815 (Capt. Henry Wynne, 23rd. Reg. Foot, R.W.F.) fitted with original steel clip and later ring suspension, edge bruising and contact marks, otherwise very fine £2,800-£3,200

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Medals to the 23rd Foot Royal Welsh Fusiliers.

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Henry Wynne was born in Wales in 1788, son of William Wynn, of Rhagatt, county Merioneth. He served as an unpaid Volunteer for nearly eighteen months with the 23rd Foot in the Garrison at Gibraltar before being commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant on 21 April 1803. In February 1804 he wrote to the Commander-in-Chief requesting promotion to Lieutenant, which was granted on 10 March following. His commanding officer’s letter of recommendation stated: ‘Wynne bears a very good character and is a very zealous officer.’ He served as Adjutant of the 2nd Battalion from May 1806 until 29 September 1808, when he was promoted to the rank of Captain. In May 1810 he is noted in regimental records as being the most senior Welsh-born officer in the 2nd Battalion. He served with the 1st Battalion in the Peninsula from May 1813 to April 1814, and was present at Subijana de Morrillos, Vittoria, the Pyrenees, Nivelle, Nive and Orthes, at which action, on 27 February 1814, he was severely wounded.

In the Waterloo campaign Wynne is shown as being in command of the Light Company and, although his company is shown on the Waterloo medal roll, he himself is not listed. His brigade (23rd, 51st and 3/14th) was stationed near Hal watching the road leading from Lille to Brussels. When the 23rd moved up to Waterloo early on the morning of the 18th, it is believed that Wynne remained at Hal and, although issued with the Waterloo medal, probably took no part in the fighting. His Light Company, meanwhile, was deployed during the battle as skirmishers in advance of the main allied army just above Hougoumont.

In February 1817, Captain Wynne was posted to Valenciennes to be instructed in sword exercise, and was placed on half-pay the following year. He retired on 6 June 1822, and died of cholera at Flint, North Wales, on 18 June 1832, aged 44. There is a memorial tablet to him in St Mary’s Church, Flint. Sold with copied research.