ΤΟ MAJOR-GENERAL THE HON. SIR JAMES YORKE SCARLETT, K.C.B., ADJUTANT-GENERAL OF HER MAJESTY'S Forces, ETC., ETC., ETC., THE ACCOMPANYING PAGES CONTAINING THE CRIMEAN CAMPAIGN, AND FORMING A SECTION OF THE MEDALS OF THE BRITISH ARMY; ARE, WITH PERMISSION, MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, BY HIS VERY OBEDIENT FAITHFUL SERVANT, THOMAS CARTER. PREFACE. WHEN Napoleon proposed the institution of the Legion of Honour, he was met by the assertion, that "Crosses and Ribbons were the pillars of an hereditary throne, and that they were unknown to the Romans who conquered the world." In his reply, it was shewn that the above nation rewarded the achievements of her citizens by all kinds of distinctions; and in arguments which must be considered unanswerable, he added that, "for the soldier, as for all men in active life, you must have glory and distinction; recompenses are the food which nourish military virtue." For many years a similar antagonistic feeling to the grant of medals to all ranks prevailed in this country, though an hereditary monarchy, to that which opposed Napoleon. It was left to OUR QUEEN to follow out the foregoing maxim of a great military commander, for, with the exception of the Waterloo Medal, the soldiers (even the veterans of the Peninsular war) remained undecorated; in Her Majesty's reign not only were the Peninsular war medal and others granted, but more recently the VICTORIA CROSS was instituted. Since the several orders of knighthood have had their historians, it occurred to me that as no general account of the "Medals of the British Army" had been attempted, a work which should afford a clear insight into the circumstances under which these honours were conferred, would be likely to be received with favour by the public, when accompanied by coloured fac-similes of the several medals and ribbons, and interspersed with regimental and individual acts of heroism, together with military statistics of an interesting character. It has been my aim, therefore, in selecting the accounts of the several campaigns from the official despatches, to relieve the broad |