Beschreibung:

The Third Class Order of St George awarded to Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Clinton, G.C.B., commander of the British 2nd Division at the battle of Waterloo in June 1815 Russia, Imperial Military Order of St George, 3rd class neck badge in gold and enamels, circa 1815, 38mm, the suspension ring with French ‘rooster head’ stamp mark for the period 1803-19, with original neck cravat with sewn button holes at either end, extremely fine and extremely rare £30000-40000 Footnote Formerly in the private Waterloo collection of John Hayward (dispersed 1979), the awards to Sir Henry Clinton were previously sold by B.D.W. in October 1993. This award was announced in a despatch from Field-Marshal The Duke of Wellington, dated Head Quarters, Paris, the 21st of August, 1815, containing a list of officers upon whom His Imperial Majesty The Emperor of Russia had conferred Decorations of different classes of The Orders of St. George, Anne and Vladimir respectively, 'in testimony of His Imperial Majesty's approbation of their services and conduct, particularly in the late battles fought in the Netherlands.' Only two other British officers, in addition to Sir Henry Clinton, received the 3rd class order of St. George for Waterloo. General Sir Henry Clinton was the second son of General Sir Henry Clinton, K.B., who commanded during the War of American Independence, and was born 9 March 1771. He was educated at Eton and entered the Army at the age of sixteen as an Ensign in the 11th Regiment in October 1787. From October 1788 to August 1789, he served in Holland as a volunteer in the Brunswick Corps raised by his father's old comrade, Lieutenant-General de Riedesel. On 25 March 1790, he joined his Regiment, the 1st (Grenadier) Guards, and the following April, was promoted Captain in the 15th Regiment. He transferred back to the Guards in November 1792, and was appointed on the outbreak of war with the French Republic, Aide-de-Camp to the Duke of York, on whose personal staff he served throughout the disastrous Flanders Campaigns of 1793 and 1794, being present at the action of St. Amand, the Battle of Famars, the Siege of Valcenciennes, the action at Lidreghem, the Battles of Wattignies and Naubeuge, and the action at Vaux. On 22 April 1794, he was promoted Major by Brevet, and on 10 May was severely wounded at Camphin. By August, he had sufficient recovered to rejoin the Army near Breda and, following the Siege of Nimeguen, he returned to England with the Duke, remaining his Aide-de-Camp until being promoted to the Lieutenant-Colonelcy of the 66th Regiment on 30 September 1795. He sailed to join his new Regiment in the West Indies, and took part in the landing at St. Lucia under Abercromby, and in the fall of Morne Fortunée, eventually catching up with the 66th at Port-au-Prince in St. Domingo. But, on 20 October 1796, he again exchanged to the 1st Guards. En route, however, his ship was intercepted by a French Cruiser and he was taken prisoner. He did not reach England until January 1797. His next appointment was as Aide-dc-Camp to Lord Cornwallis, the Commander-in-Chief in Ireland, where he served in the short campaign in Connaught, which was concluded with the surrender of the French force under General Humbert at Ballinamuck. In 1799, Clinton was attached to Lord William Bentinck's Mission to the Austro-Russian Army under Marshal Suwarrow in Italy, and witnessed the Battle of Trebia, the Sieges of Alexandria and Seravelle, and the Battle of Novi; after which he accompanied Suwarrow on his march into Switzerland, being present during the subsequent campaign against Massena. Early the following year, he was employed on the Mission to Field-Marshal Lieutenant Kray's Austrian Army in Swabia and saw action at the Battles of Engen and Moeskirch, and during the retreat from the Upper Danube to Alt Otting in Bavaria. He came home at the end of the campaign, and in June 1801 was appointed Assistant-Adjutant General, Eastern District, and in January 1802