The fine 3-clasp Naval General Service medal awarded to Purser Benjamin Soden, Royal Navy, for his many services in the Thetis during 1809-10 in the West Indies

Naval General Service 1793-1840, 3 clasps, 13 Dec Boat Service 1809, Anse La Barque 18 Decr. 1809, Guadaloupe (Benjn. Soden, Purser) original ribbon, extremely fine £12,000-£16,000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Naval Medals from the Collection of the Late Jason Pilalas.

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8 clasps issued for Boat Service 13 Dec 1809 and 40 clasps issued for Anse La Barque 18 Decr. 1809.

Cutting out the Nisus at Guadaloupe, 13 December 1809

‘The thirty-eight gun frigate Thetis, Captain G. Miller, in company with the gun brigs Pultusk, sixteen, Captain W. Elliot, Achates, ten, Captain T. Pinto, Attentive, Lieutenant R. Carr, and schooner Bacchus, Lieutenant C. Jermy, while cruising off the island of Guadaloupe, on December 12th, observed the French sixteen gun brig-corvette Nisus lying at anchor under the protection of a battery in the harbour of Hayes. In the evening, the boats of the squadron under the command of Captain Elliot, assisted by Lieutenants Belchier, Ruel, and Cooke, were dispatched to cut the vessel out. The British landed without opposition, and made their way through a thick wood, and over a high hill, till they reached the rear of the battery, which they attacked and carried, forcing the defenders to abandon it. Leaving Lieutenant Belchier to destroy the guns and battery, a service he effectually performed, Captain Elliot with the boats, supported by the brigs, entered the harbour, and boarded and captured the corvette, with but four men wounded. The prize, a fine vessel of about three hundred and forty tons, was added to the British Navy by the name of Guadaloupe. (Medals of the British Navy by W. H. Long refers).

James Benjamin E. Soden, Purser of H.M.S. Thetis thirty-eight was present in the boats of the squadron during the cutting out of the French brig-corvette Nisus and the destruction on land of the battery in Hayes Harbour, Guadaloupe, on the night of 12/13 December 1809. On 18 December following, he was present at the storming of the enemy batteries in the Anse La Barque area, north west of Basse-terre, Guadaloupe, and the capture of the two French frigates Loire and Seine. He was subsequently present in Thetis during the combined operations which resulted in the capture of Guadaloupe on 5 February 1810. Soden was appointed Paymaster in 1827 and was still shown in the Navy List for 1878.