The excessively rare fourteen clasp M.G.S. and Waterloo pair awarded to Assistant Commissary Samuel James Tibbs, Field Train Department of the Ordnance

Military General Service 1793-1814, 14 clasps, Roleia (1), Talavera (7), Busaco (7), Albuhera (2), Ciudad Rodrigo (5), Badajoz (8), Salamanca (5), Vittoria (12), Pyrenees (8), St Sebastian (12), Nivelle (5), Nive (6), Orthes (6), Toulouse (11) (S. J. Tibbs, Asst. Com. F. T. Dept.); Waterloo 1815 (Samuel James Tibbs, Assist. Commissary of Ordnance Depart) fitted with original steel clip, straight silver bar suspension and ribbon buckle, some light contact marks, otherwise very fine and one of only two such pairs ever issued (2)

The Field Train Department of the Ordnance was a separate corps under overall command of the Royal Artillery. In Folio 33 of the Medal Roll for the M.G.S. Medal (WO 100/1) there is the following note explaining the duties: “With reference to the officers of the Field Train Department I have to remark that the chief duties they had to perform were to supply the several regiments with ammunition that might be required during action, and were all under the immediate direction of the Commanding Officer of the Royal Artillery.” The published rolls by Foster (1947) and Mullen (1990) both show Tibbs receiving 12 clasps but the official list of Officer’s Awards, published in the Army List in 1853, confirms all 14 clasps. The Waterloo Roll Call by Charles Dalton confirms Tibbs as one of only two officers of the Field Train Department present at Waterloo and additionally notes: “Served through the whole of the Peninsular War, and in 1848 received the medal with fourteen clasps. He also received the Waterloo medal.”

Of the twelve recipients of medals with 14 clasps, only one other, James Morris of the 52nd Foot, was also present at Waterloo. Neither of the two recipients of 15 clasp medals was at Waterloo, making Tibbs the only officer to receive this maximum entitlement. The following interesting article was published in The Regiment(Vol.1 No 22) on 29 August, 1896:

Commissary-General Samuel J. Tibbs

‘Before the days of the Crimean War it was not the custom to be-medal the warriors of old, or those who won their spurs under the baptism of fire, as it has become customary so to do of late. Since Waterloo, outside India, we had no big campaigns until the Crimean War from 1854 until about June, 1856, two years. In that two years’ campaign it was possible for an Officer to obtain the Crimean Medal, Sardinian Medal, Order of the Medjidie, Legion of Honour, Turkish Medal, etc. - five medals and orders. In this instance Commissary General Samuel J. Tibbs, Royal Artillery Field Train, only received the two war medals Peninsula and Waterloo, with “bars” for those battles in which he was actually under fire.

The family of this old General have tried to discover, either at the Horse Guards or at the British Museum, whether any other officer had been under fire so frequently or gained the “bars” for so many battles, but none can be traced. No other officer who served during the Peninsula War, excepting the “Iron Duke” had the same number of bars to his Waterloo and Peninsula medals as Commissary General Samuel J. Tibbs.

The number of battles, sieges, etc. when General Tibbs was under fire we now enumerate: (1) Roleia 17th August, 1808, (2) Talavera, (3) Busaco, (4) Albuhera, (5) Ciudad Rodrigo, (6) Badajoz, (7)Salamanca, (8) Vittoria, (9) Pyrenees, (10) St Sebastian (siege), (11) Nivelle, (12) Nive, (13) Orthes, (14) Peninsula (sic should read Toulouse), (15) Quatre Bras, (16) Waterloo.

He was also at Fuentes d’Onoro and at Almeida but there was some hitch about getting “bars” for these, as there was no one who could certify that on these occasions he had “been under fire.” After a certain battle General Tibbs was recommended for promotion to the Commander-in-Chief by Sir Alexander Dickson, then commanding the Royal Artillery.

During the Peninsula War the subject of this sketch was in command of an ammunition convoy to the front, with the late Duke of Wellington. The Duke of Wellington had received complaints from the Spaniards and Portuguese that certain troops had entered the country churches and chapels, and committed sacrilege therein. On hearing this the Duke of Wellington issued stringent orders that under no consideration or excuse were the troops to again enter the churches and chapels, except for the purpose for which they were built, and that he would most assuredly hang the next offender or offenders. During the march when Commissary-General Tibbs was in charge of the above-mentioned convoy, consisting of much ammunition and several guns for the army at Salamanca, a violent thunderstorm overtook the convoy and the only building shelter of any description near them was a wayside country chapel. The Commander of the Convoy pondered for a moment over the matter and thought, “If I obey orders, the ammunition will be ruined and useless. Better be hanged than run the risk of the troops falling short of ammunition” and forthwith told the soldiers under his command to break open the chapel door. Thus the ammunition was stored in safety. When the storm abated, the gallant old warrior resumed his march with dry and serviceable ammunition. He duly arrived at the Duke’s headquarters, reported arrival and so forth, but in the meantime some of the country people found out that the convoy with ammunition had broken open their chapel door, and hurried to headquarters and lodged the complaint.

The Duke, on hearing the report, was furious and demanded who was the Officer that had command of the convoy and disobeyed his orders, adding, “I will assuredly hang him.” Fortunately for General Tibbs he had a personal friend on the Duke’s staff, who, on hearing the threat, hurried to him and said “Sam, go back at once, as the Commander-in-Chief swears he will hang you for disobedience of orders and desecrating the chapel.”

When Wellington learnt who the officer was, he told the Staff Officer to bring him before him. To which Tebbs’s friend replied, “I have sent him back on some other duty, my Lord.” After this incident the Staff Officer talked to Lord Wellington (as he then was) and reasoned with him, that the circumstances were exceptional and that if the Officer in command of the convoy had not used his own discretion, the whole of the ammunition would have been ruined and useless, and the impending battle lost, i.e. the battle of Salamanca, and Salamanca is one of the clasps of his famous medal. It may be interesting to mention that the late Commissary-General Tibbs’s friend on the Duke’s Staff was the late Lord Raglan, who commanded the troops in the Crimea.

Such a glorious record of war service ought not to be lost sight of and shall emulate those who are fortunate as to be still in the grand and glorious old Army of the best Queen whoever sat on England’s throne. The medals and uniform of the late Commissary-General Samuel J. Tibbs, Royal Artillery Field Train, are in the possession of his son, who is a clergyman of the Church of England.’

Samuel James Tibbs was born circa 1787 and was appointed Conductor, 10 May 1808: Clerk, 9 May 1810; Assisstant Commissary, 1 June 1814; served in the Peninsula 1808-14, and the Campaign in the Netherlands including the battle of Waterloo 1815; Retired on Half Pay, 6 August 1816; Recalled, 2 December 1819; Retired on Half Pay, 31 October 1826.