Orders, Decorations and Medals

WATERLOO 1815 (Capt. W.F. Brown, 6th or Inniskilling Drag.) fitted with original steel clip and later ring suspender, good very fine

William Frederick Brown(e) was born on 26 January 1786, son of the Reverend William Frederick Brown and Bridget. He purchased a Cornetcy in the 6th Dragoons on 9 June 1803, for the considerable sum of £735. Brown rose to the rank of Captain in April 1807, and although his regiment was not called for service in the Peninsula, its services were requested for the campaign in France and Flanders in 1815. On April 9th, 1815, the regiment assembled from its various quarters at Northampton under orders for active service, and three squadrons of two troops each were organised under Captain Madox, Captain Brown, and Br. Lieut-Colonel Miller, who commanded the right, centre, and left squadrons respectively. At Waterloo the regiment was formed into a brigade with the Royal Dragoons and the Scots Greys, and became known as the 'Union Brigade.' With their immortal charge against the French, the Union Brigade delivered perhaps the most decisive cavalry charge ever made in the annals of modern warfare. In just a few minutes Napoleon lost 5000 men, and nearly all the guns belonging to the attack were put out of action for the remainder of the day. Captain Brown, who commanded the centre squadron of his regiment, had his horse killed under him and was severely wounded in the foot. He afterwards received many lance wounds whilst on the ground. In a letter to Sir Hew Dalrymple, from Brussels five days after the battle, Sir H. Hamilton wrote: 'I was attending my poor brother-in-law Capt. Browne of the Inniskilling Drag. (who is wounded in no fewer than seven places)... The Duke of Wellington told me it was a battle of giants and not of men. My brother-in-law says the Inniskillings were in the very thick of it. Man was fighting against man. He had got a wound with a ball which was in his foot and I have learnt from the Lancers the other facts. When his horse going at a quick pace was shot. This of course brought Browne to the ground. When he staggered on on foot and defended himself the best way he could. In this state he received three sword wounds when he sat himself on the ground and was at length supported out of the field and put upon a horse and with a person on each side came to this place a distance of twelve miles after all he is doing well and I have little or no doubt of his recovery.

Two Waterloo medals are known to exist to this officer. This medal is almost certainly the original issue and was offered by A.H. Baldwin & Sons Ltd., in January 1953. A second medal with his name spelt Browne and his rank in full, was offered by Glendinning & Co. in May 1954, in the sale of the Moutray collection. In contemporary accounts his surname is more usually spelt with an 'e', although the Adjutant's roll of the regiment who were present at Waterloo clearly spells his name without an 'e'. This misspelling is the probable cause of the second medal being issued. Captain Brown's tunic is displayed at the regimental museum of The Royal Dragoon Guards, whilst his helmet is held in a private collection.