Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Military General Service 1793-1814, 8 clasps, Roleia, Vimiera, Busaco, Fuentes D’Onor, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, Vittoria, Orthes (C. Wesharg, Asst. Sgn. 60th Foot & Sgn. Brunck. C. Lt. Infy.) good very fine and rare £3000-3500

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Collection of Napoleonic War Medals formed by the late R.W. Gould, M.B.E..

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Charles Louis George Wesharg joined the Foreign General Hospital Staff as Hospital Mate in October 1804, aged 24 years. He was appointed Assistant Surgeon to the 5th Battalion, 60th Foot (Rifles) from February 1805. The 60th, although a British regiment, was raised exclusively from foreign volunteers and conscripts, mostly German, for service in North America. The 5th or “Jaeger” Battalion never fought as a unit but provided companies of skirmishers and riflemen which were attached to various divisions in the Peninsula. It was the first green-coated rifle battalion in the Army and it served with great distinction in the Peninsula from June 1808 until the conclusion of the war.

Wesharg earned his first seven clasps with the 5/60th Rifles before joining the Duke of Brunswick’s Light Infantry, as Surgeon, in August 1813, and served with them at Orthes in 1814. In addition to the actions commemorated on his medal, Wesharg also took part in the Douro campaign of 1809, the action at El Boden in September 1811, and the crossing of the Bidassoa in October 1813. He retired on half-pay at the end of 1814 and returned to Brunswick. He was living at Mannheim in 1829, at Karlsruhe in 1838, and died on 31 March 1850. Sold with comprehensive research.