*The General Officer’s Large Gold Medal for Martinique and Guadeloupe awarded to Brigadier-General George William Ramsay, 60th (Royal American) Regiment of Foot, Adjutant-General to the Forces serving in the Leeward & Windward Islands. Early in his career he commanded the Light Company of the 30th Foot during American Revolutionary War of 1778-1783, and took part in the campaigns in Holland in 1793-94 under the Duke of York, during which time he sought permission from the Duke to personally raise the ‘York Rangers’, a force which fought with distinction in Holland and again later in the Caribbean. His regiment was eventually absorbed into the 3rd Battalion 60th (Royal American) Regiment, with whom he continued as commanding officer between 1805 and 1809. As Adjutant-General of the Windward & Leeward Islands he played a significant role in the capture of both Martinique and Guadeloupe in 1809-10 on the Staff of Sir George Beckwith, ending the French threat in the Caribbean and creating the conditions for a boom in trade in the years to follow. He later served as Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Leeward Islands at Antigua, comprising: General Officer’s Gold Medal, 1808-14, for Martinique, with gold clasp for Guadeloupe (Brigr. Genl. Geo. W. Ramsay, Adjt. Genl.), 53.5mm width, complete with gold swivel-ring bar suspension, gold ribbon buckle, and gold oak wreath neck cravat fitment, in original silk-lined, red-morocco fitted case of issue, one hinge now detached and rather worn, silk-lining in poor condition, with original ribbon, extremely fine, and rare. Major-General George William Ramsay was born in December 1761 and baptised on 16 January 1762 at Chevening Kent, the son of George Ramsay & Ann Ramsay (née Clement) of Bath and Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. His brother William undertook a civil career, going on to become Registrar of Jamaica, while George William Ramsay opted for a military life. He commanded the Light Company of the 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment from 1778-1783, arriving in Charleston in 1781 to take part in the southern campaign of the American War of Independence, fighting alongside loyalists in Carolina. The regiment then spent nine years in the Caribbean on Antigua, Saint Lucia and Dominica. Around this time he married Jeanne Charlotte Ramsay (the only daughter of Baron de Salve de Bruneton en Geldre, Holland) in Cheltenham on 6 May 1787, with whom he had two sons: Major George Antoine Ramsay and Lieutenant William Edward Ramsay, R.N., and a daughter, Ann Ramsay. This marriage to a member of the French-speaking Dutch aristocracy sharpened his language skills and his understanding of the region, which would later serve him well in his dealings with the French. In 1791 the regiment was called to put down a rebellion led by the Maroons in Jamaica. Ramsay served in the campaigns in Holland in 1793-1794 under the Duke of York, gaining permission from the Duke himself to raise a force of men called the ‘York Rangers’ (or ‘Ramsay’s York Chasseurs’), which included many German, Irish and French émigrés. This ‘active and useful force’, raised on 29 June 1793, fought with distinction in the campaign, and took part in the siege of Maastricht, the capture of Menin, Coutrai, and Tournai, and Ramsay was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel on 25 May 1795. The York Rangers were later incorporated into the 3rd Battalion 60th (Royal American) Regiment with Ramsay, being appointed Lieutenant-Colonel on 30 December 1797. He received the Brevet of Colonel on 25 September 1803, and became commander officer of the 3rd/60th in 1805. On 11 November 1806 Colonel Ramsay was appointed Adjutant-General to the Forces serving in the Leeward and Windward Islands of the Caribbean. As Adjutant-General to the Forces in this area, Ramsay occupied a senior position on the Staff of Sir George Beckwith, becoming one of his closest advisors, and taking part in the capture of the Danish West Indies Islands of St. Lucia, Dominica, Martinique and Guadeloupe in 1809-10. In the summer of 1808 despatches from the Governor of Martinique to the French Ministry were intercepted, lamenting the lack of troops and supplies, and describing the island as almost defenceless (The History of the First West India Regiment, by Ellis, refers). British preparations for an attack began swiftly, and the assembled expeditionary force under the command of Lieutenant-General Beckwith sailed for the island of Martinique from Barbados on 28 January 1809, landing on the evening of the 31st. As Adjutant-General, Ramsay served as the principal aide to the commanding officer, and was a senior figure charged with the oversight of troops, orders, discipline, returns of wounded, and the multitude of other tasks necessary for the smooth running of an expedition. This is borne out in the London Gazette, as Ramsay himself supplied a number of the ‘General Orders’ and official returns during the invasion. The British force took steps to capture the seat of French military power on the island, located at Fort Bourbon (also known as Fort Desaix). After gaining the upper hand in the initial fighting at the Heights of Surirey, French records state that on the 3rd February Ramsay was sent in person to demand the French surrender from General Villaret, but this was refused (Histoire de la Martinique, by De Marcillac, refers). His confidence rested in the perceived strength of his citadel at Fort Bourbon, considered impregnable, and as a result Villaret abandoned nearby Fort Republique to focus his entire strength at Fort Bourbon. Basing themselves in the recently vacated Fort Republique, and unspiking the guns abandoned there, the British invested the opposing fort on the 18th and bombarded it fiercely, receiving fierce French fire in return. Fortune favoured the British on the 22nd, as a shell set off the French magazine resulting in the fort’s capitulation, ending further French resistance. Despite the British losses of 3 officers and 81 men killed, 9 officers and 325 men wounded, the capture of the fort also saw two prized French regimental ‘eagle’ standards of the 62nd and 80th Regiments taken home to the King as prizes. In Beckwith’s despatches, he praised Ramsay and his Staff as having ‘distinguished themselves by their zeal and activity during the heat of the action.’ Casualties did occur on the Staff, which suggests that they did also take part in the fighting. To that end, Ramsay submitted the returns of casualties taken by the First Division during the action at the Heights of Surirey, which again suggests that he may have been fighting with the First Division in that action, and perhaps throughout the campaign. The following year, a new expedition was organised to capture the island of Guadeloupe – the last French possession in the area. The British force set off from Dominica on 23 January 1810 and made land on 28 and 29 January, with the 1st Division ordered to land near Cabesterre, and the 2nd Division to land just to the north of the island’s administrative capital – Basse-Terre. The defending French forces under General Ernout were well placed in the heights near the mountain of Matouba, and mounted a short but spirited defence, but in the course of the fighting on 3-4 February British forces were able to secure the high ground and turn the French flanks, forcing them to retire. The British loss amounted to 52 officers and men killed, with 250 wounded and 7 missing. The French loss was reported as 600 killed with 2000 prisoners of war taken, and their capitulation effectively ended any serious French threat or contest for supremacy in the Caribbean. Ramsay was promoted to Major-General 4 June 1811. In 1815 he was appointed governor of the island of St. Croix, but he delivered the island back to the Danish Government in 1815 once hostilities had been concluded with its ally, France, after the Battle of Waterloo. In 1816 he was appointed Governor of Antigua, Montserrat and Barbuda – this appointment no doubt chosen for its location as an immediate neighbour to nearby Guadeloupe. He was promoted to Lieutenant-General on 12 August 1819, and was subsequently appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Leeward Islands, based in Antigua, where he died, still in office, on 1 November 1819. Just 43 General Officer’s Gold Medals were issued with a second award clasp. Ex Sotheby’s, 1 March 1984
Estimate: £35000-£45000