The Important Waterloo Medal awarded to Captain Robert Preston Campbell, Ceylon Rifles, late 7th Regiment (Royal Fusiliers), who served as Lieutenant and Aide-de-Camp to Major-General Frederick Adam at the Battle of Waterloo. Campbell is widely credited as having fired ‘the last gun at Waterloo’ – taking the initiative in turning a French gun around with some men of the 71st Foot and firing into the retreating mass of the French Imperial Guard, after they had been enfiladed with devastating effect and forced into a retreat by Adam’s Light Brigade. This event was immortalised in the painting ‘The Last Gun At Waterloo’ which remains in the possession of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, and this medal is an extremely rare example to the 7th Foot, who were not present at Waterloo, comprising: Waterloo, 1815, with original steel clip and ring suspension (Lieut. R. P. Campbell, 7th Reg. Royal Fusiliers), old cabinet tone, steel clip a touch loose, a few tiny marks, otherwise good extremely fine and extremely rare to this regiment Robert Preston Campbell (d.1825), the son of Major-General George Campbell (c.1740-1799), of the Honourable East India Company, late King’s American Regiment, and 42nd (Royal Highlanders) Foot, and grandson of Lachlan Campbell of Islay, Argyll, and of Ulster County, New York (the ‘Records of clan Campbell in the Military Service of the Honourable East India Company, 1600-1858’ by Major Sir Duncan Campbell, refers). Robert Campbell was privately educated at Chigwell, Essex, by a Reverend Freeman, and enlisted for service in the British Army c.1800.Serving as Lieutenant with the 7th Foot in 1815, he was present at the Battle of Waterloo as Aide-de-Camp to Major-General Frederick Adam, the talented young officer in command of the Light Brigade, and consequently Campbell saw some of the hottest fighting of the day. Adam’s Brigade, initially held in reserve, it was gradually moved towards the centre of the battle. At around 4.00pm it received orders from Wellington to attack French skirmishers at the crest of the position near the Nivelle Road, and then into a position in a hollow behind Hougoumont farm. Forming squares, it successfully resisted several French cavalry attacks, but suffered from the accurate fire of the French artillery. At about 6.00pm Adam’s Brigade was moved temporarily a little further back behind the main crest, but receiving word from a deserting French Officer that the Imperial Guard was planning to attack the same area, Wellington ordered Adam’s Brigade to seize the initiative, in line four-deep, and to occupy a key strategic position between Hougoumont and La Haye Sainte - at arguably the pivotal moment of the battle. As the ‘Old Guard’ of the French Army were brought forward to attack the British centre in a final desperate assault, it presented its flank to Adam’s Brigade (52nd Foot, 71st Foot, and 95th Rifles) who duly enfiladed the elite French troops to great effect, routing them with withering fire and forcing them into their famous retreat (“La Garde Recule!”).It was at this moment, as recorded in William Siborne’s ‘The Waterloo Campaign 1815’ (also confirmed in other contemporary sources) that Lieutenant Campbell made his own mark on history, turning a French cannon and firing ‘the last gun at Waterloo’ (Dalton states) as Adam’s Brigade pursued the retreating enemy:‘On the Right of the Brigade, the 71st Regiment having gained the Height on which a Reserve Battery of the Imperial Guard had been posted the entire day, and had just made an attempt to draw off into the high road, it was captured by that Corps; when some men of the Right Flank Company of the latter (Captain Reed’s), under Lieutenant Torriano [71st Foot], immediately turned round one of the guns, which was then discharged into the retiring Columns of the Imperial Guard by Captain Campbell, Aide de Camp to Major General Adam, and was, there is reason to believe, the last French gun fired on that day.’In August that year, Sir Walter Scott travelled to Belgium to visit the battlefield and to witness the scene with his own eyes, and during this visit Captain Campbell served as one of his two personal guides. He was placed on Half-Pay the following year on 25 February 1816, exchanged for a short time to serve as Lieutenant with the 61st Foot on 2 January 1823, and was later appointed to serve at the rank of Captain with the Ceylon Rifles on 27 March 1823. He died on 17 June 1825, and is buried in the Kandy District of Ceylon, as recorded in the ‘List of Inscriptions on Tombstones and Monuments in Ceylon’ by Lewis.Given that the 7th Foot (Royal Fusiliers) were not present at the Battle of Waterloo, Campbell’s medal is extremely rare. A database of all surviving Waterloo Medals currently known to the market suggests that this is the only known Waterloo that survives today awarded to the 7th Foot. Two other officers of the 7th Foot, however, are listed in ‘The Waterloo Roll Call’ by Dalton: those awarded to Major Alexander Campbell Wylly, 7th Foot (Assistant Adjutant-General, Adam’s Brigade), and Captain (later Sir) Digby Mackworth, 7th Foot (Aide de Camp to Lord Hill).Ex Gaskell Collection, 1908; Needes Collection, 1939; Glendining, February 1963

We have been informed that a second medal to Campbell, albeit lacking his initials ‘R.P.’ in the naming, has been seen in commerce. The medal offered here has been in its present ownership for many decades but it should be noted that there is a possibility of a duplicate issue. Therefore, the provenance information stated in the catalogue may or may not be totally correct.

Estimate: GBP 6000 - 8000