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5th Regiment Merit Medal

Dateca. 1767

OriginEngland

MediumBrass (silvered) and steel

DimensionsDiameter: 35mm Thickness: 1/8"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number2012-158

DescriptionObverse; St. George and the dragon facing left below a ribbon inscribed with the Latin motto of the regiment; "Quo Fata Vocant" meaning "Wherever the Fates Call."

Reverse; "Vth. Foot MERT" with "March the 10th 1767" in exergue all within a laurel wreath.
Label TextProminent among the “Six Old Corps” of the British Army is the 5th (“Vth”) Regiment of foot, styled the “Royal Northumberland Fusiliers” in 1836. In addition to the Regiment’s exemplary service record, the unit has the distinction of having adopted the first medallic “Order of Merit,” on March 10, 1767.

It is true that the life of the 18th century soldier was an extremely hard one, and in looking at the surviving records, one sees that many turned to crime – and drink – in order to make their existence more tolerable. As the 5th Regt. had a number of officers who truly had the soldier’s best interests in mind, the Order of Merit was instituted in hopes of keeping them out of trouble, while simultaneously raising the esprit-de-corps. Most notable of these officers was Captain Bennett Cuthbertson, who’s A System for the Complete Interior Management and Oeconomy of a Battalion of Infantry, was published in Dublin in 1768, where the regiment was stationed. This work was a highly detailed listing of suggested improvements to all aspects of the British Army. In regards to a system of merit, under the courts-martial section, Cuthbertson wrote;

To render the necessity of applying to Courts-martial less frequent, …an order of merit is recommended for the Non-commission-officers, Drummers, and Private Men: by which the deserving Soldier will be encouraged to persevere in those paths, which led him to the enjoyment of so public a testimony of his Officers approbation; and the vicious idle ones may be likewise tempted, to imitate that conduct, which gained the other such applause: a number of years (not less than seven) employed in the closest attention to military duty, and never in that space, having incurred the censure of a Court-martial, should entitle a Soldier to the honour of receiving …..a metal medal, …..on one side of which the device or number of the Regiment to be raised, and on the reverse, the words, SEVEN YEARS MILITARY MERIT., encircled in a wreath of laurels.

Cuthbertson further recommended that soldiers having this medal who died on active service should be buried with special compliments. Although published only a year after his regiment instituted its system for rewarding the desired virtuous conduct, it seems Cuthbertson’s idea was already successful, and was therefore included in his recommendations to the rest of the army. His partner in this behavior-control scheme was Studholme Hodgson, Colonel of the Regiment, who would have had to approve and pay for the medals. The next year, when the beloved Hugh Percy, Duke of Northumberland, succeeded Hodgson as the Colonel of the regiment, the fledgling tradition flourished within the unit.

The 5th Regiment took the practice much further than Cuthbertson’s general suggestions, establishing even higher levels of the order. Here are the 5th’s specified terms of qualification;

7 years - a cast & gilt brass medal
14 years – an engraved silver version
21 years - a fine, cast & engraved silver medal (similar in appearance to the initial 7 years medal) with an additional embroidered badge emblazoned “MERIT,” worn on the right breast of the uniform coat.

The medals were to be worn on the regimental coat’s left lapel, suspended by a “gosling green” ribbon, (the same color worn on the cuffs, lapels & collar of the 5th. Regiment’s uniform). The idea must have succeeded quickly, as these merit medals were prominent enough in the ranks to have been officially noted in the Inspection Return of 1 August 1771, which stated they “Have an Order of Merit.”

Furthermore, they were described in 1777 by an officer of the 23rd Regiment of foot (a.k.a. Royal Welsh Fuziliers), who was part of the occupying army of New York City. Major Robert Donkin, in his Military Collections and Remarks, said of the 5th Regiment’s merit system;

The Vth regiment of foot has three different orders for their private men, (viz.) a gilded medal larger than a Johannes (a Brazilian gold 6400 reis coin) hanging on a button at the left lapel by a ribbon (as the Croix de St. Louis of France) in the most conspicuous part, with St. George and the Dragon (the ancient badge of this corps) on one side, over which is this Motto, Quo fata vocant!

On the reverse, Vth. Foot. Merit. Seven years good behavior entitles a soldier to this honor, with which he is invested at the head of the battalion, by the hands of the commanding officer.

The 2d Medal is of silver as large as a three and four penny piece, and differs only in this respect from the others, Reward of fourteen years military merit.

The 3d is also of silver with this addition. “A. O. after twenty one “years good and faithful service as a “Soldier, hath received from his commanding officer this honorable testimony of his merit.” He also has an oval badge of the colour of the facing on his right breast, embroidered round with wreaths of gold and silver, and in the center, Merit, in letters of gold.

The soldiers thus distinguished are such only as never have in 7, 14, and 21 years incurred the censure of a courtmartial; and should any of them by misbehavior (which rarely happens) forfeit his pretensions of being longer enrolled among the Men of Merit, the medal is cut off by the drum-major in the same public manner it was conferred. Earle Percy, the present Colonel, ever foremost in meritorious deeds, keeps up this order with all the proper dignity it deserves; and from the good produced by it in this corps, it were to be wished others wou’d follow and attend to so laudable an example.

At the time these first medals were made in the late 1760s, the Regiment was on the Irish Establishment. As military policy dictated, once in Ireland the Regiment assumed an Irish agent, recorded as “Messrs. William and John Chagineau, Dublin,” according to the 1767 Army List. Since the island had its own system for supplying regiments stationed there, these medals are assuredly Irish, perhaps coming from a tradesman-merchant like John Roche (or Roach), an army button-maker on South King St. in Dublin and coiner of the 1760-dated “Voce Populi” coppers. It would also seem likely that these medals were procured in some quantity with unissued medals kept until needed, possibly by the Adjutant, and carried with the Regiment wherever it went. After Ireland, the 5th Regiment next found itself in Boston, arriving in the summer of 1774 and encamping on Boston Common.

Until the institution of an army-wide order of merit was established in the 1830s, the 5th Regiment continued with this tradition, with at least one lapse and a number of variations spanning its life. While dies were employed later in the 18th century to strike the 7 years medal, the earliest versions were cast, also supporting the notion of Irish manufacture. On cast 7 years medals, St George and the Dragon face to the left, and on the later struck types they face to the right, making it easy to identify the Revolutionary War era specimens. This example exhibits traces of silvering, so it may be an economically created "in the field" version of the 14 years medal.

In the Regimental Museum of the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers at Alnwick Castle is superb silver specimen of the 14 years merit medal. This specimen, although unnamed, belonged to a George Kirk, who had a long, obviously distinguished career in the ranks of the 5th Regiment. He is believed to have been 12 years old when he enlisted in the regiment in 1755, which would have made him 26 years old when he attained the highest level of merit on January 18, 1769. Serving in the American Revolution, he saved the life of Colonel Percy at the battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775, according to family tradition. As the 5th Regiment also fought at Lexington & Concord in 1775, Long Island and White Plains in 1776 and Brandywine and Germantown in 1777, it is not unrealistic to imagine this medal having been present at these momentous events. Kirk obviously had a special relationship with Percy. After retiring, he was created gatekeeper of the barbican at Alnwick Castle, the Percy family seat. The medal remained in Kirk family hands until sometime after the 1920s, when it was given to the Regimental Museum.

In summary, we have at least one verifiable specimen worn by a soldier of the 5th Regiment during its Revolutionary War service, and the account of an officer of different regiment writing about them in occupied New York. Therefore, we can say that these rewards of merit would have been the only regularly visible medals worn by enlisted “Redcoats” or “Bloodybacks” during the American Revolution. As the most easily attained level of the order, the 7-year medals would have been the most common, especially amongst the non-commissioned officer cadre.

The British soldier, renowned throughout modern history for many qualities, some great, some less than desirable, is also known for his wit and sense of humor. In classic fashion, the current descendant of the 5th Regiment’s lowest order of merit, now called the “Long Service & Good Conduct” medal is referred to by today’s British soldiers as the “7 Years Undetected Crime” medal!

For a discussion of similar medals see Major J.L. Balmer's "British and Irish Regimental & Volunteer Medals 1745-1895," pp. 100 -110.