118 RECORDS AND REMINISCENCES OF GOODWOOD 



Great delay occurred in the preparation of the 

 promised medals. Hence when, in July, 1847, the 

 Earl of Hardwicke brought forward a motion praying 

 her Majesty to grant medals for naval services, the 

 Duke of Eichmond said, "while recognizing the 

 claims of the navy, the claims of the army ought 

 not to be forgotten." On the 14th of December, 

 1847, the Duke of Richmond rose, pursuant to notice, 

 to ask " when it was probable that the medals 

 intended as rewards would be given to the Peninsular 

 officers and soldiers ? Was it not extraordinary that 

 for battles only fought and won some sixteen months 

 ago the men should get their decorations, and yet 

 for battles fought and won forty-five years ago, no 

 medals could be got ? " 



This appeal failed to produce any satisfactory 

 result, the opposition being supported by so great 

 an authority as the Duke of Wellington, whom it 

 was considered imprudent to overrule. 



The Duke of Eichmond, however, again brought 

 forward the subject so near his heart. He "now 

 wished to ask his noble friend, the Secretary of State 

 for Foreign Affairs, if anything had arisen which 

 could be adduced as a sufficient cause why the 

 medals for the Peninsular Campaign, which had been 

 so long promised, had not been issued to the officers, 

 non-commissioned officers, and private soldiers, and 

 sailors, who had served in the late war." 



