AN EXCEPTIONAL NAVAL GENERAL SERVICE MEDAL 1793 AWARDED TO A LIEUTENANT WHO AS A MATER’S MATE, WOUNDED IN SEAGULL’S ‘GLORIOUS RESISTANCE OF 2 HOURS AND 30 MINUTES’ AGAINST A DANISH BRIG & SIX GUNBOATS OFF NORWAY IN JUNE 1808. DUE TO CASUALTIES TO SENIOR OFFICERS, PRIOR TO SURRENDER, COMMAND DEVOLVED, UPON THIS JUNIOR OFFICER & IT WAS HE THAT HANDED THE SHIP OVER TO THE DANISH BRIG’S CAPTAIN. SLIGHTLY WOUNDED AGAIN AT HARVE DE GRACE WHILST SERVING WITH GANYMEDE, BETWEEN 1805 & 1813, HE WAS NO LESS THAN 150 TIMES ENGAGED WITH THE ENEMY. IN FEBRUARY 1814 HE MANAGED TO PASS ‘THE FEARFUL BAR OF THE ADOUR IN AN OPEN BOAT WITH FIVE MEN’, AN EXAMPLE OF ‘DASHING INTREPIDITY’ THAT WON THE ADMIRATION OF HIS ADMIRAL & WAS FURTHER MID. FURTHER ‘EMPLOYED WITH THE ARMY UNDER THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON NEAR BAYONNE’, HE COMMANDED THE PRINCIPAL BREACHING BATTERY AGAINST THE CITADEL & THE BOAT HE WAS IN WAS STUCK & SUNK BY A FRENCH SHELL DURING ONE OF SEVERAL OTHER DARING EXPLOITS. AT THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS, AS 1ST LIEUTENANT OF ALBION, BY HIS ARRANGEMENT, ALBION WAS THE FIRST SHIP TO SILENCE THE OPPOSING BATTERIES & AS AN UNEMPLOYED COMMANDER, IN 1823 HE COMMANDED THE FRIGATE CONSTANTINE IN THE COLOMBIAN FLEET UNDER PRESIDENT SIMON BOLIVAR

NAVAL GENERAL SERVICE 1793-1840, CLASP, ALGIERS ‘GEORGE CHEYNE, LIEUT. R.N.’

George Cheyne was baptised at St. Andrew’s Church, Edinburgh in March 1788 and entered the Royal Navy as a Midshipman on 12 October 1804.

As a Mater’s Mate, Cheyne was present and wounded in Seagull’s ‘glorious resistance of 2 hours and 30 minutes’ against a Danish Brig and six gunboats off Norway in June 1808. Due to casualties to senior officers, prior to surrender, command devolved, upon Cheyne and it was he that handed the ship over to the Danish Brig’s Captain. Slightly wounded again at Harve de Grace whilst serving with Ganymede, between 1805 and 1813, he was no less than 150 times engaged with the enemy. In February 1814 he managed to pass ‘the fearful bar of the Adour in an open boat with five men’, an example of ‘dashing intrepidity’ that won the admiration of his Admiral and was further MID. Further ‘employed with the Army under the Duke of Wellington near Bayonne’, he commanded the principal breaching battery being erected against the Citadel and the boat he was in was stuck and sunk by a French shell during one of several other daring exploits. As 1st Lieutenant of Albion, at the Battle of Algiers, by an arrangement which he had suggested of firing whole broadsides, Albion the first ship to silence the opposing batteries. Further to this, as an unemployed Commander, in 1823 he commanded the frigate Constantine in the Colombian Fleet under President Simon Bolivar.

DETAILED SERVICE

The following 1866 obituary, published in the Illustrated London News, is pretty much word for word extracted from Cheyne’s extremely detailed and unusually lengthy Royal Navy Memorandum of service, this completed by Cheyne at Fredericton, New Brunswick, on 29 May 1846………….

SEE PDF FOR FULL WRITEUP

Condition VF, some minor edge nicks or better. Sold with extensive copied research and a similar amount of digital research, the former including service papers, Gazettes, medal rolls etc, latter Memorandum of service. Obituaries etc. Ex DNW, December 2007, though without most of the above research which was carried out by Jager Medals.

A quite outstanding medal to a well-respected naval officer who saw a great deal of action.