The Naval General Service medal awarded to John Wigginton for his services as a Private...

The Naval General Service medal awarded to John Wigginton for his services as a Private Royal Marines in the boats of the Monarch at the cutting out of the Caesar on the night of 16 July 1806 Naval General Service 1793-1840, 1 clasp, 16 July Boat Service 1806 (John Wigginton.) good very fine £3,000-£4,000 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- Provenance: Spink, July 2000. 51 clasps issued for this Boat Service action. John Wigginton is confirmed as a Private Royal Marines in the boats of the Monarch. ‘A British squadron of six sail of the line and a frigate, under the command of Commodore Sir S. Hood in the Centaur, seventy-four, was cruising off Rochefort in July, when the Commodore learning that a convoy laden with stores for the fleet at Brest, was lying ready for sea in Verdon Road, at the entrance of the river Gironde, under the protection of two brig-corvettes, determined to cut them out. A boat of each ship was selected and sent to the Isis frigate, which ship proceeded off the Gironde, and joined there the forty-four gun frigate Indefatigable, which was watching the convoy. The six boats from the line of battle ships, Conqueror, Prince of Wales, Revenge, Polyphemus, Monarch, and Centaur, under the command of Lieutenant E. R. Sibly of the last mentioned ship, with three boats from the Indefatigable, and three from the Isis, twelve in all, on the evening of June 15th set out from the Indefatigable for the mouth of the Gironde. At midnight they entered Verdon road, and immediately attacked the French sixteen-gun brig-corvette Caesar, with a crew of eighty-six men, fully prepared for resistance. While cutting away the boarding netting of the brig, Lieutenant Sibly was badly wounded, but she was boarded, and carried after a very gallant defence, her commander, Lieutenant Fourré, being among the slain. The other brig, the Teazer (late British) of fourteen guns, in the darkness of the night slipped her cable, and favoured by the wind and tide, escaped by running up the river, followed by the convoy. In the meanwhile the prize, exposed to a fire from the Teazer and the batteries on both sides of the river, worked out under the direction of Lieutenant Parker of the Indefatigable, and joined the two frigates at anchor in the offing. The British loss was rather severe, Lieutenant C. Manners, of the Revenge, a master's mate, and seven men were killed, and four Lieutenants, and thirty-five men wounded. A midshipman and nineteen men of the Revenge were made prisoners, their boat being disabled by shot and obliged to run on shore to avoid sinking. Shortly after, Lieutenant Sibly received the rank of Commander.’ (Medals of the British Navy by W. H. Long refers).