Description
Military General Service Medal, bar Java, Private Samuel Palmer, 59th Foot, spent over 20 years in the East Indies, also stormed the Fortress of Bhurtpoor during 1826.
Private Samuel Palmer of the 59th Foot spent over 20 years in the East Indies, including storming the Fortress of Bhurtpoor in 1826.
The medal is officially impressed with: “Saml Palmer 59th Foot.” It remains in very good preserved condition, confirmed by the medal roll and with copies of his service papers.
Samuel received this medal decades after the Invasion of Java (which took place in 1811), approximately in 1847. Around the same time, he was also issued the Army of India Medal, with the bar Bhurtpoor for his role in storming the fortress in 1826.
Palmer was also with his battalion during their early victory in South Africa against the Dutch in 1806 and when they participated in dismantling the nearly 150-year-old Maratha Empire during 1817–1819.
This medal has a noted provenance, first recorded in Baldwin’s January 1953 and 1955, paired with his Army of India Medal. It was sold as a single item by Hayward in June 1972, suggesting it is still circulating.
Early Life, Enlistment and Death
Samuel Palmer was born around 1786 in Stapleton, Bristol, Gloucestershire. He enlisted at Portsmouth on 1 September 1804, at the age of 18, for “Unlimited Service.” He went on to serve with the regiment for 24 years, 22 of them stationed overseas in the East Indies. Palmer participated in numerous significant actions for the regiment.
He served from 25 June 1804 to 23 June 1828, spending time in the East Indies from 22 April 1806 to 8 June 1828. Upon returning home after years of service, he was discharged, cited as being “old and worn out.” His conduct as a soldier was summed up in only one word: “Tolerable.”
In later life, circa 1851, he lived on Adelaide Street, East Stonehouse, Devon, with his wife, Mary Palmer (born 1790, Willsbridge, Devon). He remained there in 1861 as a 74-year-old Chelsea Out-Pensioner. Samuel likely passed away in East Stonehouse in 1863.
Military Service:
Samuel Palmer served in the 1st Battalion, 59th (2nd Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot.
Just three months after joining, the regiment set off for the Cape of Good Hope, recently captured from the Dutch by Britain. On 7 January 1806, the 1st Battalion landed at the Cape as part of a brigade, and within two days, the Dutch VOC forces surrendered. The regiment suffered only minor casualties—two dead and six wounded—but this marked the 59th’s first Battle Honour and one of Britain’s earliest military engagements in the Cape Colony.
The battalion then departed for India, arriving on 22 April 1806. Palmer remained in the region for 22 years. In November 1810, the 1st Battalion participated in the Invasion of Mauritius, and the following year, Samuel earned his Java clasp for taking part in the 1811 invasion of Java, then part of the Dutch East Indies. During the campaign, the 59th distinguished itself in the attack on Fort Cornelis. According to an account written by Lieut. Col. Gowan in 1897, based on his father’s diaries:
“While Colonel Gibbs proceeded to the right, Colonel Gillespie continued his operations to the left and toward the enemy’s rear. All the batteries in succession were stormed and taken, and, having been joined by Lieut.-Colonel Alexander McLeod with H.M.’s 59th Regiment, Colonel Gillespie directed the attack on the enemy’s artillery park and reserve. The enemy’s cavalry formed up and threatened the right of the British line, but were repulsed by the well-directed fire of a party of the 59th.”
Following the Java campaign they actually remained stationed in Java until 1815, when the battalion moved to India then being posted over to Ceylon (Sri Lanka), where they became involved in the Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817–1819), which culminated in the collapse of the Maratha Empire, standing since 1674.
Palmer earned his final battle honour during the 1825–1826 war against the Bharatpur State. He took part in the storming and capture of the Jat Fortress of Bharatpore, as represented by the clasp on his Army of India Medal. The 59th Foot led the attack, storming the breach created by a mine. Captain Fisher, attached to the brigade of Gurkhas fighting alongside the 59th, commented on the heavy casualties sustained by the regiment, noting:
“I am thankful to say we were in with the 59th, who covered themselves with glory—it was the most glorious sight eyes ever beheld.”
Dispatches praised the regiment’s bravery:
“The conduct of H.M. 59th Regiment fully equalled the highest expectation the Major-General had formed, upon an experience of two months, during which he had never imputed to them a single fault. He told them on going down that ‘England expected every man to do his duty’—they re-echoed the sentiment and nobly redeemed the pledge.”
Despite the heavy losses endured by the regiment, their courage and accomplishments earned them lasting recognition.
After the war, Samuel returned home and was discharged, described as “old and worn out” from years of rigourous campaigning.
