Description
Waterloo Campaign Medal, 1814/15, Saxe Meiningen.
Kriegsdenkmünze für 1814/15
The reverse reads: “LOUISE ELEONORE V.H.Z.S.O.V.u.L.R.” (The Duchess and Regent of Saxe-Meinigen during the minority of her son) “DEM VERTHEIDIGER DES VATERLANDES 1814” To The Defender of the Fatherland, for those who fought back against Napoleon, following being forced to be a part of his “Rheinbund”.
During the Napoleonic Wars, Saxe-Meiningen was one of a number of states that were part of the “Confederated States of the Rhine” or Rheinbund, formed by Napoleon after he defeated Austria and Russia at the Battle of Austerlitz.
Following Napoleons failed invasion of Russia, the confederation collapsed and they could finally switch sides to support the Allied Forces against Napoleon.
The reverse of the medal also notes that it was from “Louise Eleonore”, Louise Eeonore of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, was the regent of Saxe-Meiningen, since the death of George I and during the early years of her son from 1803-1821 (When he turned 18).
When her husband died on 24 December 1803, she took over as regent of the duchy for their son Bernhard II. She ruled with energy, courage, and good sense during the Napoleonic Wars, which for the next decade ravaged the Saxon states.
The duchy was forced to join the Confederation of the Rhine during these Wars and provide it with troops; afterwards the duchy was struck with famine, which Luise sought to prevent by importing wheat. French armies, and later those of Russia, marched back and forth across the country, but Luise refused to flee; she stayed with her infant son and two daughters inside their castle.
She used every strategy to preserve the autonomy of her regency, so that when she joined the Allies in 1813, she had saved the duchy for her son. He became the ruling Duke of Meiningen eight years later.
Notably Saxe-Meiningen has close ties to the current ruling family of the United Kingdom, Luise Eleonore’s daughter Adelaide Luise Therese Karoline Amalie, amrried King William IV and became Queen of England from 1830-37.
