Waterloo Medal belonging to Major-General Sir John Ormsby Vandeleur, 1815

Silver medal, designed by Thomas Wyon, with a portrait of the Prince Regent on the obverse, with the inscription, 'George P. Regent'. On the reverse the figure of Winged Victory seated on a plinth, surmounted by the word, 'Wellington', with, 'Waterloo', and the date of the battle, 'June 18 1815', below. The medal is suspended from a Crimson ribbon with blue edges.

The Waterloo medal was the first ever 'campaign medal' issued by the British Army, given to every soldier regardless of their rank or role. It was awarded to all soldiers present at the Battle of Waterloo and the actions during the two previous days.

Vandeleur commanded a light infantry brigade in the Peninsular War (1808-1814) and was involved in the capture of Ciudad Rodrigo (1812) and the battles of Salamanca (1812), Vittoria (1813) and the Nive (1813).

At Waterloo (1815) he commanded a brigade of light cavalry which helped rescue the British heavy cavalry following their over enthusiastic pursuit of D'Erlon's defeated infantry. After the Earl of Uxbridge was wounded, Vandeleur was effectively in overall command of all the cavalry in Wellington's army.