User:Andygm/John Jack
John Jack | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Buried | Turiff Churchyard, Banffshire |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service |  British Army |
| Years of service | 1805–1826[1] |
| Rank | Private |
| Unit | 52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot |
| Battles / wars | Corunna; Bussaco; Fuentes d'Onor; Ciudad Rodrigo; Badajoz (1812); Salamanca; Vitoria; Pyrenees; Nivelle; Nive; Orthez; Toulouse; Waterloo |
| Awards | Ciudad Rodrigo Stormers Medal Military General Service Medal (12 clasps), Waterloo Medal |
| Other work | Shoemaker |
John Jack (1780–1870) MGSM, WM, was a private soldier in the 52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot in the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars. Present at twelve battles in the Peninsular War, he formed part of the forlorn hope storming parties at the sieges of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz, for which he was awarded a medal by the officers of the 52nd. Jack was also present at the Battle of Waterloo. Discharged from the army in 1826, he became a Chelsea out-pensioner, and died in 1870, at the age of 90. His survival for so many years following the wars allowed him to be awarded the retrospective Military General Service Medal in 1847 (awarded only to living veterans of the Peninsular War), with twelve clasps, giving him a unique collection of medals. He is also the subject of a photograph, a rare distinction for a private soldier.
Early life
Born in the Parish of Monquhitter, Aberdeenshire in 1780, Jack initially worked as a cobbler in New Blyth before joining the militia in 1806 as a paid substitute for a drafted local landowner's son. His brother Charles also joined at this time. Transferring into the regular army, Jack joined the 52nd Foot.
Military service
Jack underwent his military training at Shorncliffe Camp, in Kent, the training camp of the British light infantry under Sir John Moore. He saw service in Sweden and then proceeded to Spain under Sir John Moore, where he was involved in the retreat to Corunna. He later described the privations of the retreat, recalling that he and his fellows had nothing to eat but some raw pork, cut from some pigs which had been caught. He could not stomach it and instead ate some raw kale which he'd taken from a garden.
In the Peninsular Campaign under Sir Arthur Wellesley, Jack saw action in twelve battles, including the attack on Ciudad Rodrigo, where he was in the leading file during the storming of the fortress. Surviving the forlorn hope, the officers of the regiment provided him with a medal, commemorating his bravery as a "Valiant Stormer". While injured during the siege of Badajoz in 1812, he recovered enough to continue the campaign.
Jack was present at the Battle of Waterloo, and like other survivors of the battle, received two years extra pensionable service. Following the battle he served in Paris with the occupying army, and was later sent to Canada with the 52nd Foot, discharged in 1826 in Halifax, at the age of 47, for being "old and worn out".
Returning to England, he disembarked at Portsmouth and was formally discharged; he walked home to Aberdeenshire.
Later life
Jack was in receipt of a Chelsea out-pension, which he supplemented by work as a shoemaker. He married, and with his wife had several children. Be died in Turiff in 1870, where he was buried. Shortly before he died, he was photographed with his medals.
The medals were at one time sold by the family, but were later repurchased and are currently held by his descendents.
Notes
External links
[CATEGORY:2nd Regiment of Foot soldiers]