Cross for the Peninsular War
| Cross for the Peninsular War | |
|---|---|
| Type | Campaign medal |
| Campaign | Peninsular War |
| Description | Medal: obverse A cross pattée, with rectilinear contours, made of gold or silver. In the centre, a national emblem (consisting of the national coat-of-arms resting on an armillary sphere). Surrounded by a blue border with the inscription, "War of the Peninsula" reverse on the central disc the number of campaigns" Clasps: circular wreath of laurel leaves Ribbon: blue with red border |
| Statistics | |
| Established | 1816 |
The Cross for the Peninsular War (Portuguese: Cruz da Guerra Peninsular) was created by Dom John VI on 28 June 1816 to distinguish Portuguese officers who took part in the Peninsular War campaigns (1809–1814). Officers who were present at all of the six campaigns, wear on the left side of the breast a Roman cross of gold with six laurel branches, and the number six in the middle. Those who were present at only some of them, have the same cross of silver.
For officers
For the purposes of awarding this medal, the campaigns were counted by years, from the 1st Campaign in 1809 to the 6th in 1814. However, the mere participation in a battle or combat during one of the years would count as having fought the entire campaign, with a set of actions being awarded for each year:
- 1809 — Battle of Talavera
- 1810 — Battle of Bussaco
- 1811 — Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro & Battle of Albuera
- 1812 — Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, Siege of Badajoz & Battle of Salamanca
- 1813 — Battle of Vitoria, Battle of the Pyrenees, Siege of San Sebastián, Battle of Nivelle & Battle of the Nive
- 1814 — Battle of Orthez & Battle of Toulouse
For civil servants
On 18 May 1825, the Peninsular War Cross was created for civil servants. In silver for up to 2 campaigns, or gold for 3 or more.
