British Army during the Napoleonic Wars for battle service in the Peninsular War. The cross also saw the first use of Medal bars. Following the battle a Waterloo Medal was issued to all soldiers who participated in that engagement. Decades later the Military General Service Medal was awarded to all ranks for service in campaigns during the 1793-1814 period. At the start of the French Revolutionary Wars, the "heavy" cavalry were equivalent to dragoons or "medium" cavalry in the French and other armies. They consisted of three regiments of Household Cavalry, seven regiments of Dragoon Guards and six regiments of Dragoons. The Dragoon Guards had been
Battle of the Basque Roads have destroyed [the French ships], . . . but he might and would have taken them out, had your admiral supported him as he ought to have done . . . The French admiral was a fool ["imbécile"], but yours was just as bad." Battle of the Basque Roads The Battle of the Basque Roads, also known as the Battle of Aix Roads (French: "Bataille de l'île d'Aix", also "Affaire des brûlots", rarely "Bataille de la rade des Basques") was a major naval battle of the Napoleonic Wars, fought in the narrow Basque Roads at the mouth of the Charente