Description Military General Service Medal 1 Clasp Maida to Cpl. A. Stewart of the 78th Foot SOLD Condition – G.V.F. Alexander Stewart was born in the Parish of Dull Blair, Athol, Perth, and became a weaver by trade. He enlisted in the 78th Foot at Perth on the 19th June 1804 at the age of 16. In 1806 the 78th Regiment fought an engagement against the French in defense of Britain’s ally the King of Naples at Maida in Sicily. During this battle on 4th July, the small British forces took on a vastly superior French force and utterly defeated them. The 78th Seaforth Highlanders sustained casualties of 4 killed and 81 wounded. Alexander Stewart served from 25th March 1804 until 29th September 1827. His conduct was described as “remarkably good” and he was discharged as being “worn out-unfit”. There were only 97 clasps awarded to the 78th Foot. As a result, Maida is a very rare clasp on the Military General Service medal as only 7 British Regiments were involved in this battle. This particular medal used to be in the Chadwick Collection in 1912. The condition of the medal is G.V.F. Although the obverse and reverse are E.F., there are some small edge knocks and bumps. However, these do not detract from the overall condition and quality of the medal
