Medals Commemorating Napoleon's Defeat at Acre in 1799

Background

These four medals were minted to commemorate the landmark 1799 British victory at Acre, led by Sir Sidney Smith, over Napoleon’s French forces. Acre was the linchpin to Napoleon’s campaign in the Holy Land, and by extension, his ambition to conquer India and to threaten British colonial interests there. When Napoleon was defeated at Acre, the chapter closed on his imperial aspirations in the near and far East, and it opened a new one of bloodshed and power struggles in Europe. Or, as Napoleon said of Smith “That man made me miss my destiny.”

The identical medals in silver (extremely rare) and brass were part of a set of forty commemorative medals issued in 1820 to mark the end of the Napoleonic Wars and landmark British victories over the French under George III. Dedicated to George IV, the series took six years to complete and included work by leading artists and craftspeople of the day. In these medals, we see Smith in uniform, with the obverse depicting a British lion vanquishing a French tiger while protecting a Syrian camel, and they bear the inscription “Acre Defended, Bonaparte Repulsed, Syria Saved 20th May 1799. 

The gilt bronze medal features Smith in military uniform, with the obverse bearing only an inscription: “Acre Defended, Bonaparte Repulsed, Syria Saved, 20 May 1799.” Its provenance is unknown, though it most likely comes from a different set of six medals commemorating naval victories.

The brass medal features a bust of Smith, with the obverse depicting Royal Navy ships by the shores of Acre. It reads “Repulsed Bonapart in 11 Attacks, made by him, on Acre 1799.” Its provenance, too, is unknown.