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enter image description hereI am looking on this peninsular war medal roll under Charles Ormond and cannot understand what this abbreviation means.

The column above reads "Particulars of Clasps".

It looks to say "Bus to C.R.B.J.V.P ----- O.T." but I have no idea what the abbreviations mean.

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    The column is "Particulars of Clasps" and appears to list the individual battles etc that the soldier fought in. Charles had 11 clasps (busy man!) and each of those seems to correlate with one abbreviated entry in his (crowded) "Particulars" column. By comparison with others, "Bus" is probably short for "Busaco" (see Thomas Osborne below), which was a battle in which the 95th Regiment fought.
    – AndyW
    Commented Jan 2, 2018 at 14:37
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    You should be able to work out some more of the abbreviations by correlating full single entries (like Busaco) with the abbreviated forms on this page and others in the set. It may also be helpful to look at the battles fought in the Peninsular war, particularly by the 95th.
    – AndyW
    Commented Jan 2, 2018 at 14:39
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    forces-war-records.co.uk/medals/military-general-service-medal will help with Andy's suggestions -- found via a simple google search.
    – user6485
    Commented Jan 2, 2018 at 14:43
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    I don't think it's "Bus.to.CR.", I think it's "Bus.Fo.CR." - although it looked more like "70" at first, that makes little sense, and there's a "Francis" at the top of the page with a capital F written like a crossed 7. And I suspect that @ColeValleyGirl's handy list will help a lot with working this out!
    – AndyW
    Commented Jan 2, 2018 at 15:05
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    @AndyW -- another gentle nudge to convert your answer in comments to an answer.
    – Jan Murphy ♦
    Commented Jan 2, 2018 at 17:43

2 Answers 2

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Twenty Nine Bars Issued - to the Military General Service Medal included these 11:

BUSACO                   27 September 1810  
FUENTES D'ONOR                  5 May 1811  
CIUDAD RODRIGO           8-19 January 1812  
BADAJOZ             7 March - 6 April 1812  
SALAMANCA                     22 July 1812  
VITTORIA                      21 June 1813  
PYRENEES              July - 2 August 1813  
ST. SEBASTIAN    7 July - 8 September 1813  
NIVE                    9-13 December 1813   
ORTHES                    27 February 1814  
TOULOUSE                     10 April 1814

(Found independently but I have just seen answered by ColeValleyGirl in a Comment almost three months earlier.)

Edited to include Nive as @AndyW's Comment below is vastly more plausible to me than a feeble guess I had made.

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    That looks about right, but I think that the "nine" at the end of the first line may actually be "Nive" from that same list, which took place from 09-13 Dec 1913 and so fits nicely between St Sebastian and Orthes. That brings the count up to eleven.
    – AndyW
    Commented Mar 28, 2018 at 11:04
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From the Alnwick Mercury, 1 August 1857: "The Rev. Mr Roberts, of Shilbottle, has presented Mr Charles Ormond, of this town, who served in the Rifle Brigade during the Peninsular war, with a splendid pocket knife of ten blades, with the following inscription on a silver shield:-"A very humble token of English gratitude for a soldier's heroic services at Talavera, Busaco, Fuentes d-Onora, Cuidad Rodrigo, Badajos, Salamanca, Vittoria, Pyrenees, St Sebastian, Nivelle, Nive, Orthes, Toulouse, and Waterloo". This brave old veteran prefers two other claims for bars to his Peninsular medal, which we believe are at present under investigation in the proper quarter."

Charles Ormond served in the 95th Rifles (later The Rifle Brigade) in the Peninsula at the battles of Busaco, Fuentes d'Onor, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, Salamanca, Vittoria, Pyrenees, St Sebastian, Nice, Orthes and Toulouse. His MGS medal therefore was issued with 11 clasps representing these actions. It was last sold by Baldwin's in 1960 so there is a good chance it is still in circulation with a collector somewhere. I will make enquiries with a 95th specialist who may know of its current whereabouts.

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  • Good example of how consulting multiple records or the same assertion can help make sense of one of them.
    – user6485
    Commented Apr 2, 2018 at 6:51
  • Yes, the next step might be to contact the Regimental Museum and the National Army Museum, given that one or other, of them might very well know where the Medal is currently held and or where the Service Record of the person can be found and accessed.
    – sean007
    Commented Apr 2, 2018 at 14:28

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