Cumberland Volunteers, Lower Leath Ward Militia, officer’s 23mm

The large 23mm officer’s button of the Cumberland Volunteers Leath Ward button is of open backed gilt brass construction with the lettering within an eight point star beneath a Georgian crown: it is slightly curved with the oringal shank. The L before the Leath Ward initials may stand for Lower or Loyal. The button retains almost all the original gilt with just a little rubbing to the high points of the crown. The unit is recorded in Stockdale’s List of the Volunteer and Yeomanry Corps, based on the previous year’s parliamentary list, as being commanded by John de Whelpdale and having a strength of 750.. The 1807 official List of the Officers of the Militiia &c shows him as the senior lt. colonel and there being one major, 9 captains and 16 subalterns. These often oddly named local unis were raised at the time of heightened fear of an invasion from France and most were very short lived.      jul12/2