Stock No. 2942	King Joseph Bonaparte's fork & spoon
Very important item of military history. Silver table fork and table spoon which was part of the personal table service of King Joseph Bonaparte of Spain, eldest brother of Napoleon I. The King's service was captured along with his baggage train at the Battle of Vitoria on 21st June 1813 when the Duke of Wellington defeated King Joseph Bonaparte's army. The fork and spoon are very similar in style to the Old English pattern but are more spatulate in form and the bowl of the table spoon is of a much more pointed shape. Both are of extremely heavy gauge. The reverse of each stem is stamped with hallmarks for Madrid circa 1810 and both are engraved at the end of the reverse of the stem with the imperial crown above the monogram JN for Joseph Bonaparte. The front of both stems is engraved:- VITTORIA 21st June 1813 Carlile Pollock Lieut 27th Regt.

Condition :-Impeccable condition with extremely crisp hallmarks and engraving
Hallmarked :- Madrid Circa 1810
Size :-	7.6 inches (19.3 cm) length of fork x 7.9 inches (20.1 cm) length of spoon
Weight :- 5.08 ozt (158 g)
The Battle of Vitoria effectively broke the back of the French occupation of Spain and also led to simple Allied soldiers becoming wealthy men overnight as they looted a baggage train containing some 5.5 million francs worth of treasure. The Duke of Wellington split his army of some 70,000 men in two and sent about 40,000 of them under General Graham on a series of hook marches which forced the French to be continually on the defensive. The remaining Allied soldiers herded King Bonaparte' troops and Marshal Jourdan's force of 50,000 towards their border. Battle was joined at Vitoria and the French fought with great courage in an attempt to give the massive baggage trains a head start on their journey back to France. However, the French were finally outflanked and routed leaving 7500 dead or wounded on the field. The British lost some 5000 men. The French soldiers officially abandoned the treasure wagons and fled but occasionally stopped to join in the looting. The Allied mopping-up operation was ruined by the wealth on offer to poorly paid soldiers. To the fury of the Duke of Wellington, of the original approximate figure of 5.5 million francs worth of treasure, only about 250,000 francs worth were left to put into the war coffers. Joseph Bonaparte (1768 - 1844) was Napoleon's older brother and was a good politician and skilful diplomat. He was King of Naples and Sicily from 1806 - 1808 and King of the Spains and Indies 1808 - 1813 and had very enlightened views on governing. After the defeat at Vitoria he fled to France. The 27th Regiment later became The Royal Inniskillen Fusiliers. Over the years, they have changed their name and they are now part of the Royal Irish Regiment.

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