COLONEL LINDSAYsaid, that some misapprehension existed as to the answer which had been given by the Under Secretary for War to the hon. and gallant Member for Lincoln (Major Sibthorp) the other evening, with reference to the French war medals, and he therefore begged to ask whether these medals, which were said to have been transmitted for distribution to the troops, were to be conferred on every officer and soldier who served in the Crimea, or whether the decoration was to be conferred on such officers and soldiers as Her Majesty might select for the honour?
§ MR. FREDERICK PEELsaid, the medals would be distributed in the proportion in which they were awarded in the French service—namely, to 10 men in very 1,000, and it would, therefore, be necessary to select those soldiers who were most worthy to receive the decoration. Accordingly, General Codrington had been 1049 instructed, with the aid of the commanding officers of the various regiments, to make such a selection.
§ In answer to Colonel LINDSAY,
§ MR.FREDERICK PEELsaid, the decoration would be confined to non-commissioned officers and private soldiers.