England. Cornwallis, Charles (1738-1805). Master-General of the Ordnance, 1794.

This medal was minted in honour of Cornwallis' war achievements and his new appointment as Master-General of the Ordnance 1794.

Engraved year 1794 by William Mainwaring (resided in Birmingham, with known medal productions between 1790 and 1798). Tin 39 mm. Weight 20,0 gram.

Obverse: Uniformed bust of Marquis Cornwallis wearing cocked hat, three-quarter right. "CHARLES MARQUIS CORNWALLIS".

Reverse: Fame holding a wreath and blowing a trumpet standing on a trophy of arms, sun in splendour above. "AB ORI-ENTE AD OCCASUM" (From east to west), "1794".

From 1789 to 1792 he led British and Company forces in the Third Anglo-Mysore War to defeat the Mysorean ruler Tipu Sultan. For his success in conducting the war, Cornwallis was created Marquess Cornwallis in 1792. He departed for England in October 1793. Returning to England Cornwallis was given the post of Master-General of the Ordnance 1794.

CHARLES CORNWALLIS (1738-1805)
Charles Cornwallis (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805) was a British Army officer, Whig politician and colonial administrator. In the United States and the United Kingdom, he is best known as one of the leading British general officers in the American War of Independence. His surrender in 1781 to a combined American and French force at the siege of Yorktown ended significant hostilities in North America. Cornwallis later served as a civil and military governor in Ireland, where he helped bring about the Act of Union; and in India, where he helped enact the Cornwallis Code and the Permanent Settlement.

Born into an aristocratic family and educated at Eton and Cambridge, Cornwallis joined the army in 1757, seeing action in the Seven Years' War. Upon his father's death in 1762 he acceded to his peerage and entered the House of Lords. From 1766 until 1805, he was colonel of the 33rd Regiment of Foot.[1] Cornwallis next saw military action in 1776 in the American War of Independence. Active in the advance forces of many campaigns, in 1780 he inflicted a major defeat on the Continental Army at the Battle of Camden. He also commanded British forces in the March 1781 Pyrrhic victory at Guilford Court House. Cornwallis surrendered his army at Yorktown in October 1781 after an extended campaign through the Southern colonies, marked by disagreements between him and his superior, Sir Henry Clinton.

Despite this defeat, Cornwallis retained the confidence of successive British governments and continued to enjoy an active career. Knighted in 1786, he was in that year appointed to be Governor-General and commander-in-chief in India. There he enacted numerous significant reforms within the East India Company and its territories, including the Cornwallis Code, part of which implemented important land taxation reforms known as the Permanent Settlement.

Cornwallis was created Marquess Cornwallis in 1792
From 1789 to 1792 he led British and Company forces in the Third Anglo-Mysore War to defeat the Mysorean ruler Tipu Sultan. For his success in conducting the war, Cornwallis was created Marquess Cornwallis in 1792, although he did not learn of it until the following year. He departed for England in October 1793.