Badge of the Order of the Bath, Military Class, awarded to Maj. Gen. Lawrence Fyler after 1861

Obverse, a gold sceptre with a rose, a thistle and a shamrock sprouting therefrom, all on white enamel encircled by an inscription in gilt on a red enamel and gold wreathed border in green enamel, all on a Maltese Cross of eight points enamelled in white with grey lining, the second inscription in gilt on a blue enamelled banner to the lowest arm; a gold pearl to each point and a gold lion passant-guardant in each angle of the cross, the whole surmounted by plumes to which the suspension is attached

Reverse, a gold sceptre with a rose, a thistle and a shamrock sprouting therefrom all on white enamel encircled by an inscription in gilt on a red enamel and gold wreathed border in green enamel, all on a Maltese Cross of eight points enamelled in white with grey lining, the second inscription in gilt on a blue enamelled banner to the lowest arm; a gold pearl to each point and a gold lion passant-guardant in each angle of the cross, the whole surmounted by plumes to which the suspension is attached

Badge of the Order of the Bath, Military Class, after 1861

The Order of the Bath as an institution dates back to a foundation by King Henry IV in 1399, but fell into oblivion between the reigns of Charles II (1660-1685) and George I (1660-1725). This latter monarch however determined upon its revival as a "regular military order". It was subsequently completely revised and extended by the Prince Regent George, establishing three classes, Knights Grand Cross, Knights Commander and Knights Companion, to the latter two of which Civil equivalents were added in 1847 by Queen Victoria. To receive admittance into the military class of the Order an office needs to hold a rank above Major (or Commander in the Navy), and to have received a gallantry medal or been mentioned in the London Gazette.
This decoration is the Badge of the Order, and the details of the suspension inform us that it is as worn by Companions of the Order. It is not named, but it was awarded to Major-General Lawrence Fyler, late of the 12th Lancers, whose medal group has come entire into the Watson Collection and shows a career spent in India and the East fighting for the Crown from the 1830s to the 1850s. Fyler was admitted to the Turkish Order of the Medjidie between 1855 and 1861, and this may have been his qualification for the Order of the Bath, though his entry into it may have come later in recognition of his whole career.
Fyler's medals are not all physically attached to each other, although the catalogue of the Watson Collection considers them as Group 8, so the opportunity has been taken to treat them separately here. Nonetheless, it was as a group that Lester Watson bought them, from the London dealers Seaby, in 1929.