(Signed) J. INNES,
Lieut.-Col. M. E. regiment, in
charge N. D. of the army.
Masulipatam,
27th May, 1809.
No. XIII.
Copy of the Reply of the Officers of the Madras European Regiment to the above Letter.
TO LIEUTENANT-COLONEL INNES,
COMMANDING THE MADRAS EUROPEAN REGIMENT.
Sir,
Agreeably to your orders, communicated to us by Lieutenant and Adjutant Nixon, we have the honour to state, that we were present at the regimental mess on the evening of the 7th instant, and that it was with considerable astonishment we observed you leave the mess so abruptly. We are unable to say what was the occasion of your doing so. "The friends of the army" was proposed as a toast, and we conceived it to be one that would not have been objected to; but as you wished to alter it, and rose from table when it was about to be drank, we conjectured it had given you offence, and that it was on this account you left the mess. So far from observing any pointed disrespect, we did not notice any disrespect whatever, shown by Lieutenant D. Forbes or Lieutenant Maitland to the dignity of the Governor in Council, and Commander-in-Chief, in your presence; and until we see the account you have forwarded on the subject to head-quarters, we shall be at a loss to suppose what part of their conduct on the night alluded to appeared to you to be exceptionable.
Signed by all the Officers present
with the mess on the 7th instant.