The Queen's prayers will be more than ever with her Army, and most fervently do we trust that General Simpson's health, as well as that of the other Generals, may be preserved to them unimpaired!
Queen Victoria to Lady Raglan.
Buckingham Palace, 30th June 1855.
Dear Lady Raglan,—Words cannot convey all I feel at the irreparable loss you have sustained, and I and the Country have, in your noble, gallant, and excellent husband, whose loyalty and devotion to his Sovereign and Country were unbounded. We both feel most deeply for you and your daughters, to whom this blow must be most severe and sudden. He was so strong, and his health had borne the bad climate, great fatigues, and anxieties so well, ever since he left England, that, though we were much alarmed at hearing of his illness, we were full of hopes of his speedy recovery.
We must bow to the will of God; but to be taken away thus, on the eve of the successful result of so much labour, so much suffering, and so much anxiety, is cruel indeed!
We feel much, too, for the brave Army, whom he was so proud of, who will be sadly cast down at losing their gallant Commander, who had led them so often to victory and glory.
If sympathy can be any consolation, you have it, for we all have alike to mourn, and no one more than I, who have lost a faithful and devoted Servant, in whom I had the greatest confidence.
We both most anxiously hope that your health, and that of your daughters, may not materially suffer from this dreadful shock. Believe me always, my dear Lady Raglan, yours very sincerely,
Victoria R.