“I have the honor to represent to you that the Eighty-seventh regiment, under my command, has arrived in England, after a service of twenty-one years in tropical climates.
“It has just returned from the Burmese campaign, where it has obtained additional honors to those it had formerly won.
“To you, Sir, who so well know the character of every corps in the army, it is unnecessary to detail the services of the Eighty-seventh. It is now thirty-three years since I had the honor to raise it, thirty-one years of which period it has been upon foreign service; on the continent of Europe, the Peninsula, South America, and the East and West Indies. In all the well-fought actions where it bore a part in both hemispheres, it has been distinguished in general orders. My authority is the Government Gazette.
“Under these circumstances, may I be permitted to hope that you will do me the favour to lay at His Majesty’s feet my humble petition that the Eighty-seventh regiment may be appointed a light infantry corps, which, as being a mark of His Majesty’s approbation, would be most gratifying to those brave men, who have so freely bled, and would lay down their lives, to manifest their devoted attachment to their gracious and beloved Sovereign. Perhaps, Sir, you will have the less difficulty in complying with my request, when I mention that, immediately after the action of Barrosa, I received the following note from Lord Lynedoch, written from the field of battle:
“My dear Doyle,
“Your regiment has covered itself with glory. Recommend it and its commander to the notice of its illustrious patron, the Prince Regent. Too much cannot be done for the corps.”
“I presented it to his Royal Highness, who graciously said, ‘It is very true, and I will do any thing you wish for the regiment; will you have it made Royal?’ I respectfully declined the honor, for reasons his Royal Highness did not disapprove.
“For the correctness of this statement I humbly appeal to His Majesty, who never forgets any circumstance relating to those who have faithfully and zealously served him.
“I have, &c.,
(Signed) “I. Doyle,
“Colonel of the Eighty-seventh,
or Prince of Wales’s Own Irish
Regiment, and General.