“Horse Guards, 29 April, 1844.
“Sir,
“I have the satisfaction to acquaint you that the Secretary of State has, upon my recommendation, submitted to the Queen your appointment to be a Knight Commander of the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath, of which Her Majesty has been most graciously pleased to approve.
“I have the honor to be, Sir,
“Your most obedient humble servant,
“(Signed) Wellington.”
“Major-General Sir H. G. Smith, K.C.B.”
To which I replied—
“Headquarters, Army of India, Simla, 23rd June, 1844.
“My Lord Duke,
“I have this day had the honour to receive your Grace’s letter, ‘Horse Guards, 29th April’ acquainting me with an expression of satisfaction that Her Majesty had, upon your recommendation, been graciously pleased to appoint me a Knight Commander of the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath. While my gratitude to my Sovereign is unbounded, my heart dictates, it is to your Grace I am indebted for every honorary distinction, promotion, and appointment I have received during a long and an eventful period of the history of the world. Among the many thousands of the gallant soldiers who so nobly fought and conquered under your Grace, I may conscientiously hope none could desire more zealously to do his duty, or was ever more actuated by personal devotion or inspired with greater confidence throughout the numerous struggles of war, than he who now renders his grateful thanks for this mark of distinction so honourable to the soldier, and thus conferred by Her Majesty through the recommendation of his Commander-in-Chief, the Great Captain of the Age.
“I have, etc.,
“(Signed) H. G. Smith.