Wellington admonishes an Inniskilling

Major General Sir Arthur Wellesley wrote to Captain W Wainwright, an Inniskilling officer, on 1 February 1808 by way of a reply concerning promotion for Wainwright's brother. Wainwright appears to have written the letter to Sir Arthur at the behest of his father Henry Wainwright, who also attracts criticism in the last paragraph. The text of the letter included the following:

I have received your letter of the 26th ultimo. Had the request contained in that letter been made to me by any person out of the army and unacquainted with the usages of His Majesty's service, it might not have appeared extraordinary; but I must own I am rather surprised that an officer of the rank of captain should not have adverted to the manifest impropriety which there would be in my laying down before the Commander in Chief such a request as that which you wish me to make in favor of your brother.

I am persuaded that when you reflect on this matter, you will be convinced that to promote your brother, before he shall have served in the army, and to place him over the heads of all the ensigns of those battalions of the 27th Regiment, many of whom are now on foreign service with their regiment would be an act of very great injustice to those officers and consequently one which I cannot propose to the Commander in Chief and which if proposed, His Royal Highness would certainly not sanction with his consent to it. Indeed I cannot avoid being surprized that such a proposition should have come from an officer of the 27th.

It will always afford me satisfaction to attend to your father's wishes when in my power to do so; but in this instance you will, I am persuaded, admit that I have no option of replying with his request.

At that time, Frederick, Duke of York, was the Commander in Chief and when the letter was printed in the Supplementary Despatches, Wainwright's name and the identity of his regiment were both omitted.