[ Sir Thomas Erskine Napier to Sir Edward Blakeney, Commander in Chief, Ireland. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Thos. E. Napier') in which he states that his time serving under Blakeney was the happiest of his military career.

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Two days before the writing of this letter the London Gazette had announced (10 November 1846) that Napier, then Deputy Adjutant-General in Ireland, had been promoted to Lieutenant General. The letter, in which he writes to his Commander in Chief in Ireland, is headed 'Private'. It begins: 'My Dear Sir Edward | As I grieve to think that our Official intercourse is of necessity about to terminate, I hope you will allow me to take this mode of returning you my warmest thanks for all the kindness I have experienced from you since I came to the Royal Hospital'. (Both men had been severely injured during the Peninsular War – Blakeney in 1811 and 1812, and Napier in 1813 – and presumably had met at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea.) He can 'with truth and sincerity say that the period I have served with you here has been by far the happiest during the whole of my Military Career'. He states: 'I quit my present position on Promotion', but feels certain that Blakeney approves of the manner in which he has conducted the duties of his department. He has 'no right to expect' that he will 'be employed at once upon the Staff', but adds: 'I trust my time may come, & when it does I sincerely hope it may be under your Command & the more immediate the better I should like it'.