LS signed “Wellington,” one page, 7.5 x 9, August 17, 1850. Letter to Lieutenant Colonel H. Paynter, informing him that upon Wellington's recommendation, the Secretary of State has submitted to the Queen "your appointment to be a Companion of the most Honorable Order of the Bath—of which Her Majesty has been graciously pleased to approve." In very good to fine condition, with some light creasing.
Lt. Colonel Howell Price Paynter (1810-1851) served most of his career with the famed 24th Regiment, putting down French rebels in Lower Canada and fighting Sikhs in India during the Second Anglo-Sikh War. At the Battle of Chilianwala in January 1849, the 24th Regiment fought off the Sikhs with bayonets. 255 of its men died. Paynter was shot through both lungs and severely wounded. For his service in this battle he was brevetted Lieutenant-Colonel and awarded the Companion of the Order of the Bath—as noted in this letter. He never fully recovered from his wounds and died in 1851. Later, his regiment, the 24th, comprised part of the small garrison that held off 4,000 Zulu warriors during the Zulu Wars (depicted in the 1964 film Zulu).
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