Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington was an Anglo-Irish British Army officer and statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures in Britain during the early 19th century, twice serving as Prime Minister. He was one of the British commanders who ended the Anglo-Mysore wars by defeating Tipu Sultan in 1799, and among those who ended the Napoleonic Wars in a Coalition victory when the Seventh Coalition defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
Wellesley was born into a Protestant Ascendancy family in Dublin, in the Kingdom of Ireland. He was commissioned as an ensign in the British Army in 1787, serving in Ireland as aide-de-camp to two successive lords lieutenant of Ireland. He was also elected as a member of Parliament in the Irish House of Commons. Rising to the rank of colonel by 1796, Wellesley served in the Flanders campaign before being sent to India, where he fought in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War, ending the conflict with a victory at Seringapatam in 1799. He was appointed governor of Seringapatam and Mysore and, as a newly appointed major-general, won a decisive victory over the Maratha Confederacy at the Battle of Assaye in 1803.
Rising to prominence as a general officer during the Peninsular War, Wellesley was promoted to field marshal after leading British-led forces to victory against a French army at the Battle of Vitoria in 1813. Following Napoleon's first exile in 1814, he served as the British ambassador to France and was made Duke of Wellington. During the Hundred Days campaign in 1815, Wellington commanded another British-led army which, together with a Prussian army under Field Marshal Gebhard von Blücher, defeated Napoleon at Waterloo.
After the end of his active military career, Wellington returned to politics, becoming a prominent member of the British Tory party. He served as prime minister from 1828 to 1830, as well as on an interim basis for a little less than a month in 1834. Wellington oversaw the passage of the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 and opposed the Reform Act 1832. He continued to be one of the leading figures in the House of Lords until his retirement in 1846 and remained Commander-in-Chief of the Forces until his death in 1852.
Early life
Family
Arthur Wellesley was born into an aristocratic Anglo-Irish family, belonging to the Protestant Ascendancy, beginning life as the Hon. Arthur Wesley. He was born the son of Anne, Countess of Mornington, and Garret Wesley, 1st Earl of Mornington. His father was himself the son of Richard Wesley, 1st Baron Mornington, and had a short career in politics representing the constituency of Trim in the Irish House of Commons before succeeding his father as Baron Mornington in 1758. Garret Mornington was also an accomplished composer, and in recognition of his musical and philanthropic achievements was elevated to the rank of Earl of Mornington in 1760. Wellesley's mother was the eldest daughter of Arthur Hill-Trevor, 1st Viscount Dungannon, after whom Wellesley was named. Through Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, Wellesley was a descendant of Edward I of England.Wellesley was the sixth of nine children born to the Earl and Countess of Mornington. His siblings included Richard, Viscount Wellesley, who later became 1st Marquess Wellesley and 2nd Earl of Mornington, William, who later became 1st Baron Maryborough and 3rd Earl of Mornington, and Henry, who later became 1st Baron Cowley.
Birth date and place
The exact date and location of Wellesley's birth are not known, but biographers mostly follow the same contemporary newspaper evidence, which states that he was born on 1 May 1769, the day before he was baptised in St. Peter's Church on Aungier Street in Dublin. However, the historian Ernest Lloyd states: "The registry of St. Peter's Church, Dublin, shows that he was christened there on 30 April 1769".Wellesley may have been born at his parents' townhouse, Mornington House at 6 Merrion Street, Dublin, which now forms part of the Merrion Hotel. His mother, Anne, Countess of Mornington, recalled in 1815 that he had been born at 6 Merrion Street.
His family's home at Dangan Castle, Dangan, near Summerhill in County Meath, has also been purported to have been his birthplace. In his obituary, published in The Times in 1852, it was reported that Dangan was unanimously believed to have been the place of his birth, though suggested it was unlikely, but not impossible, that the family had travelled to Dublin for his baptism. A pillar was erected in his honour near Dangan in 1817.
The place of his birth has been much disputed following his death. Sir Bernard Burke wrote in 1873:
"Isn't it remarkable that until recently all the old memoirs of the Duke of Wellington seemed to infer that County Meath was the place of birth. Nowadays the theory that he was born in Dublin is generally accepted but by no means proved".
Other places that have been put forward as the location of his birth include a coach between Meath and Dublin, the Dublin packet boat and the Wellesley townhouse in Trim, County Meath.
Childhood
Wellesley spent most of his childhood at his family's two homes, the first a large house in Dublin, Mornington House, and the second Dangan Castle, north of Summerhill in County Meath. In 1781 his father died and his eldest brother, Richard, inherited his father's earldom.He went to the diocesan school in Trim when at Dangan, Mr Whyte's Academy when in Dublin, and Brown's School in Chelsea when in London. He then enrolled at Eton College, where he studied from 1781 to 1784. His loneliness there caused him to hate it, and makes it highly unlikely that he actually said "The Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton", a quotation which is often attributed to him. Moreover, Eton had no playing fields at the time. In 1785, a lack of success at Eton, combined with a shortage of family funds due to his father's death, forced the young Wellesley and his mother to move to Brussels. Until his early twenties, Arthur showed little sign of distinction and his mother grew increasingly concerned at his idleness, stating, "I don't know what I shall do with my awkward son Arthur."
In 1786 he enrolled in the French Royal Academy of Equitation in Angers, where he progressed significantly, becoming a good horseman and learning French, which later proved very useful. Upon returning to England later the same year, he astonished his mother with his improvement.
Early military career: 1787–1796
Ireland: 1787–1793
Despite his new promise, Wellesley had yet to find a job and his family was still short of money, so upon the advice of his mother, his brother Richard asked his friend the Duke of Rutland to consider Arthur for a commission in the Army. Soon afterward, on 7 March 1787, he was gazetted ensign in the 73rd Regiment of Foot. In October, with the assistance of his brother, he was assigned as aide-de-camp, on ten shillings a day, to the new Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord Buckingham. He was also transferred to the new 76th Regiment forming in Ireland and on Christmas Day, 1787, was promoted to lieutenant. During his time in Dublin his duties were mainly social; attending balls, entertaining guests and providing advice to Buckingham. While in Ireland, he overextended himself in borrowing due to his occasional gambling, but in his defence stated that "I have often known what it was to be in want of money, but I have never got helplessly into debt".On 23 January 1788 he transferred into the 41st Regiment of Foot, then again on 25 June 1789 he transferred to the 12th Regiment of Dragoons and, according to the military historian Richard Holmes, he also reluctantly entered politics. Shortly before the general election of 1789, he went to the rotten borough of Trim to speak against the granting of the title "Freeman" of Dublin to the parliamentary leader of the Irish Patriot Party, Henry Grattan. Succeeding, he was later nominated and duly elected as a Member of Parliament for Trim in the Irish House of Commons. Because of the limited suffrage at the time, he sat in a parliament in which at least two-thirds of the members owed their election to the landowners of fewer than a hundred boroughs. Wellesley continued to serve at Dublin Castle, voting with the government in the Irish parliament over the next two years. He became a captain on 30 January 1791 and was transferred to the 58th Regiment of Foot.
On 31 October, he transferred to the 18th Light Dragoons. During this period he grew increasingly attracted to Kitty Pakenham, the daughter of Edward Pakenham, 2nd Baron Longford. She was described as being full of 'gaiety and charm'. In 1793 he proposed, but was turned down by her brother Thomas, 2nd Earl of Longford, who considered Wellesley to be a young man, in debt, with very poor prospects. An aspiring amateur musician, Wellesley, devastated by the rejection, burnt his violins in anger, and resolved to pursue a military career in earnest. He became a major by purchase in the 33rd Regiment in 1793. A few months later, in September, his brother lent him more money and with it he purchased a lieutenant-colonelcy in the 33rd.
Netherlands: 1794–1795
In 1793 Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, was sent to Flanders in command of the British contingent of an allied force destined for the invasion of France. In June 1794 Wellesley with the 33rd regiment set sail from Cork bound for Ostend as part of an expedition bringing reinforcements for the army in Flanders. They arrived too late to participate, and joined the Duke of York as he was pulling back towards the Netherlands. On 15 September 1794, at the Battle of Boxtel, east of Breda, Wellesley, in temporary command of his brigade, had his first experience of battle. During General Ralph Abercromby's withdrawal in the face of superior French forces, the 33rd held off enemy cavalry, allowing neighbouring units to retreat safely. During the extremely harsh winter that followed, Wellesley and his regiment formed part of an allied force holding the defence line along the Waal River. The 33rd, along with the rest of the army, suffered heavy losses from attrition and illness. Wellesley's health was also affected by the damp environment.Though the campaign was to end disastrously, with the British army driven out of the United Provinces into the German states, Wellesley became more aware of battle tactics, including the use of lines of infantry against advancing columns, and the merits of supporting sea-power. He understood that the failure of the campaign was due in part to the faults of the leaders and the poor organisation at headquarters. He remarked later of his time in the Netherlands that "At least I learned what not to do, and that is always a valuable lesson".