Historical Figure
Arthur Wellesley
d. 1852
British Army officer and statesman (1769–1852)
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Biography
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington was a 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.
In Their Own Words (5)
I used to say of him that his presence on the field made the difference of forty thousand men.
On Napoleon Bonaparte, in notes for 2 November 1831; later, in the notes for 18 September 1836, he is quoted as saying: , 1886
Uxbridge: By God, sir, I've lost my leg! Wellington: By God, sir, so you have!
Exchange said to have occurred at the Battle of Waterloo (18 June 1815), after Lord Uxbridge lost his leg to a cannonball; as quoted in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004) , 2004
'''All the business of war, and indeed all the business of life, is to endeavour to find out what you don't know by what you do; that's what I called "guessing what was at the other side of the hill."
Remarks to John Wilson Croker and Croker's wife (4 September 1852), quoted in L. J. Jennings (ed.), The Croker Papers: The Correspondence and Diaries of the Late Right Honourable John Wilson Croker, LL.D., F.R.S., Secretary to the Admiralty from 1809 to 1830, Vol. III (1884), p. 276 , 1884
Hard pounding this, gentlemen; let's see who will pound longest.
At the Battle of Waterloo (18 June 1815), as quoted by Sir Walter Scott, in Paul's Letters to His Kinsfolk (1815). , 1815
They wanted this iron fist to command them.
Of troops sent to the Canadian frontier in the War of 1812, in notes for 8 November 1840. , 1886
Timeline
The story of Arthur Wellesley, told in moments.
Born Arthur Wesley in Dublin to an aristocratic Anglo-Irish family. His mother considered him the family dunce. Sent to military school almost as an afterthought.
Defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in Belgium. The fighting lasted just one day. Wellington later said: "It has been a damned nice thing. The nearest run thing you ever saw in your life."
Became Prime Minister. Pushed through Catholic emancipation in 1829, angering his own Tory supporters. A mob smashed the windows of his London home. He responded by installing iron shutters. Earned the nickname "Iron Duke."
Died at Walmer Castle at 83. His state funeral drew 1.5 million mourners to the streets of London. He was buried in St Paul's Cathedral next to Lord Nelson.
Artifacts (14)
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Sèvres Manufactory|Alexandre Brachard
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769–1852)
Sir Francis Chantrey
The Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|William Sams|Michael William Sharp|William Say
Lazarus and the Rich Man
Anonymous, British, 19th century|S. Gans|Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington (1769–1852)
Carlo Amatucci
The Royal Allied Oak and Self-Created Mushroom Kings
John M. Field|James Jenkins|Alexander I, of Russia|Napoléon Bonaparte|Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|George, Prince of Wales|Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher|Louis XVIII, King of France|George III, King of Great Britain and Ireland|William Heath ('Paul Pry')
R. Ackermann's Transparency on the Victory of Waterloo
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher|Napoléon Bonaparte|Rudolph Ackermann, London|Thomas Rowlandson
Design for a Regency
Victoria, Duchess of Kent|Princess Alexandrina Victoria|William Heath ('Paul Pry')|Leopold I, King of the Belgians|William IV, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Dispersion of the Thimble Rig
William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne|Sir Robert Peel|Henry Peter, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux|Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby|Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Thomas Spring Rice, 1st Baron Monteagle|Daniel O'Connell|Ernest Augustus I, King of Hanover, Duke of Cumberland|Thomas McLean|Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey|Edward John Littleton, 1st Baron Hatherton|John Doyle|Lord John Russell
Supplementary despatches (correspondence) and memoranda of ... Arthur duke of Wellington, ed. by ..
It has survived long enough for the copyright to expire and the book to enter the public domain. A public domain book is one that was never subject to copyright or whose legal copyright term has...
Despatches, correspondence, and memoranda of Field Marshal Arthur, Duke of Wellington, K.G
It has survived long enough for the copyright to expire and the book to enter the public domain. A public domain book is one that was never subject to copyright or whose legal copyright term has...
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