Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

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The Duke of Wellington

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
In office January 22, 1828 – November 16, 1830 November 17, 1834 – December 9, 1834
Preceded by	The Viscount Goderich The Viscount Melbourne
Succeeded by	The Earl Grey Sir Robert Peel, Bt

Born	c. May 1, 1769 Possibly Dublin or County Meath
Died	September 14, 1852 Walmer, Kent
Political party	Tory

Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS (c. May 1, 1769 – September 14, 1852) was an Anglo-Irish British Army soldier and statesman, widely considered one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century. Commissioned an ensign in the British Army, he rose to prominence in the Napoleonic Wars, eventually reaching the rank of field marshal.

As a general Wellington is often compared to the 1st Duke of Marlborough, with whom he shared many characteristics, chiefly a transition to politics after a highly successful military career. He was twice Tory Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and was one of the leading figures in the House of Lords until his retirement in 1846.

[edit] Early life and marriage

Wellington was born The Honourable Arthur Wesley at either his family's social season Dublin residence, Mornington House, or at his family seat, Dangan Castle near Trim, County Meath, Ireland. He was the fifth son of Garret Wesley, 1st Earl of Mornington. His exact date of birth is uncertain; he himself celebrated his birthday on the first of May, but there is a parish register at St. Peter's, Dublin, recording his baptism on April 30. His biographers follow the contemporary newspaper evidence in ascribing it to 1 May 1769.^[1] His family changed the spelling of their surname to Wellesley, which his oldest brother considered the ancient and proper spelling, by 1798. (His baptisimal font was donated to St. Nahi's Church, Dundrum, in 1914.)

He came from a titled family long settled in Ireland. His father was the Earl of Mornington, his eldest brother (who inherited his father's earldom) became Marquess Wellesley, and two of his other brothers were raised to the peerage as Baron Maryborough and Baron Cowley.

Wesley was educated at Eton from 1781 to 1785, but a lack of success there, combined with a shortage of family funds, led to a move to Brussels in Belgium to receive further education.

Until his early twenties, Wesley showed no signs of distinction. His mother placed him in the army, saying "What can I do with my Arthur?" He became a nobleman playboy, carousing and gambling. He fell in love with the daughter of an Anglo-Irish peer, Miss Kitty Pakenham, and proposed marriage, but was rejected by her family as having no prospects. It seems likely that, at least in part, the shock of this rejection caused him to reform all his bad habits: he minimized his drinking, stopped gambling and even burned his beloved violin. He also began a rigid course of self-education in military science, something that was to be taught by no professional academy in Britain for another decade. He volunteered for service in the Netherlands and India, and achieved spectacular successes, rising in a decade to the rank of general, never losing a battle, and winning considerable prize money from grateful rajahs. On returning to Ireland he immediately renewed his marriage proposal to Kitty Pakenham before even seeing her again, and possibly without even having corresponded with her for ten years. This time her family accepted him but, on seeing how Kitty had grown old in his absence, Wellesley seems to have quickly regretted his decision. However, a promise was a promise: their marriage lasted the rest of her life, producing two sons but a great deal of loveless anguish.

[edit] Early career

In 1787 his mother and his brother Richard purchased for Wesley a commission as an ensign in the 73rd Regiment of Foot. After receiving military training in England he attended the Military Academy of Angers in France. His first assignment was as aide-de-camp to two successive Lords Lieutenant of Ireland (1787–1793). He was promoted to lieutenant in 1788. Two years later he was elected as an independent member of Parliament for Trim in the Irish House of Commons, a position he held for seven years. He gained rapid promotion (largely by purchasing his ranks, which was common in the British Army at the time), becoming lieutenant colonel in the 33rd Regiment of Foot in 1793. He participated in the unsuccessful campaign against the French in the Netherlands between 1794 and 1795, and was present at the Battle of Boxtel.

In 1796, after a promotion to colonel, he accompanied his division to India. The next year his elder brother Richard was appointed Governor-General of India, and when the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War broke out from 1798 against the Sultan of Mysore, Tipoo Sultan, Arthur Wellesley commanded a division of his own. While serving in that capacity, he was appointed Governor of Seringapatam and of Mysore, positions he held until 1805. He defeated the robber chieftain Dhundia Wagh (who had escaped from prison in Seringapatam during the last battle of the Mysore War). In the Maratha War of 1803, Wellesley commanded the outnumbered British army at Assaye and Argaum, and stormed the fortress at Gawilghur. On one occasion he outran the Mysore soldiers pursuing him and avoided being killed. Through his own skill as a commander, and the bravery of his British and Sepoy troops, the Indians were defeated at every engagement. Following the successful conclusion of that campaign he was appointed to the supreme military and political command in the Deccan. In 1804 he was created a Knight of the Bath, the first of numerous honours he received throughout his life. When his brother's term as Governor-General of India ended in 1805, the brothers returned together to England, where they were forced to defend their imperialistic (and expensive) employment of the British forces in India. India taught him to abandon the then-common British habit of infrequent bathing. Lord Wellington is usually credited with popularizing the custom of daily bathing in his own country.^{[citation needed]}

Wellesley served in the abortive Anglo-Russian expedition to north Germany in 1805. After Austerlitz, the forces went home having accomplished nothing. He was elected Tory member of Parliament for Rye for six months in 1806. A year later he was elected MP for Newport on the Isle of Wight, a constituency he would represent for two years. In April 1807 he became a privy counsellor. He served as Chief Secretary for Ireland for two years. However his political life came to an abrupt halt when he sailed to Europe to participate in the action against French forces in Portugal

[edit] Military Campaigns

Portrait of the Duke of Wellington by Francisco de Goya, 1812-14.

33rd Regiment of Foot Wellingtons Redcoats who fought in the Napoleonic Wars between 1812 - 1816 here showing the standard line 8th Company

It was in the following years that Wellesley won his place in history. Since 1789, France had been embroiled in the French Revolution, and after seizing the government in 1799, Napoleon had reached the heights of power in Europe.

Junior command in an expedition to Denmark in 1807 soon led to Wellesley's promotion to lieutenant general. In 1808 he was preparing to command an expedition to Venezuela, when the Spanish revolt in the Iberian peninsula began the Peninsular War. Wellesley defeated the French at the Battle of Roliça and the Battle of Vimeiro in 1808. Unfortunately, Wellesley was superseded in command of the British army. General Dalrymple insisted on connecting the available government minister to the controversial Convention of Sintra, which stipulated that the British Royal Navy would transport the French army out of Lisbon with all their loot. Wellesley was recalled to Britain to face a Court of Enquiry. He had agreed to sign the preliminary Armistice, but had not signed the Convention, and was cleared.

Meanwhile, Napoleon himself went to Spain with his veteran troops, and the new commander of the British forces in the peninsula, Sir John Moore, died during the Battle of Corunna.

Although the war was not going particularly well, it was the one place where the Portuguese and the British had managed to put up a fight against France and her allies. (The disastrous Walcheren expedition was typical of the mismanaged British expeditions of the time.) Wellesley submitted a memorandum to Lord Castlereagh on the defence of Portugal. Castlereagh appointed him head of the British forces in Portugal and raised their number from 10,000 men to 26,000.

Quickly reinforced, Wellesley took the offensive in April 1809. First, he crossed the Douro river in a brilliant daylight coup de main, and routed the French troops in Porto. He then joined with a Spanish army under Cuesta. They meant to attack Victor, but Napoleon's brother Joseph Bonaparte reinforced Victor, and the French attacked and lost at the Battle of Talavera de la Reina. For this, he was ennobled as Viscount Wellington of Talavera and of Wellington. (His brother William selected the name Wellington for its similarity to the family name of Wellesley; the surname derives from the village of Wellesley, not far from Wellington.) With Soult threatening his rear, the British were compelled to retreat to Portugal. Deprived of supplies promised by the Spanish throughout the campaign and not told of Soult's movement, Wellington never again relied on Spanish promises or resources.

In 1810 the French army under Marshal André Masséna invaded Portugal. Wellington first slowed them down at Busaco, then blocked them from taking the Lisbon peninsula by his magnificently constructed earthwork Lines of Torres Vedras coupled with the support of the Royal Navy. The baffled and starving French invasion forces retreated after six months. Wellington followed and in several skirmishes, drove them out of Portugal, except for a small garrison at Almeida which was placed under siege.

In 1811, Masséna returned to Portugal to relieve Almeida, but Wellington narrowly defeated the French at the battles of Fuentes de Oñoro. Meanwhile, Wellington's subordinate,Viscount Beresford, fought Marshal Soult's 'Army of the South' to a bloody standstill at the Battle of Albuera. In May, he was promoted to general for his services. Almeida fell, but the French retained the twin fortresses of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz, the 'Keys' guarding the roads into Portugal throughout the year.

In 1812, Wellington finally captured Ciudad Rodrigo by moving as the French went into winter quarters and storming it before they could react. Moving south quickly, he stormed the fortress of Badajoz in one bloody night. the Storming of Badajoz is famous as the only time he ever lost his composure, breaking down and crying at the sight of British dead in the breaches.

His army now was a British force reinforced in all divisions by units of the resurgent Portuguese army, rebuilt by Beresford. Campaigning in Spain, he routed the French at Salamanca. (This was the first time a French army of 50,000 had been routed since 1799.) The victory liberated the Spanish capital of Madrid. In this year he was created Earl and then Marquess of Wellington and given command of all Allied armies in Spain.

He attempted to take the vital fortress of Burgos, but failed due to a lack of siege equipment. The French abandoned Andalusia, and converged that and other armies to put the British forces in a precarious position. Wellington skillfully withdrew his army and joining with the smaller corps commanded by Rowland Hill, retreated to Portugal. Still, his victory at Salamanca had forced the French to withdraw from southern Spain, and the temporary loss of Madrid irreparably damaged the pro-French puppet government.

In 1813, Wellington led a new offensive against the French line of communication. He struck through the hills north of Burgos, and unexpectedly drew his supplies from Santander (on Spain's north coast), rather than from Portugal. He personally led a small force in a feint against the French centre, while the main army (commanded by Sir Thomas Graham) looped around the French right, leading to the French abandoning Madrid and Burgos. Continuing to outflank the French lines, Wellington brought the French to battle at Vitoria, for which he was promoted to field marshal. (However, the British troops broke discipline to loot the abandoned French wagons instead of pursuing the beaten foe. Wellington, in his official after-battle report, furiously and famously called them "the scum of the earth, enlisted only for drink".)

A few months later, after taking the small fortresses of Pamplona and San Sebastián, Wellington invaded France and defeated the French army under Marshal Soult at the Battle of Toulouse. (Ironically, this occurred four days after Napoleon had already surrendered in the East.) Napoleon was then exiled to the island of Elba in 1814.

Hailed as the conquering hero, Wellington was created Duke of Wellington, a title still held by his descendants. (Since he had not returned to England during the entire Peninsular War, he was awarded all his patents of nobility in a remarkable ceremony lasting an entire day.) He was soon appointed ambassador to France, then took Lord Castlereagh's place as First Plenipotentiary to the Congress of Vienna, where he strongly advocated allowing France to keep its place in the European balance of power. On 2 January 1815, the title of his Knighthood of the Bath was converted to Knight Grand Cross upon the expansion of that order.

On 26 February 1815, Napoleon escaped from Elba and returned to France. Regaining control of the country by May, he faced a renewed alliance against him. Wellington left Vienna to command the Anglo-Allied forces during the Waterloo Campaign. He arrived in Belgium to take command of the British army and the allied Dutch-Belgians, alongside the Prussian forces of Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher. The French defeated the Prussians at Ligny, and fought an indecisive battle at Quatre Bras, compelling the British army to retreat to a ridge on the Brussels road, just south of the small town of Waterloo. Two days later, on 18 June, came the titanic Battle of Waterloo. After an all-day fight, with the French discomfited by the unexpected arrival of Blücher's Prussian army, the French Imperial Guard was dramatically repulsed by British volley fire, routing Napoleon's army. On 22 June, the French Emperor abdicated once again, and was transported by the British to distant St Helena. The battle of Waterloo was the final battle listed in Edward Shepherd Creasy's book The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World.

[edit] Wellington as soldier

Most of Wellington's battles were tactically defensive; he held a strong position and defeated the attackers by a volley from infantry delayed until it would have maximum possible effect, at close range. When possible, as at Bussaco, he deployed his troops on the far slope of a hill, so they could be redeployed or reserves committed out of sight of the enemy.

While he held the battlefield at Talavera, he was compelled to make a strategic retreat back to Portugal, and it was not alone. If Marmont had not tried to pen in his army at Salamanca, and destroy it, he would have been compelled to retreat there also; and afterwards he preferred the political prize of Madrid to pursuing the defeated army, now under Bertrand Clausel.

All his sieges were successful, with the exception of Burgos. Most of these were in India, against Indian armies of worse training, arms, and morale than the French; he may have been overconfident at Burgos. Wellington also had to retake the frontier fortresses several times, because the French were equally successful in taking them from the Allied garrisons.

He disliked his cavalry commanders. He wrote a famous letter on July 18, 1812, accusing the cavalry of being unable to manoeuvre except on Wimbledon Common, and of always charging in a body, instead of forming in two lines - one to charge and one as a reserve.

He did not encounter Napoleon before 1815, and Waterloo does not show either of their tactics at their best. Napoleon had no time or room for grand manoeuvres, and Wellington's hastily gathered forces were not capable of them.^[2]

[edit] Later life

The Duke of Wellington in later life

Politics beckoned once again in 1819, when Wellington was appointed Master-General of the Ordnance in the Tory government of Lord Liverpool. In 1827, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the British Army. Along with Robert Peel, Wellington became one of the rising stars of the Tory party, and in 1828 he became Prime Minister.

During his first seven months as Prime Minister he chose not to live in the official residence at 10 Downing Street, finding it too small. He only relented and moved in because his own home, Apsley House, required extensive renovations.

As Prime Minister, Wellington was the picture of the arch-conservative, fearing that the anarchy of the French Revolution would spread to England. Oddly enough, the highlight of his term was Catholic Emancipation, the granting of almost full civil rights to Catholics in the United Kingdom. The change was forced by the landslide by-election win of Daniel O'Connell, a Catholic proponent of emancipation, who was elected despite not being legally allowed to sit in Parliament. Lord Winchilsea accused the Duke of having "treacherously plotted the destruction of the Protestant constitution". Wellington responded by immediately challenging Winchilsea to a duel. On March 21, 1829, Wellington and Winchilsea met on Battersea fields. When it came time to fire, the Duke took aim, Winchelsea kept his arm down, the Duke deliberately changed aim and fired wide to the right, and Winchilsea did not fire. Honour was saved and Winchilsea subsequently wrote Wellington an apology.^[3] In the House of Lords, facing stiff opposition, Wellington spoke for Catholic emancipation, giving one of the best speeches of his career [1]. He had grown up in Ireland, and later governed it, so he knew firsthand of the misery of the Catholic masses there. The Catholic Relief Act 1829 was passed with a majority of 105. Many of the Tories voted against the Act, and it passed only with the help of the Whigs.

The epithet "Iron Duke" originates from his period of Prime Minister, during which he experienced an extremely high degree of personal and political unpopularity. His residence at Apsley House was the constant target of window-smashers and iron shutters were installed to mitigate the damage. It was this rather than his characteristic, resolute constitution, that earned him the epithet of "The Iron Duke".

Wellington's government fell in 1830. In the summer and autumn of that year, a wave of riots (the Swing Riots) swept the country. The Whigs had been out of power for all but a few years since the 1770s, and saw political reform in response to the unrest as the key to their return. Wellington stuck to the Tory policy of no reform and no expansion of the franchise, and as a result lost a vote of no confidence on 15 November 1830. He was replaced as Prime Minister by Earl Grey.

The Whigs introduced the first Reform Act, but Wellington and the Tories worked to prevent its passage. The bill passed in the House of Commons, but was defeated in the House of Lords. An election followed in direct response, and the Whigs were returned with an even larger majority. A second Reform Act was introduced, and defeated in the same way, and another wave of near insurrection swept the country. During this time, Wellington was greeted by a hostile reaction from the crowds at the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and eventually the bill was passed after the Whigs threatened to have the House of Lords packed with their own followers if it were not. Though it passed, Wellington was never reconciled to the change; when Parliament first met after the first election under the widened franchise, Wellington is reported to have said "I never saw so many shocking bad hats in my life". During this time Wellington was gradually superseded as leader of the Tories by Robert Peel. When the Tories were brought back to power in 1834 Wellington declined to become prime minister, and Peel was selected instead. Unfortunately Peel was in Italy, and for three weeks in November and December 1834, Wellington acted as a caretaker, taking the responsibilities of Prime Minister and most of the other ministries. In Peel's first cabinet (1834–1835), Wellington became Foreign Secretary, while in the second (1841–1846) he was a Minister without Portfolio and Leader of the House of Lords.

The Duke's funeral procession passing through Trafalgar Square.

Wellington retired from political life in 1846, although he remained Commander-in-Chief of the Forces, and returned briefly to the spotlight in 1848 when he helped organize a military force to protect London during that year of European revolution. He died in 1852 at Walmer Castle (his honorary residence as Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, which he enjoyed and at which he hosted Queen Victoria). Although in life he hated travelling by rail, his body was then taken by train to London, where he was given a state funeral - one of only a handful of British subjects to be honoured in that way (other examples are Nelson and Churchill) - and was buried in a sarcophagus of luxulyanite in St Paul's Cathedral next to Lord Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson.

[edit] Legacy

1st Duke of Wellington astride Copenhagen his charger in Matthew Wyatt's statue on Round Hill, Aldershot

In 1838 a proposal to build a statue of Wellington resulted in the building of a giant statue of him on his horse Copenhagen, placed above the Arch at Constitution Hill in London directly outside Apsley House, his former London home. Completed in 1846, the enormous scale of the 40 ton, 30 feet high monument resulted in its removal in 1883, and the following year it was transported to Aldershot where it still stands near the Royal Garrison Church.

Image:Dukewellingtonhome.jpg

The capital city of New Zealand is named Wellington in honour of Wellington. The city has a private preparatory school named Wellesley College and a private club, Wellesley Club. The city of Auckland, New Zealand, has a central city road named Wellesley Street after Arthur Wellesley.

Mount Wellington, which overlooks Hobart, the capital of the state of Tasmania, Australia is named after Wellesley.

HMS Iron Duke, named after Wellington, was the flagship of Admiral Sir John Jellicoe at the Battle of Jutland in World War I.

Wellington Street in Ottawa, Canada is named after Wellington. It is the street upon which the Parliament Buildings, Canada's seat of government are located.

Wellington Square in the Adelaide suburb of North Adelaide, South Australia, is named after Wellington, for the reason that he is credited with securing the passage of the South Australia Foundation Act through the British House of Lords.

Wellington County in Ontario, Canada is named after Wellington. It is the county surrounding the city of Guelph, Ontario.

Wellington's likeness appears on the beer labels of the beer brewed by Wellington Brewery in Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

[edit] Titles and honours

[edit] Peerage of the United Kingdom

Baron Douro, of Wellington in the County of Somerset (4 September 1809)
Viscount Wellington, of Talavera and of Wellington in the County of Somerset (4 September 1809)
Earl of Wellington, in the County of Somerset (28 February 1812)
Marquess of Wellington, in the County of Somerset (3 October 1812)
Marquess Douro (11 May 1814)
Duke of Wellington, in the County of Somerset (11 May 1814)

[edit] British and Irish honours

Knight of the Bath (1804)
Privy Councillor of Great Britain (8 April 1807)
Privy Councillor of Ireland (28 April 1807)
Knight of the Garter (4 March 1813)
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (1815)
Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire (1820)
Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (1829)
Peninsular Cross medal with nine bars for all campaigns — the only one so issued. Displayed at Apsley House along with a Waterloo Medal.
Fellow of the Royal Society (1847)
Chancellor of Oxford University (1834-1852)

The Duke of Wellington stood as godfather to Queen Victoria's seventh child, Prince Arthur, in 1850. Prince Arthur was also born on the first of May; and as a toddler, young Arthur was encouraged to remind people that the Duke of Wellington was his godfather.

[edit] International honours and titles

Conde de Vimeiro (18 October 1811, Portugal)
Duque de Ciudad Rodrigo (January 1812, Spain)
Grandee of the First Class (January 1812, Spain)
Marquês de Torres Vedras (August 1812, Portugal)
Duque da Vitória (Duke of the Victory) (18 December 1812, Portugal)
Knight of the Golden Fleece (1812, Spain)
Prins van Waterloo (18 July 1815, The Netherlands)
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Hanover (1816, Hanover)
Field Marshal batons from 12 countries. These can be seen at Apsley House.

[edit] Styles

The Hon. Arthur Wesley (birth–7 March 1787)
Ensign The Hon. Arthur Wesley (7 March 1787–25 December 1787)
Lieutenant The Hon. Arthur Wesley (25 December 1787–30 June 1791)
Captain The Hon. Arthur Wesley (30 June 1791–30 April 1793)
Major The Hon. Arthur Wesley (30 April 1793–30 September 1793)
Lieutenant-Colonel The Hon. Arthur Wesley (30 September 1793–3 May 1796)
Colonel The Hon. Arthur Wesley (3 May 1796–19 May 1798)
Colonel The Hon. Arthur Wellesley (19 May 1798–29 April 1802)
Major-General The Hon. Arthur Wellesley (29 April 1802–1 September 1804)
Major-General The Hon. Sir Arthur Wellesley, KB (1 September 1804–8 April 1807)
Major-General The Rt Hon. Sir Arthur Wellesley, KB (8 April 1807–25 April 1808)
Lieutenant-General The Rt Hon. Sir Arthur Wellesley, KB (25 April 1808–4 September 1809)
Lieutenant-General The Rt Hon. The Viscount Wellington, KB, PC (4 September 1809–May 1811)
General The Rt Hon. The Viscount Wellington, KB, PC (May 1811–28 February 1812)
General The Rt Hon. The Earl of Wellington, KB, PC (28 February 1812–3 October 1812)
General The Most Hon. The Marquess of Wellington, KB, PC (3 October 1812–4 March 1813)
General The Most Hon. The Marquess of Wellington, KG, KB, PC (4 March 1813–21 June 1813)
Field Marshal The Most Hon. The Marquess of Wellington, KG, KB, PC (21 June 1813–11 May 1814)
Field Marshal His Grace The Duke of Wellington, KG, KB, PC (11 May 1814–2 January 1815)
Field Marshal His Grace The Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, PC (2 January 1815–14 September 1852)

[edit] Nicknames

Apart from giving his name to "Wellington boots", the Duke of Wellington also had several nicknames.

The "Iron Duke", possibly after an incident in 1830 in which he installed metal shutters to prevent rioters breaking windows at Apsley House
Officers under his command called him "The Beau", as he was a fine dresser, or "The Peer" after he was created a Viscount.
Regular soldiers under his command called him "Old Nosey" or "Old Hookey", on account of his prominent, aquiline nose.
Spanish and Portuguese troops called him "the Eagle" and "Douro" respectively.

[edit] Quotation

As a member of the Protestant British 'squirearchy' ruling Ireland, he was touchy about his Irish origins. When in later life an enthusiastic Gael commended him as a famous Irishman, he replied "Being born in a stable does not make one a horse."^{[citation needed]}

There is some dispute as to whether or not this alleged remark was ever made. His most authoritative biographer, Elizabeth Longford, certainly did not record it, nor did Christopher Hibbert. Others suggest it was a comment made of Wellesley by a member of the English aristocracy. Others have suggested it was a comment made by an Anglo-Irish poet.

[edit] Misattributed quotations

The epigram "the Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton" was never uttered by Wellington (it was invented by a French journalist), and could not have been. He remembered his days at Eton as lonely and unhappy, his only sport being solitary leaps across a local brook, and he almost never visited the school in later years despite being its most famous alumnus.

The exclamation "Publish and be damned!" is attributed to Wellington, as what he said after the courtesan Harriette Wilson threatened to publish her memoirs and his letters if he did not supply her financial demands.

[edit] Personality traits

Wellington set a gruelling pace of work. He rose early - he "couldn't bear to lie in" once awake - and usually slept for six hours or less. Even when he returned to civilian life after 1815, he slept in a camp bed, reflecting his lack of regard for creature comforts. General Miguel de Álava complained that Wellington said so often that the army would march at "daybreak" and dine on "cold meat", that he began to dread the two phrases. While on campaign he seldom ate anything between breakfast and dinner. During the retreat to Portugal during 1811, he subsisted (to the despair of his staff who dined with him) entirely on "cold meat and bread". He was however renowned for the excellent quality of the wine he drank and served, often drinking a bottle with his dinner - not a great quantity by the standards of his day.

Never much of a gourmet, he frequently drove his chef to frustration by his abstemious ways and general lack of interest in food, even eating a rotten egg on one occasion without realising it.

Although by no means ostentatious, the Duke was well-known for his fine sartorial taste (which, as mentioned above, helped earn him the nickname of "The Beau"). He was particularly fond of trousers - only just entering the gentleman's wardrobe during his life time. On one occasion the Duke was turned away from Almack's Assembly Rooms (a popular haunt of high society) for wearing trousers rather than the more conventional knee-breeches. Despite his luminary status, he quietly left without a word of protest.

He was very partial to high-technology and mechanical gadgets.

He was most insistent that he not be interrupted during shaving (possibly because his unusually rapid growth of facial hair required him to shave twice a day).

[edit] In fiction

Wellington is a recurring character in the Richard Sharpe novels by Bernard Cornwell. In the film versions he was played by David Troughton for the first two installments and Hugh Fraser for the remainder of the 14 movie series.

Wellington makes a gruff appearance in the Flashman novels.

He was memorably (if unflatteringly) portrayed by Stephen Fry in the "Duel and Duality" episode of the BBC One comedy television series Blackadder as a shouting, blustering war maniac with a tendency for violence towards the lower orders (including the Prince Regent, who was at the time disguised as his own butler, Mr. E. Blackadder), a penchant for duelling with cannon (because "only girls fight with swords these days") and a habit of shouting "Baaaahhh!" at random intervals. Fry later reprised his role, this time in a slightly more historically accurate manner, in Blackadder: Back & Forth.

C. S. Forester invented a younger sister, "Lady Barbara Wellesley", as a character in his Horatio Hornblower novels.

In Susanna Clarke's novel Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Wellington appears as the British Army's commanding officer in Portugal and Spain. He employs Jonathan Strange to help defeat the French using magic. He also appears as himself in Clarke's collection of short stories, The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories, in The Duke of Wellington Misplaces His Horse: Wellington follows his famous horse Copenhagen into Faerie.

An 82 year old Wellington was portrayed by Ron Moody in the Doctor Who audio play Other Lives, in which the Duke met the Doctor and his companions at the Great Exhibition of 1851.

in the science fiction book, Halo: The Flood, there is a character named Wellsley, who is a military AI who assists Major Silva in his campaign against the Covenant (Halo), an evil group of aliens bent on destroying humanity. Wellsley's personality was programmed to be like the duke of Wellington. The A.I. Wellsley often referred to victories that the Duke made as though he were the Duke and not an artificial recreation.

[edit] The Duke of Wellington's Government, January 1828 – November 1830

Changes

May-June, 1828—Sir George Murray succeeded Huskisson as Colonial Secretary. Lord Aberdeen succeeded Lord Dudley as Foreign Secretary. Aberdeen's successor at the Duchy of Lancaster was not in the cabinet. William Vesey-FitzGerald succeeded Grant as President of the Board of Trade and Treasurer of the Navy. Lord Palmerston left the Cabinet. His successor as Secretary at War was not in the cabinet.
September, 1828—Lord Melville became First Lord of the Admiralty. He was succeeded as President of the Board of Control by Lord Ellenborough, who also remained Lord Privy Seal
June, 1829—Lord Rosslyn succeeded Lord Ellenborough as Lord Privy Seal. Ellenborough remained at the Board of Control.

[edit] The Duke of Wellington's Caretaker Government November 1834 – December 1834

The Duke of Wellington—First Lord of the Treasury, Secretary of State for the Home Department, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Secretary of State for War and the Colonies and Leader of the House of Lords
Lord Lyndhurst—Lord Chancellor
Lord Denham—Chancellor of the Exchequer

Other offices were in commission.

[edit] See also

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[edit] Notes

^ Guedalla, The Duke, p.480; which also discusses the place of birth. Guedalla chooses Mornington House, Dublin, although Wellington's father did not formally acquire it until 16 August 1769. Various other places have been assigned by tradition; ranging from a now-vanished nouse next door to the Dublin packet boat, to Athy, which the Duke apparently put on the 1851 census, now burnt.
^ Longford, Wellington Volume I, ad loc.
^ Professor Richard Holmes, 'Wellington, the Iron Duke - From Soldier to Statesman'

[edit] References

ThePeerage.com
Burke's Peerage
Military Heritage published a feature on Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, time and conflicts in India on behalf of the British East India Company (aka East India Tea Company) and the British crown (Charles Hilbert, Military Heritage, August 2005, Volume 7, No. 1, pp.34 to 41), ISSN 1524-8666.
Guedalla, Phillip, The Duke. London, Hoddr and Stoughton, 1931.
Hutchinson, Lester. European Freebooters in Mogul India. New York: Asia Publishing House, 1964.
Longford, Elizabeth. Wellington: The Years of The Sword. New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1969.
Mill, James. The History of British India. 6 vols. 5th ed. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1968.
Brett-James, ed. Wellington at War 1794–1815, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1961.
A collection of the Duke’s letters. Beatson, Alexander. A View of the Origin and Conduct of the War with Tippoo Sultaun. London: Bulmer and Co., 1800.
Holmes, Richard. Wellington: The Iron Duke. London: Harper Collins Publishers, 2002

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Political offices
Preceded by William Elliot	Chief Secretary for Ireland 1807–1809	Succeeded by Robert Dundas
Preceded by The Viscount Goderich	Prime Minister 1828–1830	Succeeded by The Earl Grey
Preceded by The Viscount Goderich	Leader of the House of Lords 1828–1830	Succeeded by The Earl Grey
Preceded by Viscount Duncannon	Home Secretary (pro tempore) 1834	Succeeded by Henry Goulburn
Preceded by Thomas Spring Rice	Secretary of State for War and the Colonies (pro tempore) 1834	Succeeded by The Earl of Aberdeen
Preceded by The Viscount Melbourne	Prime Minister (pro tempore) 1834	Succeeded by Sir Robert Peel
Preceded by The Viscount Melbourne	Leader of the House of Lords 1834–1835	Succeeded by The Viscount Melbourne
Preceded by The Viscount Palmerston	Foreign Secretary 1834–1835	Succeeded by The Viscount Palmerston
Preceded by The Viscount Melbourne	Leader of the House of Lords 1841–1846	Succeeded by The Marquess of Lansdowne
Party Political Offices
Preceded by None recognized	Leader of the British Conservative Party 1828–1834	Succeeded by Sir Robert Peel, Bt
Preceded by None recognized	Conservative Leader in the Lords 1828–1846	Succeeded by The Lord Stanley
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by None due to Napoleonic Wars	British Ambassador to France 1814–1815	Succeeded by Sir Charles Stuart
Military Offices
Preceded by The Earl of Mulgrave	Master-General of the Ordnance 1819–1827	Succeeded by The Marquess of Anglesey
Preceded by HRH The Duke of York	Commander-in-Chief of the Forces 1827–1828	Succeeded by The Lord Hill
Preceded by The Lord Hill	Commander-in-Chief of the Forces 1842–1852	Succeeded by The Viscount Hardinge
Honorary Titles
Preceded by The Earl of Malmesbury	Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire 1820–1852	Succeeded by The Marquess of Winchester
Preceded by The Earl of Liverpool	Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports 1829–1852	Succeeded by The Marquess of Dalhousie
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by New Creation	Duke of Wellington 1814–1852	Succeeded by Arthur Richard Wellesley
	Marquess of Wellington 1812–1852
	Earl of Wellington 1812–1852
	Viscount Wellington 1809–1852

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Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom

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