Arthur Wellesley (30 April 1769, Duncan-Castle, County Meath – 14 September 1852), 1st Earl then Marquess then Duke of Wellington, was an Anglo-Irish aristocrat who became a British soldier and politician.
He is best known as Napoleon's victor at Waterloo. He is often compared to John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, with whom he shares many points in common, in particular having become a political leader after having achieved a great military career.
Origin
Arthur Wellesley, is the third son of Garret Wesley, 1st Earl of Mornington. It is believed that he was born either in Dublin or on the family lands in County Meath in Ireland. His date of birth is not precisely known:the only trace that we have is in a church register and was probably recorded a few days after his birth. The most likely date is May 1, 1769, but it could have been a few days before or after. His original name Arthur Wesley was legally changed to Arthur Wellesley in March 1798.
Wellesley studied at Eton from 1781 to 1785, then in Brussels. In 1787, his father bought him a job as an ensign in the 73rd infantry regiment; after a first training in the United Kingdom, he joined the military school of Angers in France, taught in 1787, lieutenant in the same year.
From 1787 to 1793, he served as aide-de-camp to two successive Lord Lieutenants of Ireland. He was promoted lieutenant in 1788; in 1790, he was elected MP (independent) for Trim in the House of Commons of Ireland, a post he held until 1797.
He rose rapidly in the army - mainly thanks to the system of the time where officers could (and often had to) buy their rank - and in 1793 he became a lieutenant-colonel in the 33rd Regiment of Foot. He fought in the Netherlands between 1794 and 1795. He was also a Freemason.
In 1796, after being promoted to the rank of colonel, he left with his regiment for India. The following year, his older brother, Richard Wellesley, Earl of Mornington, was appointed Governor General of India, and when war broke out in 1799 against the Sultan of Mysore, Tipû Sâhib, Arthur Wellesley commanded his own division. He was appointed governor of Seringapatam and Mysore, positions he kept until 1805. Thanks to his military victories, he was appointed supreme commander (political and military) of the Deccan, he won new victories, in particular against the chief brigand Dundiat Wagh and against the Marathas in 1803. In 1804 he was made a Knight of the Order of the Bath. When his brother completed his term in 1805, he returned to the United Kingdom with him.
In 1806 Wellesley was elected from Rye (Sussex) to the United Kingdom House of Commons for six months; The following year, he was elected from Newport (Isle of Wight) which he would represent for two years. During this period he was affiliated with the Tories, and in April 1807 he was appointed to the "King's Privy Council". However, his political role was abruptly interrupted when he sailed to the continent to take part in the Napoleonic wars.
The war against Napoleon
It was in the years that followed that the events took place that allowed Wellesley to enter history. By this time, Napoleon was in control of most of Europe, and the British government was looking for ways to counter the threat he had become.
After an expedition to Denmark, Wellesley was promoted to lieutenant general and transferred to the Iberian Peninsula. Although the fight got off to a bad start, it was the only place on the European continent where the British (and the Portuguese) managed to fight against France and its allies. Wellesley defeated the French at Roliça and Vimeiro in 1808. The resulting Sintra Agreement, which stipulated that the British army would evacuate the French from Lisbon, was much criticized and Wellesley was briefly recalled to the United Kingdom. At the same time, however, Napoleon himself came to Spain, and when Commander John Moore was killed at the Battle of Corruna, Welleslley was appointed Commander-in-Chief of all British forces in Portugal.
Returning to the Iberian Peninsula in April 1809, he defeated the army of King Joseph of Spain (Napoleon's older brother) at the Battle of Talavera. After this he was elevated to the peerage as Viscount Wellington, of Talavera and Wellington (Somerset). He drove the French forces out of Portugal in 1810 and 1811 and was promoted to General for his services in that country.
Crossing Spain, he defeated the French at the Battle of Salamanca and took Madrid in 1812. That year, a French counter-attack put the British army in a difficult position but Lord Wellington was given command of all the Allied armies in Spain and was made Marquess of Wellington on October 3. Promoted to field marshal, Wellington led a new offensive in 1813, culminating in the battle of Vitoria, which brought the imperial army back to France. He invaded France and clashed with Marshal Soult who led the defense of Toulouse on April 10, 1814. The outcome of this battle, the subject of debate (see Toulouse), marked the end of the 1814 campaign. April 11, 1814 , Napoleon signs the Treaty of Fontainebleau, concluded on the 6th, and is exiled to the island of Elba.
Hailed as a hero, Wellington was made Duke of Wellington, a title still held by his descendants. He was soon appointed ambassador to France, then took the place of Lord Castlereagh as plenipotentiary at the Congress of Vienna, where he argued vigorously for France to be allowed to keep its place in the balance of European powers. On January 2, 1815, he was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath.
On February 26, 1815, Napoleon left his exile in Elba and returned to France, and in May he regained control of the country. He must then face a reformation of the alliance against him. Wellington then left Vienna to lead the British and Allied forces during the Waterloo campaign. He arrived in Belgium and his vanguard fought the French at the Battle of Quatre Bras before retreating. Two days later, on June 18, Wellington, with the support of Prussian forces commanded by Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher definitively defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. The French Emperor abdicated again on June 22, and was exiled by the British to Île Sainte-Hélène.
Fascinated by the memory of the Emperor, he spent long hours sitting in front of his painting, silent...
Back to politics
In 1819, Wellington was appointed Master-General of the Ordnance - a position in the British army independent of the Commander-in-Chief and responsible for all artillery, fortifications, quartermasters... - in the Tory government of Lord Liberpool. In 1827, he became Commander-in-Chief of the British Army, a position he held until the end of his life, except during his term as Prime Minister. Along with Robert Peel, Wellington was a rising star in the Tory party, and in 1828 he became Prime Minister.
As prime minister, Wellington is the epitome of the ultra-conservative, yet it was oddly during his tenure that the Catholic Emancipation Act was passed, granting them virtually all civil rights in Britain. Lord Winchilsea accused Wellington of having "treacherously plotted the destruction of the Protestant constitution". Wellington then challenged him to a duel, a duel which took place on March 21, 1829 at Battersea Fields. As he was about to fire, Wellington deliberately aimed wide and Winchilsea fired in the air.
The Wellington government fell in 1830. There were many riots that summer and fall. The Whigs, who had hardly been in power since the 1770s, saw political reform as the key to their comeback. Wellington, respecting to the letter the conservative political line of the Tories loses a vote of confidence on November 15, 1830. He is replaced as Prime Minister by Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, who initiates a great liberal reform, having to force it through to the House of Lords.
When the Tories returned to power in 1834, Wellington declined the post of Prime Minister, which went to Robert Peel; however, the latter being in Italy, Wellington had to act for three weeks, in November and December 1834. In the first Peel government (1834-1841), Wellington was Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and in the second (1841-1846) he was Minister without Portfolio and Speaker of the House of Lords.
Wellington retired from political life in 1846, although remaining Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, and briefly returned to center stage in 1848, when he helped organize a force to protect London during that year of revolutions in Europe. He died in 1852 and is buried in Saint Paul's Cathedral.