Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

The Most Noble Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, PC, FRS (c. 1 May 1769–14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish 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 would rise to prominence in the Napoleonic Wars, eventually reaching the rank of Field Marshal.

Napoleonic Wars

It was in the following years that Wellesley undertook the events that made 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. The British government was casting about for ways to end Napoleon's threat; and Wellesley helped to supply them.

Related Topics:
1789 - France - French Revolution

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First came junior command in an expedition to Denmark in 1807, which soon led to Wellesley's promotion to Lieutenant-General and a transfer to the theatre of the Peninsular War. Although that war was not going particularly well, it was the one place where the British (and the Portuguese) had managed to put up a fight on the European mainland against France and her allies. (The disastrous Walcheren expedition was typical of the misfired British expeditions of the time.) Wellesley had submitted a memorandum to Lord Castlereagh on the defense of Portugal and Castlereagh appointed him head of an expeditionary force. Wellesley defeated the French at the Battle of Roliça and the Battle of Vimeiro in 1808. The resulting Convention of Cintra, which stipulated that the British army would transport the French out of Lisbon with all their loot, was controversial, and Wellesley was briefly recalled to Britain. In the meantime, however, Napoleon himself had come to Spain with his veteran troops, and when the Commander-in-Chief, Sir John Moore, died during the Battle of Corunna, Wellesley was appointed Commander-in-Chief of all British forces in Portugal.

Related Topics:
Denmark - 1807 - Lieutenant-General - Peninsular War - Portuguese - Walcheren expedition - Lord Castlereagh - Battle of Roliça - Battle of Vimeiro - 1808 - Convention of Cintra - Sir John Moore - Battle of Corunna

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Returning to Iberia in April 1809, he defeated one of the armies of King Joseph of Spain (Napoleon's eldest brother) at the Battle of Talavera in 1809. For this, he was raised to the Peerage as Viscount Wellington, of Talavera and of Wellington in the County of Somerset. When the French invaded Portugal again in 1810, he slowed them down at the Busaco, then blocked them from taking the Lisbon peninsula by his magnificently constructed earthwork Lines of Torres Vedras coupled with the waterborne protection of the British Royal Navy (the bloodless Battle of Lisbon). The baffled and starving French invasion forces retreated after six months. He proceeded to drive them out of Portugal entirely in 1811, fighting at Fuentes de Oñoro and Albuera. In May 1811, he was promoted to General for his services in Portugal.

Related Topics:
Iberia - 1809 - King Joseph of Spain - Battle of Talavera - Peerage - Wellington - County of Somerset - 1810 - Busaco - Lines of Torres Vedras - Battle of Lisbon - 1811 - Fuentes de Oñoro - Albuera - May - General

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Driving into Spain, he defeated the French again at Salamanca, then took Madrid in 1812. Around this time, he was created Earl of Wellington. A French counter-attack that year put British forces in a precarious position, but Lord Wellington was given command of all Allied armies in Spain and created Marquess of Wellington on 3 October. Taking advantage of the withdrawal of many French troops to Napoleon's doomed invasion of Russia, Wellington led a new offensive in 1813, culminating in the Battle of Vitoria, which pushed the enemy back into France and for which he was Promoted to Field Marshal. He invaded France, and finally defeated the French forces at Toulouse; after this battle, Napoleon was exiled to Elba in 1814.

Related Topics:
Salamanca - Madrid - 1812 - 3 October - Russia - 1813 - Battle of Vitoria - Field Marshal - Toulouse - Elba - 1814

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Hailed as the conquering hero, Wellington was created Duke of Wellington, a title still held by his descendants. 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.

Related Topics:
Lord Castlereagh - Congress of Vienna - 2 January - 1815 - Knight Grand Cross

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On 26 February 1815, Napoleon left his exile on Elba and returned to France. Regaining control of the country by May, he then faced a reformation of the alliance against him. Wellington left Vienna to command the Anglo-Allied forces during the Waterloo Campaign. He ended up in Belgium, along with Prussian forces under Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, and the Anglo-Allied forces fought the French in the inconclusive Battle of Quatre Bras. Two days later, on 18 June, Wellington and von Blücher finally defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. The French Emperor abdicated once again on 22 June, and was spirited away by the British to distant St Helena.

Related Topics:
26 February - 1815 - Waterloo Campaign - Belgium - Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher - Battle of Quatre Bras - 18 June - Waterloo - 22 June - St Helena

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