FROM
“It makes me burn to have been a soldier/'
—Cardinal Newman, on reading the Despatches
Arthur Wellesley was born in Dublin in 1769 and attended a French military academy after schooling at Eton. He joined a Highland regiment, gained rapid promotion through family money and meanwhile sat in the Irish Parliament. As a commander in India he won victories in the Maratha War and, on his return, took the political post of Irish Secretary. He defeated a Danish force in an expedition against Copenhagen and was sent to Portugal on the outbreak of the Peninsular War. His defensive strategy against much superior forces was followed by a series of victories at Cuidad Rodruigo, Badajoz, Salamanca, and Vittoria. Finally entering France, he defeated the French at Toulouse before participating in the peace settlement. On Napoleons return, he took command and defeated the French at Waterloo in 1815. As Duke of Wellington he returned to a political career and became prime minister in 1828, passing the Catholic Emancipation bill. He resigned, amid riots, in 1830 when the Great Reform bill was passed by the new government with his belated support. For many years he remained in public life and was an inactive commander in chief until his death in 1852.
“Really when I reflect upon the character and the attainment of some of the General officers of this army, and consider that these are the persons on whom I am to rely to lead columns against the French generals, and who are to carry my instructions into execution, I tremble; and, as Lord Chesterfield said of the Generals of his day, 'I only hope that when the enemy reads the list of their names he trembles as I do/ “
—Wellington, 1810
The Revolution