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Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

British Field Marshal, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1828-1830, 1834 (1769-1852) · Politicians · Died at 83

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The man who beat Napoleon at Waterloo - and then spent the next thirty-seven years trying to beat back political reform in Britain. Wellington came home a field marshal and left Parliament a rearguard Conservative, proof that genius on the battlefield doesn't always translate.

PoliticiansPoliticianPoliticsEarly Modern Era

A life in dates

1852Died14 September 18521815“Up, Guards, and at them again.”In their words22 June 1815Said at the Battle of Waterloo, as quoted in a letter from a Captain Batty of the Foot Guards (22 June 1815), often misquoted as "Up Guards

“Uxbridge: By God, sir, I've lost my leg! Wellington: By God, sir, so you have!”In their words18 June 1815Exchange said to have occurred at the Battle of Waterloo (18 June 1815), after Lord Uxbridge lost his leg to a cannonball; as quoted in

“It has been a damned serious business... Blucher and I have lost 30,000 men. It has been a damned nice thing - the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life. … By God!”In their words18 June 1815Remark to Thomas Creevey (18 June 1815), using the word nice in an older sense of "uncertain, delicately balanced", about the Battle of

“Napoleon has humbugged me, by God; he has gained twenty-four hours' march on me.”In their words15 June 1815At the Duchess of Richmond's ball (15 June 1815), as quoted in Camps, Quarters, and Casual Places (1896) by Archibald Forbes, quotes

“My heart is broken by the terrible loss I have sustained in my old friends and companions and my poor soldiers.”In their wordsJune 1815Letter from the field of Waterloo (June 1815), as quoted in Decisive Battles of the World (1899) by Edward Shepherd Creasy. Quoted too in

1814“I believe I forgot to tell you I was made a Duke.”In their words22 May 1814Postscript to a letter to his brother Henry Wellesley (22 May 1814), published in Supplementary Despatches and Memoranda of Field Marshal

1769Born1 May 1769

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

Sir Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of WellingtonSir Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington173 of 'The Duke of Wellington's Spanish Estate. A personal narrative. vol. 1' (11177853356)173 of 'The Duke of Wellington's Spanish Estate. A personal narrative. vol. 1' (11177853356)175 of 'The Duke of Wellington's Spanish Estate. A personal narrative. vol. 1' (11181956973)175 of 'The Duke of Wellington's Spanish Estate. A personal narrative. vol. 1' (11181956973)177 of 'The Duke of Wellington's Spanish Estate. A personal narrative. vol. 1' (11181457745)177 of 'The Duke of Wellington's Spanish Estate. A personal narrative. vol. 1' (11181457745)179 of 'The Duke of Wellington's Spanish Estate. A personal narrative. vol. 1' (11177478283)179 of 'The Duke of Wellington's Spanish Estate. A personal narrative. vol. 1' (11177478283)1813-10-31 England protects the town of Pompei, Arthur Wellesley, 1. Duke of Wellington, made by Nicolas-Guy-Antoine Brenet1813-10-31 England protects the town of Pompei, Arthur Wellesley, 1. Duke of Wellington, made by Nicolas-Guy-Antoine BrenetThe Battle of Waterloo, June 18th 1815 - The wars of Wellington, a narrative poem (1819), opposite 168 - BLThe Battle of Waterloo, June 18th 1815 - The wars of Wellington, a narrative poem (1819), opposite 168 - BLThe Battle of Waterloo, June 18th 1815 - The wars of Wellington, a narrative poem (1819), before 169 - BLThe Battle of Waterloo, June 18th 1815 - The wars of Wellington, a narrative poem (1819), before 169 - BL

In their own words 10

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Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
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10 statements, newest first

  1. Up, Guards, and at them again.

    Jun 22, 1815, Said at the Battle of Waterloo, as quoted in a letter from a Captain Batty of the Foot Guards (22 June 1815), often misquoted as "Up Guards, Own words

  2. Hard pounding this, gentlemen; let's see who will pound longest.

    Jun 18, 1815, At the Battle of Waterloo (18 June 1815), as quoted by Sir Walter Scott, in Paul's Letters to His Kinsfolk (1815)., Own words

  3. Uxbridge: By God, sir, I've lost my leg! Wellington: By God, sir, so you have!

    Jun 18, 1815, 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, Own words

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Awards

Knight of the Order of the Holy Spirit
Knight of the Order of Saint Michael
Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece
Fellow of the Royal Society
Grand Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa
Order of the Black Eagle
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Knight Grand Cross of the Military Order of William
Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky
Order of St. Andrew
Knight of the Garter
Order of St Patrick
Royal Guelphic Order
Order of Saint Ferdinand
Grand Cross of the Royal and Military Order of Saint Hermenegild
Grand Cross of the Order of the Tower and Sword
Order of the Red Eagle 1st Class
Military Order of Max Joseph
Order of Fidelity
Order of the Zähringer Lion
Order of the Rue Crown
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Sword
Knight of the Order of the Elephant
Order of Saint Januarius
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Ferdinand and of Merit
Order of the Most Holy Annunciation
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus
Order of St. George, 1st class
Knight of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus
Army Gold Medal
Order of the Golden Fleece
Order of Saint Hermenegild
Order of Saint Anna, 1st class
Waterloo Medal
Commander of the Order of the Sword

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Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

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About this person

Born into the Protestant Ascendancy in Dublin in 1769, Wellesley was commissioned as an ensign in 1787 and spent his early career as aide-de-camp in Ireland while serving in the Irish House of Commons. Sent to India as a colonel, he ended the Anglo-Mysore wars by defeating Tipu Sultan at Seringapatam in 1799, then crushed the Maratha Confederacy at Assaye in 1803 as a major general. His reputation was secured in the Peninsular War, where victory at Vitoria in 1813 earned him promotion to field marshal and, after Napoleon's first exile, a dukedom. In 1815, commanding a British-led coalition alongside Blücher's Prussians, he delivered the final blow at Waterloo. He turned to politics afterward: prime minister from 1828 to 1830, he oversaw Catholic Relief but dug in against the Reform Act of 1832, spending his last years as a Tory lion in the House of Lords until his death in 1852.

Category
Politicians
Type
Politician
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1769 to 1852 · aged 83

In common with Arthur

Sir Thomas PictonBoth received Army Gold MedalCharles James NapierBoth received Army Gold Medal

Politicians born in the 1760s 4

Joseph Radetzky von Radetz57.3Jiaqing Emperor57.2Wolfe Tone55.6Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey55.2

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