Person:Arthur Wellesley (4)

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
b.c. 29 Apr/1 May 1769
d.14 Sep 1852
  • HArthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington1769 - 1852
  • WCatherine Pakenham1773 - 1831
m. 10 Apr 1806
  1. Arthur Wellesley, 2nd Duke of Wellington1807 - 1884
  2. Lord Charles Wellesley1808 - 1858
Facts and Events
Name Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Gender Male
Birth[1] c. 29 Apr/1 May 1769
Marriage 10 Apr 1806 Dublin, Dublin, Republic of Irelandto Catherine Pakenham
Military? 21 Jun 1813 Vitoria, Álava, Vascongadas, Spain Combatant of Vitoria
Military? 18 Jun 1815 Waterloo, Brabant, Belgium Combatant of Waterloo
Death[1] 14 Sep 1852
Reference Number? Q131691?
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Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of the United Kingdom. He is among the commanders who won and ended the Napoleonic Wars when the coalition defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

Wellesley was born in Dublin into the Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. He was commissioned as an ensign in the British Army in 1787, serving in Ireland as aide-de-camp to two successive lords lieutenant of Ireland. He was also elected as a member of Parliament in the Irish House of Commons. He was a colonel by 1796 and saw action in the Netherlands and in India, where he fought in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War at the Battle of Seringapatam. He was appointed governor of Seringapatam and Mysore in 1799 and, as a newly appointed major-general, won a decisive victory over the Maratha Confederacy at the Battle of Assaye in 1803.

Wellesley rose to prominence as a general during the Peninsular campaign of the Napoleonic Wars, and was promoted to the rank of field marshal after leading the allied forces to victory against the French Empire at the Battle of Vitoria in 1813. Following Napoleon's exile in 1814, he served as the ambassador to France and was granted a dukedom. During the Hundred Days in 1815, he commanded the allied army which, together with a Prussian Army under Field Marshal Gebhard von Blücher, defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. Wellington's battle record is exemplary; he ultimately participated in some 60 battles during the course of his military career.

Wellington is famous for his adaptive defensive style of warfare, resulting in several victories against numerically superior forces while minimising his own losses. He is regarded as one of the greatest defensive commanders of all time, and many of his tactics and battle plans are still studied in military academies around the world. After the end of his active military career, he returned to politics. He was twice British prime minister as a member of the Tory party from 1828 to 1830 and for a little less than a month in 1834. He oversaw the passage of the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829, but opposed the Reform Act 1832. He continued as one of the leading figures in the House of Lords until his retirement and remained Commander-in-Chief of the British Army until his death.

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References
  1. 1.0 1.1 Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, in Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
  2.   Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, in Lundy, Darryl. The Peerage: A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe.
  3.   WELLESLEY, Sir Arthur (1769-1852), in The History of Parliament.