Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

Birth date and place

The exact date and location of Wellesley's birth are not known, but biographers mostly follow the same contemporary newspaper evidence, which states that he was born on 1 May 1769, the day before he was baptised in St. Peter's Church on Aungier Street in Dublin. However, the historian Ernest Lloyd states: "The registry of St. Peter's Church, Dublin, shows that he was christened there on 30 April 1769".

Wellesley may have been born at his parents' townhouse, Mornington House at 6 Merrion Street (the address later became known as 24 Upper Merrion Street), Dublin, which now forms part of the Merrion Hotel. His mother, Anne, Countess of Mornington, recalled in 1815 that he had been born at 6 Merrion Street.

His family's home at Dangan Castle, Dangan, near Summerhill in County Meath, has also been purported to have been his birthplace. In his obituary, published in The Times in 1852, it was reported that Dangan was unanimously believed to have been the place of his birth, though suggested it was unlikely, but not impossible, that the family had travelled to Dublin for his baptism. A pillar was erected in his honour near Dangan in 1817.

The place of his birth has been much disputed following his death. Sir Bernard Burke wrote in 1873:

Isn't it remarkable that until recently all the old memoirs of the Duke of Wellington seemed to infer that County Meath was the place of birth. Nowadays the theory that he was born in Dublin is generally accepted but by no means proved.

Other places that have been put forward as the location of his birth include a coach between Meath and Dublin, the Dublin packet boat and the Wellesley townhouse in Trim, County Meath.

Ireland: 1787–1793

Despite his new promise, Wellesley had yet to find a job and his family was still short of money, so upon the advice of his mother, his brother Richard asked his friend the Duke of Rutland (then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland) to consider Arthur for a commission in the Army. Soon afterward, on 7 March 1787, he was gazetted ensign in the 73rd Regiment of Foot. In October, with the assistance of his brother, he was assigned as aide-de-camp, on ten shillings a day (twice his pay as an ensign), to the new Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord Buckingham. He was also transferred to the new 76th Regiment forming in Ireland and on Christmas Day, 1787, was promoted to lieutenant. During his time in Dublin his duties were mainly social; attending balls, entertaining guests and providing advice to Buckingham. While in Ireland, he overextended himself in borrowing due to his occasional gambling, but in his defence stated that "I have often known what it was to be in want of money, but I have never got helplessly into debt".

On 23 January 1788 he transferred into the 41st Regiment of Foot, then again on 25 June 1789 he transferred to the 12th (Prince of Wales's) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons and, according to the military historian Richard Holmes, he also reluctantly entered politics. Shortly before the general election of 1789, he went to the rotten borough of Trim to speak against the granting of the title "Freeman" of Dublin to the parliamentary leader of the Irish Patriot Party, Henry Grattan. Succeeding, he was later nominated and duly elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Trim in the Irish House of Commons. Because of the limited suffrage at the time, he sat in a parliament in which at least two-thirds of the members owed their election to the landowners of fewer than a hundred boroughs. Wellesley continued to serve at Dublin Castle, voting with the government in the Irish parliament over the next two years. He became a captain on 30 January 1791 and was transferred to the 58th Regiment of Foot.

On 31 October, he transferred to the 18th Light Dragoons. During this period he grew increasingly attracted to Kitty Pakenham, the daughter of Edward Pakenham, 2nd Baron Longford. She was described as being full of 'gaiety and charm'. In 1793 he proposed, but was turned down by her brother Thomas, 2nd Earl of Longford, who considered Wellesley to be a young man, in debt, with very poor prospects. An aspiring amateur musician, Wellesley, devastated by the rejection, burnt his violins in anger, and resolved to pursue a military career in earnest. He became a major by purchase in the 33rd Regiment in 1793. A few months later, in September, his brother lent him more money and with it he purchased a lieutenant-colonelcy in the 33rd.

Family

Arthur Wellesley was born into an aristocratic Anglo-Irish family, belonging to the Protestant Ascendancy, beginning life as the Hon. Arthur Wesley. He was born the son of Anne, Countess of Mornington, and Garret Wesley, 1st Earl of Mornington. His father was himself the son of Richard Wesley, 1st Baron Mornington, and had a short career in politics representing the constituency of Trim in the Irish House of Commons before succeeding his father as Baron Mornington in 1758. Garret Mornington was also an accomplished composer, and in recognition of his musical and philanthropic achievements was elevated to the rank of Earl of Mornington in 1760. Wellesley's mother was the eldest daughter of Arthur Hill-Trevor, 1st Viscount Dungannon, after whom Wellesley was named. Through Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, Wellesley was a descendant of Edward I of England.

Wellesley was the sixth of nine children born to the Earl and Countess of Mornington. His siblings included Richard, Viscount Wellesley, who later became 1st Marquess Wellesley and 2nd Earl of Mornington, William, who later became 1st Baron Maryborough and 3rd Earl of Mornington, and Henry, who later became 1st Baron Cowley.

Marriage to Kitty Pakenham

Wellesley was married by his brother Gerald, a clergyman, to Kitty Pakenham in St George's Church, Dublin, on 10 April 1806. They had two children: Arthur was born in 1807 and Charles was born in 1808. The marriage proved unsatisfactory and the two spent years apart, while Wellesley was campaigning and afterwards. Kitty grew depressed, and Wellesley pursued other sexual and romantic partners. The couple largely lived apart, with Kitty spending most of her time at their country home, Stratfield Saye House, and Wellesley at their London home, Apsley House. Kitty's brother Edward Pakenham served under Wellesley throughout the Peninsular War, and Wellesley's regard for him helped to smooth his relations with Kitty, until Pakenham's death at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815.

Early political career: 1818–1828

Cabinet minister under Lord Liverpool: 1818–1827

In 1818, the prime minister Lord Liverpool invited Wellington to take up the position of Master-General of the Ordnance in his ministry, a position that the Earl of Mulgrave offered to relinquish in Wellington's favour. In accepting the position, Wellington stated that, though attached to the Tory party currently in government, he would not be willing to follow the party into opposition, and Liverpool accepted this, recognising Wellington's special position as a national figure. After taking up the position on 26 December 1818, Wellington remained Master-General of the Ordnance for over eight years, and during this period he greatly increased the efficiency of the Board of Ordnance, as well as preparing a comprehensive plan for the defence of Canada and supporting the establishment of the Ordnance Survey of Ireland. Wellington was also Governor of Plymouth from 9 October 1819.

As a member of the cabinet, Wellington also played an important role in foreign policy. In common with the foreign secretary Lord Castlereagh, Wellington was dismayed by the liberal revolutions of 1820 in Spain and Naples, but shared his opposition to intervention by the Holy Alliance in the affairs of other countries, and so considered it unfortunate that the allies decided to undertake such an approach at the Congress of Troppau in 1820. Following Castlereagh's suicide in August 1822, King George IV was in favour of Wellington taking his place as foreign secretary, but Wellington was not eager to take a position that would make him a party-political figure, and in any case Liverpool preferred to appoint George Canning, an arrangement which the King reluctantly accepted after consulting Wellington. Wellington took Castlereagh's place at the Congress of Verona that autumn, representing the British government in strongly opposing the proposed French intervention in Spain, which the other major European powers agreed to support.

Wellington quickly grew frustrated with Canning's management of foreign policy, favouring a more conciliatory approach towards the continental powers, whereas Canning unsuccessfully attempted to deter the French invasion of Spain through impracticable threats of war. Wellington was also annoyed by Canning's unwillingness to send troops to support the King of Portugal and his moderate minister the Marquis of Palmela in restoring order following the absolutist coup that overthrew the liberal regime there in May 1823, and again following another attempted absolutist coup in April 1824. Wellington also disagreed with Canning over trade policy with South America, objecting to Canning's readiness to recognise the revolutionary governments that had recently overthrown Spanish rule there.

Following the death of Emperor Alexander I of Russia, Wellington went to Russia to attend the late emperor's funeral and to discuss foreign policy with the new emperor Nicholas I, arriving in St Petersburg on 2 March 1826. With the aim of reducing the chance of war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, he attempted to reduce the severity of an ultimatum that the Russians were about to present to the Turks, and negotiated the Protocol of St Petersburg, which set out a plan to resolve the Greek War of Independence through Anglo-Russian mediation.

After the death of the Duke of York, Wellington was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the British Army on 22 January 1827, since it was generally accepted that his military eminence made him the only candidate who could be decently appointed. He was also appointed Constable of the Tower of London on 5 February 1827.

Controversy

Much historical discussion has been made about Napoleon's decision to send 33,000 troops under Marshal Emmanuel de Grouchy to intercept the Prussians, but—having defeated Blücher at Ligny on 16 June and forced the Allies to retreat in divergent directions—Napoleon may have been strategically astute in a judgement that he would have been unable to beat the combined Allied forces on one battlefield. Wellington's comparable strategic gamble was to leave 17,000 troops and artillery, mostly Dutch, 8.1 mi (13.0 km) away at Hal, north-west of Mont-Saint-Jean, in case of a French advance up the Mons-Hal-Brussels road.

The campaign led to numerous other controversies. Issues concerning Wellington's troop dispositions prior to Napoleon's invasion of the Netherlands, whether Wellington misled or betrayed Blücher by promising, then failing, to come directly to Blücher's aid at Ligny, and credit for the victory between Wellington and the Prussians. These and other such issues concerning Blücher's, Wellington's, and Napoleon's decisions during the campaign were the subject of a strategic-level study by the Prussian political-military theorist Carl von Clausewitz, Feldzug von 1815: Strategische Uebersicht des Feldzugs von 1815 (English title: The Campaign of 1815: Strategic Overview of the Campaign). This study was Clausewitz's last such work and is widely considered to be the best example of Clausewitz's mature theories concerning such analyses. It attracted the attention of Wellington's staff, who prompted the Duke to write a published essay on the campaign (other than his immediate, official after-action report, "The Waterloo Dispatch".) This was published as the 1842 "Memorandum on the Battle of Waterloo". While Wellington disputed Clausewitz on several points, Clausewitz largely absolved Wellington of accusations levelled against him. This exchange with Clausewitz was quite famous in Britain in the 19th century, particularly in Charles Cornwallis Chesney's work the Waterloo Lectures, but was largely ignored in the 20th century due to hostilities between Britain and Germany.