WELLINGTON, ARTHUR WELLESLEY, DUKE or, K. G., one of England's greatest gen erals, was the third sou of Garrett, first earl Of Mornington, and brother of the marquis Wellesley (q.v.). He was born May 1, 1769, at Dangan castle, Ireland, and completed his military education, a few years before the French revolution, in the military college of Augers, in France. He entered the army as ensign in the 41st regiment in 1787, and became licut.col. of the 33d in 1793. In 1794 lie embarked in command of the 33d regiment to join the duke of York's army in the Netherlands. In this, his first term of actual service, lie commanded 3 battalions on the retreat of the army through Holland, and distinguished himself in several repulses of the French. In 1796 he accompanied his regiment to India, where his brother, the marquis Wellesley, shortly afterward arrived as governor-general. He commanded the subsidiary force of the Nizam, when the reduction of the Mysore was decided upon, and his division Tippoo Sultan's right flank at Mallavelly. At the assault and capture of Seriugapatam, he commanded the reserve in the trenches. He was appointed to the command in Mysore, and took the field (1800) against Dhoondiah Waugh. a Mahratta freebooter, who was 'defeated and slain. He was named second in command of the expedition which sailed from India to assist the English army in Egypt, but was prevented from embarking by illness. It was in the Mahratta war of 1803 that the young general won his first fame. After besieging and capturing Ahmednuggur, Wellington, with only 4,500 men, came upon the combined Mahratta forces, 40,000 or 50,000 strong, and not waiting for a larger British force that was on its way, won the ,brilliant victory of Assaye (q.v.). The victory of Argaum followed, and the great fort of Gawulghtir, supposed to be impreg nable, having been taken in December, the 3Iahratta chiefs sued for peace, after one of the most extraordinary campaigns on record. Wellington was niade K. C. B. and received the thanks of the king and parliament. In 1805 he returned td England, and in November commanded a brigade in lord Cathcart's expedition to Hanover. In 1806 he obtained a seat in the house of commons for Newport, Isle of Wight, and in April, 1807, was appointed chief-secretary to Ireland, the duke of Richmond being lord-lieutenant. ' He held a com mand in the army under lord Cathcart in the expedition against Copenhagen in 1807, and after the affair at Kioge, negotiated the capitulation of Copenhagen. He received the thanks of the house of commons in his place, and returned to Ireland. In 1808 he com manded an expedition which sailed from Cork, being the first division of the British army sent out to assist in the expulsion of the French from Spain and Portugal. He lauded at Corunna, and offered his aid to the army and people of Galicia; but the offer being declined, he finally landed (Aug., 1808) with 10,000 troops at the mouth of the river Mondego, in Portugal. The whole of the n. of Portugal was then in arms against the French. The affairs of Obidos and Rolica were quickly followed by the battle of Vimieira, in which he defeated Junot, who lost 3,000 men and 13 pieces of cannon. After this event Wellington signed the armistice which led to the convention of Cintra (q.v.). He subsequently gave evidence generally in favor of this convention at the court of inquiry (Nov. 22). ,Beiag superseded in the command of the army by men who were only his superiors in military rank and seniority, he returned to England. For the bat tle of Vimieira, be again in his place, received the thanks of the house of commons. On the death of sir John Moore he returned to re-assume the command of the Peninsular army, previous to which he resigned the office of chief-secretary of Ireland. He arrived at Lisbon and assumed the command April 22, 1809. He had now to contend with Soult and Victor, who had entered Portugal at the head of a veteran army, and were in pos session of its finest northern provinces. Oporto had been taken by Soult, and Welling ton was anxious to bring him to action at once, in order that he might not make his retreat unharmed. The passage, at Villa Nova, of the Douro, a wide, deep, and rapid river, in the face of a formidable enemy, who had removed every boat and barge to the opposite side of the river, was one of the boldest and most successful operations of the war. Wellington entered Oporto the same day, and followed the French army. He was now, by a decree of the prince-regent of Portugal, marshal-gen. of the Portuguese army. The French had fallen back to a point where re-enforcements were to them; and on July 27 and 23, 1809, the enemy, cournanded by Victor and Sebastian], were defeated by the British tinder Wellington at Talavera. The slaughter on both sides was terrible in this desperate, almost liaAto hand, conflict. Wellington was unable to fol low up his victory owing to the non-co-operation of the Spanish army under Cuesta; and the want of supplies, and the junction of Soult, Ney, and Mortier in his rear, com pelled him to fall back upon Badajoz. The thanks of parliament were voted for the victory of Talavera, and sir Arthur, Wellesley was created (Sept. 4, 1809) a peer by the titles of baron Douro of Wellesley and viscount Wellington of Talavera, with a pension of £2,000. In May, 1810, the French collected under 31assena in such superior force iu his front that he fell back upon Busaco, where he made a stand. Here the French (Sept. 27) made two attacks upon his position, but were repulsed with great slaughter. After this he retreated to Torres-Vedras (q.v.), to the occupation of which line of defense and his judicious method of maiutaluing it, the ultimate success of the Peninsular war may be chiefly attributed. 3fassena, being unable to find subsistence for his army, began his retreat to Santarem, followed by Wellington, who pursued the French in their 'retreat along the line of the Mondego. In April, 1811, he received the thanks of parliament for the liberation of Portugal. Spain, however, was now subdued by the French. The Spanish armies were annihilated, and it was of the last importance that should be able to keep his rear open to the Tagus. Wellington, having invested Almeida, 31a.ssena attempted to relieve it, but was skillfully repulsed at Fuentes de Onoro, May 3 and 5. The fall of Almeida followed, and Wellington ordered 'Badajoz to be invested. At this time be had great reason to complain of the want of support and re-enforcements from England. Ile bad only the force which had followed Massena from Torres-Vedras, diminished by 9,000 men, hors de combat, in so many sanguinary encounters. Writing to marshal Beresford, he said: " I inclose a dispatch from lord Liverpool [then at the head of the home government]; I believe they have all gone mad." The siege was car ried on with vigor; but learning that Soult and 3Iarmont designed to join their armies into one, in order to relieve Badajoz, and his own inadequate force not justifying him in risking a battle, he raised the siege and retired to the frontiers of Portugal. He next laid siege to the strong fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo; and on the night of Jan. 19, 1812, it it was carried by storm, and the garrison made prisoners. For this achievement he was created by the regency a grandee of Spain, with the title of duque de Ciudad Rodrigo. lie again received the thanks of parliament and a further pension of £2,000
a year, and was advanced in the British peerage by the title earl of Wellington He next marched toward Badajoz, invested it in 3Iarch, and carried it by storm, April 6, after a frightful carnage; the allies losing nearly 5,000 men. In June he advanced to Salamanca, captured the convents there, which had been fortified by the French, and drove 3Iarmont to the Douro. On July 22 lie gained at Salamanca one of his greatest military triumphs. Marmont extended his line, with the view of Wellington'a right: but the latter, perceiving that the enemy had thus weakened their left and center, vigorously assailed the weak points, and after an obstinate resistance, put the whole army to rout. Ammunition, stores, 2 eagles, 11 pieces of cannon, and 7,000 prisoners were the trophies of victory. The Joss of the allies was only about 700 killed and 4,000 wounded. Marmont lost an aria, and four French generals were killed. Wellington received the order of the golden fleece, entered Madrid, was made generalissimo of the Spanish armies, and was advanced in the British peerage by the title of marquis of Wel lington. The thanks of parliament were again voted to him, to,gether with the sum of £100,000, to be laid out in the purchase of hinds to be settled on Lim, his heirs, and suc cessors. In September he marched to Burgos, hut, failing to capture it, he again retreated to the frontiers of Portugal. Wellington visited Cadiz and Lisbon, where he was received by the whole population. In May he marched his army into Spain in two columns, and on June 21 gained, at Victoria, another signal victory over the French, commanded by king Joseph, assisted by marshal Jourdan. The enemy lost 1M pieces ' of cannon and all their ammunition. The king's private carriage, letters, etc. fell into the hands of the victors. In exchange for the baton of Jourdan, which was found on the field, the prince regent forwarded to Wellington the baton of a field-marshal of Eng land. By this splendid and important series of victories he had reached the summit of martial glory. The deliverance of Spain from the French was now certain. Ilis infantry were soldiers who would, in his own words, "go anywhere and do anything;" and oven the invasion'of France itself seemed to his countrymen to be no longer chimerical. Ile pursued the nand' army to France by Pamplona. He failed, July 25, to carry San Sebastian by assault, but gained another decisive battle over Soult at the Pyrenees, and the French army retreated into France. A. second attempt to carry San Sebastian by assault was successful, but it cost Wellington 2,300 in killed and wounded. Ile now crossed the Bidassoa, and invaded France. Paniplona surrendered. After the passage and battle of the Nivelle, and the passage of the Nive, the victorious army of Wellington was attacked, Dee. 10 to 18, on the left and right, by Soult, who was defeated. Leaving two divisions to blockade Bavonne,Wellington followed Soult with the rest of the army. On Feb. 27, 1814, he defeated Soult at Orthes, and crossed the Adonr. The affairs of Aire and Tarbes were followed by the passage of the Garonne; and, on April 10, Wel lington consummated this series of brilliant victories by again defeating Soult under the walls of Toulouse. The allied Russian and German armies having entered Paris, and Napoleon having signed his abdication a few days before, this last battle would not have been fought, but for the non arrival of news of the events of Paris. In a few weeks Wellington was in Paris, presenting the trophies of his brilliant campaign to the allied monarchs. lie was created, May 3', marquis of Douro, and duke of Wellington In the British peerage, and received an additional grant of 000. received for the twelfth time the thanks of parliament for his services, and on his arrival in England was greeted with the utmost enthusiasm. On June 28 he took his seat for the first time In the house of lords. He next returned thanks at the bar of the house of commons and was addressed by the speaker. He was appointed ambassador-extraordinary to the ry court of France in July, 1814, whence he proceeded to the congress of Vienna. Napo leon having escaped from Elba, the congress was abruptly broken up. Wellington was appointed commander of the British forces on the continent of Europe, and from Vienna joined the army at Brussels. It appeared probable that Napoleon would make a bold into nto Belgium, and its defense was assigned to an Anglo-allied army under Wellington, and a Prussian army under BlUcher. The battles of Ligny (q.v.) and Quatre. Bras (q.v.) were succeeded on June 18, 1315, by the great battle of Waterloo (q.v.). Here the grand and decisive blow was struck; here for the first and last time the emperor and the great English ,general met and measured swords, and here the power of Napoleon was finally crushed. The allied armies, under Wellington and Blneher, marched upon Paris; the French army evacuated Paris under a convention; and Louis XVIII. entered Paris the very clay after the English army. Marshal Ney was brought to trial. He relied upon the terms of the capitulation of Paris, and appealed in vain to Wellington, who denied that the French king was bound by the convention—a reading which it is. Impossible to justify, as sir A. Alison has shown in his History of Europe. At the request of the allied sovereigns Wellington took the command of the army of occupation, and resided in Paris from 1815 to 1818. Two attempts were, during this period, made Upon his life: gunpowder was placed in his cellar for explosion; and one Cantillon discharged a pistol into his carriage: for which attempt at assassination Napoleon I. left the mis creant a bequest in his will. When the allied armies evacuated France in 1818 the emperors of Russia and Austria, and the king of Prussia, created Wellington a field marshal of their armies. He was created prince of Waterloo by the king of the Nether lands. The gratitude of the British nation was, meanwhile, enthusiastically manifested. Statues were raised to his honor in the metropolis. Parliament voted £200,000 in addi tion to former grants; and the mansion and estate of Strathfieldsaye were purchased, to be held by Wellington and his heirs. The office of master-general of the ordnance, now abolished, but then comprehending the control of the artillery branch of the service, was conferred upon him. At the coronation of George IV., in 1821, he officiated as lord high constable of England. In October he attended George IV. to the field of Waterloo. In 1822 lie represented Great Britain at the congress of Verona, where he exerted his influence to prevent the invasion of Spain by a French army, in support of absolutist principles. In 1826 he went on a special embassy to St. Petersburg, when he induced the emperor Nicholas to act in common with England and other powers, as mediators in the 'quarrel between Turkey and Greece. On his return he was appointed constable of the tower. In 1827 he succeeded the duke of York as commander-in-chief of the army, and was made col. of the Grenadier guards.