WELLINGTON, Ain n L R Wva.n.esT.t•:v, first Duke of (1769-1852). British general and statesman. Ile was the fourth son of thin-et 1\ ellesley, first Enrl n1' \lornington, and was born in 1769, probably on the 29th of mil, at Dublin, though both the date and the place are doubtful. His education was begun at a private s•dutol at Chelsea, whence he was sent to Eton, Nv here he remained until the death of his father in 1781. Ile was an unprnmising boy, and Ids mother, deeiding that her ''ugly boy Arthur" was "fit food for powder and nothing, else," :sent him to a military academy at Gagers, France, for one year. lie entered the army in 1787, and rose rapidly, receiving his commission as colonel in 1796. At first lie saw but little of military ser vice, but in 1794-95 he served with eonspicuous gallantry in 'Holland against. Piehegru. In 1796 Wellesley was ordered to India, and arrived at Calcutta with his regiment in the following year. His brother, the Earl of Alorningtom afterwards the Marquis of Wellesley, was named Go•ernor General, and landed at Calcutta in May, 1798. In August Wellesley was transferred to the :Madras establishment. In 1799 the campaign of the English against Tippet Sahib, ruler of My sore, was undertaken. Wellesley commanded the English left. at Alalavelly, but remained with the reserves when Seringapatam was stormed. Never theless, he was named Governor of the con quered State, and until the beginning of 1803, save for brief intervals, was in control of both the military forces and the civil administration. In 1800 he pursued and defeated Mundiah Waugh, a freebooter who had eolleeted an army of 40,000 and was invading i\iahratta territory. In the Mahratta War of 1803-05. Wellesley com manded the English forces in the south. After capturing the fortress of Ahmednaga•, he unex peetedly found himself at Assaye in the pres ence of about 40,000 Alahratta troops with 100 guns. while he had only 4500 men and 17 guns, together with about 5000 auxiliary troops. Ile assumed the offensive, and by means of daring but hazardous movements, won a complete victory (September 23d). The battle of Argaum and the storming, of Clawilgarh eompleted the dis emnfiture of the Mahratta chiefs. Wellesley re ceived the thanks of Parliament and was made K.C.P. In 1S05 he sailed for England.
During the three years from Wellel]ey's land ing in England until his departure for Portugal, he held various minor military offices. In 1S06 he entered Parliament. He was returned again in 1807, and in the same year was named Privy Couneilor and Chief Seeretary for Ireland. hold ing the latter office for two years. He distin guished himself in the expedition against Copen hagen in 1807, and in the following year was ermmossioned lieutenant-general. In July. 1808, Wellesley sailed from Cork with the first English contingent destined to aid the Portuguese and Spanish in their revolt against Napoleon It was intended that he should be fourth in com mand, the superior officers following with rein forcements. He landed at Mondego Bay and gained the victory of Vimeiro (August 21st), -which resulted in the Convention of Cintra, pro viding for the peaceful withdrawal of the French troops in English vessels from Lisbon. Wellesley was superseded on the day following the battle, and finding his advice disregarded, retired to England. Both he and his two superiors were brought before a court of inquiry to justify the Convention of Cintra. which was unpopular in England. The English army, however, which had been under the command of Sir John Moore (q.v.) having been forced to embark at Continua
owing to the overwhelming numbers of the French, Wellesley was sent to Portugal with a new force, landing at Lisbon April 22, 1809.
Throughout the Peninsular campaigns, Wel lesley was hampered by the lack of supplies and men, and by the incompetence of his Spanish allies. He had, moreover, to cope with over whelming numbers of the enemy. There were nearly or quite 300,000 French soldiers in the Peninsula during the greater part of the time. The necessity of keeping down an insurgent popu lation involved their wide dispersal. however, and gave Wellesley his opportunity to attack them in detail, relying on the badness of. the Spanish roads to prevent their rapid concentra tion. On May 12, 1809, Wellesley drove Soult from Oporto, and on July 27-2Sth defeated an army nearly twice as large as his own under Victor at Talavera, not far from Madrid. But he had insufficient forces to maintain the position gained, and retreated to Portugal. For these victories he was made Baron Bourn of Wellesley and Viscount Wellington of Talavera (Septem ber -nth). Early in 1810 Napoleon sent 150.000 reinforcements into Spain, and formed an army of 80,000 under Massima to drive the English into the sea. 'Wellington retired stubbornly before the superior forces of the enemy, devastating the country as he went, until he reached the lines of Torres Vedras (q.v.), barring the way to Lisbon. Massima remained helpless before the English position from October 12, 1810. to March 11, 1811, when scarcity of supplies forced him to retreat, stubbornly followed by Wellington. On April 5th Mass6na recrossed the Portuguese fron tier, having lost 30,000 men. This marks the turning-point in the Peninsular War. Pa IMment no longer wavered in its support, and Napoleon was already withdrawing troops for the Russian campaign. 1\ ellington captured the frontier fortresses of Ciudad Rodrigo (January 19, 1812) and Badajoz (April 6th), and the way was open into Spain. On July 221 lie utterly defeated a superior force sunder Marmont at Salamanca, and 1.ntored Madrid amid great enthusiasm. The French completely abandoned Southern Spain and gathered in such numbers that Wellington, after besieging., Burgos in vain, retreated to Portugal. For this campaign he made of Wellington. The earn paigns of 1813 and 181-t were fought with the fortunes of Napoleon in full decline. On Juno 21. 1813, Wellington defeated King .Joseph at Vitoria. The fortresses of San Sebastitin and Pamplona fell into his hands and the French forces under sonit were driven across the Pyrenees. In IS1 t Wellesley was already in possession of Bordeaux, and after an engagement with Soult in April he was on the point of entering Toulouse when news of peace put an end to further hostilities. For these closing campaigns Wellington was made Marquis of Douro and Duke of Wellington, and received a grant of £400,000. In July, 1814, lie was sent as Ambassador Extraordinary to France, but in February, 1815, was transferred to the Congress of Vienna. Upon the return of Napoleon from Elba, he was summoned to com mand the forces of the En,?lish and Allies in Belgium, in eo6peration with a Prussian army under Bliicher. The battles of Ligny (q.v.) and Quatre Bras (q.v.) were followed on June 18, 1815, by the great battle of Waterloo tq.v.), which filially shattered the power of Napoleon. From 1815 to ISIS Wellington commanded the army of occupation in France.