Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, is the fourth son of Garret,
second Earl of Mornington, by Anne, the eldest daughter of Arthur Hill,
Viscount Dungannon. He was borne at Dangan Castle, in the county of
Meath, Ireland, on the 1st of May, 1769.
As in the case of many of the chief nobility and landholders in Ireland,
the ancestors of the Duke were scions of an English house--the Colleys
(afterwards Cowley), two of whom, named Walter and Robert Colley,
proceeded to Ireland in the reign of Henry VIII., and located themselves
in the County of Kilkenny. The two brothers were lawyers by profession,
and in the year 1531, were invested with the office of Clerk of the
Crown in Chancery, which they were to hold jointly during their lives.
Six years afterwards, we find the elder brother Master of the Rolls in
Ireland, and the other Solicitor-General. In 1549, Walter was made
Surveyor-General of Ireland. It was from this Walter that the immediate
ancestors of the Duke of Wellington were, by the mother's side,
descended.
His eldest son, Henry, acquired some distinction as a soldier in the
reign of Elizabeth. He was also a member of the Irish Parliament for the
borough of Thomastown. He was, moreover, a Privy Councillor, and was
knighted.
Sir Henry Sydney, who was, perhaps, the wisest and most able of all the
Lords Deputy whom Elizabeth sent over to Ireland, appears to have
entertained a very high opinion of Sir Henry Colley's abilities; for, in
recommending him to his successor in the Government, he describes him as
"valiant, fortunate, and a good servant;" and speaks of him as his
"sound and fast friend." But he more especially praises the "order," in
which he kept his county.
Thus early did a member of this family earn praise for good service to
the State; and if we compare the measure of that praise with what we
know of the temper of the times, we might almost suppose that some
portion of the spirit of the "sound and fast friend," the "valiant,
fortunate, and good servant," had been inherited by his illustrious
descendant.
The immediate descendants of Sir Henry Colley were more or less
distinguished. His great-great grand-daughter, Elizabeth, married into
the family of the Westleys (afterwards Wellesleys) of Dangan, in the
county of Meath. This family also was of English extraction, having
originally come from Sussex. Richard Colley, the nephew of the Elizabeth
abovementioned, was adopted by Garret Wellesley, whose name and estates
he took in the year 1728, by patent from the Herald's office. He was
auditor and registrar of the Royal Hospital of Kilmainham, and a
Chamberlain of the Court of Exchequer. He sat in parliament several
years for Carysford, and was, in 1747 raised to the peerage by George
II., being created Baron Mornington. His son, Garret, was, in 1760,
created Viscount Wellesley and Earl of Mornington. He married, on the
6th February, 1759, Anne, eldest daughter of the Right Honourable Arthur
Hill, Viscount Dungannon, by whom he had issue, Richard the late Marquis
Wellesley, Arthur Gerald, who died in infancy, William Wellesley Pole,
Baron Maryborough, Arthur Duke of Wellington, Gerald Valerian, D.D., Sir
Henry, G.C.B., Francis Seymour, Anne, and Mary Elizabeth.
The Earl of Mornington, who was chiefly remarkable for his strong
passion for music, in which science he acquired no slight celebrity as a
composer, died in 1781, leaving his property very much encumbered. Its
management was entrusted to Lady Mornington, who appears, by universal
assent, to have been one of those remarkable women to whose care the
world is indebted, so much more than it conceives or will admit, for its
great men. Although it may have been upon severer models, and by the
lessons of more pretending teachers, that the Marquis Wellesley was
formed into the vigorous ruler, and the wise, far-seeing statesman; or
if his scarcely more illustrious brother must, from other sources, have
imbibed that stern unswerving spirit which, in his after career,
insured truth to his views and certainty to his enterprises, yet one can
scarcely allow a doubt that it is to the direction given by their
admirable mother to the minds of these two great men, while still in the
pliant season of youth, that we owe that high appreciation of truth and
honour, and that sense of the identity of virtue and duty, which, while
their wisdom and prowess were spreading our military fame, and extending
the sphere of our civilising influence, enabled them also, by the
exaltation of our national character, to secure for their country the
respect of all the world.
One of the first fruits of early lessons or of later reflection upon the
mind of the young Earl of Mornington was, that he took upon himself the
payment of his father's debts, an act entirely voluntary on his part.
Of Lord Mornington, afterwards the celebrated Marquis Wellesley, it is
unnecessary to say more in this place than that he was in the year 1797
appointed to the Governor-Generalship of India, in which high office he
was enabled to develop, without the suspicion of undue preference, the
peculiar talents of his younger brother--talents which his
discriminating mind would probably have discovered even without the
assistance of such close proximity.
To return to the immediate subject of these Memoirs:--His education
commenced at Eton, from whence he went to the military academy at
Angers, in the department of the Maine and Loire, there being at that
period no institution of the kind in this country.
On his return from the Continent, young Wellesley received (on the 7th
of March, 1787), an ensigncy in the 41st regiment, he being then in his
eighteenth year. He became lieutenant on the 25th of December in the
same year; captain, on the 30th of June, 1791; major, on the 30th of
April, 1798; and lieut.-colonel on the 30th of September following.
These promotions were chiefly by purchase, and the lieut.-colonelcy (of
the 33rd) was bought for him by his brother. He was returned to the
Irish parliament at the general election of 1790, for Trim, a borough
belonging to his brother.
Brilliant as was the reputation which, within a very few years, he
acquired as a soldier and a politician in the East, it will not excite
surprise to hear that his parliamentary displays did not in his early
life excite much attention. A friend of the writer of this memoir, a
gentleman who was in the habit of being present, almost daily, in the
Irish House of Commons, and who took critical notice of the remarkable
men of his time, states that the Duke never made any striking impression
as a speaker; indeed; there was nothing whatever to distinguish him from
the herd of young parliamentary nominees, except a certain simple,
straightforward, firm, though unassuming statement of his opinions; and
even this took place but seldom. The recollection of this gentleman
confirms the account of Sir Jonah Barrington, that--"His address was
unpolished; he spoke occasionally, and never with success; and evinced
no promise of that unparalleled celebrity which he reached afterwards."
The following anecdote is not inconsistent with that reputation for
inflexible honour which, in successive eras of his life, procured for
the Duke of Wellington the confidence of the Indian government, of the
British army, and ultimately of the whole English nation. It is taken
from the excellent detailed account of the Duke's military career,
recently published by Mr. Maxwell:--
"The appointment of Captain Wellesley to the staff of the Earl of
Westmorland, had placed him in the household of the viceroy, and as
aid-de-camp required his constant attendance at the castle. The Irish
court at that period was celebrated alike for its hospitality, its
magnificence, and its dissipation. The princely display of the lords
lieutenant of those days entailed a heavy expenditure upon the numerous
attachés of the court, and too frequently plunged young men of high
family and limited fortunes into very distressing embarrassments.
Captain Wellesley's patrimony was small, his staff appointment more
fashionable than lucrative, and it is not surprising that soon after he
had come of age he found himself involved in pecuniary difficulties. At
the time he lodged in the house of an opulent bootmaker, who resided on
Lower Ormand Quay. The worthy tradesman discovered, accidently, that his
young inmate was suffering annoyance from his inability to discharge a
pressing demand. He waited on Lieutenant Wellesley, told him that he was
apprised of his embarrassments, mentioned that he had money unemployed,
and offered a loan, which was accepted. The obligation was soon
afterwards duly repaid; and the young aid-de-camp was enabled in a few
years to present his humble friend to an honourable and lucrative
situation. Nor did death cancel the obligation; the Duke's patronage,
after his parent's death, was extended to the son of his early friend,
for whom he obtained a valuable appointment."
To enter into any detailed account of the military career of the Duke of
Wellington, would be wholly beyond the scope of a work devoted more
especially to his Grace's character and services as a civilian; but were
it not so, it would be unnecessary, after the many able biographies
which have appeared since the publication of the dispatches by
Lieut.-Colonel Gurwood. The following is, therefore only a short summary
of the Duke's proceedings from 1794, when he first entered on active
service, to 1815, when his functions as a military commander in the
field finally ceased.
It was in June, 1794, that Lieut.-Colonel Wellesley embarked at Cork, in
command of the 33rd regiment, to join the Duke of York's army in the
Netherlands. In the subsequent retreat from Holland he commanded, as
senior officer, three battalions, and conducted himself in a manner that
already drew on him the attention of military men.
In October, 1795, he again embarked, in the command of the 33rd, for the
West Indies, on board the fleet commanded by Admiral Christian. This
fleet was, however, repeatedly driven back by the strong equinoctial
gales, and in the January following it returned to port. Before it could
again sail, the 33rd regiment was ordered to India, and Colonel
Wellesley arrived at Bengal in February, 1797. When we consider the
fate of a large portion of his fellow soldiers who went to the West
Indies, and at the same time look forward to the peculiar facilities
which the service in India afforded for developing the great qualities
of mind which lay hid under the rigid exterior of the young soldier, it
may truly be said, that the moment at which the destination of the 33rd
regiment was countermanded, was the point at which the fate of the Duke
of Wellington turned. Nay more, if it be admitted that you rarely find
in one man a combination of those peculiar qualities, which enabled the
Duke to withstand, and ultimately to destroy, the military and political
system established by the contrary tendencies which ruled the mind of
Napoleon; if, too, it be conceded that the British government, even
while the Duke was winning battles in Spain, were accustomed to resort
to his counsel with regard to their more extended operations against the
common enemy; if, in fact, it is owing to the sagacity, steadfastness,
and perseverance of the Duke of Wellington, that we owe the peace of
Europe; then must it be admitted, that upon the accident of tempests
which obstructed Admiral Christian's fleet, and upon the accident of
military disposition, which altered the destination of the regiment,
depended not merely the fortunes of the Duke of Wellington, but also the
fate of nations, and the peace of the world.
By this time, the Earl of Mornington had been appointed Governor-general
of India, and the inveterate hatred of Tippoo Sultaun against the
English name was arming the natives to resistance. The first
achievement of Colonel Wellesley, that drew attention to his name, was
the storming of Seringapatam, in which he commanded the reserve in the
trenches. On the capture of Seringapatam Colonel Wellesley was appointed
governor, and at the same time named as one of the commission appointed
to dispose of the territory conquered. But an office more honourable to
his character, was his selection to superintend the removal of the
family of Tippoo Sultaun. Lord Mornington in his instructions
says:--"The details of this painful but indispensable measure cannot be
entrusted to any person more likely to combine every office of humanity
with the prudential precautions required by the occasion than Colonel
Wellesley; and I therefore commit to his discretion, activity, and
humanity, the whole arrangement."
In July, 1799, Colonel Wellesley was appointed to the sole command of
Seringapatam and Mysore; and here his capacity for civil government, as
well as in military affairs, was fully developed. He had by this time
begun to feel his own strength, and to make it felt by others. The
reader of his dispatches will perceive that, from the moment when he was
placed in a position of independent command, his mind appears to have
taken a higher stand: he recognised higher responsibilities: and one may
almost detect, in the confirmed self-reliance of his judgment even in
this comparatively limited sphere, a prescience of future greatness.
The year 1803 was signalised by Major-General Wellesley's conquests in
the Mahratta territory, and the battle of Assaye. Passing over the
details of these campaigns, in which the rising commander displayed
military genius of the highest order, we come to the more pleasing task
of enumerating the honours he received. A monument was erected in
Calcutta to commemorate the last-named battle: the inhabitants of that
city presented him with a sword of the value of £1000: the officers of
his division presented him with a golden vase, afterwards changed for a
service of plate, on which the word "Assaye" was engraved: the British
parliament voted him public thanks, he was made a Knight Companion of
the Bath: and addresses of the warmest praise were voted to him by the
inhabitants of Seringapatam, and other places, which had benefitted by
his skill and prowess in the field, and his wisdom on the seat of
government.
In February, 1805, having resolved on returning to England, he resigned
the political and military powers that had been entrusted to him in the
Deccan. On the 5th of March, a grand entertainment was given him at the
Pantheon at Madras, by the officers of the Presidency, civil and
military. On the 10th of September following, he arrived in the Downs;
and, in the following month, he was appointed to the Staff, for the Kent
District.
In the November following, Sir Arthur Wellesley, as he had now become,
commanded the brigade in the expedition to Hanover under Lord Cathcart,
which was withdrawn immediately after the battle of Austerlitz. In
January, 1800, on the death of the Marquis Cornwallis, he was appointed
colonel of the 33rd regiment; and on the 12th of April, in the same
year, he was returned to the House of Commons as member for Newport,
Isle of Wight.
In this year, Sir Arthur Wellesley married the Honourable Catherine
Pakenham, third daughter of the second Earl of Longford.
On the 8th of April, 1807, he was made a privy councillor; and on the
19th of the same month, appointed chief secretary for Ireland, under the
lord lieutenancy of the Duke of Richmond. On the 22nd, he was presented
by the corporation of the city of Dublin with the freedom of that city.
The address in which it was conveyed was most complimentary, and shows
the high estimation in which he was already held on account of his
brilliant military and civil services in India. In June of the same
year, he accompanied Lord Cathcart in the expedition against Copenhagen;
and in the only important action which took place at the affair at
Kioge--he commanded, and obtained distinction. The result of the action
was a capitulation, which Sir Arthur Wellesley was appointed to arrange.
On his return home, he received the thanks of parliament for his
services. Alluding to Sir Arthur Wellesley, the speaker said:--"But I
should indeed be wanting in the full expression of those sentiments
which animate this house and the whole country, if I forebore to notice,
that we are on this day crowning with our thanks one gallant officer,
long since known to the gratitude of this house, who has long trodden
the paths of glory,--whose genius and valour have already extended our
fame and empire,--whose sword has been the terror of our distant
enemies, and will not now be drawn in vain to defend the seat of empire
itself, and the throne of his sovereign."
A new and wider field of operations was now preparing for the rising
hero. Napoleon, the unquestioned despot of the rest of continental
Europe, had also grasped at the Peninsula. Both Spain and Portugal were
in his possession, as far as military occupation and nominal sovereignty
could ensure them to him. The hostile efforts of England were suspended
as far as regarded Europe; but an expedition had been fitted out at Cork
against part of Spanish America, and Sir Arthur Wellesley was appointed
to the command. Again a marvellous interposition of accidents prevented
this his second projected service in America. Before the troops could
set sail, the insurrection at Madrid on the 2nd of May, 1808, against
the French under Murat, drew the attention of England to the Peninsula,
where some hope of successful resistance to Napoleon began to dawn. Once
more the destination of the future conqueror was averted from the West,
and he was ordered in command to the South.
Sir Arthur Wellesley landed at the mouth of the river Mondego in
Portugal on the 3rd of August. Here he received intimation that
re-inforcements under Sir John Moore were about to be sent. Moore was
his superior officer, and there was also Sir Hew Dalrymple and Sir Harry
Burrard on their way, the former of whom would take the chief, and the
latter, the second command of the army. There was but little time for
Sir Arthur to strike the decisive blow, and although he was not the man
to force a battle for the sake of fame, he could not but feel anxious
for distinction in this new sphere before all opportunity should be cut
off, by the arrival of his superiors in command. Fortune in this was on
his side; and he had not been many days in Portugal before he was
enabled to defeat the French at the pass of Roliça, and, on the 21st of
August, to gain the battle of Vimeiro.
While this battle was at its height, Sir Harry Burrard arrived, but
would not interfere with Sir Arthur's dispositions. The French were soon
after beaten on the left, and Sir Arthur then urged on Sir Harry the
advance of our right wing upon Torres Vedras, while our left would
pursue the enemy: his object being to cut off Junot's retreat on Lisbon.
No man now doubts that this was counsel wise as well as bold; but Sir
Harry Burrard declined to take it, and the golden opportunity was lost.
Sir Arthur, who carried military obedience almost to the extent of a
chivalrous sentiment, submitted to the orders, though he did not
acquiesce in the judgment of his superior officer; but he could not help
saying to one of his officers who stood by, "well, then, we have nothing
to do but to go and shoot red-legged partridges!" the common game of
that part of Portugal.
Sir Arthur Wellesley's subsequent conduct to Sir Harry Burrard was
highly honourable. He declared voluntarily before the Court of Inquiry
that, though he still differed in opinion with Sir Harry as to the not
advancing after the battle of Vimeiro, his opinion was, that Sir H.
Burrard "had decided upon fair military grounds, in the manner which
appeared to him to be the most conducive to the interests of the
country;" and his belief, "that Sir Harry had no motive for his decision
which could be supposed personal to him, or which as an officer he could
not avow."
The untoward convention of Cintra, which followed the victory of
Vimeiro, was received in England with one universal cry of indignation.
Sir Arthur Wellesley was no farther implicated in it than that he signed
it as one of the generals, although disapproving of it from the first.
Pending the inquiry, instituted in England on the convention, he
returned thither, and his evidence was satisfactory alike to the court
and to the public.
On the 27th January, 1809, Sir Arthur received the thanks of parliament
for the battle of Vimeiro. The speaker, in delivering the thanks of the
House of Commons, said:--
"Amidst the contending opinions which have prevailed
upon other questions, the public voice has been
loud and general in admiration of your splendid
achievements. It is your praise to have inspired
your troops with unshaken confidence and unbounded
ardour--to have commanded, not the obedience alone,
but the hearts and affections of your companions in
arms; and having planned your operations with the skill
and promptitude which have so eminently characterised all
your former exertions, you have again led the armies of
your country to battle, with the same deliberate valour,
and triumphant success which have long since rendered your
name illustrious in the remotest parts of this empire.
Military glory has ever been dear to this nation; and great
military exploits, in the field or upon the ocean, have
their sure reward in royal favour, and the gratitude of parliament."