home and friends, and consequently drew apart from their comrades,
lived their own lives, and carved out their own destinies. These are
but a few of the early parallels of two famous soldiers who were
afterward to decide the fate of Europe at the points of their swords.
The family name of Wellington, before he received a dukedom, was Wesley
or Wellesley. As a boy he was known as Arthur Wellesley. His father
was the Earl of Mornington, his mother a daughter of Lord Dungannon.
The Earl is spoken of as a lover and composer of music. Arthur had
three brothers who were all destined to do noteworthy things. His
oldest brother, who bore the title of Lord Wellesley, aided him no
little in choosing his profession of soldier.
The boy's birthplace was Dangon Castle, Dublin. Almost nothing is
known as to his earliest years, beyond the sorrowful fact that his
mother was not fond of him--almost had an aversion to him--and spoke of
him openly as "the fool of the family." From this we infer that Arthur
was a silent, reserved lad, who did not shine at his studies, but who
nevertheless did "a heap of thinking." Being misunderstood at home he
withdrew more and more into his shell--thus forming a crust of reserve
which was to be more or less a handicap to him all through life. For
the Iron Duke, as he came to be called, never threw off his diffidence
nor won the hearts of his soldiers, as did that other recluse,
Bonaparte.
Arthur Wellesley's first school away from home was Eton, that great
"prep" school of so many English boys. The fact that he attended there
helped to give rise to the proverb that "Waterloo was won on the
cricket fields of Eton"--but as a matter of record the boy was not
interested in this sport. He preferred the fiddle to the racquet, as
he had inherited his father's love of music.
"I was a player of the violin once myself, sir," he remarked in after
years to a friend; "but I soon found that fiddling and soldiering
didn't agree--so I gave it up, sir! I gave it up!"
Only one other anecdote is recorded of his life at Eton, and this was a
fight! Nor was it a case of choose your weapons--it was plain fists.
He began with first principles. A fellow student, Robert Smith, who is
chiefly noted as having been the brother of Sydney Smith, the noted
essayist and preacher, was enjoying a swim in the river, near the
campus. Arthur could not resist the impulse to throw mud at his bare
back.
"Stop that!" yelled Smith.
"You make me!" taunted Wellesley.
"You just wait till I come out," replied his victim.
"Dare you to come," said Arthur.
Bob promptly waded out, and they "mixed." Just which boy got the better
of it is not clear, but if justice ruled, the future conqueror of
Napoleon should have received his first trouncing.
One other fight is recorded of his early schooldays--and this does not
mean that Arthur was naturally of a pugnacious disposition, for he
wasn't. It simply means that one's battles, little or big, are always
remembered, rather than the pleasant though colorless ways of peace.
On a visit home he got into an argument with a blacksmith's boy, named
Hughes. In this instance, might was right. The smith's muscles were
the brawnier, and the Etonian got soundly licked--that is, if we can
take the word of Hughes who was wont to boast in later years that he
beat the man who beat Napoleon!
At Eton came the usual question which confronts every boy in his
teens--the choice of a business or profession. His mother did not
think he was good for anything. In writing of her children, about this
time, she says:
"They are all, I think, endowed with excellent abilities, except
Arthur, and he would probably not be wanting, if only there was more
energy in his nature; but he is so wanting in this respect, that I
really do not know what to do with him."
He took no interest in the law or the Church. He seems to have moped
along in a lackadaisical sort of way in the classroom. He had not
given an indication of "shining" in any direction. Consequently there
was nothing left for a gentleman's son--except the army! It was a
make-shift choice.
Those were the days of the American Revolution. The progress of this
struggle must have appealed powerfully to the English boys; and the
final defeat of the trained British troops by the raw Colonials must
have been a bitter blow. There came an insistent demand for more and
better schools for the officers. England seems to have been poorly
equipped in this respect. Wellesley himself, like many another English
boy, was sent across the channel to France. The chosen school was at
Angers on the Maine, and was conducted by the Marquis of Pignerol, a
celebrated military engineer of the time. In connection with the
school was a fine riding academy.
It was in 1785 that Arthur entered this school. He was then sixteen, a
thin gangly-looking boy, who perhaps because he had grown too rapidly
could not be persuaded to take much interest in anything. He felt out
of his element and ill at ease, although he was not the only English
lad here. He is described by General Mackenzie, who was a schoolmate,
as "not very attentive to his studies, and constantly occupied with a
little terrier called Vick, which followed him everywhere."
This is about as definite a glimpse of him as we can get, but it does
enable us to picture him as idling about the streets of this
picturesque old town, or climbing the steep cliffs which rise from the
water's edge, at the confluence of the streams which flow by Angers.
At the top of the hill we can see him whistling to Vick, and tossing
down one of the gentler slopes a stone or stick for the faithful
terrier to retrieve.
Did this idle schoolboy dream dreams of future greatness on the
battlefields of the land that was now teaching him to draw the sword?
Who shall say.
Although at Angers only a short time, about twelve months, it was by no
means time wasted. He perfected his French and learned many things
about manners and customs that were to be of good service. Likewise,
through his family's influence, he made the acquaintance of several
French noblemen, who must undoubtedly have given him a broader point of
view, and perchance some good advice on the subject of soldiering.
His father had died in 1781, but his oldest brother, who had made his
mark as a soldier and man of letters, took a lively interest in him and
constantly urged him on. England is indebted no little to this brother
Richard, who, probably more than any other, was the guiding star in the
making of her great soldier.
In the days just after the American War, the British army was not well
organized or officered. Instead of the fighting machine that it
afterward became, it was a sort of gentleman's training school, so far
as the officers were concerned. Any one who had good family
connections or money could get a commission. The skill and experience
were supposed to come later, on the field of action.
This fact explains the early promotion of Arthur Wellesley. At the age
of seventeen, soon after leaving Angers, he was made an ensign in a
regiment of infantry, and within five years, by the time he was
twenty-two, he had been made a captain. Nor did his rapid advancement
end here. In 1793 he became a major, then a lieutenant colonel; and by
1796 he was a full-fledged colonel--at twenty-seven! The secret "power
at court" was his brother Richard, who was a secretary to Pitt, the
statesman. But another friend was Lord Westmoreland, Lord Lieutenant
of Ireland, who took a fancy to him and made him a staff officer.
As one historian puts it, regarding army commissions: "Wealth and
interest were nearly all-powerful; it was the palmy day of purchase
which George the Third had tried and had failed to abolish, and, until
the Duke of York became commander-in-chief, infants of both sexes
figured in the army list as the holders of commissions."
It is interesting to note--to resume our parallel--that this was the
stormy time of the French Revolution, when Napoleon was painfully
carving his way upward by the edge of the sword, and by push rather
than "pull" had achieved high command in early life.
But we would do the young Wellington a grave injustice if we pictured
him as leading a life of inactivity, awaiting a promotion through
"pull." He had qualities which now began to assert themselves and were
to contribute to his larger fame. For one thing, he was something of a
diplomat. He remembered names and faces, and turned every acquaintance
to account. Later, he was credited with a marvellous memory--such as
also had his great French rival.
These qualities, it is true, were slow in ripening. At the age of
twenty-one, he was elected to the Irish House of Commons, from his home
County. This was done in order to give him parliamentary training, and
such service was allowed without the necessity of relinquishing his
military rank or duties. It was merely an extra tail to his kite. He
is thus described by a colleague, Sir Jonah Barrington:
"Wellesley was then ruddy-faced and juvenile in appearance, and popular
enough among the young men of his age and station. His address was
unpolished; he occasionally spoke in Parliament, but not successfully,
and never on important subjects; and evinced no promise of that
unparalleled celebrity and splendor which he has since reached, and
whereto intrepidity and decision, good luck, and great military science
have justly combined to elevate him."
Although he made no great mark as a Parliamentarian, he did make
friends at this time, who were destined to influence his life. One was
the brilliant though somewhat unprincipled Lord Castlereagh, who was to
aid him to obtain the chief military command of the English army in
Spain. Another was a certain young lady, Charlotte Packenham, who
found his tongue more eloquent than did his colleagues in the House of
Commons. She was the daughter of Lord Longford, who was not so easily
won over to the young man's suit. In fact, the nobleman gave him a
curt "no." He was looking for a more brilliant match for his daughter
than a subaltern.
So the young people had to give each other a sad farewell. But it was
not to be forever. Ten years later when the young soldier had won his
spurs, and had returned from his brilliant campaign in India, a Major
General, the parental gates were unbarred. The Lady Charlotte had
remained constant through all the years of waiting and separation, and
they were happily wedded.
That Wellesley took more than a perfunctory interest in his military
duties is evident even during his earliest years of service. For
example, he wished to determine for himself just how much weight, in
the way of equipment, a soldier could carry in light marching order.
"I wished," he says, "to have some measure of the power of the
individual man compared with the weight he was to carry, and the work
he was expected to do. I was not so young as not to know that since I
had undertaken a profession, I had better endeavor to understand it."
And he adds, "It must always be kept in mind that the power of the
greatest armies depends upon what the individual soldier is capable of
doing and bearing." It is but another way of saying, "A chain is no
stronger than its weakest link," or, as we put it today, "It depends
upon the man behind the gun." Thus Wellington early discovered and put
into practise that indefinable something we call "morale."
As lieutenant colonel of the Thirty-Third Foot, he took up his work in
earnest, with the result that in a few months it was officially
declared to be the best drilled regiment in Ireland.
But the young commander was not content with this. He did not want to
remain at home as a mere "drill sergeant" when affairs were so active
abroad. Due partly to the outbreak of the French Revolution, all
Europe seethed with war. France was in revolt against the world, and
all the neighboring powers were pitted against her. England had
maintained a strict neutrality at first, but when Belgium was overrun,
felt compelled to intervene, just as in the similar great war of
aggression begun by Germany in our own time.
Naturally, young Wellesley wanted to be in it. He wrote to his brother
Richard importuning him to use his influence in this direction. "I
will serve as major to one of the flank corps," he wrote, as his own
regiment was "the last for service." The request was not granted,
however, and he had to wait until the Spring of 1794 for his chance to
see active service.
It was a parlous time to go over. The French had defeated one army
after another, of the Allies, and were in the hey-dey of their first
success. The trouble seemed to be lack of unity of command, and lack
of able leadership. The Duke of York was in command of the British
army, but allowed himself to be out-maneuvered repeatedly. By the Fall
of that year, when Wellesley was with the army, the campaign resembled
a rout.
During a series of rearguard actions in the retreat through Holland and
Flanders, Colonel Wellesley came first into official notice. It was at
the Meuse, a stream made forever memorable in the recent Great War. A
retreat had been ordered during the night, to avoid a superior force of
French. One regiment, however, had mistaken its orders and engaged the
enemy. The result was a hopeless tangle of infantry and cavalry, with
the enemy taking advantage of the confusion to press the attack.
The Thirty-Third had been ordered to support the rear. Colonel
Wellesley, seeing the danger, ordered his regiment to halt in a field
alongside of the road, leaving the way clear for the retreat. As soon
as the stragglers had gotten by, he threw his regiment again in solid
formation across the road, and they advanced upon the charging French
with such coolness and precision that the attackers were forced to
halt. It was only an incident of warfare, but it showed his promptness
of decision, and the fruits of discipline in his regiment.
All that ensuing winter the French harried their army. Wellesley was
stationed on the Waal, a branch of the Rhine; and he gives some idea of
their arduous life in a letter dated December 20, 1794:
"At present the French keep us in a perpetual state of alarm. We turn
out once, sometimes twice, every night. The officers and men are
harassed to death, and if we are not relieved, I believe there will be
very few of the latter remaining shortly. I have not had the clothes
off my back for a long time, and generally spend the greatest part of
the night upon the bank of the river, notwithstanding which I have
entirely got rid of that disorder which was near killing me at the
close of the summer campaign. Although the French annoy us much at
night, they are very entertaining during the daytime. They are
perpetually chattering with our officers and soldiers, and dance the
_carmagnol_ upon the opposite bank whenever we desire them. But
occasionally the spectators on our side are interrupted in the middle
of a dance by a cannon ball, from theirs."
In this somewhat humorous recital, Wellesley makes no mention of the
sufferings which they must have undergone from lack of food and
supplies of all kinds. He purposely puts the best face on it, and
bears his troubles stoically. But young as he was, he marvelled at the
inefficiency and lack of coordination of the high command. Once when a
despatch was received by the General during dinner, from their ally,
Austria, he tossed it aside unopened with the remark, "That will keep
till morning."
During three months on the Waal, Wellesley declares that he was in
direct touch with headquarters only once, and adds: "We had letters
from England, and I declare that those letters told us more of what was
passing at headquarters than we learnt from the headquarters ourselves.
It has always been a marvel to me how any of us escaped."
One result, nevertheless, of this isolation was to throw the young
colonel back upon his own resources. It was the finest possible
training for his later career.
When Colonel Wellesley returned to England the next year, he thought
for a time of resigning his command. One reason was undoubtedly the
poor state of the army in equipment and discipline. Another was the
fact that he owed his brother money on account of promotions in the
service, and his officer's pay was not enough to repay it. He was
always scrupulous in matters of debt.
His application for discharge, however, was not accepted. England had
need of all her trained men at this time. In addition to the trouble
in France, there were other affairs demanding attention in Spain and
India. The whole world seemed to need readjusting at once.
Wellesley's next assignment was to accompany an expedition against the
French settlement in the West Indies, which set sail in October, 1795.
But when only two days out the ships encountered a terrible storm. One
ship sank with all on board, others were badly crippled, and hundreds
of sailors perished. The expedition put back to England.
Although Wellesley escaped the full effects of this storm, the exposure
left his health undermined. His regiment was ordered abroad in the
Spring, this time to the East Indies, and when they set sail, in April,
he was too ill to accompany them. It was not until February, 1797,
that he joined them in Calcutta.
Arthur Wellesley was now in his twenty-eighth year. All that had
passed hitherto might be regarded as his schooling. He had been an
obscure and "foolish" boy at school (to all appearance). He had failed
to make his mark as a military student on the Maine. He had been a
dilettante staff officer, and a reticent member of Parliament. Money
and family had apparently made him what he was--neither better nor
worse than many another young British officer. In his brief campaign
in France, he had conducted himself creditably, but had come away with
a distaste for the service, as it was then conducted.
To revert to our former parallel--Napoleon at twenty-eight was on the
high road to world mastery. Wellington at twenty-eight had not yet
found himself. But now on his trip to India he was on the threshold of
his career. His deeds there and on other fields were to astonish the
world. Did they also astonish the silent officer himself?
It would require a detailed account of the Indian campaign to trace
adequately the gradual rise of this officer in the service. For his
was not a meteoric or spectacular rise. It was by gradual steps--but
each step found him _fully prepared_. This, perhaps, is as near the
secret of the great soldier's success as we can get. He was never a
self-advertiser. He never talked much. But he was keenly observant,
and his wonderfully retentive memory aided him at every turn. He could
go through a countryside once, and then be able to map out an
attack--using every natural advantage to its utmost.
And, best of all, his superiors were beginning to discover his merits.
They soon found, beneath his quiet exterior, a keen intellect and an
indomitable will. Within two months after reaching Calcutta he was
consulted by General St. Leger on a plan to establish artillery bases,
and was also nominated to command an expedition against the
Philippines, then under Spanish control, but preferred to remain and
fight it out in India.
"I am determined that nothing shall induce me to desire to quit this
country, until its tranquillity is ensured," he said--which recalls to
mind the famous saying of Grant's: "We will fight it out along this
line, if it takes all summer."
Wellesley's next appointment, was as Commander of the Mysore brigade.
His brother Richard, Marquis of Wellesley, had been appointed Governor
General of India, and the two men were destined to exercise a strong
influence on affairs in that disturbed country. While nominally in
control of the land, the English possessions actually included only the
narrow strip running along the various sea coasts; the interior being
overrun by unruly tribes of Sepoys under Tippoo Sahib. It required
careful planning and equipping of armies marching from opposite sides
of India to meet and crush this formidable rebellion.
In all this strenuous work of field and garrison, Wellesley took an
active part. At one time, as Governor of Seringapatam; at another as
Brigadier General, personally directing assaults upon some native
fortress, and, after its capture, restoring order and discipline, and
thus ensuring the respect and confidence of the natives.
"I have been like a man who fights with one hand and defends himself
with the other," he wrote at this period. "I have made some terrible
marches, but I have been remarkably fortunate; first, in stopping the
enemy when they intended to press to the southward; and afterwards, by
a rapid march to the northward, in stopping Sindhia."
In 1803, he was made Major General, with the title of Sir Arthur
Wellesley; and two years later returned to England as one of her most
trusted and esteemed commanders. And England had need of just such men
as he. There were still more stirring years ahead in Spain and
elsewhere, until this strong silent man had emerged into the "Iron"
Duke of Wellington, who should meet that other Man of Destiny on the
plains of Waterloo.
Wellington won his success by his infinite capacity for taking pains.
His life defies the biographer to analyze, whether through the medium
of a lengthy volume or a brief chapter--because it was made up of so
many little things. They were the duties of each day, but he not only
did them thoroughly, he also learned through them the larger grasp of
the next day's problems.
A contemporary pen picture of "the Sepoy General," on his return to
England in 1805, will serve to show us what manner of man he appeared
to be, to his subordinates. Captain Sherer, who has left this
portrait, says:
"General Wellesley was a little above the middle height, well limbed
and muscular; with little incumbrance of flesh beyond that which gives
shape and manliness to the outline of the figure; with a firm tread, an
erect carriage, a countenance strongly patrician, both in feature,
profile, and expression, and an appearance remarkable and
distinguished. Few could approach him on any duty, or, on any subject
requiring his serious attention, without being sensible of a something
strange and penetrating in his clear light eye. Nothing could be more
simple and straightforward than the matter of what he uttered; nor did
he ever in his life affect any peculiarity or pomp of manner, or rise
to any coarse, weak loudness in his tone of voice. It was not so that
he gave expression to excited feeling."
His reputation as a great soldier will stand for all time, not because
he defeated Napoleon, but because his whole military career was built
upon duty. It was not ostentation but merit, that won him the supreme
command. His ideals were always high.
"We must get the upper hand," he advised, "and if once we have that, we
shall keep it with ease, and shall certainly succeed."
IMPORTANT DATES IN WELLINGTON'S LIFE
1769. May 1. Arthur Wellesley born.
1785. Attended military school at Angers, France.
1787. Entered British Army as ensign.
1793. Became lieutenant-colonel.
1794. Saw his first active service in Flanders.
1796. Colonel. Sent to India.
1803. Major-general.
1805. Married Charlotte Packenham.
1808. Made lieutenant-general, and sent to command Peninsular War.
1814. Created Duke of Wellington.
1815. Defeated Napoleon at Waterloo.
1827. Prime minister.
1852. September 14. Died.
GORDON
THE MAN WHO "DISCOVERED" CHINA
The name, Gordon, brings to mind the warrior--perchance the Highland
laddie who with bagpipes fiercely blowing charges down the rocky slope
against the enemy.
"Chinese" Gordon, as one of this warlike clan will be known for all
time, came indeed of a race of warriors, and was born in martial
surroundings; but the man himself was far from being of that stern
stuff that glories in a fight. As boy and man, he was quiet, lovable,
and of intensely religious nature.