Duke of Wellington - biography, information, personal life. Admiral Nelson and the Duke of Wellington. A History of Great Victories The First Duke of Wellington

Participation in wars: Napoleonic Wars. Conquest of India.
Participation in battles: Battle of Wiemeyer. Battle of Talavera. Battle of Buzako. Battle of Salamanca. Battle of Vittoria. Battle of Waterloo.

(Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington) Duke of Waterloo (1815), field marshal (1813). Participant in the conquest of India and wars with Republican and Imperial France

Your education Arthur Wellesley received at Eton School and the Military School in Angers (France).

In 1787, he entered the English army as an ensign and in 1793 acquired a patent for the rank of staff officer in the 33rd Infantry Regiment, with which he participated in a campaign in the Netherlands in 1794.

In 1797 Arthur Wellesley went to India, where his elder brother Richard was governor-general, and here he received the rank of major general.

During his service he was governor of Seringapatam and in 1803 he successfully acted against the Maratha tribe.

In 1805, General Wellesley returned to Europe and was elected to the House of Commons.

In 1807, in the Portland ministry, he was appointed Secretary of State for Irish Affairs, but soon with the expeditionary force Lord's Cut Card went to Denmark, where he participated in negotiations for the capitulation of Copenhagen.

In July 1808 he was sent to Portugal, and here his career as a military leader began. His expedition, which was destined to play such an important role, consisted of a small force, allocated by the main group, which made fruitless attacks on the Scheldt River. This expedition was equipped by the English government mainly in the hope of saving Portugal. Castlereagh, who undertook the difficult task of justifying this expedition, was supported by Wellesley, who declared that if the Portuguese army and militia were reinforced by twenty thousand British soldiers, then the French would need one hundred thousand men to capture Portugal - a number that France would not be able to provide if Spain continue the fight. Some of these forces Napoleon would have to be transferred from Austria, where the main theater of military operations was located at that time.

From the point of view of providing indirect assistance to Austria, the expedition did not live up to the hopes placed on it. As a barrier to cover Portugal, it also turned out to be completely untenable. But as a means of exhausting Napoleon’s strength, it completely justified itself.

Back in 1808, Wellesley landed with fifteen thousand troops at Mendigo. After several successful battles with French troops on August 21, he defeated under Wiemeyer marshal Junot, but after that he was forced to cede command to the newly arrived senior General Khairy Berrid and left for England.

In April 1809, Wellesley was appointed commander-in-chief of the combined Anglo-Portuguese forces. In April 1809 he landed at Lisbon with an army of twenty-six thousand men. Due to the Spanish revolt and partly due to the blow J. Moore After Burgos and its subsequent retreat to La Coruña, French troops found themselves scattered throughout the peninsula. Ney tried unsuccessfully to conquer Galicia in the northwestern part of the peninsula. South of the troops Not me in the northern part of Portugal, in the Oporto area, operated Soult, whose army was scattered in separate detachments. Victor was in the Merida area, covering the approaches to Portugal from the south.

Taking advantage of the favorable opportunities of the landing site and taking into account the dispersal of enemy forces, Wellesley immediately upon arrival in Spain moved north against Sulta. Although he was not able to cut off, as he had hoped, the individual detachments located further south Sulta, he was still able to take him by surprise. Before Soult could concentrate his forces, Wellesley disrupted the disposition of his troops by crossing the upper Duero River, cutting off Soult's route of retreat. Wellesley suppressed enemy resistance before Soult managed to concentrate his forces. As a result of Soult's forced retreat through the mountains, his army suffered significant losses not so much from the actions of the British, but from exhaustion.

After defeat Sulta troops Victor, which continued to remain inactive in Madrid, were transferred to cover the direct approaches to Madrid. A month later I decided to move there myself. Wellington. By moving along this route, he exposed his troops to a blow that could be delivered against him by all the French armies in Spain.

Wellesley launched the attack with only twenty-three thousand men. He was supported by an equal number of Spanish troops under Cuesta.

At that time Victor, having retreated towards Madrid, secured the support of two other French armies located in the area, numbering up to one hundred thousand people.

Due to Cuesta's indecisive actions and difficulties in supplying his troops, Wellesley was unable to draw Victor into the battle. During this time, Victor was reinforced by reinforcements from Madrid sent Joseph Bonaparte. Wellesley began a retreat, but on July 27-28, going on a counterattack, he successfully withstood the French onslaught at Talavera de la Reina and, if Cuesta had not refused to support him, he would have gone on a counteroffensive. However, at the same time Soult began to press on Wellesley's rear from the west. Being cut off from the escape route to the west, Wellesley still avoided defeat, as he managed to slip south across the Tagus River. Having suffered heavy losses, demoralized and exhausted by the retreat, Wellesley's troops took refuge behind the Portuguese border. Lack of food prevented the French from organizing the pursuit of Wellesley into Portuguese territory. This ended the 1809 campaign, which convinced Wellesley of the weakness of the Spanish regular troops.

As a reward for his efforts in Spain in the campaign of 1809, Wellesley received from England the peerage under the name Lord Wellington, baronial titles Duro and Viscount Talavera, and from the Portuguese government - the title of Marquis of Wiemeyera.

However, victory under Talavera had such negative strategic consequences for the allies that Wellington had to retreat, and the British government left it to his discretion to decide on the further presence of British troops on the Iberian Peninsula. “I’ll stay here,” Wellington replied firmly and continued to fight.

Before the start of the main military campaign Wellington support was provided by Spanish regular troops, operating in their usual style. The Spanish troops were so badly defeated and scattered during the winter campaign that the French, without encountering any resistance on their part, took possession of new areas of Spain and also invaded the rich southern province of Andalusia.

At that time Napoleon took control of the war in Spain and by the end of February 1810 concentrated almost three hundred thousand people here, intending to further increase the number of troops in the future. More than sixty-five thousand of them were allocated to Massena with the task of ousting the British from Portugal.

Wellington, having included Portuguese troops trained by the British in his army, increased its number to fifty thousand people. Massena launched an invasion of Portugal from the north of Spain through Sue dad Rodrigo, thereby giving Wellington time and space to implement his strategic plans.

Wellington impeded Massena's advance by destroying food supplies in the areas through which Masséna advanced. September 27-28, 1810 in a bloody battle under Buzako Wellington managed to repel all of Massena's attacks, but he began to bypass his position and thereby forced Wellington to hastily retreat towards Lisbon.

Then Wellington retreated to the fortified line of Torres-Vedras, which for Massena It turned out to be completely unexpected. The Torres-Vedras line was built across the mountainous peninsula between the Tagus River and the sea coast to cover Lisbon. Unable to break through these lines, Massena stood in front of them for about a month, until hunger forced him to retreat 50 km to the Tagus River. Wellington did not pursue him or force a battle, but limited himself to pinning Massena’s army in a small area, preventing the supply of food to his troops.

Wellington continued to adhere to his strategic plan despite the possibility of a change in policy in England and the direct threat posed by Soult's advance in the south through Badajoz to break the blockade encircling the troops. Massena. Wellington resisted all attempts by Massena, who wanted to force him to attack, but in March he himself was forced to withdraw. When the remnants of Masséna's hungry army crossed the Portuguese border again, he had lost twenty-five thousand men, only two thousand of them in battle.

Further Wellington influenced the enemy more by threats than by force. In these cases, the French were forced to send their troops to the threatened point and thereby gave the Spanish partisans greater freedom of action in areas abandoned by French troops.

But Wellington's actions did not stop there. Following Massena's retreat to Salamanca, he used part of his army to blockade the border fortress of Almeida in the north, while simultaneously sending Beresford besiege Badajoz in the south. As a result, Wellington's army lost its mobility and found itself divided into two almost equal parts.

At this time, Massena, having reassembled his army and received small reinforcements, hastened to the aid of the besieged Almeida. At Fuente de Onoro, Wellington was taken by surprise in a disadvantageous position, found himself in a difficult position and had difficulty repelling the enemy attack.

Beresford also lifted the siege of Badajoz and marched towards the army Sulta, hastening to help the besieged. He was defeated at Albuera as a result of poor organization of the battle, but the situation was saved, albeit at an excessively high cost, thanks to the skillful actions of the troops.

Now Wellington again concentrated his efforts on the siege of Badajoz, although he did not have siege weapons at his disposal. However, the siege had to be lifted, since Massena, who replaced him, was moving south to join Soult. Marmont. Both French commanders developed a plan for a general offensive against Wellington. But differences arose between them. At the same time, Soult, alarmed by the outbreak of a new guerrilla war in Andalusia, returned there with part of his army, entrusting command of the remaining troops to Marmont. Due to Marmont's excessive caution, the military campaign of 1811 gradually died down.

Due to the limitations of his forces, Wellington could not use them as he would have liked, and although in absolute terms his losses were less than those of the French, they were relatively greater. However, he withstood the onslaught of the French at the most critical period, and from September

1811 The best of the French troops were recalled from Spain to participate in the Russian campaign. Compared to 1810, the number of French troops in Spain decreased by seventy thousand people. Of the troops remaining in Spain, no less than ninety thousand were scattered from Tarragona (on the Mediterranean coast) to Oviedo (on the Atlantic coast) to protect communications with France from guerrilla attack. Before concentrating his forces against Portugal, Napoleon decided to first completely conquer Valencia and Andalusia.

In the presence of weak resistance from the enemy, Wellington took advantage of his freedom of action and, suddenly attacking Ciudad Rodrigo, captured it by storm. Squad under command Gilla covered Wellington's strategic flank and rear during the assault. Marmont was unable to interfere with Gill or recapture the fortress, since his siege park was also captured. Marmont was also unable to follow Wellington through the food-deprived terrain.

Taking advantage of this, Wellington slipped south and stormed Badajoz, although he had very little time to prepare the assault. In Badajoz, Wellington captured the pontoon park. By destroying the pontoon bridge built by the French across the Tagus River in the Alu-maraz area, he achieved a certain strategic advantage, since now the armies of Marmont and Soult were cut off from each other and could only cross the river via the bridge in Toledo, at a distance of about 500 km from the mouth of the river Salamanca.

Soult was firmly tied to Andalusia, because he felt an urgent need for food and feared Spanish partisans. This allowed Wellington to concentrate two-thirds of his troops for an attack on Marmont in Salamanca. But Marmont was able to unravel Wellington's plan and retreated to his bases and sources of reinforcements. After this, Marmont cut Wellington's communications without worrying about his communications, which he actually did not have.

Both armies moved in parallel, at times several hundred meters away from each other, trying to seize the favorable moment to strike. On July 22, Marmont allowed his left wing to separate too far from his right, which Wellington was quick to take advantage of, launching a quick attack on the resulting flank of the left wing. The French were defeated before reinforcements arrived.

Wellington, however, did not achieve a decisive defeat of the French in the battle of Salamanca, and his troops on the Iberian Peninsula were still significantly weaker than the French. Pursuing the French would have put Wellington's troops in a dangerous position, since King Joseph could at any moment leave Madrid behind Wellington and cut off his communications.

Therefore, Wellington decided to march on Madrid, counting on the moral and political significance of this step. As soon as he entered the capital on August 12, 1812, King Joseph fled shamefully. But Wellington’s stay in Madrid could not last long if the French brought their troops scattered throughout Spain here.

Wellington, without pressure from the enemy, left Madrid and headed towards Burgos, posing a threat to the lines of communication with France. But French system feeding from local resources has rendered this threat of no real significance. However, Wellington's successes in the battle of Salamanca and after it forced the French to abandon their plans in Spain to concentrate all their forces against Wellington. He managed to retreat in time and, after joining with Gill, give the French a new battle at Salamanca, on the terrain chosen by him. After this, he again retreated to Ciudad Rodrigo. With his arrival there, the campaign of 1812 ended in Spain.

For his campaign in 1812, Wellington first received the title of earl, then marquis. Parliament twice awarded him one hundred thousand pounds sterling, and the Spanish Cortes presented him with the title of grandee, Marquis of Torres Vedras and Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo.

Although Wellington was back on the Portuguese border, the outcome of the future campaign was already decided, since the French had abandoned most of the captured Spanish territory in order to concentrate their troops against Wellington and, leaving the Spanish partisans alone, lost the opportunity to destroy their forces.

Due to the defeat Napoleon In Russia, an even larger number of French troops were recalled from Spain. By the beginning of the new campaign, the situation in Spain had completely changed.

Wellington became commander-in-chief not only of the English and Portuguese, but also of the Spanish troops.

The French, more demoralized by continuous guerrilla warfare than by military defeats, were almost immediately forced to retreat across the Ebro River and tried only to hold the northern part of Spain. But they could not even complete this task due to the continuous pressure of the partisans on their rear from the Bay of Biscay and the Pyrenees Mountains. This forced the French to withdraw four divisions from their limited forces from the front to organize a resistance.

Taking advantage of this, Wellington won a brilliant victory on June 21, 1813 near Vittoria over King Joseph, for which he received the title of field marshal of the British army, from the Spanish Cortes - estates, and from the Prince Regent of Portugal - the title of Duke of Whitthorn.

The victory allowed Wellington to begin a gradual advance towards the Pyrenees. Having crossed them in February 1814, he crossed the Adour River, occupied Bordeaux, and, displacing Sulta from the Torb position, on April 10-12, after the battle, he captured Toulouse.

Renunciation Napoleon put an end to hostilities. The English Prince Regent granted Wellington the Order of the Garter and the title of Duke, and Parliament gave him 400 thousand pounds sterling to purchase the estate.

After this, Wellington was sent to Paris as ambassador extraordinary in February 1815 and acted as a commissioner at the Congress of Vienna.

After Napoleon's landing in Grenoble, Wellington went to Brussels and here took main command over the allied English, Hanoverian, Dutch and Brunswick troops.

On 18 June 1815, thanks to the energy and composure that never left the "Iron Duke", Wellington repelled, although with heavy losses, the desperate attacks of the French at Waterloo and, with the arrival of Blücher's Prussian troops, defeated Napoleon.

Together with Blucher Wellington non-stop pursued the French troops to Paris, which he entered on July 5.

Wellington was showered with awards for Waterloo. He was made field marshal of the Russian, Prussian, Austrian and Dutch forces. Emperor Alexander I awarded Wellington the Order of St. George, 1st degree, the King of the Netherlands - the title of Prince of Waterloo, and other monarchs - precious gifts.

According to the treaty of alliance on November 20, 1815, Wellington was entrusted with command of all allied forces assigned to occupy France. In this post, Wellington maintained his characteristic dispassionate manner of acting and generally refrained from interfering in politics. However, he opposed Blucher’s proposal to shoot Napoleon and, in agreement with Emperor Alexander I prevented the dismemberment of France and the prolonged occupation of its territory, which the Prussians so sought. Despite this, Wellington's order to return to their places those captured by the French during Napoleonic Wars works of art caused such discontent against him in Paris that several attempts were made on his life. At the Aachen Congress of 1818, Wellington raised the issue of the withdrawal of occupation troops from France and contributed to a favorable resolution of the issue of indemnity.

In 1826 Wellington led an extraordinary embassy to congratulate Emperor Nicholas 1 with accession to the throne.

Since 1827, Wellington became the commander-in-chief of the British ground forces.

In January 1828 Wellington was commissioned to form a ministry. According to his political convictions, he belonged to the extreme Tories, and when in 1830, under the influence of the July Revolution in Paris, aspirations for reform of the electoral law arose in England, Wellington, as a vocal opponent of this bill, had to cede power to the Whigs. Public opinion was so inflamed against Wellington that the London mob broke the windows in his palace. However, this attitude towards him lasted only a short time, and after that Wellington was twice (1834-1835 and 1841-1846) part of Beale's ministry. His political career ended only in 1846.

Since then, with the rank of commander-in-chief, he dealt only with the army and was content with his military glory, which to this day constitutes the national pride of the British. During his lifetime, Wellington had several monuments erected.

He was not characterized by bold ideas, but he had a sharp and sound mind. Remarkably balanced, he was at the same time distinguished by outstanding energy, an iron will, an unshakable sense of duty, icy composure and amazing self-control, which allowed him, in the most difficult situations, not to neglect the slightest opportunities to achieve a successful outcome.

Such valuable military qualities left a unique imprint on Wellington’s military leadership. There were no genius impulses in it, it was, for the most part, a slow, cautious, to some extent even passive strategy, which consisted of precise calculation, careful preparation of the conceived enterprise and the execution of a once made decision without hesitation.

His favorite method of action in battle was a strong defensive position (Wiemeier, Talavera, Waterloo), against which the enemy was either defeated or exhausted to such an extent that he could only be finished off by going on the offensive and pursuing.

At the same time, Wellington skillfully took advantage of the enemy’s mistakes and knew how not to miss the right opportunity in order to most persistently snatch success from blind happiness. His motto was: “Happiness is the companion of virtue.”

Arthur Wellesley Wellington

Before Waterloo I thought Wellington had the gift of a commander.
The experienced military men, knowledgeable in military affairs, were thrown into amazement,
when they noticed that he had taken possession of Mont Saint-Jean: after this stupid
No Englishman would have escaped my mistake. With your success
Wellington owes his own happiness first of all,
and then to the Prussians.

Napoleon Bonaparte
Maxims and Thoughts of the Prisoner of Saint Helena.

Arthur Wellesley Wellington was born in the Irish city of Dublin into a noble but impoverished family. Son of Lord Garrett Colley, Earl of Mornington. He was brought up in aristocratic Eton, after which he chose a military career for himself. Graduated from the Angers Military School. He entered the royal military service in 1787, becoming an officer in an infantry regiment.

Wellington quickly advanced through the ranks - by the age of 25 he was already a lieutenant colonel and commander of the 33rd Infantry Regiment.

He received his baptism of fire in 1794, participating in military operations against the troops of Republican France in the Netherlands.

Arthur Wellesley Wellington served in India from 1796 to 1805.

Upon his return to England, Arthur Wellesley Wellington was solemnly knighted by the British crown, and in 1806 he was elected to the British Parliament. For the next two years he served as Secretary of State for Ireland.

From 1810 to 1813, Wellington commanded the Allied forces in the Iberian Peninsula against the Napoleonic army that had invaded Portugal from Spanish territory.

In the Iberian Peninsula, Wellington achieved several great victories. Among them are the defeat of the French Marshal Genu at Vimieira, the capture of the Portuguese city of Oporto in the north of this country, forcing the troops of one of the best Napoleonic marshals Soult to retreat, the capture of the fortress city of Badajoz and forcing the enemy to retreat to Madrid.

On June 21, 1813, the Battle of Vittoria took place. With 90 thousand soldiers and 90 guns under his command, Arthur Wellesley Wellington decisively attacked the positions of the French army of King Joseph Bonaparte in four columns.

The Battle of Vittoria proved decisive in the War of the Pyrenees.

For his victory at the Battle of Vittoria, General Arthur Wellesley Wellington was promoted to field marshal general.

Field Marshal Wellington returned to London in triumph. In commemoration of his services, he was granted the title of Duke and allocated 300 thousand pounds sterling to purchase the estate. In England he was nicknamed "The Winner of Europe."

Arthur Wellesley Wellington was destined to once again become famous in the war against Napoleonic France. But only this time he had to fight not with her marshals, but against the French emperor himself. Napoleonic's "hundred days" became for Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington the pinnacle of his military glory.

When Napoleon Bonaparte returned to France from the Island of Elba and captured Paris, Field Marshal Wellington was appointed commander-in-chief of the allied Anglo-Dutch army numbering 95 thousand people. It concentrated in Belgium, where another allied army was located - the 124,000-strong Prussian army under the command of Field Marshal Blucher.

The decisive battle of the opponents took place on June 18, 1815 at Waterloo in central Belgium. Wellington, together with the approaching Prussian army under the command of Gebgard Albrecht Blucher, completely defeated Napoleonic army. “The Winner of Europe” fulfilled the parting words of the Russian Emperor Alexander I: “You have to save the world.”

The battle initially did not go in favor of the allies.

In the Battle of Waterloo, the parties suffered heavy losses: the British and Dutch - 15 thousand people, the Prussians - 7 thousand, the French - 32 thousand people, including 7 thousand prisoners.

After the victory at Waterloo, the allied armies invaded already defeated France and reoccupied its capital Paris, from where the finally defeated Napoleon fled to the seaside city of Rochefort.

Victory at the Battle of Waterloo brought Arthur Wellesley Wellington new honors and awards. Thus, in 1815 he received the rank of Russian Field Marshal General, and for successful actions against the French in the War of 1814 he was awarded the highest military award of the Russian Empire - the Order of St. George, 1st degree.

The famous English commander was involved in various government affairs. The "Iron Duke" took part in the work of the Congress of Vienna in 1814-1815, when European monarchs divided the huge Napoleonic empire among themselves. He represented Great Britain at the congresses of the Holy Alliance in 1813 in Aachen and in 1822 in Verona. He was sent to Russia to congratulate Emperor Nicholas I on his accession to the throne.

From 1827 until the end of his life, Wellington remained commander-in-chief royal army. At the same time, in 1828-1830, he served as Prime Minister of Great Britain. In 1834-1835 he served as acting foreign minister, and in 1841-1846 he was a member of the British government with the rank of minister without portfolio.

For Great Britain, Duke Arthur Wellesley Wellington became a national hero. When he died, he was buried with truly royal honors in St. Paul's Cathedral.

Site materials used http://100top.ru/encyclopedia/

Other biographical materials:

Commander and Diplomat ( Soviet military encyclopedia in 8 volumes, volume 2).

English statesman ( Diplomatic Dictionary. Ch. ed. A. Ya. Vyshinsky and S. A. Lozovsky. M., 1948).

Baykova A.N. His authority was maintained by tradition - the memory of his victories in the wars with Napoleon ( Soviet historical encyclopedia. In 16 volumes. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1973-1982. Volume 3. WASHINGTON - VYACHKO. 1963).

Soloviev B.I. Field Marshal of Russia ( Soloviev B.I. Field Marshals of Russia. Rostov-on-Don, "Phoenix" 2000).

Brockhaus F.A., Efron I.A. His ministry was decidedly Tory in character ( F. Brockhaus, I.A. Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary).

Zalessky K.A. Duke of Wellington and Marquess of Duro Baron Duro of Wellesley ( Zalessky K.A. Napoleonic Wars 1799-1815. Biographical Encyclopedic Dictionary, Moscow, 2003).

Read further:

Historical persons of England (biographical reference book).

Participants in the Napoleonic Wars (biographical reference book).

Literature on the Napoleonic Wars (list of references)

Russia in the 19th century (chronological table).

France in the 19th century (chronological table).

Essays:

Dispatches of the Duke of Wellington. 1799-1815. Vol. 1-13. L., 1834-39;

Supplementary Dispatches of the Duke of Wellington. 1794-1818. Vol. 1 - 15. L., 1858-72.

Documentation:

Wellington Despatches of the Duke of Wellington, 1799-1815, v. 1-13, L., 1834-39; Supplementary Despatches of the Duke of Wellington. 1794-1818, v. 1-15, L., 1858-72; New Dispatches... 1819-1832, v. 1-8, L., 1867-80; Some letters of the Duke of Wellington, ed. by Ch. Webster (Camden Miscellany, v. 18), L., 1948.

Literature:

Marx K. and Engels F., Soch., vol. 21, M. - L., 1929, p. 188-189, 411;

Engels to F. Marx in London. 11 Apr 1851 - Marx K., Engels F. Op. Ed. 2nd. T. 27, p. 213-214:

Dragomirov M.I. Napoleon and Wellington. Kyiv, 1907;

History of diplomacy, 2nd ed., vol. 1, M., 1959;

D a v 1 e s G. Wellington and his army. Oxford, 1954.

Davies G., Wellington and his army, (Oxf.), 1954;

Aldington R., The Duke, N.Y., 1943.

Wellington, more correctly Wellington Arthur Wellesley (1.5.1769, Dublin - 14.9.1852, Walmer Castle, Kent), English commander, statesman, diplomat, field marshal (1813); Tory. He studied at an aristocratic college in... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

- (Wellington), WELLINGTON first Duke (1769 1852), English military and statesman, diplomat. Arthur Wellesley, or Wesley, was allegedly born on May 1, 1769, according to some sources, in Dublin, and according to others, at Dungan Castle (Meath, Ireland).... ... Collier's Encyclopedia

Wellington (Wellesley) (1769 1852), Duke (1814), English Field Marshal (1813). In the wars against Napoleonic France, he commanded the allied forces on the Iberian Peninsula (1808-13) and the Anglo-Dutch army at Waterloo... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke- (Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of) (1769 1852), Briton, commander and state. activist Entered the military. service in 1787, took part in hostilities in Flanders in 1794-95, in 1796 he was sent to India, where he not only distinguished himself... ... The World History

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (English: Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington; 1769, Duncancastle September 14, 1852) British commander and statesman, participant in the Napoleonic Wars, winner of Waterloo... ... Wikipedia

WELLINGTON (Wellington) Arthur Wellesley (1769 1852) Duke (1814), English Field Marshal (1813). In the wars against Napoleonic France, commander of the allied forces on the Iberian Peninsula (1808 13) and the Anglo-Dutch... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Worldwide military history in instructive and entertaining examples Kovalevsky Nikolai Fedorovich

Wellington - winner of Waterloo

The military method of the “Iron Duke”

The triumphant Duke of Waterloo, Sir Arthur Wellesley, began his path to glory with modest success. In 1808, he landed in Portugal with a British corps, from where he carried out operations against French troops settled on the Iberian Peninsula. He acted very prudently and cautiously, striking the enemy after careful preparation, in opportune cases and, if necessary, retreating to fortifications. To reproaches for being overly cautious, the British general replied with a smile: “If I lose even five hundred people without obvious necessity, then I will be forced on my knees to report forward to the House of Commons.”

But the matter was not only in the House of Commons, but also in the strategic method of the commander. Many years later, when asked what quality makes a great military leader, the “Iron Duke” answered: “Knowing when to retreat and not being afraid to do so.”

M. Dragomirov characterized Wellington this way: “The great character of perseverance: to sit out, strengthen, prepare for future use.” A. Manfred wrote about the British commander: “Wellington was not a military genius, as he was later portrayed. But he had a bulldog grip. He gnawed into the ground, and it was difficult to knock him out of the positions he occupied.”

Wellington about his soldiers

Wellington's statements about British troops in Portugal are interesting. At first, he assessed his soldiers as “the real scum of the nation,” assembled from the unemployed and losers. But having disciplined and hardened them in battle, he said, not without pride: “It’s simply amazing that we made them into the fine fellows they are now.”

Wellington assessed the national characteristics of his subordinates in this way: “The English are always in excellent condition if they are fed with meat on time and well; the Irish - when we were in an area where there was plenty of wine, and the Scots - when they received a salary.

The most successful of trophies

In 1812 - the first half of 1813, Wellington liberated most of Spain, including Madrid, from the French, and in June 1813 inflicted a decisive defeat on the enemy at Vittoria. Among the trophies captured and sent to England was the marshal's baton of the French commander Jourdan. Two weeks later, Wellington received a dispatch from London from Prince Regent George (the future king): “General, you have sent me, among other trophies, a marshal's baton. In exchange, I send you English." So the liberator of Spain became a field marshal.

British Field Marshal A. Wellington

The most decorated English commander

After victories in Spain, Wellington moved to France, where he occupied Bordeaux and Toulouse. At the end of the 1814 campaign and the abdication of Napoleon, he was awarded the title of English duke, which crowned his previous honors - the titles of count and marquis. By this time, he also had numerous titles received by him from the Portuguese and Spanish authorities - Baron Duro, Viscount Delaware, Marquis of Vimeira, Duke of Rodrigue and Vittoria, etc. A little over a year later, after Waterloo, Wellington's list of honors would lengthen significantly. He would become field marshal of the Russian, Prussian, Austrian, Dutch, Portuguese and Spanish forces.

This is what happened at Waterloo

In the battle with Napoleon at Waterloo on June 18, 1815, Wellington remained true to his military style: the Anglo-Dutch troops took up firmly fortified positions on the heights and from 11 a.m. unwaveringly repulsed all French attacks, occasionally counterattacking. But Wellington’s famous “bulldog grip” gradually weakened; Ney’s cavalry had already twice approached the very top of Mont Saint-Jean.

Wellington was asked for reinforcements from all sides and reported that it was impossible to restrain the enemy. “In that case, let them all die on the spot! “I have no reinforcements,” answered the commander-in-chief.

Looking forward to the approach of his ally, the Prussian troops of Blucher, Wellington more than once exclaimed: “Blücher or night!”

With no less impatience, Napoleon awaited the arrival of Grouchy's corps. And then, from the direction of the Saint-Lambert forest, the vague outlines of approaching troops appeared. Blucher or Grushi? To the delight of the British, it was the Prussian army. This decided the outcome of the battle. Pears never arrived at Waterloo.

Wellington (center) at the Battle of Waterloo. 1815

Winged motto of the Guard

Napoleon unsuccessfully tried to turn the tide of the Battle of Waterloo by throwing into battle his last and best reserve - the guard. With the generals in front and shouts of “Vivat imperator!” six battalions of guards moved to the top of Mont-Saint-Jean. Volleys of English infantry mowed down one battalion after another. The defeat of the French guards was inevitable, and the English colonel invited them to surrender. In response, from the lips of General Carbonne came the words that later became popular: “The Guard is dying, but does not surrender!”

The Weight of Victory

The night after the victory at Waterloo, Wellington was brought lists of those killed in the battle. When the doctor began to read them out, the mass of familiar names shocked the commander-in-chief, and tears began to fall from the eyes of the “Iron Duke.” Having controlled himself, Wellington said: “Thank God, I don’t know what it’s like to lose a battle, but how hard is victory when you lose so many friends!”

About the name of the Battle of Waterloo

The Battle of Waterloo may have had a name unrelated to this Belgian village, since there were other settlements closer to the epicenter of the battle. For example, some French reports referred to this battle as the Battle of Mont Saint-Jean. Wellington, who visited Blucher in La Belle Alliance that evening, heard from the Prussian field marshal a proposal to name the battle after the place of their meeting, which had a symbolic meaning (La Belle Alliance translated from French is a wonderful union). But the British commander-in-chief shook his head. He chose to give the historical battle a name related to the location of his headquarters.

The difference between an eyewitness and writers

After the war, Field Marshal Wellington flatly refused to give a description of the Battle of Waterloo, and while reading numerous writings on this topic, he once remarked: “I’m beginning to doubt whether I was really there?”

Inheriting the Pedestal

When the news of Napoleon's death on St. Helena arrived in 1821, 52-year-old Wellington could not resist stating: “I am now the most famous commander alive.”

Who replaced the Waterloo field

Battlefields typically change quickly over time due to weather and other factors. The winner of Waterloo Wellington, visiting the site of this famous battle 15 years later, said with a smile: “My field has been replaced!”

Scarier than war

While in Vienna, Field Marshal Wellington received an invitation to the premiere of the opera The Battle of Vittoria, in which strong noise effects were used for greater authenticity. One of the accompanying people asked him if this was what really happened. “Lord, of course not,” Wellington replied, laughing, “otherwise I would have run away from there first.”

What damaged Wellington's immortality

In 1828–1830 Wellington served as Prime Minister of Great Britain. Most of all, the field marshal was outraged by the debates in the government. He said: “I’m not used to things like this. I gathered the officers, proposed my plan to them, and they carried it out unquestioningly.”

Due to his sharply conservative political inclinations, Prime Minister Wellington acquired many opponents and was forced to resign. One of his contemporaries wrote: “If he had retired immediately after Waterloo, he would have been immortal, but otherwise he would have been simply famous.”

by Clark Stefan

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Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. Born May 1, 1769 in Duncancastle - died September 14, 1852. British commander and statesman, field marshal (July 3, 1813), participant in the Napoleonic Wars, winner of Waterloo (1815). 25th (from 22 January 1828 to 22 November 1830) and 28th (from 17 November to 10 December 1834) Prime Minister of Great Britain.

Third son of Lord Garrett Colley, Earl of Mornington and Anne, eldest daughter of Arthur Hill-Trevor, Viscount Dungannon. He was most likely born in his parents' home in Dublin (Ireland), 24 Upper Merrion Street. His biographers usually, citing a newspaper publication of that time, claim that he was born on May 1, 1769 and was baptized on the same day. His mother, Anne Mornington, stated in 1815 that Arthur was born at 6 Merrion Street, Dublin. There are other possible birthplaces.

Wellington spent his childhood in two family homes - in a large house in Dublin and in Dungan Castle, located 5 km north of Summerhill on the road to Trim, County Meath (province of Leinster). In 1781, Arthur's father dies and the eldest son, Richard, inherits the earldom.

Wellington went to the diocese school in Trim, then attended White's Academy in Dublin and finally moved to Brown's School in Chelsea, London. In 1781, Wellington was enrolled at Eton College, where he studied until 1784. His loneliness there made him hate college and so it is unlikely that he could have said the words attributed to him: “The Battle of Waterloo was won on the fields of Eton.” In addition, Eton did not have playing fields at that time. In 1785, lack of achievement at Eton, coupled with family financial difficulties following the death of his father, forced the young Wellesley to move to Brussels with his mother. For the first twenty years of his life, Wellesley showed no ability. The lack of any goals and interests greatly upset the mother, who even said: “I don’t even know what to do with my incapable Arthur.”

A year later, Wellesley entered the Royal Equestrian Academy in Angers, France. Here he showed significant success, became a good rider and learned French, which was very useful to him in the future. On his return to England at the end of 1786, he amazed his mother with his achievements.

In 1793, the Duke of York was sent to Flanders to command the British forces of the Allied army, which intended to invade revolutionary France. In 1794, the 33rd Regiment was sent there as reinforcements. Wellesley, having just purchased a major on April 30, 1793, boarded a ship at Cork in June for Flanders, his first real war. Three months later, on September 30, 1793, he purchased the rank of lieutenant colonel. During the campaign he became a brigade commander, and in September his brigade came under fire east of Breda, shortly before the Battle of Boxtel.

During the winter, during the remainder of the campaign, his unit defended the line of the Vaal River, and he himself became unwell due to the wet weather. Although the overall campaign was unsuccessful, the Duke of York's army returned home in 1795, but Wellesley learned several valuable lessons, including maintaining sustained fire against advancing enemy columns and the use of fleet support. He concluded that many of the campaign's miscalculations were due to command errors and poor organizational performance at headquarters. He later remarked that his time in the Netherlands "at least taught me what not to do, and that has always been a valuable lesson."

Returning to England in March 1795, Wellesley was re-elected as MP for Trim for a second term. He hoped to receive the post of War Secretary in the new Irish government, but the new Lord Lieutenant, Lord Camden, offered him only the post of Inspector General in the Board of Ordnance. Refusing this appointment, he returned to his regiment, which was preparing to sail to the West Indies at Southampton. After seven weeks at sea, a storm forced the fleet to return to Poole, in the south of England. The regiment was given time to put itself in order and after a few months in Whitehall they decided to send the regiment to India. Wellesley was given the rank of colonel by seniority on May 3, 1796, and a few weeks later he and his regiment were sent to Calcutta.

Wellesley took part in the unsuccessful Anglo-Russian campaign in northern Germany, reaching with his brigade as far as the Elbe. Upon Wellesley's return, good news awaited him: thanks to his new title and status, Kitty Packinham's family gave permission to marry her. Arthur and Kitty married on 10 April 1806 in Dublin. The marriage subsequently turned out to be unsuccessful, and both lived apart for many years while Wellesley fought in the wars. In January 1806, Wellesley was elected to the lower house of Parliament from the town of Rye (East Sussex) as a Tory candidate and retired from the army for a long time.

In 1807 he was elected from the cities of Tralee, Mitchell, and, finally, Newport on the Isle of Wight in the south of England, for which he was an MP in 1807-1809. Then, in the same 1807, he was appointed Secretary of State for Ireland and at the same time became a member of the Privy Council of Great Britain. While in Ireland, he made a verbal promise that existing punitive laws against Catholics would be applied with great restraint. This may indicate his intention to subsequently support Catholic emancipation.

On April 25, 1808 he received the rank of lieutenant general. In June 1808, Wellesley took command of an expeditionary force of 9,000 men, which was supposed to be sent to the Spanish colonies in South America to help the Latin American revolutionary Francisco Miranda. However, his corps was instead sent to Portugal, where they were to join up with 5,000 troops sent from Gibraltar.

With all preparations complete, the army set out from Cork on 12 July 1808 to fight the French in the Iberian Peninsula. According to historian Robin Neilans, “Wellesley had already acquired the experience on which his subsequent victories were based. He knew about command and control of troops from the very bottom to the top, about the importance of logistics and supplies, and conducting combat operations in a hostile environment. He had political weight and realized the importance of support from the metropolis. The main thing is that he understood how, by setting achievable goals and relying on one’s own strengths and means, one must conduct and win military campaigns.”

Wellesley defeated the French at the Battle of Rolis and the Battle of Vimeiro in 1808, but was removed from command immediately after Vimeiro. General Hugh Dalrymple signed the strange Convention of Sintra, under which the British Royal Navy undertook to remove the French army from Lisbon with all its booty, and insisted on the accession of the only member of the government, Wellesley, to the Convention. He retained the post of Secretary of State for Irish Affairs, equal to the ministerial position. In Britain itself the Convention was considered a disgrace. Dalrymple and Wellesley were recalled to England to appear before a commission of inquiry. Wellesley agreed to sign a preliminary truce, but did not sign the convention and was ultimately acquitted.

Meanwhile, Napoleon himself invaded Spain with his veterans to suppress the rebellion. The new commander of the British forces in the Iberian Peninsula, John Moore, died at the Battle of A Coruña in January 1809.

Although in general the war with the French on the continent was not in favor of the British, the Pyrenean theater of operations became the only place where the British, in alliance with the Portuguese, offered serious resistance to the French and their allies. A new expedition sent to Holland met with disaster due to miscalculations in organization, typical of Britain at that time. Wellesley sent a memorandum to the Secretary of War, Lord Castlereagh, regarding the defense of Portugal. In the memorandum, he emphasized the importance of Portugal's mountainous borders and justified the choice of Lisbon as the main troop base because the English fleet would be able to help defend it. Castlereagh and the Cabinet approved the document and appointed Wellesley commander of the entire British Expeditionary Force in Portugal.

Wellesley arrived in Lisbon on April 22, 1809, aboard the former French frigate Surveyant, narrowly escaping shipwreck. Having received reinforcements, he went on the offensive. At the Second Battle of Porto, using surprise and speed, he crossed the Duero River on May 12 in the afternoon and drove the troops of Marshal Soult out of the city of Porto.

With Portugal secure, Wellesley invaded Spain to join the forces of General Gregorio de la Cuesta. The combined forces were preparing on July 23, 1809 to attack the first corps of Marshal Victor at Talavera. But Cuesta agreed to the operation reluctantly and persuaded him to postpone the offensive for a day. The delay allowed the French to withdraw. Cuesta recklessly sent his army after Victor and found himself face to face with almost the entire French army in New Castile - Victor annexed the garrisons of Toledo and Madrid to his troops. The Spanish retreated rapidly, with two British divisions advancing to cover their retreat.

The next day, July 27, at the Battle of Talavera, the French launched an offensive in three columns. Wellesley repelled all attacks on this and the following days, but with heavy losses for his army. It soon became clear that after the battle Soult moved south, threatening to cut off the British from Portugal. On August 3, Wellesley moved east to stop Soult, leaving 1,500 wounded in the care of the Spaniards. However, it turned out that the French forces amounted to 30 thousand people and Wellesley ordered the light cavalry brigade to rush as hard as they could and capture the bridge over the Tagus River at Almaraz before the French arrived. Having secured communications and supplies with Lisbon, Wellesley decided to reconnect with Cuesta. However, it turned out that the Spaniards had abandoned the wounded English to the French and had proven themselves to be completely unreliable, promising and then refusing to supply British troops, irritating Wellesley and sowing discontent between the English and Spanish allies. Lack of supplies, coupled with the threat of more French troops arriving in the spring (including the possible appearance of the French army itself), forced the British to retreat to Portugal.

In 1809, Arthur Wellesley received the title Viscount Wellington.

In 1810, Portugal was invaded by a new large French army under the command of Marshal Andre Massena. Both in England and in the English Expeditionary Army, the mood was pessimistic: everyone believed that troops would have to be evacuated from Portugal. Instead, Wellington delayed the French at the Battle of Bussaco. He then fortified the peninsula on which Lisbon is located by building massive earthworks, the so-called Torres Vedras Lines. They were built in great secrecy, with their flanks protected by the Royal Navy. The advancing French army ran into blind defenses, starvation began among the troops, and after six months they were forced to retreat. The pursuit, organized by the British, was frustrated by a series of counterattacks by the French rearguard under the command of Marshal Ney.

In 1811, Massena again went to Portugal to free Almeida; Wellington barely managed to stop the French at the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro on 3-6 May. On May 16, his subordinate, Viscount Beresford, fought with the “Army of the South of France” under the command of Soult. The Battle of Albuera became bloody for both sides, but did not bring a decisive victory to anyone. Wellington received the rank of full general on July 31 for his services. The French lifted the siege of Almeida and eluded pursuit by English troops, but retained in their hands the Spanish fortresses of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz, the “keys” to the roads through the mountain passes to Portugal. For military services in Portugal, Wellesley was ranked among the Portuguese nobility with the title of Count of Vimeiro.

In January 1812, Wellington captured Ciudad Rodrigo, taking advantage of the fact that the main French forces had gone into winter quarters. So that the garrison of the fortress did not have time to receive help, the Anglo-Portuguese army stormed the fortress in a fairly short time. The troops then moved south, besieged Badajoz on March 16 and, after almost a month of fighting, captured this fortress in a night assault with heavy losses. Seeing the results of the bloody massacre at the breaches of the fortress, Wellington lost his usual composure and cried.

His army now consisted of veteran British soldiers, reinforced by retrained units of the Portuguese army. Heading to Spain, he defeated the French at the Battle of Salamanca, taking advantage of the latter's blunders in maneuvers. The battle allowed the liberation of Madrid. As a reward, he was made Earl and then Marquess of Wellington and appointed commander of all allied forces in Spain. Wellington attempted to take the all-important fortress of Burgos, which linked Madrid with France. However, failure, caused primarily by the lack of siege weapons, forced him to retreat headlong, losing more than 2,000 people killed.

The French left Andalusia, and Marshals Soult and Marmont united their troops. United, the French outnumbered the British, putting the latter in a dangerous position. Wellington withdrew his army, linked up with a smaller corps under Roland Hill and began to retreat to Portugal. Marshal Soult dodged the attack.

In 1812, Wellesley was granted the Portuguese titles of Marquis of Torres Vedras and Duke da Vitoria ("Duke of Victory"), by decrees in the name of Queen Mary, for services to the people of Portugal. This was the only time a foreigner received the hereditary title of Duke of Portugal.

In 1813, Wellington launched a new offensive, this time against the French lines of communication. He passed through the highlands of the Traz-os-Montes region north of Burgos and transferred his supply line from Portugal to the Spanish northern port of Santander. This forced the French to abandon both Madrid and Burgos. Continuing to flank the French lines, Wellington overtook and defeated the army of King Joseph Bonaparte at the Battle of Vitoria. Thanks to this victory, he received the rank of English field marshal. He personally led a column into the French center, while other columns, led by Thomas Graham, Roland Hill and George Ramsay, Earl of Dalhousie, flanked the French to the right and left. This battle inspired Beethoven's opus 91, Wellington's Victory. The British troops broke formation to plunder the abandoned wagons of the French instead of pursuing the defeated enemy. In view of such a flagrant violation of discipline, an enraged Wellington wrote a famous report to the Secretary of Defense and Colonies, Earl Henry Bathurst: “We have the scum of the Earth as ordinary soldiers.”

However, later, when his anger had cooled, he followed up his comment with praise for his soldiers, saying that although many of the men were "the scum of the earth, it is truly amazing that we make them such fine fellows as they become."

After taking the small fortress of Pamplona, Wellington surrounded the fortress of San Sebastian. However, the French garrison turned out to be unexpectedly resilient and repelled the assault attempt. The Allies suffered 693 killed and 316 captured and suspended the siege at the end of July. Soult tried to relieve the fortress, but the Spanish Galician army repelled this attempt at the Battle of San Marcial, near Irun. After this, the Allies were able to consolidate their positions and narrow the ring around San Sebastian, which fell in September, despite an active defense. Wellington then forced Soult's demoralized and badly battered army into a fighting retreat to France. The path is marked by the Battle of the Pyrenees, the Battle of Bidassoa, and the Battle of the River Nivelles. Wellington's army launched an invasion of southern France, winning the battles of the Nive River and Orthez. The last battle between Wellington and Soult was the Battle of Toulouse, in which the Allies suffered heavy losses in the assault on the French redoubts, losing 4,600 soldiers. Despite the victory, news arrived of Napoleon's abdication and Soult, seeing no reason to continue the battle, negotiated a ceasefire with Wellington and left the city.

For his exploits, Wellington was generously rewarded by the English government: the Prince Regent granted him the title of Duke (his descendants still bear this title), and Parliament allocated 300 thousand pounds sterling for the purchase of the estate. Since the newly created Duke, formerly Viscount, Earl and Marquess of Wellington, did not appear in England until after the Peninsular War, he was awarded all the patents of his titles in one unique, all-day ceremony. Although Wellesley fought for nearly six years to rid Spain of the French and dethrone Joseph Bonaparte, his achievements received little recognition in that country: in the history taught in Spanish schools, the contribution of Wellington and his English and Portuguese soldiers was minimal. He received the Spanish title of Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo, and Ferdinand VII allowed him to keep some of the art from the royal collection that he had captured from the French. The monument dedicated to the victory at Vitoria features a large figure of Wellington on horseback.

In Britain he was popular not only for his military victories, but also for his image and appearance. His victories coincided with the flourishing of Romanticism with its inherent attention to the individual person. The Duke's clothing style influenced fashion in Britain: a tall, slender silhouette, a black hat with a plume, a luxurious and at the same time strict uniform and white trousers became very popular.

He was appointed ambassador to France. He then replaced Lord Castlereagh as Britain's plenipotentiary at the Congress of Vienna, where he staunchly defended France's position in the post-war balance of power in Europe. When the Order of the Bath was reformed on January 2, 1815, Wellington received the rank of Knight Grand Cross instead of the rank of ordinary knight of the order.

On February 26, 1815, Napoleon fled Elba and returned to France. In May he regained control of the country and faced a new, seventh coalition against him. Wellington left Vienna for Belgium to take command of the Anglo-German army and the Dutch-Belgian allies. Nearby was the Prussian army of Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher.

Napoleon's plan was to cut off the Allied and Prussian armies from each other and defeat them one by one before the Austrian and Russian troops arrived. This was the only way the French had a chance to cope with the overwhelming numerical superiority of the coalition troops. After victory, Napoleon would look for opportunities to make peace with Austria and Russia.

French troops invaded Belgium, defeated the Prussians at Ligny, and at the Battle of Quatre Bras prevented Wellington from coming to the rescue of the Prussians. These events forced the British and their allies to retreat to a hill near the village of Mont Saint-Jean (English) Russian. on the road to Brussels, south of Waterloo. On June 17, heavy rain began, which slowed down the movement. The next day the Battle of Waterloo took place. Wellington fought against Napoleon for the first time. The Duke led an Anglo-Dutch-German army of approximately 73,000 men, 26,000 (36%) of whom were British.

Battle of Waterloo began with a diversionary attack by the French division on the fortified chateau of Hougoumont. After a fire raid of 80 guns, Comte d’Erlon’s French I Corps was the first to attack. D'Erlon's warriors struck the enemy's center and the allied forces positioned in front of the hill retreated in disorder to the main position. D'Erlon's corps then stormed the most fortified Allied position, La Haye Sainte, but without success. The Allied division under the command of Lieutenant General Thomas Picton met the remnants of d'Erlon's corps face to face, and there was a close firefight in which Picton was killed. During this skirmish the Earl of Uxbridge led two of his cavalry brigades against the enemy, took the French infantry by surprise, drove them to the foot of the slope and took two French imperial eagles. However, the attackers overestimated their strength. Napoleon threw fresh cavalry units at them, which inflicted huge losses on the British and pushed them back.

Just before 16:00, Marshal Ney noticed an apparent mass withdrawal in the center of Wellington's positions. He took the evacuation of the dead and wounded to the rear as the beginning of a retreat and decided to take advantage of this. Ney himself at this time had small infantry reserves on the left flank, since most of the infantry were either sent to the futile attack on the Château Hougoumont or defended the right flank. Therefore, Ney decided to break through the center of Wellington with an attack of cavalry alone.

Around 16:30, the first Prussian IV Corps arrived under the command of Friedrich Bülow. The corps arrived at a time when the attack of the French cavalry was in full swing. Bülow sent the 15th Brigade to join Wellington's left flank in the Frichermont-La Haie area, while the brigade's horse battery and the brigade's attached artillery deployed to support their left flank. Napoleon sent Count Lobau with his corps to intercept the remainder of Bülow's IV Corps, which was heading for the village of Plancenoit. The 15th Brigade forced Lobau's corps to retreat in the direction of Plancenoit. Von Hiller's 16th Brigade also advanced with six battalions towards Plancenoit. Napoleon sent all eight battalions of the Young Guard to reinforce Lobau, which now found itself in a severely constrained position. The Young Guard counterattacked and, after fierce firing, defended Plancenoit, but they themselves were counterattacked and driven out. Napoleon was forced to send two battalions of the Old Guard to Plancenoit and, after a merciless fight, they recaptured the village.

The French cavalry attacked the British infantry square many times, always with heavy losses for the French but few for the British. Ney himself was thrown from his horse four times. In the end, it became obvious even to Ney that you couldn’t achieve much with cavalry alone. Belatedly, he organized a joint infantry and cavalry attack, using Bachelle's division and Colonel Tissot's of Foix's division (both units of Rey's II Corps) and what remained of the French cavalry available. This attack followed almost the same route as the previous heavy cavalry attacks.

Meanwhile, at about the same time, when Ney's combined efforts stormed the center and right flank of Wellington's position, Napoleon gave Ney the order to capture La Haye-Sante at all costs. Ney did this with what was left of d'Erlon's corps shortly after 18:00. Ney then moved his horse artillery up closer to Wellington's center and began destroying his infantry squares with grapeshot at close range. The whole thing simply destroyed the 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment, and the 30th and 73rd Regiments suffered such heavy casualties that they had to be combined to form viable squares. Wellington's center was now on the verge of collapse and vulnerable to French attack. Fortunately for Wellington, the Prussian corps of Pirch I and Zieten arrived in time. Ziethen's corps allowed the two fresh cavalry brigades of Vivian and Vandeleur from the edge of Wellington's left flank to move and position themselves behind the depopulated center. Pirch's corps followed Bülow's reinforcement and together they recaptured Plancenoit and again the road to Charleroi began to be shot through by Prussian cannonballs. The value of the reinforcements received at that critical moment of the battle was difficult to overestimate.

The French army was now fiercely attacking coalition forces along the entire front. The highest point was when Napoleon sent the Imperial Guard to attack at 19:30. The Imperial Guard's attack consisted of five battalions of the Middle Guard, but no grenadiers or chasseurs of the Old Guard. Marching through a hail of grapeshot and skirmish fire, and greatly thinned out, about 3,000 Guardsmen reached the western part of La Haye Sainte and split into three attack groups. One, consisting of two battalions of grenadiers, defeated the first line of the coalition and moved on. A relatively fresh Dutch division led by Lieutenant General Chasse was sent against them, and the Allied artillery hit the French grenadiers in the flank. This failed to stop the advance of the Guard, Chasse ordered his first brigade to go into bayonet mode against the numerically superior French, which was finally able to stop the French columns.

To the west, 1,500 British Guards infantry under the command of Major General Peregrine Maitland took refuge on the ground, seeking protection from French artillery. As soon as two battalions of chasseurs, the second group of the Imperial Guard, appeared, Maitland's guards stood up and met them with volleys almost point-blank. The chasseurs turned to counterattack, but began to hesitate. A bayonet attack by the guards drove them back. But a third group, a fresh battalion of chaseurs, arrived to help. The British Guards retreated, pursued by the Chasseurs, but the latter were stopped by the 52nd Light Infantry Regiment, which turned to the French flank, opened destructive fire on them, and then rushed to the attack. Under the rapid onslaught, the ranks of the French were broken.

The remnants of the Imperial Guard fled. Panic spread along the French lines along with the deafening news: “La Garde recule. Sauve qui peut! (“The Guard is retreating. Save yourself who can!”) Wellington rose in the stirrups of his horse, named “Copenhagen,” and began waving his hat. This was a conventional sign that the entire line of Allied troops would go on the offensive, while the Prussians had already captured French positions in the east. The French army fled the battlefield in disarray. Wellington and Blücher met at the Belle Alliance inn on the road that crossed the battlefield from north to south, and agreed that the Prussians should pursue the retreating French army back into France.

On November 20, 1815, the 2nd Peace of Paris was signed. At the conclusion of peace, Wellington was appointed overall commander of the Allied forces in France and remained there until the end of the occupation.

Upon his return to his homeland, Wellington returned to politics. On December 26, 1818, he was appointed to the post of Feldmaster General, head of the Board of Ordnance in the Tory government of Lord Liverpool. The House of Ordnance was responsible for munitions, weapons, equipment and war materials for the British Army and Royal Navy. Her area of responsibility also included transport for guns, care of coastal fortresses, management of artillery and engineering troops and the production of military maps. Additionally, Wellington became Governor of Plymouth on 9 October 1819.

In 1818 and 1822 he took part in the congresses of Aachen and Verona; in 1826 he was sent to Russia to congratulate Emperor Nicholas on his accession to the throne.

In 1827, the Duke became Commander-in-Chief of the British Army (January 22), Constable of the Tower (February 5), and in April a new Feldgemaster-General, his Waterloo comrade-in-arms, Earl of Uxbridge, was appointed.

Wellington, along with the future Prime Minister Robert Peel, was among the members of the Tory party increasing their influence. In 1828, he resigned as commander-in-chief and became Prime Minister of Great Britain on January 22. Robert Peel, who had been his long-term ally, becomes secretary for internal affairs(Minister of Internal Affairs).

For the first seven months of his premiership, he did not live at his official residence at 10 Downing Street, finding it too cramped. Wellington moved into the residence only because his home, Apsley House, was due for extensive repairs and rebuilding. As Prime Minister, he was very instrumental in the founding of King's College. On 20 January 1829, Wellington was appointed Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, a largely ceremonial position. Wellington remained conservative and feared that the anarchy of the French Revolution might spread throughout Europe.

The nickname "The Iron Duke" appeared during a period when Wellington was extremely unpopular both as a person and as a politician. In July 1830, he was called this, with a tinge of disapproval, in the pages of the Irish newspaper Freeman's Journal for his strong position in politics. In September 1830, Wellington was greeted by a hostile crowd at the opening of the Liverpool-Manchester railway.

The Beer Act of 1830 abolished all taxes on beer and allowed citizens to open beer pubs(from the English public house, public house) without special permission, without buying a license.

In the summer and autumn of 1830, the country was seized by uprisings of Luddite peasants who smashed threshing machines - the Swing peasant movement. For a long time there had been no government consisting entirely of Whigs, and they believed that the key to power would be reforms in response to the demands of the dissatisfied. Wellington adhered to the Tory policy: no reforms and no expansion of suffrage, and as a result, on November 15, 1830, a vote of no confidence in his government was passed in parliament.

The impression made by the French July Revolution and the accession of William IV to the English throne led to the fall of the Wellington government in November 1830.

Wellington retired from active political life in 1846, but remained as commander-in-chief and was briefly back in the spotlight in 1848 when he helped raise troops to defend London from European revolution.

Conservative Party split over the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846. Wellington and most former members of the government supported Robert Peel, but most of the Conservative MPs, led by Lord Derby, were in favor of leaving protectionist tariffs. Parliament repealed the Corn Laws.

In February 1852, Lord Derby headed the new government. 82-year-old Wellington, who by that time was very hard of hearing, when reading out the list of new ministers in the House of Lords, most of whom were in government for the first time, when the new name was read out, loudly asked: “Who? Who?" This cabinet of Lord Derby was nicknamed “the government of Who?” Who?".

On 31 August 1850, Wellington became Chief Warden of Hyde Park and St James's Park. He also remained Commander-in-Chief, Governor of the Tower, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and Chancellor of the University of Oxford (from 1834), as well as Colonel of the 33rd Regiment of Foot (later called the Duke of Wellington's Regiment) (from 1 February 1806) and Colonel of the Grenadier Guards (from January 22, 1827).

Kitty, Wellington's wife, died of cancer in 1831. Despite their generally unhappy relationship, Wellington was saddened by her death. He sought solace in a warm relationship with the diarist Harriet Arbuthnot, the wife of diplomat, party colleague and friend of Wellington himself, Charles Arbuthnot. Researchers deny that Harriet was the Duke's mistress. Harriet's death during the cholera epidemic in 1834 was a great blow to both the Duke and her husband. Two widowers spent their last years together at Apsley House.

Keeping aloof from parties, he acted as a mediator, and Queen Victoria herself sought his advice in difficult matters. Wellington was not a man of genius, but he had a remarkable mind, a keen sense of duty and, above all, unyielding firmness. His former unpopularity was forgotten, and he enjoyed the love and respect of the people when death overtook him.

Wellington died on September 14, 1852 at the age of 83, from the effects of a stroke that culminated in a series of epileptic seizures.

Although he hated railway travel in life (after witnessing the death of William Huskisson in the first railway incident), his body was taken by train to London, where he was given a state funeral. Only a few Britons have been so honored (among them Horatio Nelson) and it was the last heraldic state funeral in Britain. They passed on November 18, 1852. The funeral was a crowded affair, and Tennyson's extraordinary eulogy in Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington testifies to his supreme status at the time of his death. He was placed in a sarcophagus made of laxulanite (a rare type of granite) in the Cathedral of St. Paul next to Lord Nelson.

Wellington's coffin was decorated with flags specially made for the occasion. One of them was Prussian, it was removed during the First World War and was not returned later.

After his death, Irish and English newspapers began to argue whether Wellington was born Irish or English. During his life, he openly expressed displeasure if he was called Irish.

Wellington nicknames:

Wellington's most famous nickname - "The Iron Duke" - is more associated with the Duke's hard-line politics than with any specific incident. It was often used in newspapers as a pejorative. However, it became more common when iron shutters (which were said to be able to withstand a musket ball) were installed at Apsley House in 1832 to prevent an angry mob from breaking the glass. The nickname became even more popular after cartoons in Punch magazine published in 1844-45.

In addition, Wellington had other nicknames:

His officers called him "The Beau" for his manner of dressing well, or "The Peer" when he became a viscount in 1809.
It was nicknamed "The Eagle" by Spanish soldiers and "Douro Douro" by Portuguese soldiers after its successful crossing of the river near Porto in 1809, securing victory in the battle. “Beau Douro” - Wellington thought it was funny when Adolph Frederick, Colonel of the Coldstream Guards, called him that.
“Sepoy General” (“Sepoy general”) - that’s what Wellesley called Napoleon, wanting to offend him for his service in India and make him out to be an unworthy enemy. This nickname was used in the official French newspaper Le Moniteur Universel for propaganda purposes.
“The Beef” - There is a theory that the dish “Beef Wellington” is supposedly somehow connected with the Duke, but not everyone agrees with it.

Besides, in English language rubber boots are called "Wellington" boots. It is believed that Wellington initially proposed, instead of over the knee boots, cavalry boots made of calfskin with a longer shaft in front, which better protected the riders' vulnerable shins from bullets.