The Duke of Wellington: Napoleon’s Vanquisher and Ireland’s Son #waterloo #ireland #british #war

This video tells the truth about the Life and Times of Arthur Wellesley, aka the Duke of Wellington. Born to an Irish Aristocratic Family during a time when Ireland was part of the United Kingdom, the Duke rose to the Head of the European Coalition Forces to defeat Napoleon firstly in Spain and finally at Waterloo. He later became Prime Minister of the United Kingdoms of Britain and Ireland and forced through an Act in Parliament to free Catholics which made up the majority of his Homeland, Ireland. Because of his association with British Forces, he is falsely often accused of being English and secondly of being a traitor to Ireland. So what is the truth behind the enigmatic Duke’s story? Watch to find out!

Credit to Martin Manseragh the Irish Times and the BBC for the information researched to create this video.

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Hey there and welcome back to our channel. Today we are going to discuss the fascinating life and times of the Duke of Wellington, one of history’s greatest military leaders. We will look at his origins, his military career, his political career and his complicated and often misunderstood relationship with his homeland of Ireland.

The Duke of Wellington’s legacy still towers over British and Irish history today. The hero of Waterloo, vanquisher of Napoleon, poet laureate Alfred Lord Tennyson hailed him as ‘the last great Englishman’. Statues still adorn the streets of many British and Irish towns and cities while his name has become synonymous with one

Of the United Kingdom’s most celebrated victories. So how did Arthur Wellesley become the Iron Duke we remember today? And how has his legacy become so misunderstood both in Britain and Ireland? This is what you might call my opus of respect to the Duke of Wellington and a call to my fellow Irish

Men and Women to remember and reclaim our forgotten Son. The future Duke of Wellington was born, Arthur Wesley later changed to Wellesley third surviving son in an aristocratic Irish family. His father, Garrett, was the first Earl of Mornington, while his mother, Anne, was the eldest daughter of Arthur Hill, first Viscount of Dungannon.

An unhappy, lonely boy, Wellington exhibited few of the talents that would come to make his name! Lazy and socially awkward, his early schooling was fragmented, his performance uninspired. Only his violin playing showed any real promise. When Wellington was twelve, his father died! That same year,

He started at Eton with his younger brother Gerald. Anne, his mother felt Wellington a slow, foolish child. His exploits at Eton did nothing to dispel that opinion. Frequently unsociable and occasionally aggressive, with little appetite for learning, Wellington was removed from school in 1784. His father’s death in 1781 had hit the family’s

Financial standing, and another of Wellington’s younger brothers, Henry, looked to be a more promising scholar. Wellington followed his mother to Brussels in 1785. At his family’s behest a career in the military beckoned. Few other suitable options existed for such an unpromising young aristocrat. Wellington studied fencing, horsemanship and maths, but remained typically uninterested.

His brother’s wealth and influence secured him a number of commissions, first as junior officer in the 73rd Foot and then as aide to camp to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. As the French Revolution moved towards its climax, Wellington’s elevation continued even taking a seat in the Irish Parliament.

By October 1792, he had held five commissions in six different regiments. Events in France sent shockwaves through Europe. On the 21st January, King Louis XVI was executed at the Guillotine. France had declared her egalitarian principles to be universal. The very fabric of established social order was under threat,

And by February Britain and France were at war. Wellington had to grow up quickly. He marked his newfound focus by setting aside frivolous things like his violin. Wellington’s opportunity came quickly. In 1794, the 33rd Foot was sent to the Netherlands and he fought the French for the first time.

Though Wellington won plaudits for his role in the fighting, the Flanders campaign as a whole was disastrous. By spring 1795, British forces had withdrawn, dejected and demoralised and were evacuated from Hanover. The French had won, replacing the Dutch Republic with a client State. Wellington’s first experience of war had

Come with a taste of defeat. Few of his fellow officers, he saw, had known how to command an army. Bad weather spared Wellington a dangerous trip to the West Indies. Diversion to India, moreover, offered much greater career prospects! With him he brought several hundred books, including titles on military history.

He was determined not to repeat the mistakes of other officers he had witnessed firsthand. After some early successes, Wellington was promoted to the rank of Major General, and in 1803, he claimed the first major victory of his career. Facing an enemy force much greater than the 7,000

At his disposal, he won a desperate battle at Assaye, a small village in western India. His name made, Wellington looked to home. Back in England, Wellington was now a wealthy man and had grown further in status. He became a member of Parliament for Rye in April. That same month, he married.

Wellington first proposed to Kitty Pakenham in 1793, but young and in debt, was rejected by her family. Though there had been little contact in the intervening decade, he proposed once more when he arrived back in England. When he met her again in November 1805, he harboured considerable doubts. She was not the woman

He had met all that time before. Nonetheless, perhaps out of duty, he married her and the couple had two sons. The relationship was not a happy one. Wellington’s influence continued to grow. He found himself with several friends in the Cabinet when William Bentinck became Prime Minister in March! His friends clout

Saw Wellington appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland, taking the position only on condition that it did not interfere with his army career. In truth, it may be viewed that Wellington did not desire a position that would put him in a difficult position in dealing with his Homeland.

As it turned out, he need not have worried! As he drew closer to Britain’s political powerbrokers, his counsel on affairs of State and the military was in ever greater demand. When the Spanish revolted against Napoleon’s occupation, it was to Wellington that British ministers turned to deliver an advantageous outcome for the Crown.

Wellington had been in overall command of British forces in the Iberian Peninsula since 1809. In January 1812, he led troops from Portugal into Spain. Early victories saw Wellington reach Salomenca in June, but by July he was locked in stalemate with an evenly matched French force.

On the 22 July, his opportunity finally came! Over Lunch an aid delivered the message Wellington had been waiting for. The French had overextended. A quick glance through his telescope was enough. Marmont, the French General, he said excitedly, is lost. In under an hour, his forces won a decisive victory and all Europe

Acknowledged Wellington’s military genius. Wellington’s victory in Spain and even more devastating French losses in Russia forced Napoleon to abdicate. The Duke’s old rival was bested. Victory won him a new title, the Duke of Wellington. Invited to become Britain’s ambassador to France, Wellington moved to Paris, even forging relationships

With several of Napoleon’s former mistresses. As the deposed Emperor endured exile on Elba! He was now a big name on the world stage. After a hero’s welcome on his first return to Britain since 1808, Wellington was dispatched to represent the country of the Congress of Vienna, which had been

Convened to redraw the map of Europe. In February, Napoleon escaped from Elba and returned to France. The people and army rallied behind him. Europe’s rulers called on Wellington again. Sitting down to eat at the Duchess of Richmond’s ball, Wellington learnt that Napoleon had advanced within 20 miles of the Belgian Capital.

Napoleon has humbugged me, by God, he exclaimed! Early next morning, he left for the front. On the 18th June, the battle that permanently inked Wellington’s name into history got underway. The battle was fierce and bloody, but with his allies, Wellington defeated Napoleon once and for all. Now, at the zenith of his military

Career, he turned again to politics. Serving under Lord Liverpool, Wellington joined the Cabinet. Politics, he discovered, was every bit as fierce a battleground as those he had left. Liverpool’s government was known for repressive policies. Legislation was passed to keep public order and take action against vagrants, including many

Discharged from war service after Waterloo. Crowds gathered in St Peter’s fields in Manchester on the 19th August to demand Parliamentary reform were charged by troops. Hundreds were injured and many killed. The refusal of Wellington and the political classes to countenance social and political reform put them out of step with the public.

Meanwhile, Wellington’s first prolonged spell at home since his marriage was doing little to improve his relationship with his wife. He found his wife irritating and burdensome, rarely bothering to disguise his many affairs. One of his lovers, the well known London courtesan Harriette Wilson, wrote a vivid kiss and

Tell book detailing their exploits together. The publisher, pornographer and scandalmonger Joseph Stockdale even attempted to blackmail the Duke prior to its release. Cartoonists and satirists delighted in Wellington’s reputation. Affairs at Westminster were no less fraught. Demand for reform refused to quieten. In 1828, George IV asked Wellington to become Prime Minister.

The Government was beset with problems. Divisions ran deep between warring factions of the parties. His new role was something of a poisoned chalice. Wiser political operators may have refused the position, but the Duke, dutiful to the last, accepted. He quickly discovered that leading the Country had little in common with leading an army.

The autocratic style which had served him so well in the military did not go down so well in Westminster. If Wellington thought MPs could be ordered into unity, he quickly discovered he was mistaken. One of the most divisive issues of the day centred on Catholic Emancipation. Catholics had been barred from holding

Public office since the 17th century. But by 1829, these restrictions threatened civil strife. Some Tories who had championed Wellington’s appointment were aghast at his support for the Roman Catholic Relief Act. One, the Earl of Winchilsea was particularly vitriolic in his criticism and on 23rd March, the Duke and

The Earl fought a duel on Battersea fields. Both survived. Wellington had been willing to countenance Catholic Emancipation for the greater good and for Ireland. But Parliamentary reform he could not stomach. As a soldier, Wellington had been famed for anticipating what lay on the other side of the hill. But he lacked the same

Degree of political imagination. Whig party leader Earl Grey led the calls for reform. But Wellington would not budge. Out of step with the times, Wellington’s popularity plummeted. He lost control of the House of Commons, his Government unable to tread a path between the attacks from Ultra Tories and Reformists.

By November, he had little option but to resign. Kitty was ill. As her health failed, Wellington rediscovered some affection for his wife. He kept vigil at her sick bed in Apsley House, London. With Wellington at her side. Kitty ran a hand up his sleeve. He was still wearing the amulet

She had gifted him decades before. On the 24th April, she died! Of little comfort to her in life, Wellington had at least found some common ground with her before her death. Despite the collapse of his Government, Wellington had continued to lead the charge against Grey’s proposals for Parliamentary reform. As his popularity continued

To fall, the iron shutters he had installed on his house to protect his windows from the anger of the mob reinforced the image of the Iron Duke refusing to move with the times. But in 1832, with the Country in deadlock, Wellington backed down for the sake of the Country.

After persuading his supporters to stay away from Parliament, the Reform Bill finally passed. Even so, he was mobbed by angry crowd on Waterloo Day. Wellington had remained active in Government as Foreign Secretary and laterally, a Minister without portfolio. Approaching his 8th decade, Wellington finally retired from public life in 1846.

Even then, he retained his post as Commander in Chief of the armed forces, unable to step away completely from the public service to which he had devoted his life, servant of Crown and Country, to the last. On the 14 September, Wellington succumbed to a stroke at his favourite home, Walmer Castle in Kent.

In death, the Duke’s divisive political legacy was forgotten. Wellington was the hero of Waterloo once more. On the 18th November, the United Kingdom said goodbye to a hero of a bygone age, the Nation united in a display of grief more extravagant than anything seen before. More than

5 million lined the streets to pay their respects as Wellington’s coffin was born to St Paul’s. Where a further 10,000 dignitaries packed into the Cathedral. Wellington may have been gone, but his reputation lived on! Now to reflect upon the Duke of Wellington and his relationship with his homeland of Ireland! Despite the

Wellington Monuments in Dublin and Trim, despite the many places and streets named after him, 20 in Dublin alone! Despite acceptance that he was not as notoriously dismissive of his native land as the mythology largely created by Daniel O’Connell had it. For example, he never said being born in

A stable does not make you a horse. That was said about him by Daniel O’Connell. It’s correct to say that the only British Prime Minister born and brought up in Ireland and one of the best known public figures in the whole of 19th century Europe, is unappreciated here.

Quite unjustly, in my view, despite his reactionary views on many subjects. Equally unjust is his false adoption by many Englishmen as one of their own as Wellington never considered himself English and was proud of his Irish roots, Wellington did not just support Catholic Emancipation, he forced it through despite the tears

And tantrums of George IV, as Dr. Tom McGrath of Carlow College has documented in his three volumes on Dr. James Doyle, Bishop of Kildare, the Irish Catholic Bishops in 1830, who included John McHale, gave him full credit when they declared, among the counsellors of his Majesty, there appeared conspicuous the

Most distinguished of Ireland’s sons, a hero and a legislator, a man selected by the Almighty to break the soul which scourged Europe, a man raised up by providence to confirm thrones, reestablish altars, to direct the councils of England at a time the most difficult, and to staunch the blood and heal the

Wounds of the Country that gave him birth. The Orange Order also despised Wellington, and he despised them. A socially well connected Princess Lievin, wife of the Russian Ambassador in London, hissed to the King’s brother, the Duke of Cumberland. How mistaken we have been about Wellington.

After all, he is no more than an Irish adventurer. This gem is from Antonia Fraser’s ‘The King and the Catholics’, and shows that both sides believed his background had an influence on the part that he played. As for his victory over Napoleon at Waterloo, it

Is difficult to disagree with the conclusion of an immense and empathetic five volume study of Napoleonic France, by Thierry Lentz without being conscious that the abuse of power leads to failure. The hegemonic adventure invariably finishes with the constitution of a vast coalition, which with a modicum of determination, skill and patience,

Always finishes by being victorious. The European Union was born out of that experience repeated in the 20th century, as French President Emmanuel Macron reminded his listeners on the 75th anniversary of D-Day. So, in conclusion, as we contemplate one of Ireland’s greatest sons, there is a broader point surrounding the renewed

Hypothesis of a United Ireland. It is not just about affording parody of esteem to the British identity, but accepting and recognising the Irish identity of those who did or did not conform to cultural paradigms set down one or two generations ago! Whether because of their background, their religion, or because of achieving prominence

In British life! Bringing the Duke of Wellington back home into the hearts of Irish people where he belongs is not a question of being asked to abandon loyalties or politics, but more of a need to recognise the times in which he lived, the politics he had to navigate

To thrive, and the significance of the role he played in the Ireland we have today, through the Catholic Emancipation Act! His greatest enemies and rivals saw him as Irish, and his greatest admirers wished to make him English! Let’s bring the Duke home once and for all to where he belongs.

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