CHAPTER XX
Wellington the Statesman
(1815-52)
“_It is the duty of all to look our difficulties in the face and to lay the ground for getting the better of them._”
WELLINGTON.
While the good folk of London were listening to the guns of the Tower and of the Park, which told of the Waterloo victory, and the joyful news was percolating to the smallest hamlet, Wellington was fighting a battle in which neither sword nor gun was involved. It was one of diplomacy, and he proved the conqueror. Blücher, armed with the Declaration of the 13th March 1815 to the effect that “Napoleon Bonaparte is put beyond the pale of social and civil relations, and as enemy and disturber of the repose of the world, he is delivered over to public vengeance,” was for seizing the fallen Emperor and shooting him as an outlaw at Vincennes, the scene of the Duc d’Enghien tragedy.[102] The bloodthirsty Prussian asked for Wellington’s views on the matter. He received them without delay, and expressed in such a way that Blücher must have felt thoroughly ashamed of himself, if only for a passing moment. “They had both acted too distinguished a part in the recent transactions to become executioners,” the Duke wrote. This single sentence reveals the sterling uprightness of the man and his hatred of unnecessary bloodshed. Even supposing that he had received authority for the carrying out of such a measure, it is extremely doubtful whether Wellington would have concurred in his colleague’s wish. Blücher sneered--and accepted the decision. Wellington also found himself in disagreement with the Prussian view regarding the bridge of Jena at Paris, which commemorated the crushing Prussian defeat of October 1806. Blücher, with true patriotic zeal as it seemed to him, was for blowing it to pieces. Wellington regarded the idea as foolish, and he carried his point. It would have been a bitter day for the Capital had Blücher been allowed to work his will. The Prussian Commander insisted on levying a contribution on the city of Paris of 100,000,000 francs. Wellington upset the scheme by insisting that the question was one for the Allied sovereigns to arrange. For the third time vindictive Blücher had to give in.
When the Provisional Government appealed to the Duke with reference to Napoleon’s successor, he bluntly told them that “the best security for Europe was the restoration of the King,” namely, Louis XVIII, and that he should be recalled “without loss of time, so as to avoid the appearance of the measure having been forced upon them by the allies.”
When the Exile King returned to Paris the enormous demands of certain of the Powers, particularly of Austria and Prussia, had to be discussed. Had it not been for the resistance of Castlereagh, Wellington, and Nesselrode, extensive partitions undoubtedly would have resulted. As finally settled by the Second Treaty of Paris, concluded on the 20th November, the territory of France was reduced to practically the limits of 1790, an indemnity of 700,000,000 francs was determined for the expenses of the war, and an army of occupation not exceeding 150,000 troops under the Duke was to garrison the chief frontier fortresses, including Valenciennes, Cambray, Quesnoy, Maubeuge, and Landrecy, for a maximum period of five years, the expense being met by the French Government. The magnificent art treasures, which Napoleon had gloried in plundering, were to be returned to their rightful owners. That is why the celebrated bronze horses of St Mark may be seen on the great Venetian Cathedral to-day, and the wonderful “Descent from the Cross,” by Rubens, admired in the Cathedral of Antwerp, from whence it had been taken to find a temporary resting-place in the Louvre.
An excellent account of the Army of Occupation is given by a Scotsman who visited Paris shortly after the battle of Waterloo. There were comparatively few Austrians, the majority of them being in the south of France, but those seen by the writer of _Paul’s Letters to his Kinsfolk_ were “bulky men” who “want the hardy and athletic look of the British, Russians, or Prussians.” The Russian infantry were “fine, firm, steady-looking men, clean, handsome, but by no means remarkable for stature.” The artillery were “in the highest possible order,” the cavalry “remarkably fine men,” the appearance of the Cossacks “prepossessing.” The Prussians, while never having been accused of “gross violence,” succeeded in wrecking the Château de Montmorency, where a large body of them was quartered. Camp-kettles were boiled with picture-frames, and the furniture stripped by female camp followers. Paul notes that the Prussian officers were the principal customers of the expensive restaurants and theatres, but that many British officers of rank had gone so far as to decline the quarters appointed them in private houses. He bestows much praise on Wellington for his discipline and justice: “The strong sense and firmness for which the Duke is as much distinguished as for skill in arms and bravery in the field of battle, easily saw that the high and paramount part which Britain now holds in Europe, that preeminence which, in so many instances, has made her and her delegates the chosen mediators when disputes occurred amongst the allied powers, depends entirely on our maintaining pure and sacred the national character for good faith and disinterested honour. The slightest complaint, therefore, of want of discipline or oppression perpetrated by a British officer or soldier has instantly met with reprehension and punishment, and the result has been the reducing the French to the cruel situation of hating us without having any complaint to justify themselves for doing so, even in their own eyes.... The soldiers, without exception, both British and foreigners, conduct themselves in public with civility, are very rarely to be seen intoxicated, though the means are so much within reach; and, considering all the irritating circumstances that exist, few quarrels occur betwixt them and the populace. Very strong precautions are, however, taken in case of any accidental or premeditated commotion.”
Wellington threw the whole weight of his influence on the side of moderation. Prussia was all for partition, for getting her territorial “pound of flesh,” but the calmer statesmanship of the diplomatists already mentioned, especially of Wellington, won the day. The Duke’s policy is clearly outlined in his dispatch of the 11th August, which, in the opinion of Dr Holland Rose, “deserves to rank among his highest titles to fame.”
Wellington states that while France has been left “in too great strength for the rest of Europe, weakened as all the powers of Europe have been by the wars in which they have been engaged with France,” his objection to the demand of a “great cession from France upon this occasion is, that it will defeat the object which the Allies have held out to themselves in the present and the preceding wars.” He then proceeds to detail what were, in his opinion, the various causes which led to so much bloodshed: “to put an end to the French Revolution, to obtain peace for themselves and their people, to have the power of reducing their overgrown military establishments, and the leisure to attend to the internal concerns of their several nations, and to improve the situation of their people. The Allies took up arms against Buonaparte because it was certain that the world could not be at peace as long as he should possess, or should be in a situation to attain, supreme power in France; and care must be taken,” he adds, “in making the arrangements consequent upon our success, that we do not leave the world in the same unfortunate situation respecting France that it would have been in if Buonaparte had continued in possession of his power.”
The Duke then goes on to review the situation. If Louis XVIII were to refuse the cession of territory, his people would undoubtedly support him, and the Allies “might take the fortresses and provinces which might suit them, but there would be no genuine peace for the world, no nation could disarm, no Sovereign could turn his attention from the affairs of this country.” If the King consented to the partition, “which, from all that one hears, is an event by no means probable, the Allies must be satisfied, and must retire; but I would appeal to the experience of the transactions of last year for a statement of the situation in which we should find ourselves.” France was then reduced to her limits of 1792, and “the Allies were obliged to maintain each in the field half of the war establishment stipulated in the treaty of Chaumont, in order to guard their conquests, and what had been ceded to them.” In France “the general topic of conversation was the recovery of the left bank of the Rhine as the frontier of France.” Wellington therefore preferred “the temporary occupation of some of the strong places, and to maintain for a time a strong force in France, both at the expense of the French Government, and under strict regulation, to the permanent cession of even all the places which in my opinion ought to be occupied for a time. These measures will not only give us, during the period of occupation, all the military security which could be expected from the permanent cession, but, if carried into execution in the spirit in which they are conceived, they are in themselves the bond of peace.”
During the remainder of his stay in France, broken by a short visit to England in 1816, Wellington was far from popular, and one or two attempts were made on his life. It was scarcely to be expected that a man who had been pre-eminently successful in the field against the nation’s armies would be lauded as a popular hero, but, as we have seen, he had helped to save the country from a bitter and vindictive humiliation. He finally returned home in 1818, when the Army of Occupation evacuated France with the consent of the Powers at the request of its Commander-in-Chief. He never again drew his sword in warfare, but he maintained a commanding position in the affairs of Great Britain until the close of his long life.
His honours and orders were now varied and many. England and foreign countries honoured themselves by honouring him. Parliament voted him £200,000 for the erection or purchase of Strathfieldsaye, Hampshire, and the estate granted to him as Prince of Waterloo by the King of the Netherlands was valued at £4000 per annum. On his return to England he became Master of the Ordnance, which entitled him to a seat in the Cabinet.
In 1821 Wellington revisited the scene of his most famous battle with George IV, and afterwards proceeded to Verona to represent, with Lord Strangford, Great Britain at the Congress about to be held there to determine the attitude of England, France, Russia, Austria, and Prussia regarding various matters, including the insurrection in Greece and the relations of Russia and Turkey in the matter, the evacuation of Piedmont and Naples by the Austrian troops, the slave trade, and more particularly the unhappy state of affairs in Spain, which country was then in a state of civil war. Should the five Powers send armed assistance to Ferdinand, whom Wellington’s victories in the Peninsula had replaced on the throne? Answering for his own country the Duke maintained the principle of non-interference excepting in a case of necessity. In this matter Great Britain stood alone, and the Duke had to run the gauntlet of fierce criticism on his return to England.
His next continental journey was in 1826, when he was sent on a special mission to Petersburg on the accession of the Emperor Nicholas, with the object of arriving at a satisfactory settlement of the projected Russian attack on Turkey over the Greek difficulty. In this he was not entirely successful, for after events proved that he had only succeeded in staving off the evil day.
On the death of the Duke of York in the following year, Wellington was appointed Commander-in-Chief, retaining his other office, which controlled merely the artillery and engineers.
A month later Canning became Prime Minister, and the Duke was asked to continue as a member of the Cabinet. This request he not only declined, but surrendered his two important offices as well. Mutual suspicion seems to have been the cause of this unexpected event, certainly not jealousy, for Wellington said that he should be “worse than mad if he had ever thought of it for a moment,” the “it” referring to his possible appointment as First Lord of the Treasury. Canning did not live long to enjoy the sweets of office, for he died on the following August, and was succeeded by “Prosperity” Robinson, otherwise Lord Goderich, who resigned at the beginning of 1828.
The Duke, once again Commander-in-Chief, was sent for by George IV, and requested to form a Ministry. He obeyed with the instinct of a soldier when ordered by his superior officer, rather than as a keen politician about to have his highest ambition gratified. Wellington was a Tory, and the political freedom of the Roman Catholics and the reform of Parliament were the burning questions of the hour. The Duke was uncertain as to the practical utility of either, but he was not prepared to go against the known wishes of the nation so far as the religious question was concerned. After navigating a sea of difficulties, the Roman Catholic Relief Bill passed both Houses in the early days of 1829. One of his opponents, the Earl of Winchilsea, charged Wellington with “breaking in upon the Constitution of 1688 in order that he might the more effectively, under the cloak of some outward show of zeal for the Protestant religion, carry on his insidious designs for the infringement of our liberties, and the introduction of Popery in every department of the State.” The Premier requested an apology, which was not forthcoming, whereupon the former demanded “satisfaction,” in other words, a duel. Sir Henry Hardinge for Wellington and Lord Falmouth for Winchilsea were the respective seconds.
The meeting took place in Battersea Fields.[103] “Now then, Hardinge,” said the Duke, “look sharp and step out the ground. I have no time to waste. Don’t stick him up so near the ditch. If I hit him he will tumble in.” The signal was given to fire. Noting that his opponent did not level his pistol on the command being given, the Duke purposely fired wide, and an instant afterwards Winchilsea fired in the air. The latter then produced a written sheet which he called an apology, which had to be altered before it met with Wellington’s approval. “Good morning, my Lord Winchilsea; good morning, my Lord Falmouth,” cried the Duke as he saluted with two fingers, and, mounting his horse, cantered off.
The Duke had a most thankless task during his administration, so much so that we find him writing, “If I had known in January 1828, one tithe of what I do now, and of what I discovered one month after I was in office, I should never have been the King’s Minister, and so have avoided loads of misery. However, I trust God Almighty will soon determine that I have been sufficiently punished for my sins and will relieve me from the unlucky lot which has befallen me. I believe there never was a man who suffered so much for so little purpose.”
He had almost as much trouble with the King as had Pitt with George III, and many of his old supporters were indignant with him over the Relief Bill. Wellington vehemently opposed Parliamentary Reform in the face of public opinion, with the result that his Ministry rode to a fall in November 1830.
Two months before he had taken part in the opening ceremony of the Manchester and Liverpool Railway, the first line to cater for passenger traffic in the British Empire. He rode in one of the two trains which made the initial journey, and the fact that they both went in the same direction was the cause of a lamentable accident which deprived one of Wellington’s friends of his life. The incident occurred at Parkside, where the engines stopped to obtain a supply of water. While the trains were at a standstill, Mr Huskisson, formerly President of the Board of Trade, got out of the carriage in which he had been travelling and sought Wellington. A minute or two later the train on the opposite line started. One of the open doors knocked him down, and his right leg was crushed by the locomotive. The Duke and several others ran to the injured man’s assistance, but his injuries were such that he only survived a few hours.
Wellington was succeeded as First Lord of the Treasury by Earl Grey, whose Government was speedily defeated by the Reform Bill which it introduced being rejected by the Lords. Riots broke out in London and the provinces; William IV “was frightened by the appearance of the people outside of St James’s”; the celebrated Dr Arnold wrote that his “sense of the evils of the times, and to what purpose I am bringing up my children, is overwhelmingly bitter.” The King implored the Ministers not to hand in their resignation, the House of Commons carried by a large majority a vote of confidence in the Government, and the nation showed that it bitterly resented the action of the Lords. There was an attempt at compromise, but the concessions were so trivial from Wellington’s point of view that he declined to take part in the negotiations. After further angry scenes in the following session Grey resigned on the 9th May 1832. It was during this trying period of our national history that the window-panes of Apsley House were stoned and the Duke’s life was threatened.[104]
Once again the King requested Wellington to form a new administration, and several meetings were held with that idea in view, but to no purpose. He had to confess that the task was absolutely impossible: “I felt that my duty to the King required that I should make a great sacrifice of opinion to serve him, and to save his Majesty and the country from what I considered a great evil. Others were not of the same opinion. I failed in performing the service which I intended to perform....” Several resident members of Oxford University, including Professor the Rev. John Keble, impressed by the Duke’s devotion, raised funds for the purpose of a bust to commemorate his self-denying conduct. This appreciation of approval greatly pleased Wellington, who announced his intention of sitting for Chantrey, the celebrated sculptor, or whoever else the committee might choose, “with the greatest satisfaction.” When Grey resumed office the Reform Bill was read for a third time and passed, a number of peers having declared “that in consequence of the present state of affairs they have come to the resolution of dropping their further opposition to the Reform Bill, so that it may pass without delay as nearly as possible in its present shape.” Wellington quietly left the House. He was no more kindly disposed towards the Irish Reform Bill, and subjected it to a fire of criticism which did not, however, preclude it from passing.
One of the most remarkable events of the Duke’s crowded life occurred in November 1834. When Earl Grey resigned in July 1834, on which occasion his opponent made a graceful speech to the effect that there had been no personal hostility in his opposition, the retiring statesman recommended Lord Melbourne as his successor. This suggestion met with the King’s approval, but the reign of the new Administration lasted only until the middle of the following November. His Majesty sent for Wellington at six in the morning. The latter refused to form a Cabinet, and recommended Sir Robert Peel, who was then in Rome. The Duke promised to carry on the Government during the interim, with the result that he held the offices of First Lord of the Treasury, Home Secretary, Foreign and Colonial Secretary, and Secretary at War for nearly a month. On Peel’s return he appointed his industrious ally Foreign Secretary, a position he held until the following April, when the Government resigned. In 1841, in Peel’s second Administration, he occupied a seat in the Cabinet, without office, and in the following year he was created Commander-in-Chief for life by patent under the great seal.
During the Chartist agitation Wellington was asked who was to command the forces in London, where a riot was expected. He answered, “I can name no one except the Duke of Wellington.” He organized the arrangements with his usual thoroughness, disposing his troops to keep them out of sight, and taking prompt measures to protect important public buildings. Fortunately the excitement died down, and armed force was not required.
The Duke frequently spent several hours a day at the Horse Guards. “Speaking from the experience which I had of him,” says General Sir George Brown, G.C.B., “I should say that the Duke was a remarkably agreeable man to do business with, because of his clear and ready decision. However much I may have seen him irritated and excited, with the subjects which I have repeatedly had to bring under his notice, I have no recollection of his ever having made use of a harsh or discourteous expression to me, or of his having dismissed me without a distinct and explicit answer or decision in the case under consideration. Like all good men of business, who consider well before coming to a decision, his Grace was accustomed to adhere strictly to precedent; to the decisions he may have previously come to on similar cases. This practice greatly facilitated the task of those who had to transact business with him, seeing that all we had to do in concluding our statement of any particular case was to refer to his decision or some similar one.”
“Everybody writes to me for everything,” he once remarked to Stanhope. “They know the Duke of Wellington is said to be a good-natured man, and so at the least they will get an answer.” The Earl, astonished at the amount of the Duke’s correspondence, ventured to say that his host might expect to be allowed some rest and recreation while he was at Walmer. “Rest!” cried the Duke. “Every other animal--even a donkey--a costermonger’s donkey--is allowed some rest, but the Duke of Wellington never! There is no help for it. As long as I am able to go on, they will put the saddle upon my back and make me go.”
Georgiana, Lady De Ros, who was a frequent visitor at Walmer Castle and at Strathfieldsaye, relates an incident which has a direct bearing on this point. “Wellington,” she says, “would tell a story against himself sometimes, and amused us all quite in his latter days by the account of various impostures that had been practised upon him; for years he had helped an imaginary officer’s daughter, paid for music lessons for her, given her a piano, paid for her wedding trousseau, for her child’s funeral, etc., etc. At last it came out that _one man_ was the author of these impostures, ‘and then,’ the Duke said, ‘an Officer from the Mendicity Society called on me and gave me such a scolding as I never had before in my life!’”
In a book inscribed as “A Slight Souvenir of the Season 1845-6” we find a delightful little glimpse of “the hero of a hundred fights” as a country gentlemen. “What can be a finer sight than to see the Duke of Wellington enter the hunting field?” the author asks. “Not one of those gorgeous spectacles, it is true, such as a coronation, a review, the Lord Mayor’s Show, or a procession to the Houses of Parliament--not one of those pompous Continental exhibitions called a _chasse_, where armed menials keep back the crowd, and brass bands proclaim alike the find and finish; but what can be a finer sight--a sight more genial to the mind of a Briton--than the mighty Wellington entering the hunting field with a single attendant, making no more fuss than a country squire? Yet many have seen the sight, and many, we trust, may yet see it. The Duke takes the country sport like a country gentleman--no man less the great man than this greatest of all men; affable to all, his presence adds joy to the scene. The Duke is a true sportsman, and has long been a supporter of the Vine and Sir John Cope’s hounds. He kept hounds himself during the Peninsular War, and divers good stories are related of them and their huntsman (Tom Crane), whose enthusiasm used sometimes to carry him in the enemy’s country, a fact that he used to be reminded of by a few bullets whizzing about his ears.”
Wellington was now the trusted friend of Queen Victoria, who ever held him in the highest esteem. He was one of the first persons, perhaps actually the first,[105] outside the Royal family and the medical attendants to see the baby who afterwards became Edward VII. According to one account he was met outside Buckingham Palace by Lord Hill, who was informed “All over--fine boy, very fine boy, almost as red as you Hill.”
Two days after the first anniversary of the birthday of Edward Albert, Prince of Wales, the Queen and the Prince Consort, accompanied by the Royal children, journeyed to Walmer Castle to pay the Duke a visit. An even greater honour was reserved for the veteran warrior, for on the birth of her Majesty’s third son on the 1st May 1850, it got noised abroad that the infant was to be called Arthur, “in compliment to the Hero of Waterloo.” The present Duke of Connaught is thus a living link with Wellington. “I must not omit to mention,” the Queen writes exactly a year later, “an interesting episode of this day, viz., the visit of the good old Duke on this his eighty-second birthday, to his little godson, our dear little boy. He came to us both at five, and gave him a golden cup and some toys, which he had himself chosen, and Arthur gave him a nosegay.”
The day was also that on which the great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace was opened. “The Royal party,” says Queen Victoria, “were received with continued acclamation as they passed through the Park and round the Exhibition house, and it was also very interesting to witness the cordial greeting given to the Duke of Wellington. I was just behind him and Anglesey [on whose arm he was leaning], during the procession round the building, and he was accompanied by an incessant running fire of applause from the men, and waving of handkerchiefs and kissing of hands from the women, who lined the pathway of the march during the three-quarters of an hour that it took us to march round....”
Although the Duke never courted popularity, seemed indeed to shun it and to regard the satisfaction shown by some of his colleagues in the plaudits of the multitude as a sign of weakness, there can be little doubt that he felt a glow of inward pleasure, however slight, when he reflected on the good feeling displayed towards him in the closing years of his long and well-filled life. Apt to be somewhat cynical on occasion, and to think that the times were “like sweet bells jangled, out of tune and harsh,” he was neither censorious nor vindictive. Nelson preached the gospel of Duty, but Wellington lived it and sacrificed everything to it.
Brougham, as champion of Parliamentary Reform, was an opponent of Wellington, but in middle age he took up an independent position, and has left in his “Historical Sketches of Statesmen who flourished in the Time of George III” a magnificent testimony of the Duke’s worth.
“The peculiar characteristic of this great man,” he writes, “and which, though far less dazzling than his exalted genius, and his marvellous fortune, is incomparably more useful for the contemplation of the statesman, as well as the moralist, is that constant abnegation of all selfish feelings, that habitual sacrifice of every personal, every party consideration to the single object of strict duty--duty rigorously performed in what station soever he might be called to act. This was ever perceived to be his distinguishing quality; and it was displayed at every period of his public life, and in all matters from the most trifling to the most important.”
Regarding the Reform Bill, Brougham says that Wellington’s conduct “during the whole of the debates in both sessions upon that measure was exemplary. Opposing it to the utmost of his power, no one could charge him with making the least approach to factious violence, or with ever taking an unfair advantage.... After the Bill had passed, the same absence of all factious feelings marked his conduct.”
The Duke’s modesty, his good sense, candour and fairness, love of justice, hatred of oppression and fraud are touched upon by Brougham, who closes his brief acknowledgment of his subject’s virtues by quoting a remark made by Lord Denman, “the greatest judge of the day.” It is that of all Wellington’s “great and good qualities, the one which stands first, is his anxious desire ever to see justice done, and the pain he manifestly feels from the sight of injustice.”
On the morning of the 14th September 1852 the victor of Waterloo had a paralytic stroke at Walmer Castle. At six o’clock his valet entered the Duke’s room to call him, but he complained of not feeling quite well and sent for an apothecary. In the evening he was lying dead on his camp bedstead. We are apt to use the phrase “full of years and honour” rather too glibly perhaps, but it is intensely apposite when applied to the great Duke. He was eighty-three years of age, and as for honour a glance at the following list of distinctions bestowed upon Arthur Wellesley will make the fact self evident:
He was Duke of Wellington, Marquis of Wellington, Earl of Wellington in Somerset, Viscount Wellington of Talavera, Marquis of Douro, Baron Douro of Wellesley, Prince of Waterloo in the Netherlands, Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo in Spain, Duke of Bennoy in France, Duke of Vittoria, Marquis of Torres Vedras, Count of Vimiero in Portugal, a Grandee of the First Class in Spain, a Privy Councillor, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army, Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, Colonel of the Rifle Brigade, a Field Marshal of Great Britain, a Marshal of Russia, Austria, Prussia, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands; a Knight of the Garter, the Holy Ghost, the Golden Fleece; a Knight Grand Cross of the Bath and of Hanover, a Knight of the Black Eagle, the Tower and Sword, St Fernando, of William of the Low Countries, Charles III, of the Sword of Sweden, St Andrew of Russia, the Annunciado of Sardinia, the Elephant of Denmark, of Maria Theresa, of St George of Russia, of the Crown of Rue of Saxony; a Knight of Fidelity of Baden, of Maximilian Joseph of Bavaria, of St Alexander Newsky of Russia, of St Hermenegilda of Spain, of the Red Eagle of Bradenburg, of St Januarius, of the Golden Lion of Hesse Cassel, of the Lion of Baden; and a Knight of Merit of Würtemburg. In addition, Wellington was Lord High Constable of England, Constable of the Tower and of Dover Castle, Warden, Chancellor and Admiral of the Cinque Ports, Lord-Lieutenant of Hampshire and of the Tower Hamlets, Ranger of St James’s Park and of Hyde Park, Chancellor of the University of Oxford, Commissioner of the Royal Military College, Vice-President of the Scottish Naval and Military Academy, the Master of Trinity House, a Governor of King’s College, a Doctor of Laws, and a Fellow of the Royal Society.
The motto on Wellington’s escutcheon, _Virtutis fortuna comes_--“Fortune is the companion of valour”--was exemplified in his long and eventful career, and perhaps the following words, once used by him in a dispatch, suggest how keen was his sense of responsibility: “God help me if I fail, for no one else will.” With true British inconsistency the nation spent £100,000 on the funeral of him whose habits were of Spartan simplicity, but with more appropriateness the body of the Conqueror of Napoleon was placed next to that of the Hero of Trafalgar in the crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral.
And so these two great Warriors sleep together. They were worthy of England; may England be worthy of them.
Index of Proper Names
Abbé Siéyès, 21
Abercromby, General, 30, 47
Abrantes, 109, 125
d’Abrantès, Duc, 103
Acland, General, 90, 91
Adam, Sir Frederick, 235
Addington, Henry, 65
Agraça, Mount, 131
Agueda, River, 148, 158, 161, 170
Ahmednuggur, 53, 66
Aire, 196
Alava, General, 171, 172, 173
Alba de Tormes, 124, 171, 180, 182
Alberche, 112, 117
Albergaria, 106
Albert, Edward, Prince of Wales, 249
Albuera, 152, 153, 154
Albuquerque, Duke of, 125
Alcarez, 186
Alcobaço, 88, 138
Aldea da Ponte, 159
Alemtejo, 147, 158
Alexander, Emperor, 71, 75
Alhandra, 131
Alicante, 181
Alison, 29, 149
Almarez, 120, 170
Almeida, 129, 132, 143, 145, 147, 148, 150, 151, 152, 159, 163, 164, 170, 187
Almonacid, 120
Alps, the, 210
Amarante, Convent of, 107
America, North, 207
Amiens, Peace of, 68
Amotz, 194
Amrut Rao, 52
Andalusia, 181, 182, 186
Angers, 20, 21
d’Angoulême, Duc, 196
Anselme, 25
Anstruther, General, 90
Antwerp, 25, 29, 30
Antwerp, Cathedral of, 238
Apsley House, 245
Aragon, 80, 127, 161
Areizaga, General, 124, 125
Argaum, Battle of, 60, 66
Armia, 131
Armour, James, 230
Arnold, Dr, 245
Arzobispo, 120
Ascain, 194
Assaye, Battle of, 54, 56, 66
Asseerghur, Fortress, 57, 66
Astorga, 185
Asturias, 103, 171, 186
Augereau, 199
Austerlitz, 18, 69
Austria, 101, 127, 237, 241
Austrians, the, 24, 25, 26, 29
Aviella, River, 140
Badajoz, 106, 109, 122, 125, 140, 142, 145, 147, 152, 155, 156, 163, 164, 165, 170, 185
Baird, General, 40, 41, 48, 49, 50, 64, 65, 100, 101
Baji Rao, 51
Balasore, 61
Ballasteros, 148, 152, 185
Bappoo, Manoo, 58
Barcelona, Fortress of, 79
Baring, Major, 231
Barnard, Colonel, 166
Barrington, Sir Jonah, 22, 70
Bassein, Subsidiary Treaty of, 51
Batavia, Island of, 45, 47, 48
Batavia, Expedition to, 65
Bathurst, Earl, 201
Battersea Fields, 243
Bautzen, 187
Baylen, 79
Bayonne, 160, 190, 195, 200
Baztan, 190
Beckwith, 144
Beere, Harry, 233
Belgium, 25, 205, 207, 210
Belle Alliance, La, 223
_Bellerophon_, H.M.S., 235
Belvedere, 100
Bentinck, Lord William, 192
Beresford, Marshal Sir W. C., 104, 106, 121, 125, 143, 147, 148, 152, 153, 154, 157, 178, 195, 196, 197, 198, 202
Bessières, 100, 103
Bhonsla Rájá of Berar, 51, 53, 54, 58, 61
Bidarray, 194
Bidassoa, River, 192
Blake, General, 80, 100, 125, 148, 152, 160
Blakeney, Robert, 83
Blücher, 211, 216, 217, 218, 220, 235, 236, 237
Boialva, Pass of, 137
Boigne, Comtesse de, 201
Bombay, 48, 52, 53, 65
Bonaparte, Jerome, 221, 226
Bonaparte, Joseph, 79, 99, 110, 113, 116, 117, 120, 124, 181, 182, 187, 190
Bonaparte, Letizia, 18
Bonnet, 178, 179, 180
Bordeaux, 196
Bowes, Major-General, 165
Boxtel, Village, 30
Boyer, 175, 176, 179
Bradford, 173
Braganza, House of, 78
Braine-le-Comte, 211, 213
Brazil, 78
Bremen, 31
Brienne, 21
Brissac, Duc de, 21
Brougham, 250
Brown, Sir George, 129, 247
Bruges, 25
Brune, Marshal, 210
Brussels, 20, 25, 205, 211, 225
Bucellas, 131
Bülow, General, 217, 218, 227, 234
Burghersh, Lady, 202, 208
Burgos, 181, 182, 185, 186, 187
Burrampur, 56, 57, 66
Burrard, Sir Harry, 87, 90, 91, 93, 94, 97, 100
Busaco, 134
Bylandt, 227
Caçadores, the, 105
Cadiz, 80, 88, 125, 132, 184, 185
Cadogan, Colonel, 188
Caffarelli, 182
Caillou, Farm, 217
Calcutta, 33, 35, 52
Cambray, 237
Camden, Lord, 33
Cameron, Alister, 166
Campbell, Captain, 61
Canada, 17
Canning, 71, 74, 75, 126, 242
Cantabrian Hills, 160
Carnatic, the, 53
Casserbarry Ghaut, 57
Castaños, General, 80, 100, 148, 152
Castilian Mountains, 116
Castile, 125, 185
Castlereagh, Lord, 22, 23, 64, 70, 87, 88, 96, 97, 101, 102, 108, 109, 126, 201, 207, 237
Catalonia, 80, 103, 127, 190
Cathcart, Lord, 68, 72
Cawnpore, 52
Cazal Nova, 142
Ceylon, 48
Châlons, 24
Chantrey, 245
Charlemagne, 127
Charleroi, 29, 212, 225
Charles IV, 79
Chasseurs Britanniques, the, 156
Château de Montmorency, 238
Chateaubriand, 21
Chaves, 103
Chelsea, 19
Chelsea Hospital, 97, 182
Chesterford, 96
Choiseul, Duc de, 17
“Christian’s Storm,” 33
Cinco Villas, 143
Cintra, Convention of, 94, 96
Ciudad Real, 103
Ciudad Rodrigo, 123, 124, 128, 132, 140, 145, 147, 148, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 163, 164, 170, 172, 183, 185, 187
Clausel, 181, 182, 190, 196, 210
Clerfait, 29
Clinton, 179, 180
Clive, Lord, 38, 45
Coa, River, 129, 144, 145, 149, 159
Coalition, Fifth, 209
Coburg, 25
Coimbra, 86, 125, 133, 137, 139
Colborne, Colonel, 195, 198
Cole, Major-General, 178
Collingwood, Vice-Admiral, 80
Colville, Hon. C., 166, 225
Comorin, Cape, 48
Conahgull, 44
Conception, Fort, 150
Condé, 26
Consuegra, 185
Cope, Sir John, 248
Copenhagen, 73, 74, 76
Cork, 84
Cornwallis, Marquis, 69
Corsica, Island, 18
Cortes, the, 183
Coruña, 80, 85, 101, 106
Costello, Edward, 104, 110
Cotton, Sir Stapleton, 150, 171, 173, 196, 202, 220
Cox, Colonel, 129
Cradock, Sir John, 100
Crane, Tom, 248
Craufurd, General, 119, 129, 151, 163
Croker, John Wilson, 55, 85, 171, 172
Crystal Palace, 249
Cuesta, General, 103, 109, 110, 111, 112, 119, 120, 121
Cuttack, Province, 52, 61
Danes, the, 72, 74
Dangan Castle, 18
Dalrymple, Sir Hew, 87, 94, 95, 97, 100
D’Archambault, 21
Daulat Rao, 51
Decaen, Count, 210
Deccan, the, 53, 62, 66
Delaborde, General, 88, 90
Deleytosa, 120, 121, 123
Denman, Lord, 251
Denmark, 71, 72, 75
D’Erlon, 210, 212, 216, 227, 228, 232
Despeña Perros, Pass of, 125
Don Carlos d’España, 152
Dorsenne, 158, 159
Dos Casas, River, 150
Douro, River, 106, 171
Douro of Wellesley, Baron, 122
Dresden, 190
Dublin, 18, 69
Dumouriez, 25
Dundas, Sir David, 31, 97
Dungannon, Viscount, 19, 20
Dunkirk, 26
Dupont, 79, 100
Duran, 185
East India Company, 36
Ebro, River, 79, 182, 187, 193
Edinburgh Castle, 92
Edward VII, 249
Eguia, 120, 121, 123
Egypt, 47, 48
Elba, 208
Ellichpúr, 58, 60
Elvas, 129, 153, 155, 156
d’Enghien, Duc, 236
England, 21, 25, 68, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 96, 103, 132, 186, 190, 241, 242, 252
Essling, Prince of, 127
Estremadura, 80, 109, 123, 124, 127, 132, 139, 156, 164, 170, 186
Eton, 19, 20
Europe, 23, 24, 27, 156, 157, 194, 237, 238, 239
Ewart, Serjeant, 228
Falmouth, Lord, 243
Ferdinand VII, 79, 122, 202, 203, 242
Ferguson, 91
Ferrol, 80
Figueras, Fortress of, 79
Finisterre, Cape, 86
Flanders, 25, 29, 208
Fleurus, Plains of, 29, 113
Fontainebleau, Treaty of, 78
Forbes, Dr, 168
Foy, General, 174, 175, 177, 180, 190, 220
Foz d’Aronce, 142
France, 24, 26, 27, 71, 94, 101, 113, 128, 194, 195, 239, 240, 241
Francis II., Emperor, 208
Frasnes, 212, 215
Frazer, Mackenzie, 87
Freer, 167
Freire, Bernardino, 86
Freneda, 151, 159, 183
Frénilly, Baron de, 99, 208
Freyre, General, 197, 198
Frischermont, 227
Fuente Guinaldo, 158
Fuentes de Oñoro, 148, 150, 151
Gagern, Captain Baron von, 213
Gaikwár of Baroda, 51
Galicia, 79, 80, 103, 106, 108, 110, 111, 118, 123, 124, 127, 158, 182, 186
Gallegos, 164
Galluzzo, General, 80
Gambier, Admiral, 72
Garonne, the, 196
Gave de Pau, the, 195
Gawilghur, Fort, 60
Gémioncourt, Farm of, 215
George III, 68, 244, 250
George IV, 241, 242
Georgiana, Lady De Ros, 247
Gérard, 210
Germany, 69
Ghent, 25
Gleig, George Robert, 23, 69, 193
Goderich, Lord, 242
Godoy, Duke of Alcudia, 78
Good Hope, Cape of, 34
Gordon, Colonel, 193
Graham, Sir Thomas, 186, 191, 192, 202
Great Britain, 25, 68, 75, 76, 102, 163, 238, 241, 242
Greece, 241
Grey, Earl, 244, 245, 246
Grouchy, General, 210, 217, 220, 227
Guadalaxara, 185
Guadiana, the, 103, 164, 165, 169
Guareña, 171
Hal, 225
Halkett, 232, 234
Hampshire, 241
Handel, 19
Hanover, 68
Hanoverians, the, 25, 26, 226
Hardinge, Colonel Sir Henry, 153, 243
Harris, General, 38, 39, 40
Hastings, 69
Herrasti, Governor, 128
Hessians, the, 25, 26
Hill, Lord, 104, 125, 130, 134, 158, 170, 182, 186, 187, 190, 192, 195, 196, 199, 201, 202, 211, 249
Hockrill, 96
Holkar of Indore, 51, 52, 62
Holland, 25, 29, 30, 53, 205, 207
Holy Roman Empire, 24, 25, 28
Hood, 27
Hope, Sir John, 195, 200, 201, 202
Hope, the Hon. J., 87
Hostalrich, 127
Houchard, General, 26
Hougoumont, 221, 225, 226, 232, 234
Houssaye, 220
Houstoun, Major-General, 150, 151
Huebra, River, 164, 183
Hughes, 20
Hungary, 49
Huskisson, Mr, 244
Hyde Park, 226
Hyder Ali, 36
Hyderabad, 38, 53, 66
Iberian Peninsula, 78, 127
Imperialists, the, 25, 29
India, 17, 66, 69, 70, 71
Indore, 53
Inglis, Colonel, 153
Inniskillings, the, 228
Ireland, 18, 22, 70, 71, 76
Irish Reform Bill, 246
Isle of Wight, 103
Jackson, Mr F. J., 72
Jaraicejo, 120, 121
Jaucourt, Marquis de, 21
Jemappes, 25
Jena, Bridge of, 237
Jerome, 221
Jesuits, the, 17
Jeswant Rao, 51
John, King, 21
Joseph, 79, 99, 110, 113, 116, 117, 120, 124, 181, 182, 187, 190
Jourdan, Marshal, 26, 29, 113, 115, 190
Junot, General, 78, 79, 81, 88, 90, 94, 96, 100
Jura Mountains, the, 210
Keble, John, 245
Kellermann, Marshal, 103, 120
Kempt, Sir James, 228
Kennedy, Captain Clark, 228
Kennedy, Sir Robert, 201
Kincaid, 148
Kiöge, Battle of, 74
Kléber, 128
Kray, General, 49
Labada, 60
La Carolina, 103, 120
La Haye, 225, 235
La Haye Sainte, 222, 225, 227, 231, 234
Lake, General, 52, 53
La Mancha, 120, 123, 124
Lamego, 106
Landrecy, 237
Langlands, Lieutenant, 60
Lannes, Marshal, 128
Lanz, the, 191
Lapisse, 116
La Romana, Marquis, 100, 103, 123, 132, 139
La Trinidad, 166
La Vendée, 26, 209
Le Courbe, 210
Lefebvre, Marshal, 100
Lefebvre-Desnoëttes, General, 212
Leiria, 88
Leith, General, 134, 166, 173, 177
Le Marchant, General, 175, 176, 177, 180
Lennox, Lord William, 226
Leon, 80, 160
Lerida, 127
Lesaca, 192
Ligny, 212, 214, 216
Lion Mound, 220
Lisbon, 78, 88, 90, 91, 100, 101, 103, 104, 105, 119, 123, 128, 130, 131, 132, 183
Liverpool, Earl of, 125, 126, 138, 142, 154, 155, 157, 185
Lobau, General, 210, 234
Loison, General, 88, 90, 143
London, 17, 80, 236
Longford, Baron, 23
Los Aripeles, 171, 175, 178, 179
Los Santos, 103
Louis XV, 17
Louis XVIII, 21, 196, 199, 200, 208, 237, 240
Lourinhão, 91
Lützen, 187
Lyons, 26, 27
Mack, General, 29, 69
Mackay, Piper, 92
Mackie, 176
Mackinnon, Major-General, 163
Madras, 35, 52
Madrid, 79, 101, 109, 111, 118, 124, 160, 181, 182, 185, 186, 187, 202
Maes, the, 29
Maestricht, 25
Mafra, 131
Maitland, Captain Frederick Lewis, 235
Maitland, General Sir Peregrine, 215
Malavelly, 39
Malcolm, Sir John, 49
Malines, 25, 29
Malpurda, River, 44
Manilla, 35
March, Lord, 169
Marchand, Jean Gabriel, Comte, 124
Marhattás, the, 51, 53, 54, 56
Marion Street, 18
Marmont, Marshal, 152, 156, 158, 159, 162, 163, 170, 171, 172, 173, 175, 181
Masséna, Marshal, 127, 128, 129, 130, 134, 135, 137, 139, 140, 143, 145, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152
Maubeuge, 26, 27, 237
Mauritius, 47
Maxwell, Colonel, 55
Maxwell, Sir Herbert, 50, 97
Mayence, 26
Meath, County, 22
Medellin, 103, 109
Medina de Rio Seco, 85
Meer Allum, 42
Melbourne, Lord, 246
Mequinenza, Castle of, 127
Merbe Braine, 225
Merida, 122
Metternich, Prince, 207, 208
Metz, 27
McGregor, Dr James, 168
Middlesex, 17
Milhaud, 232
Mina, General, 160
M‘Laine, Major, 234
McLeod, Colonel, 167, 168
Moira, Lord, 28, 29, 97
Monasterio, 103
Moncey, Marshal, 81, 100
Mondego, River, 123, 125, 132, 137
Mons, 25
Mont St Jean, 217, 222, 225
Montbrun, 151
Montealegre, 108
Montechique, 131
Montesquiou, 25
Moore, Sir John, 75, 81, 87, 90, 94, 100, 101, 109
Moreau, General, 128
Mornington, Baron, 19
Mornington, Countess of, 18, 20
Mornington, Earl of, 19, 33, 34, 35, 36, 39, 64, 65
Mornington House, 18
Mortago, 134
Mortier, Marshal, 100, 103, 119, 120, 123
M‘Quade, Serjeant Robert, 129
Munro, Sir Thomas, 45
Murat, Marshal, 79, 99, 209
Murcia, 80
Murray, Lieutenant-Colonel George, 74
Murray, General Sir John, 107, 192
Mysore, Presidency of, 36, 38, 42, 43, 50, 52
Namur, 25, 218
Napier, Major Sir George, 73, 83, 121, 163, 196
Naples, 25, 79, 209, 241
Napoleon, 18, 20, 21, 24, 27, 38, 46, 47, 71, 78, 79, 80, 81, 94, 101, 106, 121, 125, 127, 130, 131, 133, 158, 199, 201, 202, 208, 217, 218, 224, 225, 227, 229, 234, 235, 236
Napoleon, Fort, 170
Nassauers, the, 226
Nava d’Aver, 150
Naval Moral, 120
Navarre, 160
Neerwinden, 25
Nelson, 22, 69, 80, 250, 252
Nesselrode, 237
Ney, Marshal, 100, 101, 103, 110, 119, 120, 129, 134, 135, 208, 212, 214, 216, 217, 234
Nice, 25
Nicholas, Emperor, 242
Nive, River, 195
Nivelles, 213, 225
Nizám of Hyderabad, the, 36, 38, 39, 43, 52, 57, 66
Nuestra Señora de la Peña, 171, 172
Obidos, 88
Ocaña, Battle of, 124
O’Donnell, 127
Ohain, 234
O’Hare, Captain, 167
Old Castile, 80, 123
Oman, Professor, 88, 109, 159, 222
Oporto, 86, 101, 103, 106, 108, 130, 134, 142, 147
Orange, Prince of, 29, 30, 166, 211, 213, 214, 215, 225
Orcain, 191
Ordal, 193
Orense, 108
Oropesa, 110, 120
Orthez, 195
Ostend, 25, 29
O’Toole, Colonel, 162
Oude, 70
Oxford University, 245
Pack, General, 162, 174, 178, 179, 228
Paget, Sir E., 87, 107
Pakenham, Major-General, 173, 174, 175, 176
Pakenham, Hon. Catherine, 23, 69
Palafox, General, 80, 100
Pampeluna, Fortress of, 79, 190, 191, 194
Papelotte, 225, 235
Paris, 24, 101, 202, 235, 237
Parkside, 244
Parque, Duque del, 123, 124
Pasquier, Duc de, 128
Pau, 195
Peel, Sir Robert, 246
Penafiel, 108
Penang, 35
Perar, 66
Perceval, Spencer, 126
Pero Negro, 131
Perron, 51
Perwez, 218
Peshwá of Poona, the, 43, 51, 53, 57, 65
Philippine Islands, 35
Philippon, General, 165, 169
Pichegru, General, 29, 30, 128
Picton, General, 134, 162, 166, 169, 195, 198, 215, 229
Picurina, Fort, 165, 166
Piedmont, 241
Pignerol, Marquis of, 21
Pirch, 218
Pitt, William, the Younger, 22, 28, 244
Planchenoit, 234
Plasencia, Vera de, 111, 119, 120, 157
Poço Velho, 150
Poland, 25, 28, 207
Pole, Miss, 202
Pombal, 142
Ponsonby, Major-General Sir William, 228, 229, 230
Pont-à-chin, 29
Poona, 51, 65
Popham, Sir Home, 74, 185
Porlier, 160
Portland, Duke of, 70
Portugal, 25, 71, 72, 76, 84, 94, 95, 100, 102, 103, 104, 106, 111, 114, 118, 121, 123, 126, 127, 129, 146, 148, 152, 157, 163
Praslin, Duc de, 21
Prince Consort, 249
Prussia, 24, 25, 28, 29, 71, 237, 241
Prussians, the, 24, 26, 227, 238
Puerto de Baños, 120
Puerto del Rey, Pass of, 125
Pyrenees, the, 100, 187, 190, 193, 210
Quatre Bras, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217
Quesnoy, 237
Quinta de Granicha, 155
Quinta de St João, 156
Quintella, 131
Ragusa, Fort, 170
Rainier, Admiral, 45
Ramsay, Captain Norman, 150
Rao, Amrut, 52
Rapoula de Coa, 143
Rapp, Count, 210
Reding, General, 80
Redinha, 142
Red Sea, 50
Reille, 196, 210, 212, 214
Reynier, General, 134, 144
Rhine, the, 26, 27, 28, 210, 240
Richmond, Duchess of, 212
Richmond, Duke of, 70, 161
Ridge, Lieutenant-Colonel, 168
Rio Mayor, River, 140
Rivillas, River, 165
Roberts, Earl, 31, 66
Robinson, 242
Rocca, Captain M. de, 112, 133, 134
Roliça, 88, 89, 97
Roman Catholic Relief Bill, 243, 244
Rome, 127, 246
Rose, Dr J. Holland, 74, 220, 239
Roskilde, 73
Ross, Major-General Robert, 191
Ross-Lewin, Major, 92
Rubens, 238
Ruffin, Count, 116
Runa, Ravine of, 131
Russia, 25, 71, 75, 241
Rye, 69
Sabugal, 143, 149, 150, 159
Sagunto, Battle of, 160
Sahagun, 101
Salamanca, 100, 103, 120, 124, 145, 148, 159, 163, 170, 171, 181, 182, 183, 185
Salamonde, 108
San Antonio de Cantaro, 133
Sanchez, Don Julian, 150, 151, 160
San Christoval, Fort of, 155, 169, 170
San Francisco, 161
San Juan, General, 80
San Marcial, 192
San Sebastian, Fortress of, 79, 190, 191
Santa Cruz, 161
Santa Maria, 166
Santander, 186
Santarem, 140, 141
San Vincente, 166, 169
Sardinia, 25
Savanore, 43
Savary, General, 190
Savoy, 25
Sax-Weimar, Prince Bernard of, 212
Scheldt, 29
Schwartzenberg, Prince, 29
Scindia, 66
Sebastiani, General, 103, 106, 110, 115, 116, 117, 119, 120
Sedasser, 39
Segovia, 183
Seringapatam, 38, 39, 40, 42, 49, 50
Serra, the, 107, 135
Sersooly, 58
Seton, 176
Seven Years’ War, the, 17
Seville, 106, 109, 125, 147, 157, 170, 185
Shaw, Colonel, 40
Sherbrooke, General, 40
Sherer, Captain, 62
Shore, Sir John, 35
Sierra Catalina, 108
Sierra de Busaco, 133
Sierra Morena, 103, 124, 125
Simon, General, 133
Sindhia of Gwalior, 51, 53, 54, 55, 56, 58, 59
S. Lourenço, River, 132
Smith, Robert, 19, 20
Smith, Sir Harry, 81, 130, 166, 167, 223
Smith, Sydney, 19
Soignes, Forest of, 225
Somerset, Lord Edward, 196, 232
Sorauren, 191
Souars, 195
Souham, 182, 183
Soult, Marshal, 101, 103, 106, 107, 108, 110, 118, 119, 120, 123, 125, 140, 147, 156, 170, 181, 182, 191, 192, 195, 196, 197, 199, 200, 210, 227
Southampton, 33
Spain, 23, 25, 71, 78, 79, 95, 99, 100, 102, 104, 127, 160, 190
Spencer, General Sir Brent, 87, 147, 148
Spry, 179
St Amand, 214
Stanhope, 247
St Cyr, General, 81, 100, 103
Stevenson, Colonel, 52, 54, 57, 58, 60
Stewart, General Sir Charles, 108, 138, 149, 201
Stewart, Major-General the Hon. W., 125
St Jean de Luz, 194
St Jean Pied de Port, 194
St Julian, Fort of, 132
St Ledger, General, 35
St Peter’s, Dublin, 18
Strangford, Lord, 78, 241
Strathfieldsaye, 241, 247
Stuart, General, 39
Styles, Corporal, 229
Suchet, Marshal, 127, 157, 181, 190, 199, 200, 210
Surat, 52
Sweden, 71, 75
Taggart, Lieutenant, 167
Tagus, the, 106, 110, 112, 119, 123, 124, 125, 131, 132, 140, 157, 159, 170, 185
Talavera, 109, 111, 112, 115, 119, 120, 121, 122, 157, 191
Talleyrand, 21
Tamames, 124
Tarragona, 157, 192, 193
Thielmann, General, 218
Thomière, 172, 173
Tilsit, Peace of, 71, 75
Tipú Sultan, 36, 38, 39, 41, 42, 43, 65
Toledo, 120, 183
Tordesillas, 171
Toro, 171
Torrecilla de la Orden, 171
Torres Vedras, 91, 123, 130, 131, 133, 139
Toulon, 26, 27
Toulouse, 195, 196, 199, 200
Tournay, 25, 29
Trafalgar, 69, 80, 201
Trant, Colonel, 139, 143
Tras os Montes, Province of, 86
Trim, 22
Trincomalee, 48
Troisville, 29
Tudela, 171
Turkey, 241
Turones, River, 150, 151
Ulm, 69
Uxbridge, Earl of, 225, 232
Valencia, 80, 161, 181, 190
Valenciennes, 26, 237
Valladolid, 103, 120, 127, 163, 182, 183, 185, 186, 187
Vallée, 105
Valmy, 24
Vandal, Count, 74
Vandamme, General, 210
Vandeleur, 229
Vedras, 91
Velasquez, 189
Veldbeck, 73
Vellore, 53
Vendas Novas, 106
Venegas, General, 103, 110, 111, 118, 120
Verona, 241
Victor, General, 81, 100, 103, 106, 109, 110, 111, 115, 116, 117, 119, 120, 124
Victoria, Queen, 248
Vienna, Congress of, 206, 207
Villa Franca, 193
Villatte, 116
Villiers, Rt. Hon. John, 126
Vimiero, 90, 91, 92, 94, 97, 98
Vincennes, 236
Viseu, 126
Vittoria, 187, 189, 190
Vives, General, 80, 100
Vouga, River, 106
Walcheren, Expedition, 126
Walker, General, 169
Wallace, Lieutenant-Colonel, 174, 175, 176
Walmer Castle, 171, 247, 248, 249, 251
Warre, Sir William, 92
Waterloo, 18, 19, 111, 217, 223, 235
Waterloo, Prince of, 241
Waters, Colonel, 107
Wattignies, 26
Waugh, Dhoondia, 43, 44, 45, 47
Wavre, 217, 218, 220
Webster, Lieutenant, 213
Wellesley, Henry, 48, 70
Wellesley, Lord, 19
Wellesley, Richard, 22, 28
Wellington of Talavera, Viscount, 122
Wesley, Garret, 19
West India Islands, 156
Westleys, 19
West Meath, 18
Westmorland, Lord, 22, 28
Wilkes, John, 17
William IV, 244
Wilson, Sir Robert, 73, 101, 120, 123, 143
Winchilsea, Earl of, 243
Windham, 96
Yeltes, the, 164
York, Duke of, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 92, 242
Zamora, 187
Zaragoza, 103
Zibreira, 131
Ziethen, General, 211, 212, 218, 234, 235
Zizandre, River, 131
FOOTNOTES
[1] Sir Herbert Maxwell in his “Life of Wellington” (p. 2) suggests that the confusion arose owing to the then comparatively recent alteration of the calendar. Supposing Arthur Wellesley was born on the 1st May (new style), that date would be the 18th April (old style), and the 30th April (old style) the 12th May according to the present way of reckoning.
[2] It must be remembered that Barrington wrote from the point of view of a “patriot,” and that Castlereagh had much to do with the Union of Great Britain and Ireland. Castlereagh entered the Irish Parliament in 1790, served in the Pitt, Addington, Perceval, and Portland ministries, was present at the Congress of Vienna, and died by his own hand in 1822.
[3] Dumouriez was in London from the 12th June until the 22nd, 1793. He lived in England from October 1803 until his death on the 14th March 1823.
[4] Similar incidents occurred during the Peninsular War.
[5] At Arnheim, on the Rhine, less than twenty-five miles distant. According to the de Ros MS., consulted by Sir Herbert Maxwell, Dundas paid a visit to Wellesley “about once a fortnight.”
[6] Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, 1794-8.
[7] Letter to Sir Chichester Fortescue, dated 20th June 1796, cited by Sir Herbert Maxwell, vol. i. p. 19 n.
[8] Sir Herbert Maxwell, p. 35.
[9] Gleig (p. 26) says £7000, Roberts (p. 11) £7000 in money and £1200 in jewels. Sir Herbert Maxwell (p. 39) calls attention to a letter, dated the 14th June 1799, in which Wellesley “gives it as 3000 pagodas in jewels, and 7000 in money; in all, 10,000 pagodas, equal to about £4000.”
[10] In later years Wellington offered to provide for the unfortunate Spanish general, Alava, and gave him a small house in the park of Strathfieldsaye.
[11] Created 20th December 1800.
[12] The Austrian general, Kray, had succeeded Archduke Charles as Commander-in-Chief of the army in Germany in the campaign of 1800, but owing to his ill-success he was superseded in a few months by Archduke John, hence Wellesley’s reference.
[13] “The Life of Wellington,” pp. 45-6.
[14] “Dispatches,” vol. ii. p. 312.
[15] “The Life of Arthur Duke of Wellington,” by G. R. Gleig, M.A., F.R.G.S. (London Ed. 1864), pp. 33-4.
[16] 79 officers and 1778 soldiers were killed and wounded.--Sir Herbert Maxwell, p. 58.
[17] Gleig, pp. 37-8.
[18] Envoy.
[19] Alison in his “Lives of Lord Castlereagh and Sir Charles Stewart” (vol. i. p. 175), says that it generally took six months to make the voyage. When Sir James Mackintosh sailed from Portsmouth for Bombay in 1804 his vessel only occupied three months and thirteen days (see his “Memoirs,” vol. i. p. 207).
[20] “His relationship to the Governor-General naturally lent much weight to his views with Lord Clive and General Harris, but,” Sir Herbert Maxwell adds (p. 24), “it is remarkable how freely and frequently the elder brother sought the younger’s advice.”
[21] “The Life and Correspondence of the Right Honble. Henry Addington, first Viscount Sidmouth,” by the Honble. George Pellew, D.D. (London, 1847), vol. ii. p. 242. In this connection see also “Wellington’s Dispatches,” vol. ii. pp. 335-36 n., and “Despatches, Minutes, and Correspondence of the Marquess Wellesley, K.G.,” vol. iii. p. 543.
[22] “The Rise of Wellington,” by Earl Roberts, V.C., p. 26.
[23] “Personal interest was as much recognized in those days as the chief motor in military promotion, as seniority and merit are now.”--Sir Herbert Maxwell, vol. i. p. 67.
[24] Shortly after his return from India Wellesley had his only interview with Nelson, an account of which is given in the author’s companion work, “The Story of Nelson,” pp. 113-4.
[25] See _ante_, p. 23.
[26] “Personal Reminiscences of the first Duke of Wellington” (Edinburgh 1904), p. 274.
[27] Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland.
[28] At Copenhagen.
[29] Flat-bottomed boats, usually armed with small guns.
[30] Sir Herbert Maxwell, vol. i. p. 87.
[31] Wilson is wrong in some of his facts. The Danish troops numbered some 14,000, and 1100 prisoners were taken. See Sir Herbert Maxwell, vol. i. p. 87.
[32] “The Croker Papers,” vol. ii. pp. 120-21.
[33] H. W. Wilson, B.A., in “Cambridge Modern History,” vol. ix. p. 236.
[34] “The Life of Napoleon I,” vol. ii. p. 143.
[35] See Oman’s “Peninsular War,” vol i. pp. 1-11.
[36] Oman, vol. i. pp. 631-639. Returns of October-November 1808.
[37] Succeeded by Soult in November 1808.
[38] Oman, vol. i. pp. 640-45.
[39] “The Autobiography of Sir Harry Smith,” 1787-1819. Edited by G. C. Moore Smith, M.A. (London Ed. 1910).
[40] “A Boy in the Peninsular War,” edited by Julian Sturgis (London, 1899), p. 313.
[41] _Ibid._ p. 311.
[42] Vol. i. p. 235 n.
[43] The total loss of the regiment was 190, by far the heaviest of those engaged.
[44] The case of Peter Findlater at Dargai is almost an exact parallel.
[45] See also some remarks in “The Croker Papers,” vol. ii. pp. 121-22.
[46] As to the merits and demerits of national resistance, see some wise remarks in Arnold’s “Introductory Lectures on Modern History,” pp. 158-64.
[47] See also some pregnant remarks in Wellesley’s dispatch dated Badajoz, 21st November 1809. It will be remembered that at the time of the Russian-Japanese war, newspaper men were wisely precluded from publishing particulars of proposed movements and similar intelligence likely to be of service to the enemy. During the recent conflict between Italy and Turkey the most rigid censorship was exercised by the former Power.
[48] “I rather think that Mortier had removed from Zaragoza; but some time elapsed before he arrived in Old Castile.”--Note by Wellesley.
[49] “The Adventures of a Soldier,” by Edward Costello.
[50] Oman, vol. ii. p. 334. This disposes of the often-repeated story that Waters discovered the little craft in the reeds. Brailmont, for instance, says that the Colonel “suddenly darted off from the throng,” and half an hour later the skiff “shot out into the deep” with six men on board.
[51] At the approach of the enemy no fewer than 6000 Spaniards took to their heels and played no part in the battle.
[52] Napoleon made a similar error of judgment at Waterloo by keeping the Imperial Guard in reserve until after 7 p.m. (See _post_, p. 222).
[53] Sir Herbert Maxwell, vol. i. p. 165, says 6268; Professor Oman (“Cambridge Modern History,” vol. ix. p. 452) gives 5300, the Spanish casualties “trifling.” The latter authority states that 7200 Frenchmen were killed or wounded.
[54] “Passages in the Early Military Life of General Sir George T. Napier, K.C.B.” (London, 1884), pp. 111-12.
[55] See _post_, p. 130.
[56] “Cambridge Modern History,” vol. ix. p. 455. This authority gives the date of the battle of Tamames as the 18th October, but Wellington states that it occurred on the 19th.--See “Dispatches,” vol. v. pp. 261 and 350.
[57] Its object was to destroy the ships and dockyards at Antwerp.
[58] General Sir George T. Napier, pp. 120-21.
[59] Really his two reserve divisions, consisting of some 8000 men. See Oman, vol. iii. p. 432, and _post_, p. 139.
[60] September 1810.
[61] On the 27th September 1910, the centenary of the battle, an anniversary banquet was given at Busaco, which was attended by Wellington’s grandson. King Manoel--now dethroned--signed a decree reaffirming the duke’s Portuguese titles of Duke of Vittoria, Marquis of Torres Vedras, and Count of Vimiero. Celebrations were also held on the site of the battle.
[62] The writer is speaking literally.
[63] The usual French mode of attack.
[64] Not Marshal Soult, but his nephew.
[65] The Proclamation is printed in full in Gurwood’s edition of “Wellington’s Dispatches,” vol. vii. pp. 455-7.
[66] Lady Butler’s picture, “Steady, the Drums and Fifes,” represents this regiment drawn up on the ridge.
[67] He had recently received reinforcements from England.
[68] Napoleon dominated practically the whole of Northern Europe. He was then planning a confederacy which was to consist of Sweden, Denmark, and the Grand Duchy of Warsaw.
[69] Wellington’s instructions to Hill will be found in “Dispatches,” vol. viii. pp. 180-82.
[70] “Cambridge Modern History,” vol. ix. p. 469.
[71] _i.e._ The province of Leon, in which Ciudad Rodrigo is situated.
[72] “Autobiography,” pp. 64-5.
[73] Sir Herbert Maxwell, vol. i. p. 280.
[74] A monument to the memory of Major-General Gaspard Le Marchant is in St Paul’s Cathedral.
[75] It is given in Gurwood, vol. x. pp. 61-66.
[76] Lützen was fought on the 3rd May 1813, and Bautzen on the 20th and 21st May. In both battles the Prussians and Russians, who at the opening of the Leipzig campaign bore all the fighting for the Allies, were defeated. The only result of the armistice was that Austria threw in her lot with Russia, Prussia, and Sweden.--See the author’s “Story of Napoleon,” pp. 296-299.
[77] “Personal Reminiscences of the Duke of Wellington by Francis, the first Earl of Ellesmere,” p. 129. (London, 1903.)
[78] General Sir George T. Napier, pp. 255-260.
[79] Lady Burghersh.
[80] Parliament also granted to him the sum of £400,000.
[81] See the author’s “Story of Nelson,” p. 195.
[82] The complete Memorandum will be found in Gurwood, vol. xii., pp. 125-9.
[83] “Cambridge Modern History,” vol. ix. p. 619.
[84] “The Campaign of 1815, chiefly in Flanders,” by Lieut.-Colonel W. H. James, P.S.C., pp. 14-15.
[85] “Cambridge Modern History,” vol. ix. p. 625. See also “The Life of Napoleon I” by J. Holland Rose, Litt.D., vol. ii. p. 455.
[86] James, p. 27.
[87] James, p. 100.
[88] Croker, vol. iii. p. 173.
[89] This interesting relic still exists.
[90] Rye.
[91] Disbanded in 1816.
[92] Rose’s “Napoleon,” vol. ii. p. 487-8.
[93] Rose’s “Napoleon,” vol. ii. p. 488.
[94] Comte Charles van der Burch is the present owner of Hougoumont.
[95] Now the Grenadier Guards.
[96] Rose, vol. ii. p. 496.
[97] “Some of this brigade, particularly the 5th Military, had behaved with great gallantry on the 16th, at Quatre Bras.”--Cotton’s, “A Voice from Waterloo,” p. 56.
[98] General Gascoigne in the House of Commons, the 29th June 1815.
[99] “Some one asked whether the French Cuirassiers had not come up very well at Waterloo? ‘Yes,’ he (Wellington) said, ‘and they went down very well too.’”--Croker, vol. i. p. 330.
[100] _I.e._ the guns were not removed, the artillerymen working them till the last moment and then seeking refuge in the nearest square, to resume their former position when the enemy began to retire.
[101] “Cambridge Modern History,” vol. ix. p. 639.
[102] See the author’s “Story of Napoleon,” p. 135.
[103] Not at Wimbledon, as Mr Asquith said in a speech at the Guildhall in 1911.
[104] See Foreword.
[105] The point is somewhat obscure owing to conflicting evidence.--See “The Boyhood of a Great King,” by A. M. Broadley, pp. 99-100.
Transcriber’s Notes
Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed. Spelling variants in quoted passages were not changed.
Simple typographical errors were corrected; occasional unbalanced quotation marks retained.
Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained.
Index not checked for proper alphabetization or correct page references.
Page 172: “wrapt attention” was printed that way.
Page 177: “downright” was printed that way, rather than as “down right”.
Page 200: Opening quotation mark added before “I march”.
Page 234: “doing their upmost” was printed that way.
Footnote 9 (originally on page 42): Missing closing quotation mark added at the end of the footnote.
End of Project Gutenberg's The Story of Wellington, by Harold F. B. Wheeler