The Iron Duke

Regarded as a great hero by the British because he won the Battle of Waterloo, the Duke of Wellington is not so well-liked by the Irish. Although born in Ireland, Arthur Wellesley was a member of the great land-owning Protestant Ascendancy and always denied his Irish heritage. He famously said that being born in a barn does not make one a horse.

The fourth son of the first Earl of Mornington Wellesley was not a good student. Although he is supposed to have said that 'the battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton' the young Arthur disappointed his parents by not doing well at the exclusive English public school. The only school which suited him and which would form the beginning of his remarkable career was a French military academy. Even after he graduated, however, he became a dilettante enjoying the luxurious life of an Anglo-Irish aristocrat. Wellesley, a handsome young man, liked to play the violin, socialize and generally enjoy a good time. Horrified by the excesses of the French Revolution, however, he burned his beloved violin in the fireplace and decided to take soldiering seriously.

He fell in love with a pretty and sweet girl called Kitty, the aristocratic daughter of Baron Longford. Wellesley was in debt and her father wouldn't let her marry him. She waited for him for a long time. Although Arthur, returned from his military campaigns, now found her plain and disappointing, he honoured his promise to marry her. This was a mistake because it turned out to be a very unhappy marriage.

Wellesley began his military career by joining the 33rd Foot Regiment and was involved in the invasion of Mysore and the defeat of Tipu Sultan. After his brilliant success in India he was knighted in 1805. After fighting the Danes in Copenhagen, Wellesley was given control of the British, Portuguese and Spanish forces in the bloody and difficult Peninsular war and defeated the French. In the great Battle of Waterloo he finally defeated Napoleon. A cruel leader who was severe in his punishments, he was not well-liked by his men and he was rather condescending about them calling them 'the scum of the earth'. He regarded them as a drunken rabble, but they were obviously good soldiers.

Judging by his quote: "Nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won", after winning the Battle of Waterloo, Wellington's defeat of Napoleon did not make him as happy as it should have. Rewarded by being made the Duke of Wellington, Wellesley began a career in diplomacy, becoming the Ambassador to France and representing Britain at the Congress of Vienna.

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