Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, 1st duke

Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, 1st duke of

(born May 1, 1769, Dublin, Ire.—died Sept. 14, 1852, Walmer Castle, Kent, Eng.) British general. Son of the Irish earl of Mornington, he entered the army in 1787 and served in the Irish Parliament (1790–97). Sent to India in 1796, he commanded troops to victories in the Maratha War (1803). Back in England, he served in the British House of Commons and as chief secretary in Ireland (1807–09). Commanding British troops in the Peninsular War, he won battles against the French in Portugal and Spain and invaded France to win the war in 1814, for which he was promoted to field marshal and created a duke. After Napoleon renewed the war against the European powers, the “Iron Duke” commanded the Allied armies to victory at the Battle of Waterloo (1815). Richly rewarded by English and foreign sovereigns, he became one of the most honoured men in Europe. After commanding the army of occupation in France (1815–18) and serving in the Tory cabinet as master general of ordnance (1818–27), he served as prime minister (1828–30), but he was forced to resign after opposing any parliamentary reform. He was honoured on his death by a monumental funeral and burial in St. Paul's Cathedral alongside Horatio Nelson.