Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769-1852), was an Anglo-Irish soldier and statesman. Wellesley rose to prominence as a general during the Peninsular campaign of the Napoleonic Wars, and was promoted to the rank of field marshal after leading the allied forces to victory against the French Empire at the Battle of Vitoria in 1813. Following Napoleon's exile in 1814, he served as the ambassador to France and was granted a dukedom. During the Hundred Days in 1815, he commanded the allied army which, together with a Prussian army under Blucher, defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. After the end of his active military career, Wellington returned to politics. He was twice British prime minister as part of the Tory party: from 1828 to 1830, and for a little less than a and continued as one of the leading figures in the House of Lords until his retirement and remained Commander-in-Chief of the British Army until his death. |