Statue to the Duke of Wellington in Edinburgh City Princess Street
The Duke of Wellington, perhaps Britain's greatest military hero was, in his mother's eyes, a disaster! In 1815 Arthur Wellesley was made the first Duke of Wellington and marched his troops into Belgium where Napoleon had gathered his army. At a place called Waterloo the French and British armies met for what was to be the final battle. Wellington inflicted an overwhelming defeat on Napoleon, but the victory cost a staggering number of lives. Wellington had become known as the 'Iron Duke' by his men, but even the Iron Duke wept when he learned of the numbers of men slaughtered that day. The British had suffered 15,000 casualties and the French 40,000. Before the battle Wellington is reputed to have said of his own troops "This army is composed of the scum of the earth, I don't know what effect these men will have on the enemy, but by God they terrify me!" This was to be Wellington's last battle. He returned to England and took up his political career again, eventually becoming Prime Minister in 1828. The Duke was not a man to be dominated or threatened by anyone and his reply to a discarded mistress, who threatened to publish the love-letters he had written to her, was "Publish and be damned!" Queen Victoria relied on him greatly, and when she was concerned about the sparrows that had nested in the roof of the partly finished Crystal Palace, she asked his advise as to how to get rid of them. Wellington's reply was succinct and to the point, "Sparrow-hawks, Ma,am". He was right, by the time the Crystal Palace was opened by the Queen, they had all gone! He died at Walmer Castle in Kent in 1852 and was given the honour of a State Funeral. It was a magnificent affair, a fitting tribute to a great military hero. The Iron Duke is buried in St. Paul's Cathedral next to another British hero, Admiral Lord Nelson. Wellington's mother could not have been more wrong about her youngest son!
Size: 5130px × 3406px
Location: Edinburgh City Princess Street Lothian Region Scotland UK
Photo credit: © David Gowans / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -, 1769, 1852, army, battle, bonaparte, british, capital, centre, city, commander, duke, edinburgh, fighting, hero, horseback, iron, landmark, leader, men, napoleon, prominent, scottish, statue, supreme, victorious, waterloo, wellington
