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[[File:Lord Arthur Wellesley the Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, [[Knight Fever|1st Duke of Wellington KG KP GCB GCH PC FRS]], was one of the leading military and political figures of the nineteenth century. He is often referred to as one of the greatest English generals of all time, except that he was Irish. His supposed response (not recorded until after his death) to people pointing out his Irish birth was something along the lines of 'If a man is born in a stable, that doesn't make him a horse', a sentiment which didn't stop him marrying an Irish woman or the Irish building a [[wikipedia:Wellington Monument, Dublin|200-foot-tall monument in his honour]]. To be fair his comments stemmed from a dislike of the Protestant and often power-abusing Irish Nobility rather than the "normal" Irish.
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His military career was rapid, reaching the rank of Colonel in 12 years. Despite an extremely impressive military career in India, he did not come to real prominence until the [[Napoleonic Wars]],<ref>Ironically, Napoleon too was not born in the nation that he is famous for being from; his birthplace had been transferred from Genoese to French control a mere two years before his birth (and he was originally called the much more Italian "Napoleone di Buonaparte"), making the Napoleonic wars between the French led by an Italian and the English led by an Irishman. He also shared a birthday with Napoleon. Makes one wonder...</ref> and was promoted to the rank of Field Marshal after leading the allied forces to victory against the French 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 defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo.
One of Britain's more quotable war leaders after [[Winston Churchill]]. Perhaps his most famous quote is "Our army is the scum of the earth - the merest scum of the earth." This is something of a [[Beam Me Up, Scotty]], however, as it sounds far harsher than intended due to people leaving out the second part: "...so it really is wonderful that we should have made them the fine fellows they are.<ref>As another point, in ''The Mask of Command'', historian John Keegan claims that that quote was given in the context of a criticism of pay arrangements which gave better allowances for the dependents of militiamen then those volunteering to serve abroad on the grounds that it brought a low quality of recruit for the later.</ref>."
He was an opponent of parliamentary reform, and was given the epithet of the [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Iron Duke]] because of the iron shutters he had fixed to his windows to stop the pro-reform mob from breaking them. When Parliament burned down in 1834, the Duke advised it be rebuilt in the same place, with one side against the river Thames, reasoning that that made it more difficult to be surrounded by a revolutionary mob.
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* [[Badass]]: He never lost a battle. Never. And fought only one with superior numbers (Vitoria).
** He even [[Princess Bride|got involved in a land war in Asia]] and [[Fridge Brilliance|won.]]
* [[Beam Me Up, Scotty]]: The Duke of Wellington never said or wrote "publish and be damned" to a blackmailer. [[George Bernard Shaw]] said that he did, though:
{{quote|'''Frank Gardner''': Did you ever hear the story of the Duke of Wellington and his letters?
'''Rev. Samuel Gardner''' ''(Frank's father)'': No, sir; and I don't want to hear it.
'''Frank''': The old Iron Duke didn't throw away fifty pounds: not he. He just wrote: "Dear Jenny: publish and be damned! Yours affectionately, Wellington." Thats what you should have done.
|''[[Mrs. Warren's Profession]]'', act 1}}
* [[Blue Blood]]: The Duke was a complete snob when it came to the lower orders. Was once quoted as saying "I'd rather have talent with a title, than talent without."
* [[Boring but Practical]]: Was never the most flashy or unpredictable of Generals but he stuck with what worked and was a superb logistics commander, this being one of his major advantages over his Napoleonic rivals.
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* [[He Also Did]]: Well known for his battlefield career, but his later political career is much less well known. Partly because any recounting of his political career casts him in a less-than-positive light by modern standards, what with his staunch opposition to parliamentary reform, whereas his exemplary career as a commander is much less contentious.
* [[Knight Fever]]: Wellington's titles ended up including a dukedom in the British peerage as well as dukedoms in the peerages of Portugal, Spain and France and a princedom in the Netherlands, 29 knighthoods in twenty different countries (including the highest grade in the premier order of each country), more-or-less honorary field marshal rank in the armies of eight countries, and eleven honorary posts in the government of the United Kingdom from Lord High Constable of England and Constable of the Tower of London through to Ranger of Hyde Park and Chancellor of the University of Oxford. If you were to put the initials for each of these after his name, you'd be talking for a very long time.
** To elaborate, his full name and titles were [[
* [[No Indoor Voice]]: His portrayal in ''[[Blackadder the Third]]'' is actually fairly accurate in that respect: Wellington really did shout an awful lot.
* [[Officer and a Gentleman]]: Was a very British soldier in some respects and stood out for always taking pains to keep his men from plundering or harassing the local populace wherever he served. One such example was the storming of Badajoz where he had gallows erected to stop the rampaging British troops through the city. When he led his combined armies from Spain into France he sent the Spaniards home because he didn't trust them not to pillage.
**There was more then a bit of [[Combat Pragmatism]] about that. Keeping in good with the natives makes sure they are allied to you and he absolutely needed them to give him intelligence and keep the French off balance. Furthermore he had the rare advantage of being able to lug a lot of gold around with him. Instead of foraging he advertised and set up a fair for peasants to come to ''him''. Being a "Nation of Shopkeepers" is not without advantage.
* [[Rightful King Returns]]: A rather odd personal example for the Duke due to the legend of King Arthur. As the legends dictated that the King would return when Britain was faced with its greatest threat and the Duke's name was the same of that of the King, several romantics tried to link the two. The Duke, of course, denied it completely.
* [[The Stoic]]: Was known to keep his calm under battle and rallied his men on various occasions despite being under the constant threat of death at every battle.
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{{examples|The Duke of Wellington in fiction:}}
== Fan Works ==
* Mentioned in passing in ''[[The Secret Return of Alex Mack]]'' as the ancestor of Ron Wellesley, [[The Teraverse]]'s counerpart to [[Harry Potter|Ron Weasley]].
== Film ==
*[[Waterloo]]: Naturally. Splendidly played by Christopher Plummer who was a natural for the role.
== Literature ==
* Obviously we see him in ''[[Sharpe]]''.
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