DUKE (ARTHUR WELLESLEY) OF WELLINGTON (GREAT BRITIAN) - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 07/04/1829 - HFSID 78508

ARTHUR WELLESLEY, 1ST DUKE OF WELLINGTON
Illustrious British Field Marshall from Europe's Napoleonic Wars sends letter of condolence to "Lady Cecilia", and offers her any support she may require
Autograph letter signed: "Wellington" in black ink. 1 page, front and verso, 4½x7 folded. London, England. July 4, 1829. In part: "My Dear Lady Cecilia I have received your letter and am much flattered by your kind remembrance of me. I wish that I had it in my power to offer her any consolation. But the truth is that I can do nothing that can be of any use to you. The King keep to himself the [illegible] in all His Palaces. In all events they are [illegible] of the Lord Chamberlain. However I assure you that will not forget what you have written...you may rely upon it that if I ever have it in my power to do anything which can be of service or agreeable to you I will". Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769-1852) was a British soldier and statesman, and is remembered as one of the most influential figures of the early nineteenth century. A native of Ireland and a member of the Anglo-Irish Ascendancy (English Protestants who resided in Ireland and held significant influence), Wellesley was commissioned as an ensign (equal to a second lieutenant) in 1787 in Ireland, and served as an aide-de-camp to two successive Lords Lieutenant of Ireland before he was elected as a Member of Parliament in the Irish House of Commons. Elevated to a colonel by 1796, Wellesley made a name for himself in the Netherlands and in India in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War's Battle of Seringapatam, after which he was appointed Governor of Seringapatam and Mysore in 1799, as well as promoted to the rank of major-general. After winning a decisive victory over the Martha Confederacy in the Battle of Assaye in 1803, he was made into a general and gained prominence during the Peninsular campaign (1807-1814) during the Napoleon Wars. After a victory against the French in the Battle of Vitoria in 1813, he was promoted to the rank of field marshal (one of the highest ranks in an army). With Napoleon's exile in 1814, Wellesley was granted a dukedom and named ambassador to France. Upon Napoleon's return and the subsequent Hundred Days in 1815, Wellesley (now referred to as the Duke of Wellington) commanded the Allied army which, alongside the Prussian army under their own field marshal Blucher, famously defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. Wellington's battle record is one of history's most exemplary, and he participated in over sixty battles throughout his military career; his famed adaptive defensive style warfare and extensive planning before battles resulted in several victories against numerically superior forces, and his plans and tactics are still studied throughout the world today. The Duke of Wellington turned to politics after the Napoleonic Wars, twice serving as Prime Minister (1828-1830, 1834-1834), most famously overseeing the passage of the Catholic Relief Act of 1829; he remained Commander-in-Chief of the British Army until his death. Normal mailing folds. Worn and soiled. Small tears along edges. Toned. Creased throughout. Bottom third of letter ripped off (but included). Fragile. Otherwise, fine condition.