DUKE (ARTHUR WELLESLEY) OF WELLINGTON (GREAT BRITIAN) - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 10/29/1822 - HFSID 78513

ARTHUR WELLESLEY, 1ST DUKE OF WELLINGTON
Nineteenth-century general, known for his defeating Napoleon, sends letter to acquaintance informing him of the possibility of being available the following day
Autograph letter signed: "Wellington" in black ink. 1 page front and verso, 4½x7. Brighton, England. October 29, 1822. In part: "My dear Sir...It may happen that I should be obliged to come to town tomorrow in which case I will...I shall have time.". 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. Very small tears along edges. Toned. Creased throughout. Otherwise, fine condition.