DUKE (ARTHUR WELLESLEY) OF WELLINGTON (GREAT BRITIAN) - THIRD PERSON AUTOGRAPH LETTER 06/06/1839 - HFSID 78526
Price: $800.00
ARTHUR WELLESLEY, 1ST DUKE OF WELLINGTON
The twice-serving Prime Minister of the United Kingdom declines to be a part of
Cinque Ports' new Constitution, despite being Lord Warden of the area
Third person autograph letter. 1 page front and verso, 7¼x9¼ folded. London, England. June
6, 1839. In part: "The Duke of Wellington presents his compliments to Mr. Jackson and
has received his letter. It is very true that the Duke is Lord Warden of the Cinque Ported,
that is takes a great Interest in the Prosperity of that part of the Country, and of the
town of Teal in particular. But he has had nothing to say to the Constitution of
[illegible], and he begs leave to decline to appear to have any relation with that..".
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. Lightly soiled. Toned. Light surface
creases. Adhesive residue on verso. Otherwise, fine condition.
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