Arthur Wellesley (1769-1852), 1st Duke of Wellington, gazing out across the battlefield of Waterloo in Belgium. Following the French Revolution in 1789, the new republican government in Paris attempted to export its principles to neighbouring states of Europe by force. Napoleon Bonaparte, France’s brilliant general, made no secret of his desire to overthrow King George III and add Great Britain to France’s possessions, and after he was crowned Emperor of France in 1804 the possibility of conquest by our nearest neighbour became extremely serious. The danger was finally extinguished in 1815 at The Battle of Waterloo in Belgium. Throughout the Napoleonic Wars of 1803-1815, Wellington had been a popular hero at home, and he served as Prime Minister from 1828 to 1830.
Part 1 of 2
24th March, 1843
DINED at Lupton’s with Carew and Clint,* and had a very pleasant night. Carew told us a capital story of the Duke. The Duke was at the Marchioness of Downshire’s,* and the ladies plagued him for some of his stories. For some time he declared all his stories were in print. At last he said, ‘Well, I’ll tell you one that has not been printed.’
In the middle of the battle of Waterloo he saw a man in plain clothes riding about on a cob* in the thickest fire. During a temporary lull the Duke beckoned him, and he rode over. He asked him who he was, and what business he had there. He replied he was an Englishman accidentally at Brussels, that he had never seen a fight and wanted to see one. The Duke told him he was in instant danger of his life; he said ‘Not more than your Grace,’ and they parted.
* John Edward Carew (?1782-1868), ‘the only friend I ever met in the art’ lamented Haydon. Carew designed the bronze panel ‘The Death of Nelson’ attached to the pedestal of Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square. George Clint (1770–1854) was an English portrait painter and engraver. Both Clint and Carew were associated with George Wyndham (1751-1837), 3rd Earl of Egremont. Following Egremont’s death in 1837, Haydon wrote in his diary: “He was an extraordinary man, — manly, straight-forward, tender-hearted, a noble patron, an attached friend and an affectionate and indulgent parent. His great pleasure was in sharing with the highest and humblest the advantages and luxuries of his vast income. The very animals at Petworth seemed happier than in any other spot on earth, — better fed, and their dumbness and helpless dependence on man more humanely felt for. He was one of those left of the old school who considered a great artist as fit society for any man, however high his rank, and at his table, as at Sir George Beaumont’s, Lord Mulgrave’s, or Sir Robert Peel’s, painter and sculptor, poet and minister and soldier, all were as equals.”
* Lady Mary Windsor (1790-1855), daughter of the 5th Earl of Plymouth and wife of Arthur Blundell Sandys Trumbull Hill, 3rd Marquess of Downshire (1788-1845). The Marquess of Downshire is an Irish title.
* A cob is a sturdy, thickset horse.
Précis
Artist Benjamin Haydon recalled hearing that during the Battle of Waterloo, a man in civilian clothes rode a sturdy pony onto the battlefield. His progress caught Wellington’s eye, and the Duke warned him that he was taking quite a risk. Protesting that he was just curious, and his peril no greater than the Duke’s, the man rode on. (58 / 60 words)
Part Two
Napoleon Bonaparte on the island of St Helena in the Atlantic Ocean, to which he was banished following defeat at The Battle of Waterloo in 1815. The battle ended Napoleon’s prolonged attempt to acquire a European empire and impose his system of law known as the Napoleonic Code. The attempt brought down the Holy Roman Empire and bloodily redrew the borders of many states, leaving a legacy of bitterness, division and revolution that hurts Europe to this day. Some in England admired him, including Haydon’s friend William Hazlitt, and Haydon himself was fascinated by Napoleon as one of history’s ‘great men’, but he did not care for his politics.
But every now and then he saw the Cob-man riding about in the smoke, and at last having nobody to send to a regiment, he again beckoned to this little fellow, and told him to go up to that regiment and order them to charge, giving him some mark of authority the colonel would recognise. Away he galloped, and in a few minutes the Duke saw his order obeyed. The Duke asked him for his card, and found in the evening, when the card fell out of his sash, that he lived at Birmingham, and was a button manufacturer!
When at Birmingham the Duke inquired of the firm and found he was their traveller, and then in Ireland. When he returned, at the Duke’s request he called on him in London. The Duke was happy to see him and said he had a vacancy in the Mint of 800l a-year, where accounts were wanted. The little Cob-man said it would be exactly the thing and the Duke installed him.
I will ascertain if the facts are correct. If true, it redounds* much to his Grace’s honour.
* ‘Redound’ is a rare verb, from a Latin root meaning ‘surge up’. It is used now almost exclusively in phrases such as ‘it redounds to his honour/glory/credit’, meaning ‘it greatly contributes’ to it.
Précis
As the battle intensified, the Duke was forced to use the inquisitive civilian to relay messages. So efficient was he, that the Duke asked for his card: it seemed he sold buttons. After the war ended, the Duke sought him out in England and found him a job in the Royal Mint, a thoughtful gesture that impressed Haydon. (58 / 60 words)
