WELLINGTON’S WARS 3705_01_FM_CH01.indd 1 14/03/12 3:09 PM 3705_01_FM_CH01.indd 2 14/03/12 3:09 PM Wellington’s Wars THE MAKING OF A MILITARY GENIUS HUW J. DAVIES YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS NEW HAVEN AND LONDON 3705_01_FM_CH01.indd 3 14/03/12 3:09 PM Published with assistance from the Annie Burr Lewis Fund Copyright © 2012 Huw J. Davies All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form (beyond that copyright permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press) without written permission from the publishers. For information about this and other Yale University Press publications, please contact: U.S. Office: [email protected] www.yalebooks.com Europe Office: [email protected] www.yalebooks.co.uk Set in Adobe Caslon by IDSUK (DataConnection) Ltd Printed in Great Britain by TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Davies, Huw J. (Huw John), 1981     Wellington’s wars: the making of a military genius/Huw J. Davies.         p. cm.     Includes bibliographical references.     ISBN 978–0–300–16417–6 (cl : alk. paper)     1.    Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of, 1769–1852—Military leadership. 2.    Great Britain—History, Military—1789-1820. 3.    Generals—Great Britain— Biography. 4.    Prime ministers—Great Britain—Biography. I.    Title.   DA68.12.W4D34 2012   355.0092—dc23   [B] 2011041773 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 3705_01_FM_CH01.indd 4 14/03/12 3:09 PM Contents List of Illustrations and Maps vi Preface: A Military Genius? viii 1 An Introduction to War and Politics: Arthur Wellesley in Europe and India, 1794–1799 1 2 Command Apprenticeship: The Campaign Against Dhoondiah Vagh, 1800 23 3 Learning the Wrong Lessons: War with the Marathas, 1801–1803 40 4 From India to the Peninsula: 1804–1808 76 5 The Search for a Strategy: The Defence of Portugal, 1809–1810 99 6 England’s Oldest Ally: The Liberation of Portugal, 1811 126 7 England’s Essential Ally: The Invasion of Spain, 1812 146 8 ‘I Will Beat Them Out, and with Great Ease’: The Liberation of Spain and the Invasion of France, 1813–1814 171 9 Wellington’s Waterloo: The Battle for the Balance of Power in Europe, 1814–1815 214 Conclusion: From Sepoy General to Military Statesman 248 Abbreviations 255 Notes 257 Bibliography 278 Index 294 3705_01_FM_CH01.indd 5 14/03/12 3:09 PM Illustrations and Maps 1 Sir David Wilkie, General Sir David Baird Discovering the Body of Sultan Tippoo Sahib after having Captured Seringapatam on 4 May 1799, 1843. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, USA/Bridgeman Art Library. 2 J. C. Stadler after William Heath, Battle of Assaye, 23 September 1803, 1818. National Army Museum. 3 John Philip Davis, Richard Colley Wellesley, Marquess Wellesley, c.1835–60. National Portrait Gallery. 4 Sir Thomas Lawrence, Robert Jenkinson, Second Earl of Liverpool, 1827. National Portrait Gallery. 5 Sir Thomas Lawrence, Robert Stewart, Second Marquess of Londonderry (Lord Castlereagh), 1809–10. National Portrait Gallery. 6 Unknown, Comrades in Arms (Thomas Graham, Baron Lynedoch; Rowland Hill, 1st Viscount Hill; Sir Thomas Picton; Henry William Paget, first Marquess of Anglesey), after 1815. National Portrait Gallery. 7 Thomas Jones Barker, Battle of Vitoria, 21 June 1813, c.1853. Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, Shrivenham, UK. 8 Thomas Jones Barker, Wellington at Sorauren, 27 July 1813, c.1853. National Army Museum. 9 Engraving by Jean Godefroy after the sepia drawing by Jean- Baptiste Isabey, Congress of Vienna 1815, 1819. AKG-Images. 10 Félix Henri Emmanuel Philippoteaux, The Battle of Waterloo: The British Squares Receiving the Charge of the French Cuirassiers, 1874. Given by F. R. Bryan to the British Museum. 3705_01_FM_CH01.indd 6 14/03/12 3:09 PM illustrations and maps vii 11 Adolf von Menzel, Blücher und Wellington auf dem Schlachtfeld von Belle-Alliance, 1858. SCALA. 12 Wood engraving, undated, after painting by Rudolf Eichstadt, Blücher at Genappe, 1857. AKG-Images. 13 Sir Thomas Lawrence, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, with a telescope, 1827. Huntington Library and Art Gallery, San Marino, CA, USA/Bridgeman Art Library. Maps 1 Campaign in Northern Europe, 1794–5 4 2 Political Map of India, 1797 12 3 The Mysore Campaign, 1799 15 4 The Deccan Campaign, August–December 1803 53 5 The Battle of Assaye, 23 September 1803 63 6 Major British Battles of the Peninsular War, 1808–14 103 7 The Retreat from Burgos, 22 October–25 November 1812 163 8 The Vitoria Campaign, May–June 1813 181 9 The Invasion of France, October–December 1813 196–7 10 Political Map of Central Europe (Congress of Vienna), 1814 221 11 Allied Dispositions before Waterloo, 14–15 June 1815 228–9 12 The Battle of Waterloo, 18 June 1815: the Arrival of the Prussians 242 3705_01_FM_CH01.indd 7 14/03/12 3:09 PM 1 General Sir David Baird commanded the force that stormed Seringapatam on 4 May 1799. His wife had this painting commissioned following his death. Baird was actually nowhere near Tipu Sultan when his body was found. Nor was Wellesley, who can be seen in Baird’s shadow, peeking over his shoulder. No doubt a comment of Baird’s opinion of Wellesley. 2 Wellesley can be seen rallying his troops in the face of stiff resistance from the Marathas. Wellesley considered this the bloodiest and greatest of his victories (along with the Nivelle). The battle had a major influence on Wellesley’s approach to warfare and imbued in him a respect for South Asian warriors, rare among British soldiers of the period.