Wellington: Waterloo and the Fortunes of Peace 1814–1852

761 Pages·2015·9.857 MB·English

by  Rory Muir

R O R Y M U I R
WATERLOO
AND THE FORTUNES OF PEACE,
1814-1852
WELLINGTON
i
ii
(cid:2)
WATERLOO
AND THE FORTUNES OF PEACE
1814–1852
R O R Y M U I R
YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
NEW HAVEN AND LONDON
iii
Published with assistance from the Annie Burr Lewis Fund
Copyright © 2015 Rory Muir
All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form
(beyond that copying 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.
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Set in Minion Pro by IDSUK (DataConnection) Ltd
Printed in Great Britain by TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Muir, Rory, 1962-
Wellington / Rory Muir.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–300–18665–9 (v. 1: alk. paper) — ISBN 978–0–300–18786–1 (v. 2: alk.
paper)
1. Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of, 1769–1852. 2. Great Britain. Army—History.
3. Great Britain—History, Military—1789–1820. 4. Generals—Great Britain—
Biography. 5. Prime ministers—Great Britain—Biography. 6. Great Britain—Politics
and government—19th century. I. Title.
DA68.12.W4M85 2013
941.07092—dc23
[B]
2013018606
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
iv
(cid:2)
C
ONTENTS
List of Illustrations and Maps vii
Preface ix
Prologue 1
Part I: War and Peace in Europe (1814–18) 3
1 Celebrations and Diplomacy (April 1814–March 1815) 5
2 The Return of Napoleon (March–June 1815) 22
3 Quatre Bras (15–17 June 1815) 36
4 Waterloo (18 June 1815) 56
5 Peacemaking in Paris (June–December 1815) 83
6 The Occupation of France (1816–18) 98
Part II: In Cabinet (1819–27) 119
7 Politics and the Duke 121
8 The Radical Challenge (1819) 139
9 The Queen’s Affair (1820–21) 154
10 The King and his Ministers (1821–22) 172
11 Verona and Spain (1822–23) 190
12 Latin America and the Catholic Question (1823–25) 208
13 The Last Year of Liverpool’s Government
(December 1825–February 1827) 228
v
vi CONTENTS
14 Master- General of the Ordnance (1818–27) 246
15 Family and Friends (1819–27) 263
16 The Ins and Outs of 1827 279
Part III: Prime Minister (1828–30) 299
17 Cabinet-Making (January–June 1828) 301
18 Catholic Emancipation (1828–29) 322
19 The Foreign Policy of Wellington’s Government (1828–July 1830) 348
20 Domestic Difficulties (May 1829–July 1830) 366
21 The Fall of Wellington’s Government (July–November 1830) 383
Part IV: Out of Office (1830–41) 401
22 Opposing the Reform Bill (November 1830–June 1832) 403
23 The Limits of Opposition (1832–35) 427
24 Private Life (1828–35) 449
25 The Many Faces of Fame 466
26 Leading the Lords (1835–41) 483
27 Wellington and the Army (1819–41) 505
Part V: Back in Harness (1841–52) 523
28 Peel’s Lieutenant (1841–46) 525
29 Commander- in- Chief (1842–52) 545
30 In the Midst of Life (1842–52) 559
Conclusion 573
Wellington's Offices, Honours and Titles, 1814–52 586
Who’s Who in Wellington’s World 589
Chronology 595
Endnotes 599
Bibliography 665
Index 698
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L I
IST OF LLUSTRATIONS
M
AND APS
1 Sir Thomas Lawrence, Arthur Wellesley, First Duke of Wellington (1816). © Wellington
Collection, Apsley House, London / English Heritage.
2 Sir Thomas Lawrence, portrait of Wellington (‘the Londonderry Lawrence’) (c. 1814). ©
English Heritage. From the private collection of the Marquess of Londonderry.
3 Sir Thomas Lawrence, Wellington holding the sword of state (1814–15). Royal
Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2014.
4 Thomas Sutherland after William Heath, Centre of the British Army at La Haye Sainte
during the Battle of Waterloo (1816). Courtesy of the Council of the National Army
Museum, London.
5 Denis Dighton, detail from The Battle of Waterloo (c. 1815–25). Private Collection /
Bridgeman Images.
6 M. Dubourg, after J. Heaviside Clark, The Field of Waterloo as it appeared on the Morning
after the Memorable Battle of 18th June 1815 (1817). Courtesy of the Council of the
National Army Museum, London.
7 The Waterloo despatch, autograph draft, 19 June 1815. © The British Library Board
(Add. 69850.f.1).
8 George Cruikshank, The Afterpiece to the Tragedy of Waterloo – or – Madame Francoise
& her managers!!! (1815). © The Trustees of the British Museum.
9 George Cruikshank, The Royal Shambles or the Progress of Legitimacy & Re-establishment
of Religion & Social Order–!!!–!!!–!!! (detail) (1816). © The Trustees of the British
Museum.
10 Baron François Gérard, The Duke of Wellington (1814). © UK Government Art
Collection.
11 John Hayter, Catherine, 1st Duchess of Wellington Seated at an Easel (1825). © Stratfield
Saye Preservation Trust.
12 Richard Barrett Davis, The Eton Boys (c. 1820). © Stratfield Saye Preservation Trust.
13 David Wilkie, The Waterloo Gazette, or the Chelsea Pensioners reading the Gazette of
Waterloo (1822). Apsley House, The Wellington Museum, London, UK / © English
Heritage Photo Library / Bridgeman Images.
14 Robert Cruikshank, Massacre at St Peter’s or “Britons Strike Home”!!! (1819). © The
Trustees of the British Museum.
15 George Hayter, The Trial of Queen Caroline (1820–23). © National Portrait Gallery,
London.
16 Title page of William Hone, The Political House That Jack Built (first published 1819).
17 ‘Steel Lozenges’, page from William Hone, The Man in the Moon (1820).
18 Sir Thomas Lawrence, portrait of Marianne Patterson (nd). © Stratfield Saye
Preservation Trust.
vii
viii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS
19 Sir Thomas Lawrence, Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool (exhibited 1827).
© National Portrait Gallery, London.
20 Sir Thomas Lawrence, portrait of Harriet Fane, Mrs Charles Arbuthnot (1820s). Private
Collection / Photo © Philip Mould Ltd, London / Bridgeman Images.
21 Sir Thomas Lawrence, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (‘the Rosebery portrait’)
(c. 1821). Private Collection / Photo © Christie’s Images / Bridgeman Images.
22 Sir Thomas Lawrence, Princess Lieven (c. 1812–20). © Tate, London 2014.
23 Sir Thomas Lawrence, George Canning (1825). © National Portrait Gallery, London.
24 Unknown artist, Achilles in the Sulks after his Retreat; or, The Great Captain on the Stool
of Repentance!! (1827). © The Trustees of the British Museum.
25 ‘Paul Pry’ (William Heath), A Wellington Boot or the Head of the Army (1827). © The
Trustees of the British Museum.
26 ‘Paul Pry’ (William Heath), Going to Downing Street – a sketch (1827–29). © The
Trustees of the British Museum.
27 ‘Paul Pry’ (William Heath), Burking poor Old Mrs Constitution Aged 141 (1829). © The
Trustees of the British Museum.
28 ‘Paul Pry’ (William Heath), Leaving the House of Lords through the Assembled Commons
(1829). © The Trustees of the British Museum.
29 John Phillips, Partial Distress or the old Cabinet-Maker and his Man Bob Out of
Employment by ‘Sharpshooter (1830). © The Trustees of the British Museum.
30 Unknown artist, A Sketch in the Park: The Duke of Wellington and Mrs Arbuthnot (1834).
© National Portrait Gallery, London.
31 C. Bartonford, pastel portrait of Lady Salisbury (1829). Courtesy the Marquess of
Salisbury, Hatfield House.
32 The Waterloo Gallery, Apsley House. © English Heritage.
33 John William Salter, The Waterloo Banquet, 1838 (1840). © Stratfield Saye Preservation
Trust.
34 A ‘print room’ at Stratfield Saye. © Stratfield Saye Preservation Trust.
35 Franz Xaver Winterhalter, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, with Sir Robert Peel
(1844). Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2014.
36 ‘H.B.’ (John Doyle), A Cabinet Council (1834). Courtesy of the Peel Society.
37 ‘H.B.’ (John Doyle), Symptoms of Insubordination (1839). Courtesy of the Peel Society.
38 Andrew Morton, The Duke of Wellington with Colonel Gurwood at Apsley House
(c. 1840). © By kind permission of the Trustees of the Wallace Collection, London.
39 Baron Carlo Marochetti, statue of the Duke of Wellington, 1844, Royal Exchange Flags,
Queen Street, Glasgow. Conway Library, The Courtauld Institute of Art, London.
40 Antoine Claudet, daguerreotype of Wellington (1844). © Stratfield Saye Preservation
Trust.
41 Robert Thorburn, Wellington and His Grandchildren (1852). © Stratfield Saye
Preservation Trust.
42 Wellington’s funeral procession on Pall Mall, from a supplement to the Illustrated
London News (11 December 1852).
43 Unknown artist, after Charles Robert Leslie, portrait of Wellington walking away
(c. 1848), from Correspondence of Lady Burghersh with the Duke of Wellington (1903).
Maps
1 The Waterloo campaign: the situation before operations began with p. 39
troops still dispersed in cantonments.
2 The Waterloo campaign: the early afternoon of 16 June 1815. p. 44
3 The early stages of the battle of Quatre Bras, mid-afternoon, 16 June 1815. p. 48
4 The battle of Waterloo: deployment of the armies before the battle began. p. 59
1 In 1817 Wellington commissioned this portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence as a gift for Marianne
Patterson. It was little known for many years, but in the twentieth century it became the most
familiar image of Wellington in his prime.