Sir Arthur Wellesley

OOC Info
Username/Nickname: Latin_cat
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Character Info:
Canon/Original: Historical
First Name(s): Arthur
Surname: Wellesley
Nicknames: Nosey, The Beau (post-Talavera ‘The Peer’), Old Hookey
Age: 40
Sex: Male
Place of Birth: 24 Merrion Street, Dublin, Ireland
Occupation: General Officer in His Britannic Majesty’s Army
Family: Parents were Garret Wesley, the Earl of Mornington, and Lady Anne Hill. He has four brothers, two of which older than him, and one sister, Anne. He married the Hon. Catherine Pakenham on the 10th April 1806, and so far she has borne him two sons; Arthur Richard and Charles. Both were two and one years old respectively when he left for the Peninsula.
Description: 5’9” in height, with short, close-cropped tawny hair, a prominent Roman nose and piercing blue eyes. His build is described as slender and athletic. Unlike most officers he prefers a plain blue or grey coat and ordinary black cocked hat for everyday wear, rather than the red uniform coat of a general.

Strengths and Weaknesses:

Strengths
- He is an experienced and intelligent field officer; careful with the lives of his men, yet quick to take advantage of the least opportunity afforded him. It is this strength of character that has made the men he leads come to believe that he will win them the war, and not throw their lives away needlessly in the process.
- Unlike many other men occupying such an exalted rank as he, he believes very firmly in having ‘the right man for the job’, and is actively encouraging a new generation of “professional soldiers” to come up from the younger officers.
- He does not pander to influence or authority. He will always do what he thinks is right.

Weaknesses:
- Whilst possessed of a large amount of patience and reserve in most cases, he is sometimes quick to anger and does not suffer fools gladly. His temper already is legendary throughout the Peninsula army.
- He is something of a control-freak. In the campaigns of his youth it was often the dereliction of senior officers that let to the army’s failure, and so he believes that everything must be organized and given his attention; unfortunately this means he is constantly overworked, and also can lead him to be stingingly critical of any officers that seize the initiative when it goes against his direct orders – even if the outcome is for the best.
- He can at times seem somewhat cold and detached, which others find intimidating and has lead to some of his officers and his wife becoming afraid of him.

Background: Born on 1st May 1769, Arthur Wellesley is the third of five sons born to Garret Wesley, Earl of Mornington, and his wife Anne. Largely ignored and dismissed as a child as the ‘dullard of the family’, Wellesley’s youth was largely spent dreaming with him showing no particular talent for academia or anything else save music, and there were perhaps hopes of his studying as a musician. His father died, however, when he was thirteen, leaving his widow and children nothing but debts and ending any possibility of a musical career. Now head of the family his eldest brother, Richard, sent him to Eton for further schooling, but when he failed to make any improvement in his academic studies it was decided that he should be withdrawn and be set up as a soldier, the army at that point being the last resort career-wise for the sons of gentry, as he was considered “food for powder and nothing more!” He entered the Academy of Equitation in Angers, France, where over the next year he learnt swordsmanship, riding, French and a little military theory.

Returning to Britain he was for a short time an ensign in the 73rd Highland Regiment before being found a place on the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland’s staff at Dublin Castle. Here he remained, gambling, whoring and drinking until he managed to purchase a lieutenant-colonelcy in 33rd Regiment of Foot, which he commanded on the Duke of York’s failed campaign in Flanders against the new French Republic. It was on this campaign that he saw the squalor inflicted on the men by the harsh elements and the corruption of the army system, and he learnt ‘what not to do’ when leading troops.

Back from Flanders he went to India where under the service of his brother Richard as Governor-General he was promoted to Major-General and appointed Governor of Mysore after the successful siege of Seringapatam. He won famous victories, namely the Battle of Assaye, and was knighted for his services. He left India in 1804, having secured British interests on the subcontinent and made himself a tidy fortune. In April 1806 he married his old Dublin sweetheart, Kitty Pakenham, and had two sons with her. The marriage, however, does not prove to be a happy one and domestic unrest made Sir Arthur all too eager to receive another foreign posting.

He played a supporting role in the Copenhagen campaign of 1807, then won two great victories over the French in Portugal at the battles of Roliça and Vimeiro in 1808, but was hampered by ineffectual superiors and made to sign the Convention of Cintra; a humiliating document which repatriated the defeated French army in British warships, complete with all the plunder of Lisbon. Sir Arthur was summoned, along with his two superiors, to face an inquiry over the Convention, and now having been cleared of all charges is eager to continue the Iberian campaign where he left off – this time as Commander-in-Chief of the British and Portuguese forces, and with no incompetent superior officers to halt his progress.

Anything Else:
– He suffers from mild arachnophobia.
- He is very fond of his horses, and his favourite at present is a bad-tempered stallion by the name of Hercules.
- He has a small watercolour of his infant sons pasted to the inside lid of his dressing case.
- He is very particular about his personal hygiene and appearance, and will shave if possible twice a day.
- His orderly is a gruff veteran German cavalry trooper named Beckerman. He keeps a cook by the name of Thornton.
- Unusually he is not that fond of French cooking and prefers simpler food. His favourite dish is mutton, followed at a close second by lamb.
- He does not on the whole like dogs, but will make an exception for terriers.

Writing Sample/Past Roleplay: N/A
Code: Staff edit

Accepted.