Interesting Facts about the Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley

arthur wesley the first duke of wellington was born on may 1 1769 in dublin ireland he was commander of the british army during the napoleonic wars and later prime minister of great britain between 1828 and 1830 he first rose to military prominence in india and later had success in spain at the battle of waterloo he defeated napoleon and would cement his fame and reputation as one of the best generals of his time now with that being said here are 15 interesting facts about arthur wesley fact number one he had a strained relationship with his mother his mother would often call him her poor ugly boy arthur and once said that he was food for powder and nothing more fact number two when he was young he was obsessed with gambling his friends would say that he would bet on anything and he once bet 150 guineas that he could go from one street to another in under an hour fact number three once while visiting a brothel he got into a fight with another customer he would grab the man's stick and beat him with it fact number four he thought his wife was ugly and boring when he first met catherine packingham and made it known that he was interested in marriage he was rebuffed by her father and brother because he lacked a good reputation eight years later after he returned from india and had made a name for himself she reached out and soon he proposed to mary though he was warned by his friends that she looked very different from her youth he claimed that he was in love with her mind and that had not changed after finally seeing her he showed no enthusiasm and whispered to his brother that she had grown ugly fact number five he would order the execution of soldiers that were caught looting the duke desperately wanting to instill discipline would order severe punishments to any soldiers that plundered towns that had already surrendered fact number six he had a dim view of his soldiers he would often refer to them as the scum of the earth and would say that the only reason they even joined the army was to get drunk and plunder fact number seven he predicted that he would fight napoleon at waterloo after being informed that napoleon had defeated the prussians he asked for a map and went inside a drawing room he would point to the location of waterloo and say that he must fight him there fact number eight during the battle of waterloo he was shot at by his own troops after losing their nerve and running away the duke rode up on his horse and tried to rally them a few of them turned around and opened fire however he would ignore the shots and pretend like nothing ever happened fact number nine there were many assassination plots against him while in the french city of cambray two journalists hid themselves in a park one night waiting for him to walk home however the duke on this night would take a different path and would not encounter the assassins another time in paris he was shot at while in his carriage a man was later arrested but acquitted since there were no witnesses fact number 10 he was very generous with his money he would often intentionally overpay for paintings and when strangers would write to him for money he would send them some fact number 11 he was not an affectionate parent when his sons would write letters to him he would simply respond correcting their grammar and spelling without actually replying to the letters in retirement he said that if he was ever in command of an army again he would have to disgrace them both since they were so inefficient and useless he could employ neither fact number 12 he accidentally shot multiple people on hunting trips he once shot lord granville in the face and even shot an old woman who was next to an open window sometimes he would accidentally hit dogs as well fact number 13 he had lost all of his back teeth this caused his mouth to change form and he would develop a sunken look not noticeable in portraits fact number 14 he was deaf in his left ear after testing artillery an explosion happened a little too close to where he was standing and he would suffer from pain and ringing in his left ear fact number 15 when he was 77 a 32 year old woman proposed to him this woman angela burdette coates was the granddaughter of a friend and the duke would decline because of his age and those are 15 interesting facts about arthur wesley if you enjoyed the video be sure to like and subscribe and we'll see you all next time

Channel: History Unsealed

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Keywords: Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, Napoleon, Battle of Waterloo, Waterloo, Iron Duke, HMS Victory, Great Britain, United Kingdom, England, British History, History, UK History, History Facts, Interesting, War, Napoleonic War, Napoleon Campaign, Coalition, Fun Facts, Interesting Facts, Biography, Bio, War Biographies, London, King George III, King George IV, Prime Minister, biography, documentary, duke of wellington biography, duke of wellington documentary, 7th coalition

Id: xG7OhpDggUo

Length: 4min 10sec (250 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 06 2020