Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
34 quotes
Biography
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington was a British Army officer and statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures in Britain during the early 19th century, twice serving as Prime Minister. He was one of the British commanders who ended the Anglo-Mysore wars by defeating Tipu Sultan in 1799, and among those who ended the Napoleonic Wars in a Coalition victory when the Seventh Coalition defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
"I have seen their backs before, madam."
"I believe I forgot to tell you I was made a Duke."
"Napoleon has humbugged me, by God; he has gained twenty-four hours' march on me."
"Up, Guards, and at them again."
"Hard pounding this, gentlemen; let's see who will pound longest."
"Give me night or give me Blücher."
"My heart is broken by the terrible loss I have sustained in my old friends and companions and my poor soldiers. Believe me, nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won: the bravery of my troops hitherto saved me from the greater evil; but to win such a battle as this of Waterloo, at the expense of so many gallant friends, could only be termed a heavy misfortune but for the result to the public."
"It has been a damned serious business... Blucher and I have lost 30,000 men. It has been a damned nice thing — the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life. … By God! I don't think it would have been done if I had not been there."
"They came on in the same old way, and we sent them back in the same old way."
"The history of a battle, is not unlike the history of a ball. Some individuals may recollect all the little events of which the great result is the battle won or lost, but no individual can recollect the order in which, or the exact moment at which, they occurred, which makes all the difference as to their value or importance."
"Just to show you how little reliance can be placed even on what are supposed the best accounts of a battle, I mention that there are some circumstances mentioned in General —'s account which did not occur as he relates them. It is impossible to say when each important occurrence took place, or in what order."
"Publish and be damned."
"I never saw so many shocking bad hats in my life."
"All the business of war, and indeed all the business of life, is to endeavour to find out what you don't know by what you do; that's what I called "guessing what was at the other side of the hill.""
"The French system of conscription brings together a fair sample of all classes; ours is composed of the scum of the earth — the mere scum of the earth. It is only wonderful that we should be able to make so much out of them afterwards."
"My rule always was to do the business of the day in the day."
"Circumstances over which I have no control."
"They wanted this iron fist to command them."
"Pour la canaille: Faut la mitraille."
"Mistaken for me, is he? That's strange, for no one ever mistakes me for Mr. Jones."
"If you believe that you will believe anything."
"You must build your House of Parliament on the river: so... that the populace cannot exact their demands by sitting down round you."
"I have no small talk and Peel has no manners."
"We always have been, we are, and I hope that we always shall be, detested in France."
"I should have given more praise."