Duke of Wellington

The Duke of Wellington (1769–1852), Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, was a British soldier and statesman whose victory at Waterloo in 1815 ended the Napoleonic Wars and who later served twice as Prime Minister. Born in Dublin to an Anglo-Irish family, he made his name as a commander in India, notably at Assaye in 1803. The turning point came in 1808, when he took command of British forces in Portugal; over six years in the Peninsular War he drove the French from Portugal and Spain through careful planning and attention to supply. On June 18, 1815, with the Prussian army under Blücher, he defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. As prime minister from 1828 to 1830 he oversaw passage of the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829. Known as "the Iron Duke," he received a state funeral and was buried in St Paul's Cathedral.