The Duke of Wellington

The Duke of Wellington in Assaye in India

By Charles Hilbert

Years after he had saved the world from the ambitions of Napoleon, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, was asked by his friend, George William Chad, to recall the “best thing” he had ever done as a soldier. Read more

Wellington’s artillery commander at Waterloo said that without Henry Shrapnel’s devastating new shell, Allied forces could not have taken a key position on the battlefield.

The Duke of Wellington

Henry Shrapnel & The Battle of Waterloo

by Robert Whiter

“And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air …”

That, as most people know, is a line from the American national anthem, words by Francis Scott Key, to the tune of Anacreon in Heaven by John Stafford Smith. Read more

Mockern-1813.

The Duke of Wellington

Napoleon’s Last Victory

By Arnold Blumberg

At 2:30 am on June 15, 1815, tens of thousands of French soldiers around the town of Beaumont, France, were roused from their bivouacs. Read more

The Duke of Wellington

Masterstroke at the Battle of Salamanca

By Mike Phifer

Marshal Auguste Marmont watched intently as the left wing of his French army maneuvered against the Anglo-Portuguese army during the Battle of Salamanca at mid-afternoon on July 22, 1812. Read more

The Duke of Wellington

Napoleon Bonaparte’s Failing Health at Dresden

By Eric Niderost

Napoleon had occasional health problems before 1810. He seems to have experienced seizures one or two times, episodes that resembled epilepsy, although most medical historians feel that he did not have the disease—at least not a classic version of it. Read more

The Prussian Army's Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher made some critical decisions on the field at the Battle of Waterloo.

The Duke of Wellington

The Prussian Army at the Battle of Waterloo

by Michael Haskew

Two centuries after his catastrophic defeat, historians may well point to Napoleon Bonaparte’s supreme self-confidence as his worst enemy at the Battle of Waterloo, fought June 18, 1815. Read more