The 1st Division is an infantry division of the British Army that has been formed and disestablished numerous times since 1809 and is still currently active as the 1st Division. Lieutenant-General Arthur Wellesley raised the division for service in the Peninsular War, which was part of the Coalition Wars of the Napoleonic Wars. The division was disestablished in 1814 but reformed the following year for service in the War of the Seventh Coalition. It then fought at the Battle of Waterloo, where it repulsed numerous attacks, including the final attack of the day that was launched by the French Imperial Guard. Following the battle, the division marched into France and became part of the Army of Occupation before being disbanded a few years later.
Depiction of the French sortie at the Battle of Bayonne, April 1814, by William Heath and Thomas Sutherland (click to enlarge).
A depiction of Hougomont, after the battle, J.B. Romberg (1820).
Richard Caton Woodville's depiction of the division's attack during the Battle of the Alma, although it includes inaccurate uniforms.
British wounded, probably following the Battle of the Modder River, lying in a makeshift field dressing station.
Lines of Torres Vedras
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The Lines of Torres Vedras were lines of forts and other military defences built in secrecy to defend Lisbon during the Peninsular War. Named after the nearby town of Torres Vedras, they were ordered by Arthur Wellesley, Viscount Wellington, constructed by Colonel Richard Fletcher and his Portuguese workers between November 1809 and September 1810, and used to stop Marshal Masséna's 1810 offensive. The Lines were declared a National Heritage by the Portuguese Government in March 2019.
Dry moat at the Fort of Zambujal
Remains of a redoubt at the lines of Torres Vedras.
The Fort of Subserra. No 114 of the forts in the Lines. Also known as the Fort of Alhandra
Duke of Wellington's Headquarters at Pero Negro