1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
2.
Triumphal arch
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A triumphal arch is a monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road. The main structure is decorated with carvings, sculpted reliefs. More elaborate triumphal arches may have multiple archways, Triumphal arches are one of the most influential and distinctive types of architecture associated with ancient Rome. The survival of great Roman triumphal arches such as the Arch of Titus inspired many states and rulers, up to the present day. Triumphal arch is also the given to the arch above the entrance to the chancel of a medieval church where a rood can be placed. The origins of the Roman triumphal arch are unclear, Triumphal arch look similar to Mesopotamian Arch entrances like the Ishtar Gate but there is no evidence to support that the Romans got their influence from there. The development of the arch is often associated with ancient Roman architecture. To fully understand this development however it is important to understand the importance of basic arches in Roman civilization, the Romans had learned how to construct effective arches from the Etruscans, who lived in central Italy. This knowledge had a impact on the architecture of Roman civilization. As a result, the Romans used arches for things such as aqueducts, amphitheaters, bridges and they had effectively used the arch in various aspects of their civilization and city structure. Since the Romans had effectively perfected this architectural structure, one could conclude that the arch symbolized perfection, monumental gateways had already been in use for hundreds of years by civilizations such as the Hittites, Assyrians, Babylonians and Myceneans. There were precursors to the arch within the Roman world, in Italy. Surviving examples of Etruscan arches can still be seen at Perugia, the two key elements of the triumphal arch – a round-topped arch and a square entablature – had long been in use as separate architectural elements in ancient Greece. Entablatures were a part of the structural fabric of such buildings. The great innovation of the Romans was to combine a round arch, the first recorded Roman triumphal arches were set up in the time of the Roman Republic. Generals who were granted a triumph were termed triumphators and would erect fornices or honorific arches bearing statues to commemorate their victories, a number of fornices were built in Rome during the Republican era. Lucius Steritinus erected two in 196 BC to commemorate his victories in Hispania, another fornix was built on the Capitoline Hill by Scipio Africanus in 190 BC, and Quintus Fabius Maximus Allobrogicus constructed one in the Roman Forum in 121 BC. None of them today and little is known about their appearance
3.
Hyde Park Corner
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Hyde Park Corner is an area of London, located around a major road junction at the southeastern corner of Hyde Park. Six streets converge at the junction, Park Lane, Piccadilly, Constitution Hill, Grosvenor Place, Grosvenor Crescent, Hyde Park Corner tube station, a London Underground station served by the Piccadilly line, is located at the junction, as are a number of notable monuments. Immediately to the north of the junction is Apsley House, the home of the first Duke of Wellington, several monuments to the Duke were erected in the vicinity, both in his lifetime and subsequently. In the mid-nineteenth century, the space that is now the Hyde Park Corner traffic island was not entirely surrounded by roadway, in its centre stands the Wellington Arch, designed by Decimus Burton and planned as a northern gate to the grounds of Buckingham Palace. In execution it was out as a gate into the Green Park, and was originally sited directly opposite Burtons Ionic Screen. Originally, the Arch was topped with a statue of the Duke by Matthew Cotes Wyatt. The Arch was moved south because of congestion, and realigned to the axis of Constitution Hill in 1883. The boundary of Buckingham Palaces garden was moved south, and a new road named Duke of Wellington Place was created, at this time, the large equestrian statue was removed to Aldershot. It was subsequently replaced with work, entitled The Angel of Peace descending on the Quadriga of Victory, dated 1912, by the sculptor Adrian Jones. Following the passage of the Park Lane Improvement Act 1958, Park Lane was widened in the early 1960s and this left Apsley House on an island site. The InterContinental London hotel was built on the cleared site between the new route of Park Lane and Hamilton Place. At part of the scheme, a tunnel was constructed beneath the junction to allow traffic to flow freely between Knightsbridge and Piccadilly. As a result, the area around the Arch became a traffic island, mostly laid to grass, and accessible only by pedestrian underpassess. Subsequent changes to the layout in the 1990s reinstated a route between Hyde Park and the Green Park for pedestrians, cyclists and horseriders using surface-level crossings. The term is often used for Speakers Corner, which is located at the north-eastern corner of Hyde Park. The 1935 film Hyde Park Corner takes its name from the area, Hyde Park Corner was used as a codeword to announce to the government the death of King George VI in 1952
4.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
5.
Hyde Park, London
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Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in London and one of its Royal Parks. The park is divided by the Serpentine and the Long Water, the park is contiguous with Kensington Gardens, which are often assumed to be part of Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens has been separate since 1728, when Queen Caroline divided them. To the southeast, outside the park, is Hyde Park Corner, during daylight, the two parks merge seamlessly into each other, but Kensington Gardens closes at dusk, and Hyde Park remains open throughout the year from 5 a. m. until midnight. The Great Exhibition of 1851 was held in the park, for which the Crystal Palace, the park became a traditional location for mass demonstrations. The Chartists, the Reform League, the suffragettes, and the Stop the War Coalition have all held protests there, many protesters on the Liberty and Livelihood March in 2002 started their march from Hyde Park. Hyde Park is also a ward of the City of Westminster, the population of the ward at the 2011 Census was 12,462. Hyde Park was created for hunting by Henry Vlll in 1536, Charles I created the Ring, and in 1637 he opened the park to the general public. In 1652, during the Interregnum, Parliament ordered the then 620-acre park to be sold for ready money and it realised £17,000 with an additional £765 6s 2d for the resident deer. In 1689, when William III moved his residence to Kensington Palace on the far side of Hyde Park, public transport entering London from the west runs parallel to the Kings private road along Kensington Gore, just outside the park. In the late 1800s, the row was used by the wealthy for horseback rides, the first coherent landscaping was undertaken by Charles Bridgeman for Queen Caroline, under the supervision of Charles Withers, the Surveyor-General of Woods and Forests, who took some credit. It was completed in 1733 at a cost to the public purse of £20,000, the 2nd Viscount Weymouth was made Ranger of Hyde Park in 1739 and shortly after began digging the Serpentine lakes at Longleat. The Serpentine is divided from the Long Water by a bridge designed by George Rennie, one of the most important events to take place in the park was the Great Exhibition of 1851. The Crystal Palace was constructed on the side of the park. The public did not want the building to remain after the closure of the exhibition and he had it moved to Sydenham Hill in South London. At the age of twenty-five, Decimus Burton was commissioned by the Office of Woods and he laid out the paths and driveways and designed a series of lodges, the Screen/Gate at Hyde Park Corner and the Wellington Arch. The Screen and the Arch originally formed a single composition, designed to provide a transition between Hyde Park and Green Park, although the arch was later moved. An early description reports, It consists of a screen of handsome fluted Ionic columns, the extent of the whole frontage is about 107 ft. The two side gateways, in their elevations, present two insulated Ionic columns, flanked by antae, all these entrances are finished by a blocking, the sides of the central one being decorated with a beautiful frieze, representing a naval and military triumphal procession
6.
Green Park
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The Green Park, usually known without the article simply as Green Park, is one of the Royal Parks of London. It is located in the City of Westminster, central London, Green Park covers 19 hectares between Hyde Park and St. Jamess Park. The park consists almost entirely of mature trees rising out of turf, the park is bounded on the south by Constitution Hill, on the east by the pedestrian Queens Walk, and on the north by Piccadilly. It meets St. Jamess Park at Queens Gardens with the Victoria Memorial at its centre, to the south is the ceremonial avenue of the Mall, and the buildings of St Jamess Palace and Clarence House overlook the park to the east. Green Park tube station is an interchange located on Piccadilly, Victoria. Tyburn stream runs beneath Green Park, the park is said to have originally been swampy burial ground for lepers from the nearby hospital at St Jamess. It was first enclosed in 16th century when it formed part of the estate of Poulteney family and he laid out the parks main walks and built an icehouse there to supply him with ice for cooling drinks in summer. The Queens Walk was laid out for George IIs queen Caroline, it led to the reservoir that held drinking water for St Jamess Palace, called the Queens Basin. The park was known as a duelling ground, one particularly notorious duel took place there in 1730 between William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath and John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol. In 1820, John Nash landscaped the park, as an adjunct to St. Jamess Park, on 10 June 1840, it was the scene of Edward Oxfords assassination attempt on Queen Victoria, on Constitution Hill. The Royal Parks website, The Green Park Virtual journey into Green Park
7.
Decimus Burton
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Decimus Burton FRS FRSA FSA FRIBA was one of the foremost English architects of the 19th century. He was an exponent of the Greek revival, Georgian. He also worked on Buckingham Palace, where he was responsible for the removal of Nashs Marble Arch facing the building to its present site and his siblings included James Burton and Henry Burton. Decimus was the 10th child of the property developer James Burton and Elizabeth Westley, of Loughton, Essex, daughter of John and Mary Westley. On his fathers side, his grandparents were Rev. James Haliburton and Margaret Eliott, daughter of Sir William Eliott, 2nd Baronet and aunt of George Augustus Eliott. Decimus was descended from John Haliburton, from whom Sir Walter Scott and he was a cousin of the American judge and author Thomas Chandler Haliburton and thence of the lawyer and anthropologist Robert Grant Haliburton and Arthur Lawrence Haliburton, 1st Baron Haliburton. Decimus spent his years in his father’s mansion, Mabledon House, in Kent. Decimus left Tonbridge School in 1816, due to his fathers social standing, he was able to enter the Royal Academy Schools directly, in 1817, without having been articled to an architect. Here he was taught by Sir John Soane, for whom his brother, Decimus then trained with his father, during which time he receive drawing lessons from George Maddox. Decimus was exceptionally learned, as the diversity of his library, part of which was auctioned by his nieces, the sale catalogue listed 347 separate lots, some of which ran into many volumes. L. L. Buffon and Bernard Germain de Lacépède, alongside these, topographical views and surveys of cities and counties pepper the collection. There were also some texts, including volumes by Charles Percier and Jean-Baptiste Rondelet, a complete set of Giovanni Battista Piranesis works. This goes some way towards explaining the formal character of his architecture. Decimus was an exponent of the Greek revival style of architecture, although, uniquely. In his later career, he designed buildings in the Gothic revival style, the ‘old English’ style. Decimus was one of the first architects to consider the implications of architecture on the creation of urban environments in which they featured. Evidence given by Burton to two parliamentary select committees shows the diversity of his experience and, by virtue of his being asked, the esteem in which his opinion was held by contemporaries. Burtons evidence to the committee of the House of Commons
8.
Thomas H. Shepherd
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Thomas Hosmer Shepherd was a topographical watercolour artist well known for his architectural paintings. Thomas was the brother of topographical artist George Sidney Shepherd, Thomas was employed to illustrate architecture in London and his paintings were the basis for steel engravings in many books. Shepherds work, mostly topographical, is characterized by an attention to detail, along with scenes that contained people. His first acclaim came with Metropolitan improvements, a publication of modern London architecture commissioned by Jones & Co, Metropolitan improvements, London in the nineteenth century. John Britton & T. H. Shepherd, modern Athens displayed in a series of views or Edinburgh in the 19th century. London and its Environs in the Nineteenth Century, john Britton & T. H. Shepherd. Bath and Bristol, with the counties of Somerset and Gloucester, displayed in a series of views, including the improvements, picturesque scenery, antiquities. London Interiors T H Shepherd on Artnet Paintings by T H Shepherd Views by T H Shepherd Works by T H Shepherd London Views - Thomas H, Shepherd View of the Bank of England London Docks, looking west
9.
Marble Arch
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Marble Arch is a 19th-century white marble faced triumphal arch and London landmark. Historically, only members of the Royal Family and the Kings Troop, Royal Horse Artillery are permitted to pass through the arch, the arch gives its name to the area surrounding it, particularly the southern portion of Edgware Road and also to the underground station. Nashs three arch design is based on that of the Arch of Constantine in Rome and the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel in Paris, the triumphal arch is faced with Carrara marble with embellishments of marble extracted from quarries near Seravezza. John Flaxman was chosen to make the commemorative sculpture, after his death in 1826 the commission was divided between Sir Richard Westmacott, Edward Hodges Baily and J. C. F. In 1829, an equestrian statue of George IV was commissioned from Sir Francis Chantrey. Work restarted in 1832, this time under the supervision of Edward Blore, the arch was completed in 1833. Some of the sculpture, including parts of Westmacotts frieze of Waterloo. His victory statues and Rossis relief of Europe and Asia were used at the National Gallery, in 1843 the equestrian statue of George IV was installed on one of the pedestals in Trafalgar Square. The white marble soon lost its light colouring in the polluted London atmosphere, in 1847, Sharpes London Magazine described it as discoloured by smoke and damp, and in appearance resembling a huge sugar erection in a confectioners shop window. Buckingham Palace remained unoccupied, and for the most part unfinished, within a few years the palace was found to be too small for the large court and the Queens expanding family. The solution was to enlarge the palace by enclosing the cour dhonneur with a new east range and this façade is today the principal front and public face of the palace and shields the inner façades containing friezes and marbles matching and complementing those of the arch. When building work began in 1847, the arch was dismantled, the reconstruction was completed in March 1851. Three small rooms inside the arch were used as a police station from 1851 until at least 1968. It firstly housed the constables of the Park and later the Metropolitan Police. One policeman stationed there during the early 1860s was Samuel Parkes, in 2005 it was speculated that the arch might be moved across the street to Hyde Park, or to a more accessible location than its current position on a large traffic island. Park Lane was widened as part of the Park Lane Improvement Scheme of the London County Council, as part of the scheme gardens were laid out around the arch on the traffic island. The works took place between 1960 and 1964, having a tube station means it gives rise to a colloquial, entirely modern London area, with no parishes or established institutions bearing its name. This generally equates to parts in view of the arch of Mayfair, Marylebone and often all of St Georges Fields, Marylebone all in the City of Westminster, London, the eponymous London Underground station is Marble Arch on the Central line
10.
Buckingham Palace
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Buckingham Palace is the London residence and administrative headquarters of the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and it has been a focal point for the British people at times of national rejoicing and mourning. It was acquired by King George III in 1761 as a residence for Queen Charlotte. During the 19th century it was enlarged, principally by architects John Nash and Edward Blore, Buckingham Palace became the London residence of the British monarch on the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837. The palace chapel was destroyed by a German bomb during World War II, the original early 19th-century interior designs, many of which survive, include widespread use of brightly coloured scagliola and blue and pink lapis, on the advice of Sir Charles Long. King Edward VII oversaw a partial redecoration in a Belle Époque cream, many smaller reception rooms are furnished in the Chinese regency style with furniture and fittings brought from the Royal Pavilion at Brighton and from Carlton House. The palace has 775 rooms, and the garden is the largest private garden in London, the state rooms, used for official and state entertaining, are open to the public each year for most of August and September and on some days in winter and spring. In the Middle Ages, the site of the palace formed part of the Manor of Ebury. The marshy ground was watered by the river Tyburn, which flows below the courtyard. Where the river was fordable, the village of Eye Cross grew, ownership of the site changed hands many times, owners included Edward the Confessor and his queen consort Edith of Wessex in late Saxon times, and, after the Norman Conquest, William the Conqueror. William gave the site to Geoffrey de Mandeville, who bequeathed it to the monks of Westminster Abbey, in 1531, King Henry VIII acquired the Hospital of St James from Eton College, and in 1536 he took the Manor of Ebury from Westminster Abbey. These transfers brought the site of Buckingham Palace back into royal hands for the first time since William the Conqueror had given it away almost 500 years earlier, various owners leased it from royal landlords and the freehold was the subject of frenzied speculation during the 17th century. By then, the old village of Eye Cross had long fallen into decay. Needing money, James I sold off part of the Crown freehold, clement Walker in Anarchia Anglicana refers to new-erected sodoms and spintries at the Mulberry Garden at S. Jamess, this suggests it may have been a place of debauchery. Eventually, in the late 17th century, the freehold was inherited from the property tycoon Sir Hugh Audley by the great heiress Mary Davies, possibly the first house erected within the site was that of a Sir William Blake, around 1624. The next owner was Lord Goring, who from 1633 extended Blakes house and he did not, however, obtain the freehold interest in the mulberry garden. Unbeknown to Goring, in 1640 the document failed to pass the Great Seal before King Charles I fled London and it was this critical omission that helped the British royal family regain the freehold under King George III. The improvident Goring defaulted on his rents, Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington obtained the mansion and was occupying it, now known as Goring House, Arlington House rose on the site—the location of the southern wing of todays palace—the next year
11.
George IV of the United Kingdom
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George IV was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover following the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten years later. From 1811 until his accession, he served as Prince Regent during his fathers mental illness. George IV led an extravagant lifestyle that contributed to the fashions of the Regency era and he was a patron of new forms of leisure, style and taste. He commissioned John Nash to build the Royal Pavilion in Brighton and remodel Buckingham Palace and he even forbade Caroline to attend his coronation and asked the government to introduce the unpopular Pains and Penalties Bill in a desperate, unsuccessful attempt to divorce her. For most of Georges regency and reign, Lord Liverpool controlled the government as Prime Minister and his ministers found his behaviour selfish, unreliable and irresponsible. At all times he was much under the influence of favourites, taxpayers were angry at his wasteful spending at a time when Britons were fighting in the Napoleonic Wars. He did not provide leadership in time of crisis, nor act as a role model for his people. Liverpools government presided over Britains ultimate victory, negotiated the peace settlement, after Liverpools retirement, George was forced to accept Catholic emancipation despite opposing it. His only child, Princess Charlotte, died before him in 1817 and so he was succeeded by his younger brother, George was born at St Jamess Palace, London, on 12 August 1762, the first child of King George III of the United Kingdom and Queen Charlotte. As the eldest son of a British sovereign, he automatically became Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay at birth, he was created Prince of Wales, on 18 September of the same year, he was baptised by Thomas Secker, Archbishop of Canterbury. His godparents were the Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the Duke of Cumberland, George was a talented student, and quickly learned to speak French, German and Italian, in addition to his native English. He was a witty conversationalist, drunk or sober, and showed good, the Prince of Wales turned 21 in 1783, and obtained a grant of £60,000 from Parliament and an annual income of £50,000 from his father. It was far too little for his needs – the stables alone cost £31,000 a year and he then established his residence in Carlton House, where he lived a profligate life. Animosity developed between the prince and his father, who desired more frugal behaviour on the part of the heir apparent, the King, a political conservative, was also alienated by the princes adherence to Charles James Fox and other radically inclined politicians. Soon after he reached the age of 21, the prince became infatuated with Maria Fitzherbert and she was a commoner, six years his elder, twice widowed, and a Roman Catholic. Despite her complete unsuitability, the prince was determined to marry her, nevertheless, the couple went through a marriage ceremony on 15 December 1785 at her house in Park Street, Mayfair. Legally the union was void, as the Kings consent was not granted, however, Fitzherbert believed that she was the princes canonical and true wife, holding the law of the Church to be superior to the law of the State. For political reasons, the union remained secret and Fitzherbert promised not to reveal it, the prince was plunged into debt by his exorbitant lifestyle
12.
Napoleonic Wars
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The wars resulted from the unresolved disputes associated with the French Revolution and the Revolutionary Wars, which had raged on for years before concluding with the Treaty of Amiens in 1802. Napoleon became the First Consul of France in 1799, then Emperor five years later, inheriting the political and military struggles of the Revolution, he created a state with stable finances, a strong central bureaucracy, and a well-trained army. The British frequently financed the European coalitions intended to thwart French ambitions, by 1805, they had managed to convince the Austrians and the Russians to wage another war against France. At sea, the Royal Navy destroyed a combined Franco-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar in October 1805, Prussian worries about increasing French power led to the formation of the Fourth Coalition in 1806. France then forced the defeated nations of the Fourth Coalition to sign the Treaties of Tilsit in July, although Tilsit signified the high watermark of the French Empire, it did not bring a lasting peace for Europe. Hoping to extend the Continental System and choke off British trade with the European mainland, Napoleon invaded Iberia, the Spanish and the Portuguese revolted with British support. The Peninsular War lasted six years, featured extensive guerrilla warfare, the Continental System caused recurring diplomatic conflicts between France and its client states, especially Russia. Unwilling to bear the consequences of reduced trade, the Russians routinely violated the Continental System. The French launched an invasion of Russia in the summer of 1812. The resulting campaign witnessed the collapse and retreat of the Grand Army along with the destruction of Russian lands. In 1813, Prussia and Austria joined Russian forces in a Sixth Coalition against France, a lengthy military campaign culminated in a large Allied army defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813. The Allies then invaded France and captured Paris in the spring of 1814 and he was exiled to the island of Elba near Rome and the Bourbons were restored to power. However, Napoleon escaped from Elba in February 1815 and took control of France once again, the Allies responded by forming a Seventh Coalition, which defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in June. The Congress of Vienna, which started in 1814 and concluded in 1815, established the new borders of Europe and laid out the terms, Napoleon seized power in 1799, creating a de facto military dictatorship. The Napoleonic Wars began with the War of the Third Coalition, Kagan argues that Britain was irritated in particular by Napoleons assertion of control over Switzerland. Furthermore, Britons felt insulted when Napoleon stated that their country deserved no voice in European affairs, for its part, Russia decided that the intervention in Switzerland indicated that Napoleon was not looking toward a peaceful resolution of his differences with the other European powers. The British quickly enforced a blockade of France to starve it of resources. Napoleon responded with economic embargoes against Britain, and sought to eliminate Britains Continental allies to break the coalitions arrayed against him, the so-called Continental System formed a league of armed neutrality to disrupt the blockade and enforce free trade with France
13.
Apsley House
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Apsley House, also known as Number One, London, is the London townhouse of the Dukes of Wellington. It stands alone at Hyde Park Corner, on the south-east corner of Hyde Park and it is a Grade I listed building. It is sometimes referred to as the Wellington Museum, the house is now run by English Heritage and is open to the public as a museum and art gallery, exhibiting 83 paintings from the Spanish royal collection. The 9th Duke of Wellington retains the use of part of the buildings and it is perhaps the only preserved example of an English aristocratic town house from its period. The practice has been to maintain the rooms as far as possible in the original style and it contains the 1st Dukes collection of paintings, porcelain, the silver centrepiece made for the Duke in Portugal, c. It was set up for a time in the Louvre and was bought by the Government for Wellington in 1816, Apsley House stands at the site of an old lodge that belonged to the crown. During the Interregnum newer buildings were erected between what is now Old Regent Street and Hyde Park Corner, in the 1600s after the Restoration they were leased by James Hamilton and renewed by Elizabeth his widow in 1692 on a 99-year lease. Immediately before Apsley House was built the site was occupied by a called the Hercules Pillars. The house was built in red brick by Robert Adam between 1771 and 1778 for Lord Apsley, the Lord Chancellor, who gave the house its name. Some Adam interiors survive, the semi-circular Staircase, the Drawing Room with its end. The house was given the nickname of Number One, London. It was originally part of a line of great houses on Piccadilly, demolished to widen Park Lane, its official address remains 149 Piccadilly. The second phase, started after Wellington had become Prime Minister in 1828, included a new staircase, the red-brick exterior was clad in Bath stone, and a pedimented portico added. Wyatts original estimate for the work was £23,000, the Waterloo Gallery is, of course, named after the Dukes famous victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. A special banquet is still served annually to celebrate the date –18 June 1815, the Dukes equestrian statue can be seen across the busy road, cloaked and watchful, the plinth guarded at each corner by an infantryman. This statue was cast from guns captured at the battle, the family apartments are now on the north side of the house, concentrated on the second floor. The notable collection of 200 paintings includes 83 paintings which were acquired by the first Duke after the Battle of Vitoria, in 1813, in nowadays Vitoria-Gasteiz. The paintings were in Joseph Bonapartes baggage train and were part of what was called the biggest loot in history, Lord Maryborough, brother of the duke, catalogued 165 of the finest paintings to have arrived to the duke of Wellingtons residence from Vitoria-Gasteiz
14.
Corinthian order
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The Corinthian order is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order which was the earliest, followed by the Ionic order, when classical architecture was revived during the Renaissance, two more orders were added to the canon, the Tuscan order and the Composite order. The Corinthian, with its offshoot the Composite, is the most ornate of the orders, characterized by slender fluted columns and elaborate capitals decorated with acanthus leaves and it was employed in southern Gaul at the Maison Carrée, Nîmes and at the comparable podium temple at Vienne. Other prime examples noted by Mark Wilson Jones are the order of the Basilica Ulpia and the arch at Ancona the column of Phocas. The Corinthian order is named for the Greek city-state of Corinth, however, according to the architectural historian Vitruvius, the column was created by the sculptor Callimachus, probably an Athenian, who drew acanthus leaves growing around a votive basket. Its earliest use can be traced back to the Late Classical Period, the earliest Corinthian capital was found in Bassae, dated at 427 BC. In its proportions, the Corinthian column is similar to the Ionic column, though it is more slender, the abacus upon the capital has concave sides to conform to the outscrolling corners of the capital, and it may have a rosette at the center of each side. Corinthian columns were erected on the top level of the Roman Colosseum, holding up the least weight and their height to width ratio is about 10,1. One variant is the Tivoli Order, found at the Temple of Vesta, the Tivoli Orders Corintinan Capital has two rows of Acanthus and its abacus is decorated with oversize fleuron in the form of hibiscus flowers with pronounced spiral pistils. The column flutes have flat tops, the frieze exhibits fruit swag suspended between bucrania. Above each swag is a rosette, the cornice does not have modillions. Indo-Corinthian capitals are capitals crowning columns or pilasters, which can be found in the northwestern Indian subcontinent and these capitals are typically dated to the 1st centuries of our era, and constitute important elements of Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara. The classical design was adapted, usually taking a more elongated form. Indo-Corinthian capitals also incorporated figures of the Buddha or Bodhisattvas, usually as central figures surrounded, the Corinthian architrave is divided in two or three sections, which may be equal, or they may bear interesting proportional relationships, one with another. Above the plain, unadorned architrave lies the frieze, which may be carved with a continuous design or left plain. At the Capitol the proportions of architrave to frieze are exactly 1,1, above that, the profiles of the cornice moldings are like those of the Ionic order. If the cornice is deep, it may be supported by brackets or modillions. The Corinthian column is almost always fluted, if it is not, it is often worth pausing to unravel the reason why
15.
Acroterion
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An acroterion or acroterium or akroteria is an architectural ornament placed on a flat base called the acroter or plinth, and mounted at the apex of the pediment of a building in the classical style. It may also be placed at the angles of the pediment. The acroterion may take a variety of forms, such as a statue, tripod, disc, urn. Acroteria are also found in Gothic architecture and they are sometimes incorporated into the design of furniture. The word comes from the Greek akrōtḗrion, from the form of the adjective akros. It was Latinized by the Romans as acroterium, acroteria is the plural of both the original Greek and the Latin form. According to Webb, during the Hellenistic period the winged victory or Nike figure was considered to be the most appropriate motif for figured akoteria, antefix Finial Palmette Ornament List of classical architecture terms Encyclopædia Britannica - Acroterion
16.
Quadriga
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A quadriga is a car or chariot drawn by four horses abreast. It was raced in the Ancient Olympic Games and other contests and it is represented in profile as the chariot of gods and heroes on Greek vases and in bas-relief. The quadriga was adopted in ancient Roman chariot racing, quadrigas were emblems of triumph, Victory and Fame often are depicted as the triumphant woman driving it. In classical mythology, the quadriga is the chariot of the gods, Apollo was depicted driving his quadriga across the heavens, delivering daylight, the word quadriga may refer to the chariot alone, the four horses without it, or the combination. Originally erected in the Hippodrome of Constantinople, possibly on a triumphal arch, venetian Crusaders looted these sculptures in the Fourth Crusade and placed them on the terrace of St Marks Basilica. In 1797, Napoleon carried the quadriga off to Paris, due to the effects of atmospheric pollution, the original quadriga was retired to a museum and replaced with a replica in the 1980s. Located atop the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, it was seized by Napoleon during his occupation of Berlin in 1806 and it was returned to Berlin by Field Marshal Gebhard von Blücher in 1814. Her olive wreath was subsequently supplemented with an Iron Cross, the iron cross was restored after German reunification in 1990. C.1815 - The Carrousel quadriga is situated atop the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel in Paris, the arch itself was built to commemorate the victories of Napoleon, but the quadriga was sculpted by Baron François Joseph Bosio to commemorate the Restoration of the Bourbons. The Restoration is represented by an allegorical goddess driving a quadriga, two winged Victory figures, each leading a horse, trumpet Columbias arrival. The sculptor was Frederick William MacMonnies and it was sculpted by Daniel Chester French and Edward Clark Potter. 1911-35 - The Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II in Rome, Italy features two statues of goddess Victoria riding on quadrigas,1912 - The Wellington Arch Quadriga is situated atop the Wellington Arch in London, England. It was designed by Adrian Jones, the sculpture shows a small boy leading the quadriga, with Peace descending upon it from heaven. 1919-23 - The former Banco di Bilbao headquarters at no.16 Calle de Alcalá in Madrid, now part of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, the building was designed by Ricardo Bastida, with the sculptor of the chariot Higinio Basterras, and other sculptures by Quentin de la Torre. The charioteers are helmeted men standing on the handrails of the chariots, height to plinth, about 87 feet. 2002 - The Grand Theatre, Warsaw features a quadriga reflecting the original Antonio Corazzis 1833 plans for the building, horses of Saint Mark in Venice, remnants of a quadriga of Constantinople taken by Enrico Dandolo. Trigarium Troika Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Quadriga, university of Chicago Quadriga Berlin. de, Brandenburger Tor, Pariser Platz, Quadriga
17.
Matthew Cotes Wyatt
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Matthew Cotes Wyatt was a painter and sculptor and a member of the Wyatt family, who were well known in the Victorian era as architects and sculptors. Wyatt was born in London, the son of James Wyatt and he was the brother of Benjamin Dean Wyatt, the architect. Wyatt was educated at Eton College and joined the Royal Academy Schools in 1800, on 29 December 1801 he married Maria McClellan, the widow of Edward McClellan, a sea captain. They had fours sons, Matthew, James, George, from 1800 to 1814 Wyatt exhibited portraits and historical subjects in oils at the Royal Academy. He was proposed for membership of the Academy in 1812. At about this time he taught himself modelling and carving, moving from painting to sculpture and his first public work was a memorial sculpture to Lord Nelson that was unveiled at Exchange Flags Square in Liverpool, in October 1813. Wyatt also sculpted the bronze equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington which originally stood on the top of the Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner. This was erected in 1846, but many thought the statue was too large for the arch and it was taken down and re-erected in Aldershot in 1885 and he also carved a marble table, complete with cloth, in the dining-room. In 1831 Lord Dudley commissioned Wyatt to sculpt his favourite hound Bashaw, Bashaw was taken to Wyatts studio in London around 50 times to sit for the sculptor. Lord Dudley donated Persian topaz and sardonyx from the jewel collection for the sculptures eyes. Wyatt died at his home, Dudley Grove House, Harrow Road, London, on 3 January 1862, Matthew, his eldest son, later became the standard-bearer of Queen Victorias Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms, and was knighted in 1848. James followed his fathers profession and designed the pediment of the Commercial Bank of Scotland in George Street, the other sons, George Wyatt and Henry Wyatt, were both architects and builders and were involved in the development of the Bishop of Londons estate in Paddington
18.
Tonne
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The SI symbol for the tonne is t, adopted at the same time as the unit itself in 1879. Its use is also official, for the metric ton, within the United States, having been adopted by the US National Institute of Standards and it is a symbol, not an abbreviation, and should not be followed by a period. Informal and non-approved symbols or abbreviations include T, mT, MT, in French and all English-speaking countries that are predominantly metric, tonne is the correct spelling. Before metrication in the UK the unit used for most purposes was the Imperial ton of 2,240 pounds avoirdupois, equivalent to 1,016 kg, differing by just 1. 6% from the tonne. Ton and tonne are both derived from a Germanic word in use in the North Sea area since the Middle Ages to designate a large cask. A full tun, standing about a high, could easily weigh a tonne. An English tun of wine weighs roughly a tonne,954 kg if full of water, in the United States, the unit was originally referred to using the French words millier or tonneau, but these terms are now obsolete. The Imperial and US customary units comparable to the tonne are both spelled ton in English, though they differ in mass, one tonne is equivalent to, Metric/SI,1 megagram. Equal to 1000000 grams or 1000 kilograms, megagram, Mg, is the official SI unit. Mg is distinct from mg, milligram, pounds, Exactly 1000/0. 453 592 37 lb, or approximately 2204.622622 lb. US/Short tons, Exactly 1/0. 907 184 74 short tons, or approximately 1.102311311 ST. One short ton is exactly 0.90718474 t, imperial/Long tons, Exactly 1/1. 016 046 9088 long tons, or approximately 0.9842065276 LT. One long ton is exactly 1.0160469088 t, for multiples of the tonne, it is more usual to speak of thousands or millions of tonnes. Kilotonne, megatonne, and gigatonne are more used for the energy of nuclear explosions and other events. When used in context, there is little need to distinguish between metric and other tons, and the unit is spelt either as ton or tonne with the relevant prefix attached. *The equivalent units columns use the short scale large-number naming system used in most English-language countries. †Values in the equivalent short and long tons columns are rounded to five significant figures, ǂThough non-standard, the symbol kt is also sometimes used for knot, a unit of speed for sea-going vessels, and should not be confused with kilotonne. A metric ton unit can mean 10 kilograms within metal trading and it traditionally referred to a metric ton of ore containing 1% of metal. In the case of uranium, the acronym MTU is sometimes considered to be metric ton of uranium, in the petroleum industry the tonne of oil equivalent is a unit of energy, the amount of energy released by burning one tonne of crude oil, approximately 42 GJ
19.
Equestrian statue
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An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin eques, meaning knight, deriving from equus, meaning horse. A statue of a horse is strictly an equine statue. A full-sized equestrian statue is a difficult and expensive object for any culture to produce, Equestrian statuary in the West goes back at least as far as Archaic Greece. Found on the Athenian acropolis, the sixth century BC statue known as the Rampin Rider depicts a kouros mounted on horseback, a number of ancient Egyptian, Assyrian and Persian reliefs show mounted figures, usually rulers, though no free standing statues are known. The Chinese Terracotta Army has no mounted riders, though cavalrymen stand beside their mounts, the Regisole was a bronze classical or Late Antique equestrian monument of a ruler, highly influential during the Italian Renaissance but destroyed in 1796 in the wake of the French Revolution. It was originally erected at Ravenna, but removed to Pavia in the Middle Ages, a fragment of an equestrian portrait sculpture of Augustus has also survived. Equestrian statues were not very frequent in the Middle ages, nevertheless, there are some examples, like the Bamberg Horseman, located in Bamberg Cathedral. Another example is the Magdeburg Reiter, in the city of Magdeburg, there are a few roughly half-size statues of Saint George and the Dragon, including the famous ones in Prague and Stockholm. The Scaliger Tombs in Verona include Gothic statues at less than lifesize, a well-known small bronze in Paris may be a contemporary portrait of Charlemagne, although its date and subject are uncertain. Leonardo da Vinci had planned an equestrian monument to the Milanese ruler. The The Wax Horse and Rider is a model for an equestrian statue of Charles dAmboise. Titians equestrian portrait of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor of 1548 applied the form again to a ruler, taccas studio would produce such models for the rulers in France and Spain. His last public commission was the equestrian bronze of Philip IV, begun in 1634. The near life-size equestrian statue of Charles I of England by Hubert Le Sueur of 1633 at Charing Cross in London is the earliest large English example, which was followed by many. The Bronze Horseman is an equestrian statue, on a huge base, of Peter the Great of 1782 by Étienne Maurice Falconet in Saint Petersburg. Mills was the first American sculptor to overcome the challenge of casting a rider on a rearing horse, the resulting sculpture was so popular he repeated it, for Washington, D. C. New Orleans, Louisiana and Nashville, Tennessee, cyrus Edwin Dallin made a specialty of equestrian sculptures of American Indians, his Appeal to the Great Spirit stands before the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The Robert Gould Shaw Monument in Boston, Massachusetts is a famous relief including an equestrian portrait, as the 20th century progressed, the popularity of the equestrian monument declined sharply, as monarchies fell, and the military use of horses virtually vanished
20.
Constitution Hill, London
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Constitution Hill is a road in the City of Westminster in London. It connects the end of The Mall with Hyde Park Corner. The term Hill is something of a misnomer, there is barely a detectable slope, an old lane on this route was enhanced in connection with the development of Buckingham Palace in the 1820s. It formed a route from the palace to Hyde Park. It is now closed to traffic on Sundays, the road obtained its name in the 17th century from King Charles IIs habit of taking constitutional walks there. In Strypes Map,1720, it is marked Road to Kensington, in John Smiths map of 1724, it is called Constitution Hill. It was the scene of three assassination attempts against Queen Victoria—in 1840,1842 and 1849. In 1850, the former Conservative Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel was thrown from his horse on Constitution Hill by the gate into Green Park, he suffered a fatal injury and died three days later. Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner was originally the culmination of the route, there is a recent war memorial to Commonwealth soldiers near the top of Constitution Hill, just before Hyde Park Corner, the memorial is known as the Memorial Gates. Large concrete lamp posts were installed in Constitution Hill in the 1960s, but thanks to the swift intervention of comedian and enthusiastic environmentalist Spike Milligan, they were removed within days and the old gas lamps are still there. There are other streets called Constitution Hill, for example in Birmingham, Commonwealth Gates War Memorial Images of Constitution Hill, London
21.
Aldershot
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Aldershot is a town in the English county of Hampshire, located on heathland about 37 mi southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council, the town has a population of 36,321, while the Farnborough/Aldershot Built-up Area, a loose conurbation has a population of 243,344, making it the thirtieth-largest urban area in the UK. Aldershot is known as the Home of the British Army, a connection led to its rapid growth from a small village to a Victorian town. Aldershot is twinned with Sulechów in Poland, Meudon in France, the name may have derived from alder trees found in the area. Aldershot was included as part of the Hundred of Crondall referred to in the Domesday Book of 1086, john Nordens map of Hampshire, published in the 1607 edition of William Camdens Britannia, indicates that Aldershot was a market town. Prior to 1850, Aldershott was little known, the area was a vast stretch of common land, a lonely wasteland unsuitable for most forms of agriculture with scant population. In the 18th century, the stretch of the London to Winchester turnpike that passed through Aldershot between Bagshot and Farnham was the scene of highway robberies, at one time it had almost as bad a reputation as Hounslow Heath. Dick Turpin is said to have operated in the area having his headquarters nearby in Farnborough, in 1854, at the time of the Crimean War, Aldershot Garrison was established as the first permanent training camp for the British Army. This led to an expansion of Aldershots population going from 875 in 1851. Mrs Louisa Daniell arrived in the town at this time and set up her Soldiers Home and Institute to cater for the needs of the soldiers. The Aldershot riot of July 1945 caused considerable damage to the centre when disgruntled Canadian troops rioted in the streets for two evenings. A substantial rebuilding of the barracks was carried out between 1961 and 1969, by the architecture and engineering firm Building Design Partnership, the work was sped up under government pressure, and various new building technologies were employed with mixed success. In 1974 Aldershot and Farnborough urban districts were merged to form the Borough of Rushmoor under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972. After a 2009 campaign, the British Government allowed veteran Gurkha soldiers who had served for more four years. As many Gurkha soldiers had been based in and around Aldershot, between the 2001 Census and the 2011 Census, Rushmoors Nepalese population increased to approximately 6,000 people, making up 6. 5% of the overall population. Howarth was later criticised for suggesting that Nepalese migrants should be dispersed across the UK, the Aldershot Military Tattoo was an annual event dating back to 1894. In the 1920s and 30s, the Aldershot Command Searchlight Tattoo held at the Rushmoor Arena presented displays from all branches of the services, at one time the performances attracted crowds of up to 500,000 people. The Tattoo was organised to raise money for military charities, by the end of the 1930s the event was raising around £40,000 annually
22.
Joseph Edgar Boehm
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Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm, 1st Baronet, RA was a medallist and sculptor, best known for the Jubilee head of Queen Victoria on coinage, and the statue of the Duke of Wellington at Hyde Park Corner. His oeuvre is substantial and he exhibited 123 works at the Royal Academy, Boehm was born in Vienna of Hungarian parentage. His father, Joseph Daniel Böhm, was director of the mint in Vienna. After studying the art in Italy and at Paris, he worked for a few years as a medallist in Vienna. In 1856, he was presented with the Austrian Imperial Prize for Sculpture and he moved to England in 1862, and became a British subject three years later. In 1874 he completed a statue of John Bunyan which was unveiled on 10 June at St Peters Green, Bedford, by Lady Augusta Stanley. He became an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1878, was appointed sculptor in ordinary in 1881 and was elected to the Royal Academy in 1882. In 1889 he was created a baronet, of Wetherby Gardens in the Parish of St Mary Abbots, Kensington, in 1887, he designed and executed the model for the dies for a series of coins, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the queens reign. This design was criticised by his peers as well as the public. The coins depicted the arms in the order of the garter on the reverse. As a result, the sixpences were frequently gilded and passed off as gold half sovereigns, therefore, the sixpence reverted to its standard design. Boehm is responsible for a large free-standing statue of Queen Victoria in Queens Square, a speciality of Boehms was the portrait bust, there are many examples of these in the National Portrait Gallery. He was often commissioned by the Royal Family and members of the aristocracy to make sculptures for their parks and his most important works include St George and the Dragon, which can be found outside the State Library of Victoria, and Francis Drake. His large sculpture of the stallion King Tom was commissioned by Baron Mayer Amschel de Rothschild for his new mansion, Mentmore Towers, there are many statues by Boehm in London. For the memorial to General Charles George Gordon in St Pauls Cathedral, on the death of Dean Stanley, Boehm was commissioned to execute his sarcophagus in Westminster Abbey. Among his ideal subjects, the Herdsman and Bull is notable, Boehms most famous pupil was the Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, daughter of Queen Victoria. She was at his house, at 76 Fulham Road in London, dictionary of National Biography,1901 supplement
23.
Adrian Jones (sculptor)
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Adrian Jones MVO was an English sculptor and painter who specialized in animals, particularly horses. He created the sculpture Peace descending on the Quadriga of War, before becoming a full-time artist he was an army veterinary surgeon. Adrian Jones was born in Ludlow, Shropshire, and studied at the Royal Veterinary College and he enrolled in the Army as a veterinary officer in the Royal Horse Artillery the following year and served from 1867 to 1890. During this time he saw service in the Abyssinian Expedition of 1868 before joining the 3rd Hussars in 1869, from 1871 to 1881 he served with the Queen’s Bays in Ireland and was then attached to the 7th Hussars and fought with them in the Anglo-Transvaal war in 1881. In South Africa he was attached to the Inniskilling Dragoons, in 1884 Jones served in Egypt where he selected camels for the Nile Expedition and finally joined the 2nd Life Guards, retiring in 1890 with the rank of captain. He was already active as an artist by this time, having exhibited at the Royal Academy as early as 1884, giving his address as The Studio, on retirement from the Army he set himself up as an artist. His training as a veterinary surgeon gave him a knowledge of equine anatomy which he used in his work to great effect. Jones best-known work is probably the sculpture Peace descending on the Quadriga of War and this replaced an equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington which is now at Aldershot. It was created as a memorial for Edward VII, and was placed on view in 1912. File WORK 20/52 held at the National Archives gives some background information on the Quadriga. The period covered by the correspondence in this file opens in August 1890 and we learn from these papers that in December 1907 Jones had the model ready for inspection and this was finally accepted in May 1908. There are several letters in the file from both Adrian Jones and A. B. Burton who cast the statue at his Thames Ditton Foundry, the casting was completed by November 1911 and the complex matter of hoisting the Quadriga into position took place in January 1912. In April 1912 the King and Queen drove through the arch and were presented to both Jones and Burton, in October 1913 the Quadriga was formally placed in the charge of Office of Works. At the back of the file are some press cuttings, and it is recorded that the young boy in Jones composition for the Quadriga who is leading the four horses as they are descended upon by the Angel of Peace was in fact based on Lord Michelhams son. Letters dated February and March 1939 cover the siting of an Air Raid siren on the roof of the Wellington Arch and this statue stands in Whitehall and is another of Jones magnificent representations of a horse. File WORK 20/58 held in the National Archives gives some information on this statue covering the period January 1906 to July 1907. The statue was cast by A. B. Burton at his Thames Ditton Foundry and was unveiled on 15 June 1907 and this statue is located in Exeter, Devon and dates to 1905. The image above is shown courtesy of its author Peter Clarkson Jones died of influenza, a memorial plaque to Adrian Jones is to be found at St. Laurence’s Church in Ludlow next to that remembering another famous Ludlow-linked man, the poet A. E. Housman
24.
Edward VII
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Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, before his accession to the throne, he served as heir apparent and held the title of Prince of Wales for longer than any of his predecessors. During the long reign of his mother, he was excluded from political power. He travelled throughout Britain performing ceremonial duties, and represented Britain on visits abroad. His tours of North America in 1860 and the Indian subcontinent in 1875 were popular successes, as king, Edward played a role in the modernisation of the British Home Fleet and the reorganisation of the British Army after the Second Boer War. He reinstituted traditional ceremonies as public displays and broadened the range of people with whom royalty socialised and he died in 1910 in the midst of a constitutional crisis that was resolved the following year by the Parliament Act 1911, which restricted the power of the unelected House of Lords. Edward was born at 10,48 in the morning on 9 November 1841 in Buckingham Palace and he was the eldest son and second child of Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He was christened Albert Edward at St Georges Chapel, Windsor Castle and he was named Albert after his father and Edward after his maternal grandfather Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn. He was known as Bertie to the family throughout his life. As the eldest son of the British sovereign, he was automatically Duke of Cornwall, as a son of Prince Albert, he also held the titles of Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duke of Saxony. He was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester on 8 December 1841, Earl of Dublin on 17 January 1850, a Knight of the Garter on 9 November 1858, and a Knight of the Thistle on 24 May 1867. In 1863, he renounced his rights to the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in favour of his younger brother. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were determined that their eldest son should have an education that would prepare him to be a constitutional monarch. At age seven, Edward embarked on an educational programme devised by Prince Albert. Unlike his elder sister Victoria, Edward did not excel in his studies and he tried to meet the expectations of his parents, but to no avail. Although Edward was not a diligent student—his true talents were those of charm, sociability and tact—Benjamin Disraeli described him as informed, intelligent, after the completion of his secondary-level studies, his tutor was replaced by a personal governor, Robert Bruce. After an educational trip to Rome, undertaken in the first few months of 1859, he spent the summer of that year studying at the University of Edinburgh under, among others, in October, he matriculated as an undergraduate at Christ Church, Oxford. Now released from the strictures imposed by his parents, he enjoyed studying for the first time
25.
Royal Academy of Arts
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The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. The Royal Academy of Arts was founded through an act of King George III on 10 December 1768 with a mission to promote the arts of design in Britain through education and exhibition. Supporters wanted to foster a national school of art and to encourage appreciation, fashionable taste in 18th-century Britain was based on continental and traditional art forms, providing contemporary British artists little opportunity to sell their works. From 1746 the Foundling Hospital, through the efforts of William Hogarth, the success of this venture led to the formation of the Society of Artists of Great Britain and the Free Society of Artists. Both these groups were primarily exhibiting societies, their success was marred by internal factions among the artists. The combined vision of education and exhibition to establish a school of art set the Royal Academy apart from the other exhibiting societies. It provided the foundation upon which the Royal Academy came to dominate the art scene of the 18th and 19th centuries, supplanting the earlier art societies. Sir William Chambers, a prominent architect, used his connections with George III to gain royal patronage and financial support of the Academy, the painter Joshua Reynolds was made its first president. Francis Milner Newton was elected the first secretary, a post he held for two decades until his resignation in 1788, the instrument of foundation, signed by George III on 10 December 1768, named 34 founder members and allowed for a total membership of 40. William Hoare and Johann Zoffany were added to this list later by the King and are known as nominated members, among the founder members were two women, a father and daughter, and two sets of brothers. The Royal Academy was initially housed in cramped quarters in Pall Mall, although in 1771 it was given temporary accommodation for its library and schools in Old Somerset House, then a royal palace. In 1780 it was installed in purpose-built apartments in the first completed wing of New Somerset House, located in the Strand and designed by Chambers, the Academy moved in 1837 to Trafalgar Square, where it occupied the east wing of the recently completed National Gallery. These premises soon proved too small to house both institutions, in 1868,100 years after the Academys foundation, it moved to Burlington House, Piccadilly, where it remains. Burlington House is owned by the British Government, and used rent-free by the Royal Academy, the first Royal Academy exhibition of contemporary art, open to all artists, opened on 25 April 1769 and ran until 27 May 1769. 136 works of art were shown and this exhibition, now known as the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, has been staged annually without interruption to the present day. In 1870 the Academy expanded its programme to include a temporary annual loan exhibition of Old Masters. The range and frequency of these exhibitions have grown enormously since that time. Britains first public lectures on art were staged by the Royal Academy, led by Reynolds, the first president, a program included lectures by Dr. William Hunter, John Flaxman, James Barry, Sir John Soane, and J. M. W. Turner
26.
Nike (mythology)
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In ancient Greek religion, Nike was a goddess who personified victory. She was variously described as the daughter of the Titan Pallas and the goddess Styx, and the sister of Kratos, Bia, the word νίκη nikē is of uncertain etymology. R. S. P. Beekes has suggested a Pre-Greek origin, Nike and her siblings were close companions of Zeus, the dominant deity of the Greek pantheon. According to classical myth, Styx brought them to Zeus when the god was assembling allies for the Titanomachy against the older deities, Nike assumed the role of the divine charioteer, a role in which she often is portrayed in Classical Greek art. Nike flew around rewarding the victors with glory and fame. Nike is seen with wings in most statues and paintings, with one of the most famous being the Winged Victory of Samothrace, most other winged deities in the Greek pantheon had shed their wings by Classical times. Nike is the goddess of strength, speed, and victory, Nike was a very close acquaintance of Athena, and is thought to have stood in Athenas outstretched hand in the statue of Athena located in the Parthenon. Nike is also one of the most commonly portrayed figures on Greek coins, the sports equipment company Nike, Inc. is named after the Greek goddess Nike. Project Nike, an American anti-aircraft missile system is named after the goddess Nike, a figure of Nike with a vessel was the design of the first FIFA World Cup trophy, known also as the Jules Rimet trophy. Since Giuseppe Cassiolis design for the 1928 Summer Olympics, the face of every Olympic medal bears Nikes figure holding a palm frond in her right hand. The goddess appears on the emblem of the University of Melbourne, spirit of Ecstasy, the hood ornament used by the automobile manufacturer Rolls-Royce was inspired by Nike. The Titanic Engineers Memorial, Southampton depicts Nike blessing the engineers of the RMS Titanic for staying at their post as the ship sank, the Honda motorcycle companys logo is inspired by the goddess Nike. Winged Victory of Samothrace Altar of Victory Nike of Paeonius Ángel de la Independencia Smith, William, A Dictionary of Greek, online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Media related to Nike at Wikimedia Commons The dictionary definition of Nike at Wiktionary Theoi Project, Nike Goddess Nike
27.
Laurel wreath
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A laurel wreath is a circular wreath made of interlocking branches and leaves of the bay laurel, an aromatic broadleaf evergreen, or later from spineless butchers broom or cherry laurel. In Greek mythology, Apollo is represented wearing a wreath on his head. Whereas ancient laurel wreaths are most often depicted as a horseshoe shape, in common modern idiomatic usage it refers to a victory. In some countries the laurel wreath is used as a symbol of the masters degree, the wreath is given to young masters at the university graduation ceremony. The word laureate in poet laureate refers to the laurel wreath, the medieval Florentine poet and philosopher Dante Alighieri, a graduate of the Sicilian School, is often represented in paintings and sculpture wearing a laurel wreath. In Italy, the term laureato is used in to refer to any student who has graduated, right after the graduation ceremony, or laurea in Italian, the student receives a laurel wreath to wear for the rest of the day. This tradition originated at the University of Padua and has spread in the last two centuries to all Italian universities, at Connecticut College in the United States, members of the junior class carry a laurel chain, which the seniors pass through during commencement. It represents nature and the continuation of life from year to year, at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, USA, laurel has been a fixture of commencement traditions since 1900, when graduating students carried or wore laurel wreaths. In 1902, the chain of laurel was introduced, since then, tradition has been for seniors to parade around the campus, carrying. The mountain laurel represents the bay used by the Romans in wreaths. At Reed College in Portland, Oregon, United States, members of the senior class receive laurel wreaths upon submitting their senior thesis in May, the tradition stems from the use of laurel wreaths in athletic competitions, the seniors have crossed the finish line, so to speak. In Sweden, those receiving a doctorate or a doctorate at the Faculty of Philosophy. In Finland, in University of Helsinki a laurel wreath is given during the ceremony of conferral for masterss degree, doctors wear special kind of Doctoral hat. The laurel wreath is a motif in architecture, furniture. The laurel wreath is seen carved in the stone and decorative works of Robert Adam, and in Federal, Regency, Directoire. In decorative arts, especially during the Empire period, the wreath is seen woven in textiles, inlaid in marquetry. Alfa Romeo added a wreath to their logo after they won the inaugural Automobile World Championship in 1925 with the P2 racing car. Laurel wreaths are used in heraldry
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English Heritage
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English Heritage is a registered charity that manages the National Heritage Collection. This comprises over 400 of Englands historic buildings, monuments and sites spanning more than 5,000 years of history, within its portfolio are Stonehenge, Dover Castle, Tintagel Castle and the best preserved parts of Hadrians Wall. English Heritage also manages the London Blue Plaques scheme, which links influential historical figures to particular buildings and it was created to combine the roles of existing bodies that had emerged from a long period of state involvement in heritage protection. The British government gave the new charity an £80 million grant to establish it as an independent trust. Over the centuries, what is now called Heritage has been the responsibility of a series of state departments. There was the Kings Works after the Norman Conquest, the Office of Works, the Office of Woods, Forests, Land Revenues and Works, and the Ministry of Works. Responsibility subsequently transferred to the Ministry of Public Building and Works then to the Department of the Environment and now the Department for Culture, Media, the states legal responsibility for the historic environment goes back to the Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882. Central government subsequently developed several systems of protection for different types of assets, introducing listing for buildings after WW2. The Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission was formed under the terms of the National Heritage Act 1983 on 1 April 1984, soon after, the commission gained the operating name of English Heritage by its first Chairman, Lord Montagu of Beaulieu. A national register of parks and gardens, was set up in 1984. Registration is a consideration in the planning process. In 2010–2011 it recorded 4.3 million unique online user sessions, in 2012 the section responsible for archive collections was renamed the English Heritage Archive. As a result of the National Heritage Act 2002, English Heritage acquired administrative responsibility for historic wrecks, the administration of the listed building system was transferred from DCMS to English Heritage in 2006. It was retained on grounds of performing a function which should remain independent from Government. However the department also suffered from budget cuts during the recession of the 2010s resulting in a deficit of £100 million. In June 2013 the British Government announced plans to provide an £80 million grant to enable English Heritage to become a self-financing charity, the national portfolio of historic properties remain in public ownership, but the new English Heritage will be licensed to manage them. The change occurred on 1 April 2015 with the planning and heritage protection functions remaining an independent, non-departmental public body. The new trust has a licence to operate the properties until 2023, English Heritage is the guardian of over 400 sites and monuments, the most famous of which include Stonehenge, Iron Bridge and Dover Castle
29.
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
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His defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 put him in the top rank of Britains military heroes. Wellesley was born in Dublin, belonging to the Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland and he was commissioned as an ensign in the British Army in 1787, serving in Ireland as aide-de-camp to two successive Lords Lieutenant of Ireland. He was also elected as a Member of Parliament in the Irish House of Commons and he was a colonel by 1796, and saw action in the Netherlands and in India, where he fought in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War at the Battle of Seringapatam. He was appointed governor of Seringapatam and Mysore in 1799 and, as a newly appointed major-general, following Napoleons exile in 1814, he served as the ambassador to France and was granted a dukedom. During the Hundred Days in 1815, he commanded the army which defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. Wellesleys battle record is exemplary, he participated in some 60 battles during the course of his military career. Wellington is famous for his defensive style of warfare, resulting in several victories against numerically superior forces while minimising his own losses. He is regarded as one of the greatest defensive commanders of all time, after ending his active military career, Wellington returned to politics. He was twice British prime minister as part of the Tory party, from 1828 to 1830 and he oversaw the passage of the Catholic Relief Act 1829, but opposed the Reform Act 1832. He continued as one of the figures in the House of Lords until his retirement. As such, he belonged to the Protestant Ascendancy and his biographers mostly follow the contemporary newspaper evidence in saying that he was born 1 May 1769, the day that he was baptised. He was most likely born at his parents townhouse,24 Upper Merrion Street, Dublin, but his mother Anne, Countess of Mornington, recalled in 1815 that he had been born at 6 Merrion Street, Dublin. He spent most of his childhood at his familys two homes, the first a house in Dublin and the second Dangan Castle,3 miles north of Summerhill on the Trim Road in County Meath. In 1781, Arthurs father died and his eldest brother Richard inherited his fathers earldom and he went to the diocesan school in Trim when at Dangan, Mr Whytes Academy when in Dublin, and Browns School in Chelsea when in London. He then enrolled at Eton, where he studied from 1781 to 1784, moreover, Eton had no playing fields at the time. In 1785, a lack of success at Eton, combined with a shortage of funds due to his fathers death, forced the young Wellesley. Until his early twenties, Arthur showed little sign of distinction and his mother grew concerned at his idleness, stating. A year later, Arthur enrolled in the French Royal Academy of Equitation in Angers, where he progressed significantly, becoming a good horseman and learning French, upon returning to England in late 1786, he astonished his mother with his improvement
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Garret Wesley, 1st Earl of Mornington
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Garret Colley Wesley, 1st Earl of Mornington was an Anglo-Irish politician and composer, best known today for fathering several distinguished British military commanders and politicians. Wesley was born at the estate of Dangan, near Summerhill, a village near Trim in County Meath, Ireland, to Richard Wesley, 1st Baron Mornington. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and was elected its first Professor of Music in 1764, from early childhood he showed extraordinary talent on the violin, and soon began composing his own works. As a composer he is remembered chiefly for glees such as Here in cool grot and it was the future Duke of Wellington who, alone of his children, inherited something of his musical talent. Wesley represented Trim in the Irish House of Commons from 1757 until 1758 and he was elected Grandmaster of the Grand Lodge of Ireland in 1776, a post he held until the following year. He was careless with money, and his death left the family exposed to financial embarrassment. Four streets in Camden Town, which formed part of the estate of his son-in-law Henry FitzRoy, were named Mornington Crescent, Place, Street, of these, the first has since become famous as the name of a London Underground station. Wesley married The Hon. Anne Hill-Trevor, eldest daughter of the banker Arthur Hill-Trevor, 1st Viscount Dungannon and his godmother, the famous diarist Mary Delany, said the marriage was happy, despite his lack of financial sense and her want of judgment. They had six children, Richard, Viscount Wellesley, later 1st Marquess Wellesley, the Hon. William Wellesley, later William Wellesley-Pole, 3rd Earl of Mornington, 1st Baron Maryborough. The Hon. Arthur Wellesley, later 1st Duke of Wellington, gerald Valerian Wellesley, father of George Wellesley. The Hon. Henry Wellesley, later 1st Baron Cowley, lady Anne Wellesley, married The Hon. Henry FitzRoy, Charles Culling Smith. Four of Lord Morningtons five sons were created peers in the Peerages of Great Britain, the Barony of Wellesley and the Barony of Maryborough are now extinct, whilst the Dukedom of Wellington and Barony of Cowley are extant. The Earldom of Mornington is held by the Dukes of Wellington, garret Wesley, Lord Mornington, died in 1781. He is also an ancestor of Queen Elizabeth II through her late mother. Dublin, M. H. Gill & son
31.
Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley
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Richard Colley Wesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley KG PC PC was styled Viscount Wellesley from birth until 1781 and was known as Earl of Mornington from 1781 until 1799. He was an Irish and British politician and colonial administrator and he was the eldest son of The 1st Earl of Mornington, an Irish peer, and Anne, the eldest daughter of The 1st Viscount Dungannon. He was also the brother of Field Marshal The 1st Duke of Wellington and he first made his name as Governor-General of India between 1798 and 1805 and later served as Foreign Secretary in the British Cabinet and as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Wellesley was born in 1760 in Ireland, where his family were part of the Ascendancy and he was educated at the Royal School, Armagh, Harrow School and Eton College, where he distinguished himself as a classical scholar, and at Christ Church, Oxford. He was elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Ireland in 1782, due to the extravagance of his father and grandfather, he found himself so indebted that he was ultimately forced to sell all the Irish estates. However, in 1781 he was appointed to the position of Custos Rotulorum of Meath. In 1784 he joined also the British House of Commons as member for Bere Alston, soon afterwards he was appointed a Lord of the Treasury by William Pitt the Younger. Mornington seems to have caught Pitts large political spirit in the period 1793 to 1797, Robert Clive won and Warren Hastings consolidated the British ascendancy in India, but Mornington extended it into an empire. On the voyage outwards, he formed the design of annihilating French influence in the Deccan, soon after his landing, in April 1798, he learned that an alliance was being negotiated between Tipu Sultan and the French republic. Mornington resolved to anticipate the action of the enemy, and ordered preparations for war, the first step was to effect the disbandment of the French troops entertained by the Nizam of Hyderabad. The invasion of Mysore followed in February 1799, and the campaign was brought to a conclusion by the capture of Seringapatam on 4 May 1799. In 1803, the restoration of the Peshwa proved the prelude to the Mahratha war against Sindhia and he found the East India Company a trading body, but left it an imperial power. He was an excellent administrator, and picked two of his brothers for his staff, Arthur was his military adviser, and Henry was his personal secretary. He founded Fort William College, a training centre intended for those who would be involved in governing India, a free-trader like Pitt, he endeavoured to remove some of the restrictions on the trade between Britain and India. He reached England just in time to see Pitt before his death and he had been created a Peer of Great Britain in 1797, and in 1799 became Marquess Wellesley in the Peerage of Ireland. He formed a collection of over 2,500 painted miniatures in the Company style of Indian natural history. A motion by James Paull to impeach Wellesley due to his expulsion of the traders from Oudh was defeated in the House of Commons by 182 votes to 31 in 1808. Resolutions condemning him for the abuse of power were moved in both the Lords and Commons, but defeated by large majorities, in 1809 Wellesley was appointed ambassador to Spain
32.
William Wellesley-Pole, 3rd Earl of Mornington
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William Wellesley-Pole, 3rd Earl of Mornington GCH PC PC, known as Lord Maryborough between 1821 and 1842, was an Anglo-Irish politician and an elder brother of the Duke of Wellington. His surname changed twice, he was born with the name Wesley, in 1789 the spelling was updated to Wellesley-Pole, just as other members of the family had changed Wesley to Wellesley. He was the brother of Richard Wesley, later Marquess Wellesley, and the elder brother of Arthur, who became Duke of Wellington. Due to the debts of their father, the Wesley family entered into financial stringency, Pole was descended from Peryam Pole, third son of the antiquary Sir William Pole of Shute House, Devon, a brother of Sir John Pole, 1st Baronet. He had married Ann Colley, the sister of Wesleys grandfather Richard Wesley and this Wesley had been born Richard Colley, but had changed his name in 1728, following an inheritance, to Wesley. Thus it was that in 1781, in accordance with the Will of his great-uncle William Pole, Wesley changed his name to Wesley-Pole. A Tory, Mornington was a Member of the Irish Parliament for Trim from 1783 to 1790 and of the British House of Commons for East Looe from 1790 to 1795, Mornington was sworn of both the British Privy Council and the Irish Privy Council in 1809. He served in Lord Liverpools government from 1814 to 1823 as Master of the Mint, in 1821 he was elevated to the Peerage of the United Kingdom as Baron Maryborough, of Maryborough in the Queens County. In 1823 he was appointed Custos Rotulorum of Queens County for life, from 1823 to 1830 he was Master of the Buckhounds and from 1834 to 1835 Postmaster-General. From 1838 he held the position of Captain of Deal Castle. On the death in 1842 of his elder brother Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley and 2nd Earl of Mornington, he succeeded as 3rd Earl of Mornington. In 1784 Lord Mornington married Katherine Elizabeth Forbes, daughter of Admiral John Forbes and granddaughter of the George Forbes, 3rd Earl of Granard and of William Capell, 3rd Earl of Essex. They had the following progeny, one son and three daughters, William Pole-Tylney-Long-Wellesley, 4th Earl of Mornington, who inherited his fathers titles, Lady Mary Charlotte Anne Wellesley, who married Right Hon. The couple had three sons and five daughters, the family accompanied their parents to Canada on the appointment of Sir Charles Bagot as Governor-General of British North America, on 12 January 1842. As the wife of a Governor-General in Canada, Lady Bagot assumed the title of Her Excellency, after her husbands death at Kingston, Ontario on 18 May 1843, she accompanied the remains to England. She died in London on 2 February 1845, Lady Emily Harriet, who in 1814 married Lord FitzRoy Somerset, later 1st Baron Raglan. Lady Priscilla Anne, who married John Fane, Lord Burghersh and he died on 22 February 1845. Royalmintmuseum. org. uk, William Wellesley-Pole, Master of the Mint Hansard 1803–2005, contributions in Parliament by William Wellesley-Pole
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Henry Wellesley, 1st Baron Cowley
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Henry Wellesley, 1st Baron Cowley GCB was a British diplomat and politician. Wellesley was the fifth and youngest son of Garret Wellesley, 1st Earl of Mornington, by the Honourable Anne Hill-Trevor, eldest daughter of Arthur Hill-Trevor, 1st Viscount Dungannon. He was the brother of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley and William Wellesley-Pole. He was educated at Eton and at the court of the Duke of Brunswick and he purchased an Ensigncy in the 40th Foot in 1790. Wellesleys diplomatic career began in 1791 when he was appointed attaché to the British embassy at The Hague, the next year, he became Secretary of Legation in Stockholm. In 1791 he exchanged into the 1st Foot Guards and in 1793 he purchased a Lieutenantcy. In 1794, while on a home from Lisbon with his sister Anne, he was captured by the French. In the latter year he sat for Trim in the Irish House of Commons, at the 1807 general election he was elected to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom as a Member of Parliament both for Athlone in Ireland and for Eye in England. He chose to sit for Eye, and held the seat until his resignation in 1809 by taking the Chiltern Hundreds, in 1797 Wellesley accompanied Lord Malmesbury as secretary on his unsuccessful mission to negotiate peace with the French at Lille. Later that year, he travelled to India, where he became secretary to his oldest brother, Lord Mornington. He was in India between 1797 and 1799, and again from 1801 to 1802, and was an assistant to his brother in a variety of diplomatic capacities, negotiating treaties with Mysore. His wife divorced him in Scotland in 1810, in 1809 Wellesley became the British envoy to Spain - his eldest brother, by now Marquess Wellesley, was now Foreign Secretary, while his brother Arthur was British commander-in-chief in Spain. Together, the three helped to make the Peninsular campaign a success, and in 1812 Wellesley was knighted. He remained Ambassador to Spain until 1821, but found time to marry again, in 1823, Wellesley became Ambassador to Austria, where he remained until 1831. In January 1828 Wellesley was created Baron Cowley, of Wellesley in the County of Somerset, due to his brother Wellingtons influence with the prime minister and his final diplomatic service was in Paris, where he served as ambassador during Robert Peels administrations in 1835 and 1841-1846. In 1846 Cowley retired, but remained in Paris, where he died the next year, Cowley married Lady Charlotte, daughter of Charles Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan, but divorced in 1810. His eldest son, Henry Richard Charles Wellesley, followed in his fathers footsteps as a diplomatist, holding the Paris embassy for fifteen years, another son, Gerald Valerian Wellesley, became Dean of Windsor. Media related to Henry Wellesley, 1st Baron Cowley at Wikimedia Commons Hansard 1803–2005, contributions in Parliament by the Lord Cowley pedigree from thepeerage. com
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Lady Anne Smith
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Lady Anne Smith was the sister of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. She was born Lady Anne Wesley, the daughter of Garret Wesley, 1st Earl of Mornington. They had two daughters, Anne Caroline Fitzroy, died 16 December 1835 Georgiana Frederica Fitzroy, married 25 July 1814 Henry Somerset, Marquess of Worcester and they had one son and six daughters. Frederick William Culling Smith, a godson of the Duke of York and he was made a Page of Honour on 13 March 1812 and commissioned as a Cornet in the 2nd Dragoon Guards on 22 April 1819. On 1 August 1826 he was promoted to the rank of Major of Infantry on the unattached list and he died at Malta later that year, aged twenty-six. On 25 July 1814 Lady Annes daughter Georgiana Frederica FitzRoy married Henry Somerset, Marquess of Worcester, Lady Worcester was Wellingtons favourite niece, and her death in great pain on 11 May 1821 was a great blow to him and all her friends. On 29 June 1822 Lord Worcester married Lady Annes other daughter Emily Frances, greatly to the annoyance of Wellington, on 23 November 1835 Emily Frances became Duchess of Beaufort. Lady Anne Smith died in 1844
35.
Catherine Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington
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Catherine Sarah Dorothea Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington was the wife of the 1st Duke of Wellington. She is commonly known as Kitty Pakenham, the daughter of Edward Pakenham, 2nd Baron Longford and the former Catherine Rowley, she was born Catherine Pakenham on 14 January 1773 in Dublin, Ireland. She became The Honourable Catherine Pakenham when her father succeeded as the 2nd Baron Longford in 1776 and she had met Wellesley in Ireland when they were both young, and Wellesley, after numerous visits to the Longfords Dublin home, made his feelings towards her clear. At the time her family disapproved of the match, Wellesley was the son of a large family. After the rejection by the Pakenhams, Wellesley became serious about his career, was posted to the Netherlands and India, enjoyed a spectacular rise. Although she remained hopeful that they would be reunited, she admitted to a friend, Olivia Sparrow, after many years that she thought the business over. She became engaged to Galbraith Lowry Cole, the son of the Earl of Enniskillen, but Sparrow. After much soul-searching, Pakenham broke off the engagement to Cole, Pakenham feared that Wellesley felt bound by promises he had made ten years earlier and was in two minds as to whether to accept the proposal. Despite his more formal proposal after he had obtained her brothers permission, Wellesley travelled to Ireland to meet her, and although he was obviously disappointed in the change in her, went ahead with the marriage. The couple were married on 10 April 1806, by Wellesleys clergyman brother Gerald, Kitty followed him and after a stay with his brother while Wellesley continued to inhabit his bachelors lodging, they set up home together in Harley Street. Though she regained something of her health, the two did not get on well together. Wellesley was a man of action as well as frugal and reserved with a wit, Kitty lacked worldly experience, was easily roused to jealousy. Wellesley remained in Portugal and Spain during the entire Peninsular War, Kitty aged quickly, becoming dumpy and short-sighted, causing her to squint when talking. Wellesley found her vain and vacuous and it appears that she indeed loved him, but contented herself by doting on her sons and four adopted children. She became the Duchess of Wellington on Wellesleys creation as the Duke of Wellington on 3 May 1814 and eventually joined him in France when he was appointed Ambassador after Napoleons exile to Elba. Lady Elizabeth Yorke commented that her appearance, unfortunately, does not correspond with ones notion of an ambassadress or the wife of a hero, germaine de Staël described Kitty as adorable. She became seriously ill in 1831, which brought Wellington to her bedside, how strange it was, he went on to say, that people could live together for half a lifetime and only understand each other at the end. The Life And Letters of Maria Edgeworth
36.
Arthur Wellesley, 2nd Duke of Wellington
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In 1858 he was made a Knight of the Garter. Lord Charles Wellesley was his brother and Lord Wellesley, Lord Mornington. He was educated at Temple Grove School, Eton College, Christ Church, Oxford and he became known by the courtesy title Lord Douro when his father was created Earl of Wellington in 1812 and as Marquess of Douro in 1814 after his father was elevated to a dukedom. He was a Page of Honour from 1818 to 1821, Lord Douro was returned to parliament for Aldeburgh in 1829, a seat he held until 1832. He was out of parliament until 1837, when he was returned for Norwich, in 1852 he succeeded his father in the dukedom and entered the House of Lords. In early 1853 he was sworn of the Privy Council and appointed Master of the Horse in Lord Aberdeens coalition government and he resigned along with the rest of the Palmerston government in 1858. The latter year he was made a Knight of the Garter, in 1863 Wellington inherited the earldom of Mornington on the death of his cousin William Pole-Tylney-Long-Wellesley, 5th Earl of Mornington. From 1868 to 1884 he was Lord-Lieutenant of Middlesex, Wellington married Lady Elizabeth Hay, daughter of Field Marshal George Hay, 8th Marquess of Tweeddale, in 1839. The marriage was not a happy one although Lady Elizabeth was a favourite with her father-in-law. On succeeding his illustrious father he was said to have remarked, Imagine what it will be when the Duke of Wellington is announced, and only I walk in the room. The relationship between father and son is described as the classic case of the son of a famous father who is never able to live up to his legacy. Wellington died at Brighton Railway Station, Brighton, Sussex, in August 1884, aged 77 and he was succeeded by his nephew, Henry. The Duchess of Wellington died at Bearhill Park, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, in August 1904, aged 83, the Bronte children portrayed the first Duke of Wellington and his two sons in their imaginary games about the colonisation of Africa. They wrote many stories about Arthur, with Charlotte assuming the character of Charles as the author of these stories, as Charlotte and Branwell moved into their teenage years and used Lord Byrons writings as inspiration, they focused on Arthur as a romantic, heroic figure. He was known to them as the Duke of Zamorna, elements of his character formed the basis for Edward Rochester in Jane Eyre. Thomas Raikes a British merchant banker, dandy and diarist was a childhood friend, travelling and gambling companion of Arthur Wellesley. His journals Two volumes of Private Correspondence with the 2nd Duke of Wellington,3 February 1807 –26 August 1809, Arthur Richard Wellesley, Esq.26 August 1809 –28 February 1812, Hon. Arthur Richard Wellesley, Esq
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Lord Charles Wellesley
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Major-General Lord Charles Wellesley was a British politician, soldier and courtier. He was the son of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. He was educated at Eton College and he married Augusta Sophia Anne Pierrepont, daughter of The Hon. Henry Pierrepont, on 9 July 1844. Wellesley represented the Conservative Party as the Member of Parliament for South Hampshire from 1842 to 1852, and he was also a Chief Equerry and Clerk Marshall to Queen Victoria. His older brother, Arthur Wellesley, 2nd Duke of Wellington, died in 1884 with no heirs and Lord Charless eldest surviving son, Henry Wellesley, Lord Charless second son succeeded his childless brother as Duke of Wellington in 1900. Hansard 1803–2005, contributions in Parliament by Lord Charles Wellesley
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Flanders Campaign
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The Flanders Campaign was conducted from 6 November 1792 to 7 June 1795 during the first years of the French Revolutionary Wars. A coalition of states mobilised military forces all the French frontiers, with the intention to invade Revolutionary France. The largest of these forces assembled on the Franco-Flemish border, the Allies enjoyed several early victories, but were unable to advance beyond the French border fortresses and were eventually forced to withdraw by a series of French counter-offensives. The Allies established a new front in the south of the Netherlands and Germany, the Austrians pulled back to the lower Rhine and the British to Hanover from where they were eventually evacuated. Austria and Prussia had been at war with France since 1792, although Britain, only after the execution of the French king Louis XVI on 21 January 1793 and the declaration of war by the Revolutionary Government did they finally mobilize. Allied armies mobilised along all of the French frontiers, the largest and most important in the Flanders Franco-Belgian border region. In the north, the immediate aim was to eject the French from the Dutch Republic. Austria and Prussia broadly supported this aim, but both were short of money, initially, just fifteen hundred troops landed with York in February 1793. The Duke of York was obliged to follow objectives set by Pitts Foreign Minister Henry Dundas, thus Allied military decisions in the campaign were tempered by political objectives from Vienna and London. The defences of the Dutch Republic were in condition, its States Army not having fought in a war for 45 years. Williams main concern therefore was the preservation of the House of Orange, many of the old officer class had emigrated, leaving the cavalry in particular in chaotic condition. Only the artillery arm, less affected by emigration, had survived intact, the problems would become even more acute following the introduction of mass conscription, the Levée en Masse, in 1793. The price of failure or disloyalty was the guillotine, as the Austrians retreated, Dumouriez saw an opportunity with the Patriot exiles to overthrow the weak Dutch Republic by making a bold move north. A second French Division under Francisco de Miranda manoeuvred against the Austrians and Hanoverians in eastern Belgium, on 16 February Dumouriezs republican Armée du Nord advanced from Antwerp and invaded Dutch Brabant. Dutch forces fell back to the line of the Meuse abandoning the fortress of Breda after a siege. Within nine days an initial British guards brigade had assembled and dispatched across the English Channel, landing at Hellevoetsluis under the command of general Lake. Meanwhile, while Dumouriez moved north into Brabant, a army under Francisco de Miranda laid siege to Maastricht on 23 February. However the Austrians had been reinforced to 39,000 and, now commanded by Saxe-Coburg, crossed the Ruhr River on 1 March, the next day the Austrians took Aachen before reaching Maastricht on the Meuse and forcing Miranda to lift the siege
39.
Fourth Anglo-Mysore War
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The Fourth Anglo–Mysore War was a conflict in South India between the Kingdom of Mysore and the British East India Company. This was the conflict of the four Anglo–Mysore Wars. The British captured the capital of Mysore, the ruler Tipu Sultan was killed in the battle. Britain took indirect control of Mysore, restoring the Wodeyar Dynasty to the Mysore throne, Tipu Sultans young heir, Fateh Ali, was sent into exile. The Kingdom of Mysore became a state in a subsidiary alliance with British occupied India and ceded Coimbatore, Dakshina Kannada. The war, specifically the Battle of Mallavelly and the Siege of Seringapatam, additionally, General Malarctic, French Governor of Mauritius, issued the Malarctic Proclamation seeking volunteers to assist Tipu. Horatio Nelson crushed any help from Napoleon after the Battle of the Nile, however, Lord Wellesley had already set in motion a response to prevent any alliance between Tipu Sultan and France. Three armies – one from Bombay and two British, marched into Mysore in 1799 and besieged the capital, Srirangapatnam, after some engagements with Tipu, on 8 March, a forward force managed to hold off an advance by Tipu at the Battle of Seedaseer. On 4 May, in the Battle of Seringapatam, broke through the defending walls, Tipu Sultan, rushing to the breach, was shot and killed. Today, the spot where Tipus body was discovered under the gate has been fenced off by the Archaeological Survey of India. The gate itself was demolished during the 19th century to lay a wide road. One notable military advance championed by Tipu Sultan was the use of attacks with iron-cased rocket brigades in the army. The effect of the Mysorean rockets on the British during the Third, during the war, rockets were again used on several occasions. One of these involved Colonel Arthur Wellesley, later famous as the First Duke of Wellington, Wellesley was defeated by Tipus Diwan, Purnaiya, at the Battle of Sultanpet Tope. The commander chosen for this operation was Col, the following day, Wellesley launched a fresh attack with a larger force, and took the whole position without losing a single man. The rockets had a range of about 1,000 yards, some burst in the air like shells. Others, called ground rockets, would again on striking the ground and bound along in a serpentine motion until their force was spent. According to one British observer, a young English officer named Bayly and he continued, The rockets and musketry from 20,000 of the enemy were incessant
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Siege of Seringapatam (1799)
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The Siege of Seringapatam was the final confrontation of the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War between the British East India Company and the Kingdom of Mysore. The British, with the allied Nizam of Hyderabad, achieved a victory after breaching the walls of the fortress at Seringapatam. Tipu Sultan, Mysores ruler, was killed in the action, the British restored the Wodeyar dynasty to the throne after the victory, but retained indirect control of the kingdom. The Fourth Anglo-Mysore War came to an end with the defeat, when the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War broke out, the British assembled two large columns under General George Harris. The first consisted of over 26,000 British East India Company troops,4,000 of whom were European while the rest were local Indian sepoys, the second column was supplied by the Nizam of Hyderabad, and consisted of ten battalions and over 16,000 cavalry. Together, the force numbered over 50,000 soldiers. Tipus forces had been depleted by the Third Anglo-Mysore War and the consequent loss of half his kingdom, but he still probably had up to 30,000 soldiers. The River Cauvery, which flowed around the city of Seringapatam, was at its lowest level of the year, when letters were exchanged with Tipu, it seemed that he was playing for time. He requested two persons to be sent to him for discussions and also stated that he was preoccupied with hunting expeditions, Tipu Sultans prime minister and general, Mir Sadiq, is alleged to have been bought over by the British. The Governor-General of India, Richard Wellesley, planned the opening of a breach in the walls of Seringapatam. The location of the breach, as noted by Beatson, the author of an account of the Fourth Mysore War, was in the west curtain and this being the old rampart appeared weaker than the new. The Mysorean defence succeeded in preventing the establishment of a battery on the side of the River Cauvery on 22 April 1799. However, by 1 May, working at night, the British had completed their southern batteries, at sunrise on 2 May, the batteries of the Nizam of Hyderabad succeeded in opening a practical breach in the outer wall. In addition, the mines that were laid under the breach were hit by artillery, the leader of the British troops was Major General David Baird, an implacable enemy of Tipu Sultan, twenty years earlier, he had been held captive for 44 months. The storming troops, including men of the 73rd and 74th regiments, clambered up the breach, the assault was to begin at 1,00 p. m. to coincide with the hottest part of the day when the defenders would be taking refreshment. Led by two forlorn-hopes, two columns would advance upon the defences around the breach, then right and left to take over the fortifications. A third reserve column, commanded by Arthur Wellesley, would deploy as required to provide support where needed. At 11,00 a. m. on 4 May 1799, the British troops were briefed and whiskey, the forlorn-hopes, numbering seventy-six men, led the charge
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Second Anglo-Maratha War
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The Second Anglo-Maratha War was the second conflict between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India. The English had supported the fugitive Peshwa Raghunathrao in the First Anglo-Maratha War, continued with his fugitive son, though not as martial in his courage as his father, the son was a past master in deceit and intrigue. Coupled with his streak, Baji Rao II soon provoked the enmity of Malhar Rao Holkar when he had one of Holkars relatives killed. After the fall of Mysore in 1799–1800, the Marathas were the major power left outside British control in India. The Maratha chiefs were engaged in quarrels among themselves. Wellesley had repeatedly offered a treaty to the Peshwa and Scindia. In October 1802, the armies of Peshwa Baji Rao II and Scindia were defeated by Yashwantrao Holkar, ruler of Indore. The treaty would become the death knell of the Maratha Confederacy, the British strategy included Wellesley securing the Deccan Plateau, Lake taking Doab and then Delhi, Powell entering Bundelkhand, Murray taking Badoch, and Harcourt neutralizing Bihar. The British had available over 53,000 men to accomplish their goals. In September 1803, Scindia forces lost to Lord Gerard Lake at Delhi, on 18 October, British forces took the pettah of Asirgarh Fort with a loss of two killed and five wounded. The forts garrison surrendered on the 21st after the attackers had erected a battery. British artillery pounded ancient ruins used by Scindia forces as forward operating bases, in November, Lake defeated another Scindia force at Laswari, followed by Wellesleys victory over Bhonsale forces at Argaon on 29 November 1803. The Holkar rulers of Indore belatedly joined the fray and compelled the British to make peace, Wellesley, who went on to defeat Napoleon at Waterloo, would later remark that Assaye was tougher than Waterloo. On December 17,1803, Raghoji II Bhonsale of Nagpur signed the Treaty of Deogaon in Odisha with the British after the Battle of Argaon, the British started hostilities against Yashwantrao Holkar on 6 April 1804. The Treaty of Rajghat, signed on 24 December 1805, forced Holkar to give up Tonk, Rampura, at the Point of the Bayonet, A Tale of the Mahratta War. - historical fiction describing the war Third Anglo-Maratha War List of Maratha dynasties and states Fort of Ahmednagar Pettah of Ahmednagar Alexander Adams Citations Bibliography Chaurasian, new Delhi, Atlantic Publishers and Distributors
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Battle of Assaye
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The Battle of Assaye was a major battle of the Second Anglo-Maratha War fought between the Maratha Empire and the British East India Company. The battle was the Duke of Wellingtons first major victory and one he later described as his finest accomplishment on the battlefield. After several weeks of pursuit and countermarching, Scindia reinforced the combined Maratha army with his infantry and artillery as the British forces closed in on his position. Wellesley received intelligence indicating the location of the Maratha encampment on 21 September, Wellesleys force, however, encountered the Maratha army – which was under the command of Colonel Anthony Pohlmann, a German formerly in British service –6 miles farther south than he anticipated. Although outnumbered, Wellesley resolved to attack at once, believing that the Maratha army would move off. Both sides suffered heavily in the battle, Maratha artillery caused large numbers of casualties among Wellesleys troops. A combination of bayonet and cavalry charges eventually forced the Maratha army to retreat with the loss of most of their guns, but Wellesleys army was too battered and exhausted to pursue. Wellesleys victory at Assaye, preceded by the capture of Ahmednagar and followed by victories at Argaon and Gawilghur, resulted in the defeat of Scindia and Berars armies in the Deccan. Wellesleys progress in the Deccan was matched by Lieutenant General Gerard Lakes successful campaigns in Northern India, feuding between the two dominant powers within the Maratha Empire, Yashwant Rao Holkar and Daulat Rao Scindia, led to civil war at the turn of the 19th century. The hostilities culminated in the Battle of Poona in October 1802 where Holkar defeated an army of Scindia and Baji Rao II – the Peshwa. Scindia retreated into his dominions to the north, but Baji Rao was driven from his territory and he appealed to the Company for assistance, offering to accept its authority if he were restored to his principality at Poona. Wellesley entered Poona without opposition on 20 April, and Baji Rao was formally restored to his throne on 13 May. The Maratha leaders refused to submit to the Peshwas authority and tensions were raised further when Holkar raided into Hyderabad in May, mornington consequently engaged the various Maratha chieftains in negotiations. Lieutenant Colonel John Collins was sent to Scindias camp to discuss his objections, after a protracted period of negotiations, Collins reported to Wellesley on 3 August that Scindia refused to give an answer and would not withdraw his troops. Wellesleys response was to declare war on Scindia and Berar in order to secure the interests of the British government, the East India Company attacked the two principal Maratha forces of Scindia and the Raja of Berar from the north and the south. A second British force under the command of Major General Wellesley confronted an army of Scindia. The Maratha army in the Deccan was largely composed of fast-moving cavalry able to live off the land, Stevenson was despatched from Hyderabad with an army of some 10,000 men to Jafarabad to deny Scindia and Berar the chance to raid east into the Nizams territory. The bulk of his forces were Company troops from Mysore, five infantry battalions of the Madras Native Infantry
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Peninsular War
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The Peninsular War was a military conflict between Napoleons empire and the allied powers of Spain, Britain and Portugal, for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war started when French and Spanish armies invaded and occupied Portugal in 1807, the Peninsular War overlaps with what the Spanish-speaking world calls the Guerra de la Independencia Española, which began with the Dos de Mayo Uprising on 2 May 1808 and ended on 17 April 1814. The French occupation destroyed the Spanish administration, which fragmented into quarrelling provincial juntas, the British Army, under the then Lt. Gen. Arthur Wellesley, guarded Portugal and campaigned against the French in Spain alongside the reformed Portuguese army. The demoralised Portuguese army was reorganised and refitted under the command of Gen, in the following year Wellington scored a decisive victory over King Josephs army at Vitoria. The years of fighting in Spain were a burden on Frances Grande Armée. The Spanish armies were beaten and driven to the peripheries. This drain on French resources led Napoleon, who had provoked a total war. War and revolution against Napoleons occupation led to the Spanish Constitution of 1812, the burden of war destroyed the social and economic fabric of Portugal and Spain, and ushered in an era of social turbulence, political instability and economic stagnation. Devastating civil wars between liberal and absolutist factions, led by officers trained in the Peninsular War, persisted in Iberia until 1850. The cumulative crises and disruptions of invasion, revolution and restoration led to the independence of most of Spains American colonies, the Treaties of Tilsit, negotiated during a meeting in July 1807 between Emperors Alexander I of Russia and Napoleon, concluded the War of the Fourth Coalition. With Prussia shattered, and Russia allied with France, Napoleon expressed irritation that Portugal was open to trade with the United Kingdom, furthermore, Prince John of Braganza, regent for his insane mother Queen Maria I, had declined to join the emperors Continental System against British trade. After a few days, a large force started concentrating at Bayonne, meanwhile the Portuguese governments resolve was stiffening, and shortly afterward Napoleon was once again told that Portugal would not go beyond its original agreements. After he received the Portuguese answer, he ordered Junots corps to cross the frontier into Spain, while all this was going on, the secret Treaty of Fontainebleau had been signed between France and Spain. The document was drawn up by Napoleons marshal of the palace Géraud Duroc and Eugenio Izquierdo, the treaty proposed to carve up Portugal into three entities. Porto and the part was to become the Kingdom of Northern Lusitania. The southern portion, as the Principality of the Algarves, would fall to Godoy, the rump of the country, centered on Lisbon, was to be administered by the French. According to the Treaty of Fontainebleau, Junots invasion force was to be supported by 25,500 men in three Spanish columns, Gen. Taranco and 6,500 troops were ordered to march from Vigo to seize Porto in the north. Capt. Gen. Solano would advance from Badajoz with 9,500 soldiers to capture Elvas, Gen. Caraffa and 9,500 men were instructed to assemble at Salamanca and Ciudad Rodrigo, and cooperate with Junots main force
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Battle of Vimeiro
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This battle put an end to the first French invasion of Portugal. Four days after the Battle of Roliça, Wellesleys army was attacked by a French army under General Junot near the village of Vimeiro. The battle began as a battle of manoeuvre, with French troops attempting to outflank the British left, meanwhile, Junot sent in two central columns but these were forced back by sustained volleys from troops in line. Soon afterwards, the attack was beaten off and Junot retreated towards Torres Vedras having lost 2,000 men and 13 cannon. No pursuit was attempted because Wellesley was superseded by Sir Harry Burrard, after Roliça, Wellesley had established a position near Vimeiro. By holding the village, plus some ridges to the west, since most of his reinforcements had arrived by 20 August, Wellesley planned to advance south on Lisbon. Rounding out his force were 17 cannons,240 light cavalry led by C. D. Taylor and about 2,000 Portuguese troops under Nicholas Trant, Junot organised his 14, 000-man force into two infantry divisions and a cavalry division under Pierre Margaron. In addition, François Étienne de Kellermann commanded a 2, 100-man reserve made up of four converged grenadier battalions and these units were created by taking the grenadier company from each of Junots infantry battalions. The French took 23 cannons into battle with them, Wellesley placed Anstruthers and Fanes brigades in front of Vimeiro, with Aclands men in support. At first, his five remaining brigades held only the western ridge, Wellesley detected Breniers move and switched Nightingall, Fergusson and Bowes to the northeastern ridge. Once Junot realised that British troops occupied the ridge, he sent Solignacs brigade to the right to assist Breniers attack, the French commander decided to launch his attack on the town immediately, instead of waiting for his flanking move to develop. All the preliminary moves and countermoves caused a series of uncoordinated French attacks, first, Thomieres 2, 100-man brigade approached the British position. Supported by three cannons and screened by skirmishers, the brigade was formed into a column of companies, the first company of 120 men formed in a three-deep line would have a front rank 40 men wide. All the other companies formed behind the first company, making the brigade about 40 files wide and 48 ranks deep. According to French doctrine, as soon as the main position was found. On the other hand, French commanders often pressed home attacks while in column, depending entirely upon their skirmishers, to counter the French skirmishers, Fane detached four companies of riflemen. These outnumbered and outfought the French skirmishers, who fell back to the sides of the brigade column, without their skirmishers in front of them, the French column blundered into the 945 men of the 50th Regiment. At 100 yards, the British, formed into a two-deep line, several companies of the 50th began wheeling inward toward both flanks of the hapless French column
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Second Battle of Porto
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Soults late attempts to muster a defence were in vain. The French quickly abandoned the city in a disorderly retreat and this battle ended the second French invasion of Portugal. Soult soon found his route to the east blocked and was forced to destroy his guns. Wellesley pursued the French army, but Soults army escaped annihilation by fleeing through the mountains, in the First Battle of Porto, the French under General Soult defeated the Portuguese under Generals Lima Barreto and Parreiras outside the city of Porto. After winning the battle, Soult stormed the city, in addition to 8,000 military casualties, large numbers of civilians died. While Soult was in Porto, a detached force operated to the east under the leadership of Major-General Louis Loison, initially, this force included General of Division Henri Delabordes infantry division and Lorges cavalry division. A Portuguese force under Major General Francisco Silveira captured the French garrison of Chaves, from 18 April to 3 May, the Portuguese held Loison on the west bank of the Tâmega River. On the latter day, French engineers succeeded in disarming the explosives-rigged bridge so that Delabordes infantry could cross it, by May, the French Marshal feared he was outnumbered by the English. Soult stayed up late on 11 May drawing-up his plans for retreat, General of Division Julien Augustin Joseph Mermets division had already been sent off with the baggage and the artillery park. Soult retained a total of 10,000 infantry and 1,200 cavalry, Delabordes division included three battalions each of the 17th Light, 70th Line, and 86th Line Infantry Regiments. General of Division Pierre Hugues Victoire Merles division was composed of four each of the 2nd and 4th Light Infantry Regiments. General of Division Jean Baptiste Marie Franceschi-Delonnes cavalry was made up of the 1st Hussar Regiment, 8th Dragoon Regiment, after coming up from Lisbon, the Anglo-Portuguese fought a skirmish with the French at the Battle of Grijó on 11 May. Arriving at the Douro, Wellesley was unable to cross the river because Soults army had destroyed or moved all the boats to the northern bank. One had 9 pounders, two had 6 pounders and one had 3 pounders, historian Michael Glover stated that the order of battle was somewhat different. 1st Guards Brigade, BG Henry F. MG Alex Randoll Mackenzies British 2nd brigade, on the morning of 12 May, Col John Waters was reconnoitring the river east of Porto. He was approached by a Portuguese barber who led him to a point on the bank hidden by brush where there was a skiff, when informed of this opportunity, Wellesley told them to let the men across. Immediately, a company of the 3rd Foot crossed the river, by the time the French realized that Wellesleys forces were on the north bank, the entire battalion of the Buffs of Hills brigade had already been sent into the seminary. Soult, who was asleep at the time, remained unaware of these developments, General of Brigade Maximilien Foy, who was the first to see the British crossing, requisitioned three battalions of the 17th Light Infantry and led an attack on the seminary around 11,30 am
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