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WELLINGTON (ARTHUR WELLESLEY, first Duke of) image 1
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Lot 123

WELLINGTON (ARTHUR WELLESLEY, first Duke of)

10 November 2009, 11:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street

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WELLINGTON (ARTHUR WELLESLEY, first Duke of)

Series of letters, to Sir William Carr (later Viscount) Beresford, Marshal of the Portuguese army and in 1811 commander of the southern wing of the allied army in Spain, comprising:
(i) Letter signed ("Arthur Wellesley") with autograph subscription, to Beresford, containing his reproach for an officer who refused to command a brigade in which Portuguese troops were incorporated; and Major Generals or other inferior Officers responsible only, that they, and those under them do their duty in the Situation in which they may be employed..."), 3 pages, folio, Head Quarters, Oporto, 22 May 1809 [Dispatches, ed. Gurwood, enlarged edition, 1844, iv, p.341; see also Arthur Griffiths, Wellington His Comrades and Contemporaries, 1897, p.67]
(ii) Letter signed ("Wellington"), to Beresford, about the conduct of Captain Wilson at the theatre in Lisbon, and the complaint made by that officer ("...We are all liable to be libelled in the Anonymous Publications of the day for our Acts; but it is the first time I have heard of an Inferior Officer complaining of the Acts of a Superior through the Medium of the Press, in aid of a Complaint already transmitted to the Superior of both..."), 6 pages, folio, Coimbra, 3 January 1810
(iii) Letter signed ("Wellington"), to Beresford, concerning complaints against Captain Wilson of the Lusitanian Legion ("...if You should see sufficient cause in the inclosed Papers, You should advise the Regency to dismiss him from the Portuguese Service; that You should order him in Arrest, and to report himself to Lt General Hill..."), 2 pages, folio, Coimbra, 9 January 1810
(iv) Enclosed copy, unsigned, of the memorandum [for Lieutenant Colonel Fletcher, RE, and the Commissary General], concerning the occupation of the works in the lines in the front of Lisbon, , [Rio Maior, 6 October 1810] [Dispatches, 1844, iv, p.317]
(v) Letter signed ("Wellington"), to Beresford, asking that he insert this letter into a General Order issued to the army, on Bacellar's recrossing the Douro ("...It is necessary however... to observe upon the Conduct of those Individuals both Officers & Soldiers who deserted their Colours... when their Country was in danger; and I beg you to have the names of the Officers in particular made publicke throughout the Country..."), 3 pages, folio, Villa Formosa, 10 April 1811 [Dispatches, 1844, iv, p.737]
(vi) Letter signed ("Wellington"), to Beresford, discussing the complaints raised by Brigadier Blunt against the commissary, 6 pages, 4to, Nissa, 18 April 1811 [Dispatches, 1844, iv, p.755]
(vii) Memorandum signed ("W"), to Beresford, giving detailed instructions for the investment of Badajoz and for offering battle at Albuera should the enemy attempt its relief ("...If Sir Wm Beresford should think his strength sufficient to fight a general Action to save the Siege of Badajoz, he will collect his Troops to fight it. I believe that upon the whole the most central and advantageous place to collect his Troops will be at Albuera... If they attempt to turn his right, he has the same Choice, or to march by his Right upon Valverde, and place his Right upon the Valverde Rivulet./ All this must of course be left to the decision of Sir Wm Beresford. I authorize him to fight the Action if he should think proper; or to retire if he should not..."), 11 pages, Whatman Britannia watermarked paper dated 1808, pink-red silk ties, folio, Elvas, 23 April 1811 [Dispatches, 1844, iv, p.765](viii) Enclosed "Memorandum for M.ll Sir WC Beresford, Colonel Fletcher & Major Dickson", unsigned, giving instructions to the engineers on the siege of Badajoz, 7 pages, folio, Elvas, 23 April 1811 [Dispatches, 1844, iv, p.765]
(ix) Enclosed copy, unsigned, of the memorandum [to the Officers in command of Corps at Estremadura], 7 pages, folio, [Elvas], 23 April 1811 [Dispatches, 1844, iv, p.766]
(x) "Copie No 1", unsigned, [of the letter in French to General Castaņos], 5 pages, folio, Elvas, 24 April 1811 [Dispatches,1844, iv, p.769: our text differing in its phrasing and appearing to be a more Anglophone version, presumably as taken verbatim from Wellington]
(xi) Letter signed ("Wellington"), to Beresford, giving instructions for the fortification of Elvas, 8 pages, folio, Elvas, 18 June 1811 [Dispatches, 1838, viii, p.33](xii) Letter signed ("Wellington"), to Beresford, enclosing the letter of thanks by the Lord Mayor and City of London "to Yourself and the General Officers, Officers and non Commissioned Officers and Private Soldiers of the Allied Army under Your Command on the 16th May last in the memorable Battle of Albuera", one page, folio, Richoso, 1 October 1811
(xiii) Enclosed autograph letter signed ("J.P. Smith") by the Lord Mayor of London, to Viscount Wellington, sending the Vote of Thanks to Beresford for Albuera, 2 pages, 4to, London, 11 August 1811
(xiv) Enclosed resolution of the Common Council of the City of London, to Beresford and his army for the Battle of Albuera, one page, folio, Guildhall, 11 July 1811
(xv) Enclosed resolution of the Common Council of the City of London, presenting the Freedom of the City to Beresford for the Battle of Albuera, one page, folio, Guildhall, 11 July 1811
(xvi) Later material, including letters to Beresford by Peel, and the letter signed by Richard Airey at the Horse Guards extending the Queen's invitation that he take part "in the procession on the occasion of the Funeral of the late Illustrious Field Marshal The Duke of Wellington" (1852)
(xvii) A spelter and bronze bust of Beresford

Footnotes

"I BELIEVE UPON THE WHOLE THAT THE MOST CENTRAL AND ADVANTAGEOUS PLACE TO COLLECT HIS TROOPS WILL BE AT ALBUERA": the celebrated dispatch sent by Wellington to Beresford before Albuera, the bloodiest battle of the Peninsular War. While he displayed considerable ability in refashioning the Portuguese army, Beresford enjoyed less success as a field commander. In early 1811 Sir Rowland Hill, the commander of Wellington's southern wing in Spain, had been invalided home and Beresford, as next in seniority, replaced him. The Battle of Albuera, by which he succeeded in cutting off Soult's attempt to relieve Badajoz, was his one major engagement as an independent commander, although one fought at a terrible price: see Guy Dempsey, Albuera 1811 – The Bloodiest Battle of the Peninsular War (2008); Byron lamenting it as: "Oh, Albuera, glorious field of grief! ... A scene where mingling foes should boast and bleed!" (Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, 1812, canto 1, section 43); while Wellington remarked that another such battle would ruin them (Gordon L. Teffeteller, ODNB).

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