Wellington In India

The author of Wellington in the Peninsula presents an in-depth study of the British military commander’s early career in Colonial India. Before Arthur Wellesley, the future 1st Duke of Wellington, faced Napoleon's armies, he developed his skills as a military commander in the far reaches of the British Empire. In India, Wellesley led his men to victory against the Tipu Sultan at the Battle of Mallavelly, and suffered injury at the Battle of Seringapatam. He would later put his experience of strategy and tactics to masterly effect against his most formidable opponent in years to come. Historian Jac Weller gives a complete account of Wellington's career in India, the battles and sieges he undertook, the challenges he faced, and the lessons he learned. Weller explores the first major steps in Wellesley's career and demonstrates how these early triumphs set him on the road that would eventually lead to Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo.

This study examines the observations of U.S. military personnel who attended India's Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) at Wellington. Although the DSSC is a tri-service professional military education institution, this study focuses primarily on the Indian Army, the largest and most influentialmilitary service in India. Collectively, U.S. personnel at the DSSC had sustained interactionsover an extended period of time with three distinct groups of Indian Army officers: seniorofficers (brigadier through lieutenant general), senior midlevel (lieutenant colonel and colonel),and junior midlevel (captain and major). The study focuses on the attitudes and values of theIndian Army officer corps over a 38-year period, from 1979 to 2017, to determine if there waschange over time, and if so, to understand the drivers of that change.

This “superb account of the British Army under Wellington in India reads like one of Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe novels, or, better still, a Flashman novel” (Books Monthly). The Peninsular War and the Napoleonic Wars across Europe are subjects of such enduring interest that they have prompted extensive research and writing. Yet other campaigns, in what was a global war, have been largely ignored. Such is the case for the war in India which persisted for much of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic periods and peaked in the years 1798-1805 with the campaigns of Arthur Wellesley—later the Duke of Wellington—and General Lake in the Deccan and Hindustan. That is why this new study by Martin Howard is so timely and important. While it fully acknowledges Wellington’s vital role, it also addresses the nature of the warring armies, the significance of the campaigns of Lake in North India, and leaves the reader with an understanding of the human experience of war in the region. For this was a brutal conflict in which British armies clashed with the formidable forces of the Sultan of Mysore and the Maratha princes. There were dramatic pitched battles at Assaye, Argaum, Delhi and Laswari, and epic sieges at Seringapatam, Gawilghur and Bhurtpore. The British success was not universal. “An absorbing account of Wellesley/Lord Wellington which shows how his actions in India had a significant effect on the development of the British Empire and events through to the modern era.—Highly Recommended.” —Firetrench “An eye opener on the power and influence of the East India Company at this time. A jolly good read.” —Clash of Steel

The Duke of Wellington, the most successful of British commanders, set a standard by which all subsequent British generals have been measured. His defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815 crowned a reputation first won in India at Assaye and then confirmed during the Peninsular War, where he followed up his defence of Portugal by expelling the French from Spain. Gordon Corrigan, himself an ex-soldier, examines his claims to greatness. Wellington was in many ways the first modern general, combining a mastery of logistics with an ability to communicate and inspire. He had to contend not only with enemy armies but also with his political masters and an often sceptical public at home.

Originally published in 1908 by the Intelligence Branch of the Indian Army, this is a complete and connected account of the campaigns of the Duke of Wellington whilst in India, as written by Major R. G. Burton, 94th Russell’s Infantry, who later rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. An invaluable addition to any Indian Military History collection.