Historical Dictionary of the Napoleonic Era

by George F Nafziger

  On 21 December 1816 Friedrich August, King of Saxony, appointed him Kapellmeister of the German Opera in Dresden. While there Weber wrote the opera Der Freischütz, the story that had long fermented in his mind as an ideal subject for an opera. It was completed on 13 May 1820 and produced with resounding success in Berlin on 18 June 1821. The success of Der Freischütz did not bring Weber any significant reward or improvement in his situation. Weber had contracted tuberculosis earlier and it sapped his strength as he struggled to complete Oberon. He finished the overture in London, at the house of Sir George Smart, in March 1826 and the final work was produced on 12 April, a huge success. Weber’s health, however, steadily declined, despite the care of his host, Sir George Smart. He was found dead in his bed the morning of 5 June 1826. Initially, Weber was buried at Moorfields Chapel, but in 1844 he was removed to his family vault in Dresden, where Richard Wagner spoke.

  Karl Maria von Weber’s output consisted of two masses, two symphonies, eight cantatas and other pieces totaling more than 250 compositions.

  WELLESLEY, RICHARD COLLEY WESLEY, MARQUESS (1760–1842). Wellesley was born on 20 June 1760 as the eldest son of the 1st Earl of Mornington and the brother to the Duke of Wellington. Wellesley studied at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford. When his father died in 1781 he became the Earl of Mornington. As such, Wellesley assumed his seat in the Irish House of Peers. In 1784 he entered the English House of Commons standing for Beeralston. From there Pitt appointed him lord of the treasury. In 1793 Wellesley became a member of the Board of Control over Indian affairs and in 1797 was sent to India as governor-general. As such, Wellesley oversaw a rapid expansion of British control in India, eventually bringing it to imperial stature. His tenure was not easy, as his policies soon brought him into conflict with the Court of Directors of the East India Company. More than once he submitted his resignation, it finally being accepted in the autumn of 1805. Wellesley returned to England shortly before the death of his friend Pitt. In 1797 he had been elevated to the dignity of a peer of England and in 1799 to that of an Irish marquis.

  In 1807, after the fall of the coalition ministry, Wellesley was invited by George III to join the Duke of Portland’s cabinet, but he declined. There were outstanding charges of abuse of power being brought against him because of his activities in India. Wellesley was, however, absolved of those charges. In 1809, while his brother Arthur, the Duke of Wellington, was campaigning in Spain, Wellesley was appointed Britain’s ambassador to Spain. He arrived in Cadiz shortly after the battle of Talavera. Not long afterward Wellesley was appointed foreign secretary in Perceval’s cabinet. Wellesley retired in February 1812 because of the lack of support he perceived his brother was receiving in Spain as well as over the question of Catholic emancipation. Wellesley soon became identified with the claim of justice by Irish Catholics.

  Wellesley remained out of office until 1821, but not out of politics. He severely criticized the proceedings of the Congress of Vienna. He signed a protest against the Corn Laws enacted in 1815. When Wellesley returned to government, in 1821, he was appointed lord-lieutenant of Ireland. Catholic emancipation was not fulfilled, as Wellesley resigned when his brother assumed office. The Duke of Wellington opposed Catholic emancipation. In 1833 Wellesley resumed office as lord-lieutenant under Earl Grey’s short ministry. Wellesley died on 26 September 1842.

  WELLINGTON, ARTHUR WELLESLEY, MARSHAL, 1ST DUKE OF (1769–1852). Wellington was born in Dublin in 1769, the fourth son of the Earl of Mornington. He was educated at Eton and a military school at Angers. He received a commission in the 73rd Highland Infantry Regiment. Wellesley passed quickly through the lower ranks in five different regiments, becoming a major in the 33rd Regiment of Foot and purchased the lieutenant colonelcy in that regiment in 1793 using monies advanced to him by his brother, Richard Wellesley. Despite his position in the regiment, he did little regimental duty, but served as aide-de-camp to the lord-lieutenant of Ireland for most of his early military career. About this time Wellesley was sent to Parliament for the family borough of Trim.

  In 1794–95 Wellesley had his first taste of active service when the British, under the Duke of York, were driven out of Holland by Jean Charles Pichegru. In 1796 Wellesley was sent with his regiment to India, serving as a brevet-colonel. Here he mastered regimental duties and worked closely with his eldest brother, Richard.

  During the war with Tippoo Sahib, Colonel Wellesley commanded a division in the army of General George Harris. His service was sufficient enough that his brother appointed him to the supreme military and political command in Mysore, over the claims of his senior, Sir David Baird.

  Wellesley rapidly demonstrated his skills as an administrator and statesman. In early 1801 Wellesley was ordered to Egypt with a body of troops. However, a fever contracted en route stopped him in Bombay, so he did not go to Egypt. Instead, Wellesley remained in India and was present when the Mahratta War erupted. By that time a major general, he was given command of a division and ordered to restore the Peshwa. Wellesley crossed the frontier on 12 March 1803 and soon amassed a string of unbroken successes, restoring the Peshwa to British rule. His success was such that he was soon charged with “the general direction and control of military and political affairs in the territories of Nizam, the Peshwa, and the Mahratta states and chiefs.” After bad faith was demonstrated by Sindhia, war was declared on 6 August 1803 and Wellesley moved against him. On 23 September Wellesley engaged Sindhia at Assaye with a force of 4,500 regulars and 5,000 native levies. Facing him were 30,000 horse, 10,000 European drilled infantry and 100 well-served cannon. Wellesley’s victory was complete and the war continued only until Wellesley’s victory at Argaum on 29 November and the storming of Gawilghur on 15 December. Mahratta power was completely broken by Wellesley, not yet 35 years old.

  Wellesley returned to England in 1805 and the following year he was elected to Parliament for Rye in Sussex. A year after entering the House of Commons, the Duke of Portland appointed Wellesley as his Irish secretary for a few months. Although a member of the government, Arthur Wellesley remained in the army and was sent on the expedition against Copenhagen, where he defeated the Danes at Kjoge on 29 October 1805.

  In April Wellesley was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general and given command of a division of troops destined for the Iberian Peninsula. Landing in Mondego Bay in the first week of August, he quickly engaged the French on 22 August 1808 in his first victory over them at Vimiero. Shortly later Sir Harry Burrard landed and, being senior, assumed command. Wellesley was, in turn, superseded by Sir Hew Dalrymple. The 1808 campaign ended in the Convention of Cintra. By its terms the French were given free passage aboard British ships to France and this so outraged the British public that a court of inquiry was held in which both Dalrymple and Burrard were quietly exiled into oblivion. Wellesley, however, escaped censure and was returned to Spain as commander in chief. He then began a long series of campaigns that lasted until 1814 when the British armies invaded southern France. He was victorious at Talavera de la Reina on 27–28 July 1808 and was given a peerage for his victory. When faced with overwhelming French forces under Masséna in 1810 he fled behind the defensive works of Torres Vedras, in Portugal. Only when Masséna’s forces were forced to withdraw by starvation from a stripped and ravaged land did he dare to venture forth. He would be victorious at the battle of Salamanca on 15 July 1812 and was awarded a marquessate for his victory. He was soon given supreme command of the Spanish armies. His greatest victory was at Vitoria on 21 June 1813 where he destroyed the French armies as they evacuated Spain. Wellesley drove the French back into France and on 1 April 1814 engaged and defeated the French at Toulouse.

  As rank would go, Wellesley is probably the only general officer in history to have been made a field marshal four times. He was awarded the rank in British service on 21 June 1813, marshal general in the Portuguese army on 29 April 1809, field marshal in Dutch service on 23 May 1815 and on 16 November 1818 the Prussians granted Wellesley the rank
of generalfeldmarschal.

  After his peninsular campaigns Wellesley returned to England and during his short stay there in a single day in May he received five successive patents of nobility, from baron to the Duke of Wellington. In May he was made ambassador to France and watched developments from Paris. He remained in France until February 1815 when he was sent to the Congress of Vienna. During the Hundred Days Wellington returned to England and then to the army forming in the Netherlands. On 18 June Wellington, along with the Prussians under Blücher, engaged and defeated Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo, winning immortality. For this victory he was awarded the title “Prince of Waterloo” by Louis XVIII. During his entry into Paris, Wellington was initially warmly received, but he soon became intensely unpopular. He was held responsible not only for the occupation of Paris but for every incident that arose, including Blücher’s attempt to blow up the Pont d’Iéna (named after Napoleon’s crushing defeat of the Prussians in 1806 at Iéna, which is called Jena in German). There were two assassination attempts. On 18 April 1826 the King of Prussia made him the inhaber of the Prussian 28th Infantry Regiment.

  In 1818 Wellington turned to politics, accepting with some reluctance the invitation of Lord Liverpool to join his Tory administration as master-general of the ordnance. In February 1826 Wellington was sent to Russia to congratulate Czar Nicholas I on his accession to the throne, but also to persuade the Russians to ally themselves with Britain. Wellington failed in this attempt. Indeed, he failed miserably, being forced to grant concession after concession to the Czar. On 4 April the St. Petersburg Protocol was signed.

  On 5 December 1826 the Duke of York died and the post of commander in chief of the British army was given to Wellington. His situation with the government became increasingly strained until April 1827 when Canning succeeded Lord Liverpool as prime minister. Wellington refused to serve under him, greatly undermining his administration.

  When Canning died, Lord Goderich succeeded him and Goderich offered Wellington the post of commander in chief once again. Wellington accepted, but five months later, when Lord Goderich’s cabinet fell, Wellington became prime minister (9 January 1828).

  On 15 November 1830 the duke’s government fell. The new king, William IV, was more sympathetic to reform than his predecessor and two days later decided to ask Earl Grey to form a government. As soon as Grey became prime minister he formed a cabinet committee to produce a plan for parliamentary reform. Details of the proposals were announced on 3 February 1831. The bill was passed by the House of Commons by a strong majority, but despite a powerful speech by Earl Grey, the bill was soundly defeated in the House of Lords.

  Wellington attended the opening of the Liverpool to Manchester Railway where he was booed and hissed by the crowds as his train entered Manchester because of his views on the Peterloo Massacre and his opposition to the 1832 Reform Act.

  For two years Wellington was in opposition. On the removal of Lord Althorp to the House of Lords in 1823, William IV unexpectedly dismissed the Whig government and requested Wellington to form a cabinet. Wellington demurred, recommending that Peel should head the new government and he would serve under him as foreign secretary. Peel’s government was short lived. When Peel returned to power in 1841 Wellington served under him as commander in chief.

  Wellington retired from public life in 1846, but in April 1848 he organized a military force to protect London against possible Chartist violence. The Duke of Wellington died on 14 September 1852 and is buried under the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral.

  WERELOE, TREATY OF. The Treaty of Wereloe ended the Russo-Swedish War of 1788–90. It was signed on 15 August 1790.

  WESTPHALIA. The Imperial Decree of 15 November 1807 issued by Napoleon Bonaparte from his palace at Fontainebleau announced the establishment of the Kingdom of Westphalia. The establishment of this new state was confirmed by Czar Alexander I and Friedrich Wilhelm III, King of Prussia when they signed the Treaty of Tilsit. In the Treaty of Tilsit the King of Prussia also formally relinquished his possessions to the left of the Elbe and other lands that Napoleon used to form this new state. On 24 December 1807 Jérôme Bonaparte issued a decree from his new capital in Cassel that divided Westphalia into eight departments.

  The Department of the Elbe was formed of the Duchy of Magdeburg, the Duchy of Barby, the Aemtern of Gommersch (taken from Saxony), the Aemtern of Alt Mark, the Braunschweig Amt Calvorde and the Amt Weserlingen.

  The Department of Fulda was formed from part of Nieder-Hessen (Lower Hesse-Cassel), Paderborn, Corvey, Amt Reckenburg, the County of Reitberg Kaunitz and the Amt of Munden.

  The Harz Department was formed from the Principality of Eichsfeld, the County of Hohenstein, part of the Principality of Grubenhagen, Walkenried, part of Blankenburg, part of Hesse-Cassel, and the towns of Muhlhausen and Nordhausen.

  The Department of Leinen was formed from Göttingen, part of the Principality of Grubenhagen, and parts of Hildesheim, Brunswick, and Hesse-Cassel. The Department of Ocker took in most of the Principalities of Wolfenbüttel and Hildesheim, Goslar and some of the villages of the Duchy of Magdeburg. The Department of the Saale was formed from the Principality of Blankenburg, Quedlingburg, Saalkreise, parts of Mansfeld which had belonged to Prussia and Saxony and some of the village of the Duchy of Magdeburg.

  The Department of Werra was formed from Ober-Hessen (Upper Hesse-Cassel), the County of Ziegenhain, the Principality of Hersfeld, the greater part of Neider-Hessen (Lower Hesse-Cassel) and the Herrschaft of Schmalkalden. The last department, the Department of Weser, consisted of the Principality of Minden, the counties of Ravensburg and Bistham Osnabrück, the Hessian parts of Schaumburg and the Amt of Thedinghausen.

  These territories were formed from what had formed Hanover, Brunswick and Hesse-Kassel. When the Treaty of Amiens collapsed and war erupted between England and France on 18 May 1803 the only British territory or possession that was accessible to Napoleon was the Duchy of Hanover. He promptly sent 20,000 men under Mortier, then in Holland, into Hanover. England was unable to assist the Hanoverian army and its commander, Count Wallmoden, was obliged to withdraw his troops behind the Elbe. The Convention of Artlenburg, dated 5 July 1803, officially ended the existence of the Hanoverian army.

  With the conquest of Hanover, it passed into French control. In 1805 an arrangement was made with Prussia at Schönbrunn Palace that turned Hanover over to Prussia in exchange for other considerations. Despite this agreement, Napoleon recanted and it remained firmly under French control at the end of 1806. Napoleon’s refusal to honor this agreement was one of the many causes of the 1806 Prussian campaign.

  The relationship between France and Brunswick (Braunschweig in German) was very straightforward. There were long-standing family ties between the Brunswick and Prussian royal houses. The duke Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand von Braunschweig had been a Prussian general and served as commander in chief of the Prussian army at the battle of Auerstädt. He was mortally wounded during this battle and died in Ottensen, near Hamburg, on 11 October 1806. The duchy had remained neutral during the campaign, but Napoleon had all the excuse he required to invade the tiny duchy. On 27 October 1806 General Bisson led his division into Brunswick and overthrew the weak garrisons of Braunschweig and Wolfenbüttel.

  The third major state merged into Westphalia was Hesse-Cassel. Duke Wilhelm von Hessen-Cassel had a blind hatred for the French Revolution and Napoleon. He had set himself against both and joined the Prussians during the 1806 campaign. After the battles of Jena-Auerstädt he found himself in a very compromised situation. His lands were invaded by Marshal Mortier and 6,000 infantry at the end of October. On 27 October 1806 Mortier moved his forces through Fulda and the Hesse-Cassel army ceased to exist.

  Westphalia was ruled on the basis of the ideas that had come out of the French Revolution, and its king, Jérôme, was not an unenlightened despot. The Law of 31 March 1809 abolished the old distinctions between the nobility, bourgeoisie and peasantry. On 12 November 1809 Westphalia adopte
d the Code Napoleon and modeled its government entirely after that of Napoleonic France. It was overrun by the Allies in November 1813 and ceased to exist as the former rulers reclaimed the territories that had formed it.

  WILHELM I, FRIEDRICH, KING OF THE NETHERLANDS (1772–1843). Wilhelm was born on 24 August 1772 in The Hague, to Wilhelm V, Prince of Orange and Hereditary Stadtholder of the Netherlands, and Friederick Sophie Wilhelmine, Princess of Prussia and daughter of King Friedrich Wilhelm II.

  In 1790 Wilhelm entered the University of Leyden. On 24 February 1791 he was serving as a volunteer in the Leibregiment zu Pferd and from 1793 to 1795 he fought against the French forces that had invaded the Netherlands. On 3 January 1798 Wilhelm was promoted to the rank of generalleutnant in the Prussian army. Wilhelm was given command of the Prussian Goetze Infantry Regiment on 17 February 1806 and in 1806 was at Erfurt when it capitulated. In 1809 he was in Austrian service, fighting at Wagram. Wilhelm participated in the 1813 and 1814 campaigns, but was not at any of the major battles. On 16 March 1815 Wilhelm was crowned King of the Netherlands. He abdicated on 7 October 1840 to his son Wilhelm II and retired with the title of Graf von Nassau. Wilhelm died on 12 December 1843 in Berlin. (Also see Holland.)