"Napoleon and Wellington personal friends." Topic

About Napoleon, I know who were those who considered by him as "friends" (if that can be applied to an Emperor). Like Lannes or Louis Charles De Saix

But who were the friends of Wellington?

Thanks in advance for your guidance.

Amicalement
Armand

Can't see why not, their horses became lovers.

see Warhorses of Letters audio books with Stephen Fry as Marengo and Daniel Rigby as Copenhagen.

What? they went out drinking together looking for birds to pull?

I think Alava could be considered a friend of Wellington. Its curious, that Alava went with Wellington in the 1815 campaign.

Chalfant

that Alava went with Wellington in the 1815 campaign

He got one of those package holiday deals (6 Nights: B&B & coach transfer incl.) for the Low Countries.
The Alava kids wanted Euro Disney but the old man held out for the quiet of the Belgian countryside. Big mistake.

I can tell you who was not a friend. Lord Uxbridge.

Oddly enough, Paget, Uxbridge, Anglesey and DoW remained as thick as thieves for the rest of their lives. Invited to every anniversary dinner and never snubbed socially according to "One Leg". "Long as he don't run off with me…………"

DoW cried over the loss of so many friends that night we are told. Gordon esp for example, but not that much evidence for any real "friendship" there. Picton he could not abide, Fraser, Orange, Brunswick, de Lancey, Hill, he kept at arms length or tolerated at best. I wonder about non military friends though. Certainly plenty of lady friends! Good evidence for Alava as a proper "friend"

It's my understanding that Wellington was a gregarious fellow but something of a snob. He enjoyed the company of the young men of good family and talent who made up his staff. He was particularly moved by the death of Major the Hon Edward Somers Cocks who was one of his 'sketching officers' in the Peninsula (sketching officers accompanied cavalry patrols and sketched the ground ahead of the army). Away from military life, I believe he numbered Castlereagh among his friends.

I initiated a conversation with some Napoleonic gaming buddies, about Wellington more or less breaking down in tears after Waterloo…. there are some accounts of that. I thought [take my conjecture with a grain of salt… it is after all, only conjecture] it was a combination of losing so many of his personal staff (dead or wounded) in such a short campaign, and, perhaps a sign of the cumulative effects of a life time of campaigning (with a vastly larger number of lost lives). Snob or cold fish or not…. he certainly felt the loss of some of those men.

Of the three major leaders present for the 1815 campaign, only one (Blucher) seemed to be himself. People talk of Napoleon not being the same…. but Wellington made a few odd comments, odd even for him. What was the one, something about his British troops, "… they will not run, and it will take a long time for the French to kill them all.." I am not sure in what context a statement like that can be seen as "optimistic". It may be a compliment to his own troops, but at the same time, its a bit fatalistic too.

Thinking about the original question in a different light, it was probably a good thing personally for Wellington to have one friend, Alava, with him after Waterloo concluded.

Chalfant

The Duke also broke down in the aftermath of 'I think' Badajos. Picton 'in so many words' told the Duke to get a grip of himself.

The Duke was not averse to showing his sorrow throughout his career.

Anyway, It can be a lonely life for great commanders.

Paul :)

The Duke was not averse to showing his sorrow throughout his career.

Yep, when he left the army and went into politics he never could understand why people hated the tories, and him, so much. My heart bleeds.

His career in the Army, where he is showing regret for the deaths of the soldiers. This has nothing to do with Party Politics.

The great difficulty with gaining a proper understanding of history is the subtle changes in manners that take place over time. I've read a first hand reference to Wellington walking "arm in arm" with the guerilla leader Don Julian Sanchez, and there are frequent references in other journals to British officers wlaking around Spanish and Portuguese towns in this way. Not something you would expect to see today. Then there is the famous kiss between (the dying) Nelson and his close friend, Thomas Hardy.
Society has changed a lot in 200 years and it can be very misleading to interpret behaviour at that time by modern standards. I have never read anything by his contemporaries to dispute the, then common, opinion that Wellington was a 'cold fish' and I don't think we can use his tears after a battle to challenge this view if no-one at the time thought that invalidated this opinion in any way.

He may have appeared a 'cold fish' to some but he also seems to have been a gregarious chap who enjoyed company when dining on campaign and who on these occasions encouraged an informal atmosphere, even among his junior officers. He was also capable of forming strong attachments. Lord Raglan, who was an ADC in the Peninsula and who later served as his military secretary, became a close friend.

From the title of the thread I thought you meant Nosey and Boney were personal friends!

Mind you I don't think Boney had many " friends",not his style.

Yep, when he left the army and went into politics he never could understand why people hated the tories, and him, so much. My heart bleeds.

Always a shame when an otherwise sensible and interesting thread gets hijacked by someone's bu11sh1t politics.

"Of the three major leaders present for the 1815 campaign, only one (Blucher) seemed to be himself. People talk of Napoleon not being the same…. but Wellington made a few odd comments, odd even for him. What was the one, something about his British troops, "… they will not run, and it will take a long time for the French to kill them all.." I am not sure in what context a statement like that can be seen as "optimistic". It may be a compliment to his own troops, but at the same time, its a bit fatalistic too."

The context of that statement is he knew his only chance to win the battle was to hold the ground enough time to allow Prussians attack the French Right Wing.

Napoleon had more guns and his army was much better than Wellington's one.

The great difficulty with gaining a proper understanding of history is the subtle changes in manners that take place over time. I've read a first hand reference to Wellington walking "arm in arm" with the guerilla leader Don Julian Sanchez, and there are frequent references in other journals to British officers wlaking around Spanish and Portuguese towns in this way. Not something you would expect to see today. Then there is the famous kiss between (the dying) Nelson and his close friend, Thomas Hardy.
Society has changed a lot in 200 years and it can be very misleading to interpret behaviour at that time by modern standards. I have never read anything by his contemporaries to dispute the, then common, opinion that Wellington was a 'cold fish' and I don't think we can use his tears after a battle to challenge this view if no-one at the time thought that invalidated this opinion in any way.

Weeping copiously. Reading poetry. Open expressions of affection to other men. All totally normal and expected things for a Regency era man to do. Also cold-bloodedly killing other men in duels over trifles. Different times.

Also just WHY Well was thought to be a "cold fish" might be interesting to figure out – given the vast gap in sensibility between the 2 eras. Was it because he was too calculating and not seen as "hot-headed" enough on the battlefield for instance?