"It has been a damned serious business... Blucher and I have lost 30,000 men. It has been a damned nice thing — the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life. … By God! I don't think it would have been done if I had not been there."

Arthur Wellesley Politics See all quotes by Arthur Wellesley →

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“They wanted this iron fist to command them.”

“Just to show you how little reliance can be placed even on what are supposed the best accounts of a battle, I mention that there are some circumstances mentioned in General —'s account which did not occur as he relates them. It is impossible to say when each important occurrence took place, or in what order.”

“Wellington's Military and Political Career”

“More about Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington on the Downing Street website”

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“Mistaken for me, is he? That's strange, for no one ever mistakes me for Mr. Jones.”

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