Leadership of Willington

Leadership of Wellington

The British general Arthur Wellesley beautifully fits the model of a maverick military commander offered by Robert Harvey in his work Maverick Military Leaders, the Extraordinary Battles of Washington, Nelson, Patton, Rommel, and Others. Maverick Military Leaders discusses Wellesley's first (and significant) battle against Maratha forces at the Battle of Assaye. In Harvey's formulation, the future Duke of Wellington can be understood to exhibit most, if not all, of the sixteen traits found in successful battlefield commanders; and indeed, Wellington would go on to defeat Napoleon and end the putative emperor's reign at the decisive Battle of Waterloo in 1815. The victory at Waterloo would secure Britain's position as a great power vis a vis continental politics and affairs for the next century-and-a-half. It can be fairly said that the qualities of leadership that Wellesley displayed at Assaye were a precursor in his eventually becoming one of the United Kingdom's greatest battlefield commanders. In fact, Wellington considered the fighting at Assaye to be his "finest battle" (Harvey, p. 195).

But what leadership characteristics did Wellesley display in the Indian campaigns? According to Harvey's framework, the general displayed the first trait of "outstanding and exemplary courage under fire" (Harvey, p. xlvi). According to Richard Cavendish at History Today, Wellesley personally led his troops to ford the Kaitna river and organize a bayonet attack against the Maratha forces and in fact, over the course of directing the battle, Wellesley would have two horses shot out from under him as he directed his troops against surprisingly effective counter-maneuvers by the stubborn Maratha forces (Harvey, p. 195; www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/battle-assaye). His courage and willingness to share the risks associated with battlefield fighting served as an example to this troops that he was not afraid to take the same dangers and threats that he would ask of the lowest ranking infantryman -- thus inspiring all his troops to take his lead and follow his example.

The second characteristic Wellesley displayed according to Harvey's schema was the "ability to think coolly and rationally on the battlefield" (Harvey, p xlvi). Harvey informs his readers that one of Wellesley's generals exclaimed that "no man could have shown a better example to his troops than he did. I never saw a man so cool and collected" (Harvey, p. 195). The fact that Wellesley was able to maintain his composure against a determined and numerically superior force and emerge victorious is a testament to his ability to "think coolly and rationally on the battlefield." As far as the third trait in Harvey's formulation goes -- the determination to make [his] own way to the top on merit -- in this too, we find Wellesley. Cavendish writes that Wellesley's peers and rivals were convinced he received his command due to the fact that his brother was the Governor-General of India, but nevertheless, Wellesley's accounting of himself at Assay (and in his future battles) proved that he had the necessary mettle to be a legitimate premier battlefield commander (Cavendish).

As far as the schema's sixth and seventh traits, the ability to have a strategic and tactical grasp of the battlefield situation in order to seize unexpected advantage and attain a superior fighting position; in this as well, do we see Arthur Wellesley acquit himself superbly. Wellesley surveyed the surrounding ground and used it to his army's advantage. He understood that he had finer, higher ground from which to ford the river and begin his attack, and he was able to use his better ground to direct his troops and cavalry against the enemy flanks. As the Maratha forces were able to counter Wellesley's moves with "European efficiency," the future duke was able to recognize his opponent's skill and intention and react accordingly, and thus he was able to protect his own flanks while destroying those of his opponent's. (Cavendish). At Assay, we also see the eventual Duke of Wellington adhere to Harvey's ninth trait -- that of a "penchant for fighting against superior odds that could catch a complacent enemy unawares" (Harvey, p xlvi). In this battle according to Harvey's numbers, Wellesley's force numbered roughly twenty-four thousand infantry and cavalry to the Maratha's forces approximately two-hundred thousand infantry and cavalry (Harvey, p. 194). Even though the British and their allies were greatly outnumbered, the superior skill of Wellesley's leadership allowed the British army not only to array well against greatly increased numerical odds, but to prevail in an absolute victory against those odds as well.