General Wellesley Research Paper

WELLINGTON’S GREAT LEADERSHIP ACTIONS AND TRAITS
Patrick Rayl
Excelsior College
MIL301
M3A1

Wellesley’s leadership actions
During September 1803, Major General Wellesley demonstrated great leadership action by leading his men, a combined force of about 24,000 fully equipped British and Hyderabad soldiers into an overwhelmingly combat engagement against 200,000 Maratha forces (Harvey 2008). Wellesley was cited by one of his Brigadier Generals with “being in the thick of the action the whole time, and had a horse killed under him” (Harvey 2008, p. 195). During this battle Wellesley demonstrated his ability to take advantage of the enemy by controlling the timing of engagement and by devising a well-orchestrated attack, exploiting
success resulting in forcing the Maratha forces to flee their position. His success was a combination of direct action, leadership traits, and basic military tactics. Sun Tzu’s principles of “avoid what is strong, attack what is weak” and “a falcon strike breaks the body of its prey, it is because of timing, when torrential water tosses boulders, it is because of momentum” (Art of War”, Sun Tzu 2009) is a great example of Wellesley’s decisive military action at the battle of Maratha. His use of old-fashioned linear tactics in concert with well-disciplined troops, coordinated attacks, precision, and timely execution allowed him to control the battle rhythm while maintaining the momentum to destroy the enemy’s weak points of defense.
Wellesley’s leadership traits
Major General Wellesley’s demonstrated several leadership traits during this one engagement. Prior to this battle, Wellesley was referred to as “the pampered governor-general’s brother” (Harvey 2008, p. 194) as Richard Wellesley, his older brother was Member of Parliament. His display of discipline, confidence, personal courage, knowledge, decisiveness, adaptability, and judgment during the battle against the Maratha Forces in India was an exemplary example of great military leadership which resulted in him gaining the respect of his men. Wellesley marched his soldiers, equipment, and supplies over 600 miles demonstrating his ability to impose his will of discipline to his subordinate leaders to complete such a task (Harvey 2008). During this time, he had command of over 9,000 allies which demonstrates is adaptive quality as “he learned about the limits of European-style military practices and how to work with allies—especially those who were difficult or untrustworthy” (Smith 2012). Wellesley continues to exude his confidence by deciding to attack the Maratha forces, 200,000 strong, at Assye without waiting for reinforcements, this was a significant risk as attrition of forces was a battle tactic of the times. Here he demonstrates Sun Tzu’s principle of: “Numbers alone confirm in no advantage” (Art of War”, Sun Tzu 2009). He continues by leading his men into the thick of battle demonstrating his personal courage under fire which was witnessed by one of his generals, demonstrating leadership by example (Harvey 2008). This one combat action is a testament of his knowledge of maneuver tactics, decisiveness to make timely decisions, and his judgment to commit to a set course of action exploiting it for success.
Paralleling actions during invasion of Iraq
General, Mattis commanded the 1st Marine Division during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and parallels Wellington’s leadership abilities by keeping the enemy off balance and retaining its tactical momentum.
During the siege for Bagdad, on April 7, 2003, Mattis commanded the First Marine Division to conduct an assault using bridging operations while under fire to cross the Diyala River and enter Baghdad.
This was the first assault bridge crossing conducted in the face of the enemy since World War II. The division secured the eastern half of Baghdad in six days with a total of 76 casualties, four KIA and 72 WIA. The division’s fire discipline and judicious use of supporting arms in this densely populated area avoided a potentially catastrophic toll among the civilian population and minimized collateral damage. During the fight for Baghdad, the division seized key facilities, including the Rasheed Military Complex, the Atomic Energy Commission, the Baghdad University, Tariq Aziz’s residence, the Ministry of Defense Complex, the Fedeyeen Headquarters, and the Directorate for General Security (DGS) Headquarters. Division Marines displayed noteworthy valor in this mission, incurring one KIA and 22 WIA (Kennedy et al., 2006, p. 2).
Conclusion
Wellesley’s engagement with the Maratha forces in the face of overwhelming odds demonstrates great leadership qualities and proof that leadership traits coupled with basic military tactics were a successful method of attacking the enemy resulting in his finest battle. The leadership actions and traits demonstrated by Wellesley during Maratha have become a resource for future commanders to study, analyze, and execute during military
operations.

References:
“Art of War”, Sun Tzu, A&E Special, History Channel, (2009). Television.
Harvey R. (2008). Maverick military leaders. New York. NY. Skyhouse Publications.
Smith, Steven M. Wellington’s Wars. (2012). http://www.armchairgeneral.com/wellingtons-wars-book-review.htm
Kennedy, Christopher M. Major, Renfrow, Wanda J., Englander, Evelyn A., Lowery, Nathan S. (2006). US Marines in Iraq, 2003: Anthology and annotated bibliography. History Division United States Marine Corps Washington, D.C. 2006