Wellesley, Arthur, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769-1852). Autograph letter signed ("Wellington") to Sir James Graham, Brussels, 13 April 1815.

One page, 8 3/4 x 7 in. (222 x 178 mm), folds. Framed with portrait engraving, overall, 14 x 16 in. Unexamined out of frame. Provenance: Maggs Bros. Ltd., 1956, catalog no. 835, item 282.

In full: "I have received your letter respecting Lt. Col. Darymple, and should be very happy to employ him, if it were in my power; but I have found here with a very small Army and a very large Staff; and I have it not in my power to employ the Officer from whose services I derived so much advantage on former occasions..."

In early April 1815, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, arrived in Belgium to take command of the British-led coalition, which had assembled to oppose Napoleon I, who had recently returned from exile on the Island of Elba and declared himself Emperor of France. The coalition declared war not on France but on Napoleon himself, as they still recognized Louis XVIII as its rightful ruler. The Duke of Wellington had been tasked with protecting Brussels should Napoleon's army attempt an invasion.

On 15 June 1815, Napoleon's army crossed the French border into Belgium. Three days later, forces commanded by Wellington intercepted Napoleon's army at Waterloo. Wellington's army consisted of 74,326 men, whom he described as "an infamous army, very weak and ill-equipped..." Among them was Lieutenant Colonel Leighton Cathcart Dalrymple, who, despite Wellington's refusal to give him a post, was sent to Belgium in May 1815 as commander of the 15th The King's Hussars.

This lot is located in Chicago.