Origin of Wellington anecdote?
Frankly, I never imagined this could happen but here I am with a question about the Duke of Wellington, of all people. And I hope this is the best place for it 😊.
People are probably familiar with the anecdote that has Wellington, during the coronation ceremonies of Queen Victoria in 1838 that Soult attended as ambassador of France, sneak up on Soult, grab him by the arm and exclaim: "I have you at last!" - I have seen it mentioned in several publications. But where does it come from, how old is it, when and where does it first appear?
The thing is, I've found a very similar anecdote from the same time period, but with Soult as the speaker (adressing general Hill). Can it be verified if these are two different incidents, or if this is a case of public memory basically turning this anecdote on its head? I'm mostly interested in how (popular) historiography in this case has worked.
Thank you very much in advance for every bit of input!
Thanks John, that is very interesting and plausible. I've never investigated that particular anecdote about Wellington, but the idea that it was an old story about Soult and Hill that got muddled and attached to Wellington's name sounds very plausible, especially if there is no mention of it connected with Wellington in the press at the time.