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Happy Birthday to Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, born  #OnThisDay  1769 in Dublin, Ireland. The Anglo-Irish general became one of the most successful commanders of the Napoleonic era.  

Beyond becoming a British national hero, his spectacular career won him the highest military rank of Austria, Hanover, the Netherlands, Portugal, Prussia, Russia and Spain, and he received the titles Prince of Waterloo, Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo and Duke of Victoria.  

Watch our video on Old Nosey’s brilliant victory at Salamanca here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXc1M...  

Painting by the acclaimed Spanish artist Francisco Goya (1814). 

The Duke of Cumberland, youngest son of George II of Great Britain. In 1746 he commanded the British army that decisively beat the Jacobite rebels at Culloden. He had just turned 25, and was a year younger than his adversary, the ‘Young Pretender’ Prince Charles Stuart. A series of atrocities committed by British troops in the aftermath earned him lasting notoriety, and the nickname ‘Butcher Cumberland’. 

“What a career Napoleon has ruined! Having gained so much glory, he could bestow peace on Europe, but he has not done so. The spell is broken.” Emperor Alexander I of Russia, December 1812. 

Historians continue to debate who bore most responsibility for the breakdown of the Franco-Russian alliance, but the war that followed was disastrous for Napoleon. Find out about Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in our video:  https://youtu.be/byH2WhzXjcQ 

Epic History merch sale ends soon! Get 10% off our exclusive posters, epic mugs, hoodies and more using promo code SPRING24 at checkout:  https://www.ehtvmerch.com/  
Sale ends April 30th. 

Which medieval English king was the greatest military commander? 

There’s a sale at the Epic History merch store! Get 10% off our exclusive poster maps, hoodies and mugs by using promo code SPRING24 at checkout:  https://www.ehtvmerch.com/  
Sale ends April 30th 

Happy Birthday Marshal Oudinot! Born  #OnThisDay  in Bar-le-Duc, Lorraine, France. He was the only one of nine children to survive into adulthood, and as a soldier survived an incredible 34 battlefield wounds. Another general who saw Oudinot in the baths likened him to a human colander!

Oudinot was fearless in battle and much loved by the army. Check out our video on Napoleon’s indestructible Marshal:  https://youtu.be/GyTb2lqiJe0?si=Wxix5... 

“Scene from the French Campaign of 1814” by Horace Vernet (1826). 

Vernet, a noted Bonaparte loyalist, depicts a scene in which French peasants resist the depredations of invading Russians, including a cattle-rustling cossack who can be seen in the background. 

Although there had been some hopes for popular French resistance against invading Coalition armies in 1814, in fact, nothing comparable to the guerrilla resistance of the Spanish people emerged. 

The many coincidences between the assassinations of President Abraham Lincoln in 1865 and President John F. Kennedy in 1963 became a famous  #DidYouKnow  in 1964, and have since become part of US folklore. Although several were factually incorrect, the following are true statements:

Both were elected to congress in '46: Lincoln in 1846 from Illinois, and Kennedy in 1946 from Massachusetts 
Both were elected to the presidency in '60: Lincoln in 1860, Kennedy in 1960 
Both have seven letters in their last names
Both sought to address civil rights
Both married in their 30s to women in their 20s 
Both presidents were shot on a Friday
Both were shot in the head
Lincoln and Kennedy were both succeeded by presidents named Johnson (Andrew Johnson and LBJ)
Both their successors were southerners
Both their successors were born in ‘08: Andrew Johnson in 1808, LBJ in 1908
Both had security guards named William. Both of these men died within 48 hours of becoming 75 years old 
Both assassins are known by their three names (John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald)
Both John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald are 15 letters long
Both assassins committed their assassination while in their place of employment: Booth was an actor at Ford’s Theatre; Oswald worked at the Texas School Book Depository 

1798 cartoon by British cartoonist Isaac Cruikshank (1764-1811). Here he depicts the one-armed Rear-Admiral Nelson presenting King George III with two crocodiles, following his great victory over the French at the Battle of the Nile. The crocodiles have the heads of Charles James Fox and Richard Sheridan, British Whig politicians who had supported the American and French Revolutions. 

The Battle of the Nile - in 3D - is coming to Epic History soon. Watch our video on the Battle of Cape St.Vincent now on Patreon and Nebula.