TWO hundred years ago the Duke of Wellington led an army out onto the battlefield of Waterloo to face his old enemy.

His British and allied army of 68,000 men faced 73,000 French soldiers led by the general who had brought them glory, and plunged the rest of Europe into war.

Napoleon Bonapart had returned from exile in one last attempt to rule France again and brought his army to the Belgian battlefield.

Fears ran high that if Napoleon won he would march his armies across the continent again.

But there was only one man who could stop him – the Duke of Wellington.

On June 18, 1815, Wellington defeated his greatest adversary and became a national hero.

But despite all that is known about him, it is largely forgotten that the Iron Duke claimed his home to be here in Hampshire.

Stratfield Saye, in the north east of the county, was the estate presented to the Duke by a grateful nation after the momentous battle which changed the face of Europe.

In fact, some such presentation had been suggested three years before, after the Duke’s successes in the Peninsular campaign.

Wellington was as good a general as was Napoleon, and history records, the better man. His nerve was unshakable and when the confrontation first came, in the Peninsular, it was the French who withdrew.

Because of defeat and frustration in Spain, and his inability to bridge the English Channel, Napoleon sent his armies into Russia where his army succumbed to snow and starvation.

After that disastrous adventure Napoleon accepted exile in Elba, and the Duke became Britain’s ambassador in Paris and at the Vienna Conference.

Of course it did not last. Napoleon stole out of Elba and returned to Europe for “the hundred days”, and the Duke dropped diplomacy in favour of arms and the final test of discipline, skill and courage at Waterloo.

Arthur Wellesley had been created Viscount Wellington in 1809, Marquis in 1812, and Duke in 1814. At the time of Waterloo he was 46 years of age and was hailed as the saviour of Europe (everywhere, except in France!), and loaded with honours, the nation expected him to retire to the life of a country gentleman, on any estate he might care to choose.

He chose Stratfield Saye; the second Lord Rivers, to whom it then belonged, made it available, and Parliament purchased it for His Grace.

It was not the house which so greatly attracted the Duke but the farms and the condition of the estate in general.

According to historians the word “Stratfield” means an open place by a Roman road while “Saye” was the family name of Robert de Saye who held the estate as far back as 1270.

When the great Duke took over the estate in 1817, the promised retirement evaded him, at first as the supreme military commander in Europe his advice was sought by crowns and conferences. When Europe began to settle down, his character marked him out for service in home affairs, as he was the only public figure whom everybody trusted, and even those who did not like him, trusted his integrity completely.

Eventually, 18 years after he first came to Stratfield Saye the Duke decided to settle down in the property. Having come to this decision, various alterations were put in hand including a conservatory, bathrooms, and a library as Wellington was a considerable reader with authors Jane Austen and Sir Walter Scott amongst his favourites.

A description of the house, written almost half a century ago, said: “Under a wide-spreading tree in a corner of the park is the grave of ‘Copenhagen’, the charger which carried the Iron Duke through that long desperate day at Waterloo.

The horse enjoyed ten years’ retirement at Stratfield Saye, and was buried with full military honours.

An historian writing about the same time said: “Unlike his great antagonist in Europe, the Duke hated war.

“He never lost sight of the suffering which it caused. He cared greatly about people, all people, not only those of his own class.

“He took endless trouble to find a type of cooking stove suitable for installation in the cottages on his estate, and when he was satisfied that one was efficient, and sufficiently economical for the cottager’s use, he ordered upwards of a hundred of that model.

“Then there was Carter, the Duke’s groom throughout the Peninsular War, and at Waterloo. He found himself installed in the ideal billet for an old soldier – landlord of the Wellington Arms at nearby Stratfield Turgis, which still exists today.