Page:Dictionary of Indian Biography.djvu/462

 passing through several regiments, became Major and Lt-Colonel in the 33rd regt. in 1793. After some campaigning in the Netherlands, 1794–5, and starting for the W. Indies, he landed with his regiment at Calcutta on Feb. 17, 1797. His brother, the Earl of Mornington, assumed office as Governor-General at Calcutta, on May 18, 1798. Wellesley commanded, as far as Penang, the Bengal Division of an expedition to Manilla, but was recalled on account of Tippoo, who had been intriguing with the French and native courts to turn the English out of India. After negotiations, the war with Tippoo of Mysore broke out early in 1799: Wellesley commanded the Nizam's troops, invading Mysore: Tippoo's troops were routed at Malavilli, in March, 1799, by a Force under him: Tippoo was then besieged in Seringapatam by General Harris, Wellesley commanding the reserve during the attack. May 4, 1799. On its capture and the death of Tippoo, Wellesley was placed in command of Seringapatam, stopped the plundering, and restored order. He subsequently administered the lately conquered territory as Governor, with great ability: and hunted down "the freebooter of Mysore," Dhoondia Waugh, in Sep. 1800. In 1802–3, the Mahratta powers, Sindia, Holkar and the Raja of Berar, formed a confederacy against the English. General Wellesley, with the Madras Army, reached Poona in time to save it from destruction by Holkar. He was made Chief Political and Military Officer in the Dekkan and S. Mahratta country: after taking Admednagar on Aug. 12, he attacked, on Sep. 23, 1803, with about 8,000 men, including only about 1,500 Europeans, and defeated the whole Mahratta force of 50,000 men, near the village of Assaye. He was equally victorious in the battle of Argaum on Nov. 29, 1803, in which the Mahratta power was broken: he took Gawilghar on Dec. 15, 1803, and made peace by treaties which secured great cessions of territory to the E. I. Co. In 1804 he disbanded the Army of the Dekkan. At Bombay he was presented with a sword of honour, and before he left Madras for England, in March, 1805, was made K.C.B.: declined the Commander-in-Chiefship of Bombay. The remainder of his career is included in English and European history. He died at Walmer, Sep. 14, 1852.

WELLS, HENRY LAKE (1850–1898)

Son of Rev. Thomas Bury Wells: born March 8, 1850: educated at Woolwich: entered R.A., 1871: became Lt-Colonel, 1896: went to India, 1875: in the Afghan war, 1878–9: made a road across the Kojak: P.W.D. Engineer at Quetta: served also on the Khyber line: surveyed for telegraph lines in Kashmir and Gilgit, 1879–80: Assistant Director, 1880, and Director, 1891, of the Indo-European telegraph in Persia: surveyed routes in Persia, and contributed scientific papers to learned Societies: C.I.E., 1897: died Aug. 31, 1898: Lt-Colonel.

WELLS, SIR MORDAUNT (1817–1886)

Born 1817: called to the bar at the Middle Temple, 1841: Recorder of Bedford: Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court, Calcutta, 1859–62, and of the High Court, 1862–3: Member of the Governor-General's Legislative Council, 1860: died, Nov. 26, 1885: he provoked the Calcutta native public by denouncing the wholesale forgeries of Bengali litigants, so that a petition was presented for his recall, which the Secretary of State rejected: when he resigned, a testimonial was presented to him.

WELSH, JAMES (1775–1861)

Son of John Welsh, W.S., Edinburgh: born March 12, 1775: went to Madras in the E. I. Co.'s European Army, 1791: took part in the siege of Pondicherry, 1793: and the capture of Ceylon, 1796: under (q.v.) in the Mahratta war, 1803–4: at Poona, Ahmadnagar, Argaum, Gawilghar, Mankarsir. He discovered a plot to murder Europeans at Palamcotta, Nov. 1805: led the assault at Arambooly, Travancore, 1809, and held several military commands in Madras: checked a rising at Kolapur, 1824: Maj-General 1837: commanded the N. Division, Madras, 1837: retired, 1847: General 1854: died at Bath, Jan. 24, 1861: wrote Military Reminiscences of Nearly Forty Years' Active Service in the E. Indies.

WENGER, REV. DR. JOHN (1811–1880)

Born near Berne, 1811: showed great aptitude for languages: sent out to India as a Missionary by the Baptist Missionary Society, 1839: translated, with Yates, the