Napoleon Bonaparte and Arthur, Duke of Wellington
            
             The careers of Napoleon Bonaparte and Arthur Wellesley, 1st duke of Wellington, contrasted in many different ways. The manner in which both rose to glory was quite dissimilar. Napoleon Bonaparte was born in Corsica on August 15, 1769 and was thought to be the most formidable military commander since Alexander the great. He was a bright, charismatic child of noble background. As a boy, he was described as good –willed and generous. At nine, through his father's influence, Napoleon went off to military school in Paris at the expense of King Louis XVI. It was here that it was discovered that he had and amazing brain capacity and was considered a genius, yet nobody could imagine his success and all of the dead bodies he left in his wake for the sake of peace.
             Wellesley, on the other hand, was born on May 1, 1769, in Dublin and was also of noble background. As an adult, Wellesley would rise to rule the British empire, but as a schoolboy his future looked grim and lacked the genius that Napoleon possessed. His situation became so desperate that he was sent to military school, where his metamorphosis was astonishing. He found that he enjoyed the army and needed it to establish a career in life. He was given the title "1st Duke of Wellington" due to his military successes.
             In school, Napoleon was always the leader and could always win at games due to his strategies and his impeccability at outwitting the other team. He was attracted to the military for a number of reasons and he had secret weapons such as his extraordinary intelligence. The military schools of Napoleon and Wellesley never engaged in competition so they never met. Napoleon graduated military school in 1785, at the age of 16, and joined the artillery as a second lieutenant. He studied firepower and trained in the artillery, which would help Napoleon become a genius in this field. Meanwhile, in 1787...