436 



Memoirs of Lord Nelfin. 



[Dec. T, 



a'tack ; pafTing from the fore-chains of his 

 own lliip into the eoerry's quarter- gitlery, 

 aiKi thenc- through the cabin ro the ouarter- 

 deck, where he arrived in time to receive the 

 fvvord of the dying commander, who had 

 been mortally wounded by the boarders. 



" He I'aJ nut bicn long employed in tak- 

 ing the ncccil'aiy mi tfurcs to fecore this 

 hard earned conqueft, when he found himfelf 

 engaged in a mere arduous t.ifk. The ftern 

 of the three-decker, his former opponent, 

 was placed direftly amidfhips of the weather- 

 beam of the prize, San Nicobs, and from her 

 poop and galleries the enemv f rely annoyed 

 with mufquctry the Pritifli who had bjavded 

 the Sin Nicolas. The CoTimcdore was not 

 long in refolving on the con'uii to be adopted 

 upon this momentous occalion ; the twoal- 

 tein.)tives that pref> ntej then.felves to his 

 bniTi.iken mind were, to quit the prize, or 

 inftintly ooar.i the three decker. Ccnfi lent 

 in the bravery of his fcamen, he determined 

 on the latter: Direftin? theiefore an addi- 

 tional number of men to be fent from the 

 Captain on board the San Nichohs, the un- 

 daunted Coinmodore, whom no danger ever 

 appalled, headed himfrlf the aifailants in this 

 new attack, excUiming, ' Weltminller Ab- 

 b'y, or glorious viftory !' 



." Succcfs in a few minutes, and with little 

 lofs, crowned the enterprize. Such indeed 

 W3S the panic occafioned by his preceding 

 conHuci, that the Britifti no fooncr appeared 

 on' the qujrter-dcck of their new opponent, 

 th.in the Comnundant advanced, and, alking 

 for the Britilh commandir-g-i tficer, dropped 

 on one knee, and prefented his I'word, apolo- 

 gizin.; at the fame time for the Spanifh Ad- 

 niiral's not appearing, as he was dangeroufly 

 wounded. For a moment Commodore Nelfon 

 could fcarcely pcrfuade himfelf of this fecond 

 inftance of g-^od fortune ; he therefore order- 

 ed the Spanifii Commandant, who had the 

 rank of a brigadier, to aficmble the officers on 

 the quart':r deck, and direfl: means to be 

 taken inft.mtly lor communic-.icing to the 

 crew the furr'nderof the (hip. All the offi- 

 c rs immediately appeared, and the Commo- 

 dore had the furrender of the San J.;fcf duly 

 confirmed by each of them dtlivering his 

 i-\at\. 



" Tlie Coxfwain of the Commodore's barge 

 (John Sykes, fince deid) had attended clofe 

 bv his fid- throughout this perilous attempt. 

 To him the Comnu'dore gave in charge the 

 fwor.is of the S.-an^lh officers as he received 

 them\; an^ the undaunted tar, as they were 

 delivered to him, tucked chcfe honuurable 

 trophies under his arm with all the coolnefs 

 ioaaginibie. It .vas at this moment alio that 

 a 'ritirti fjiior, who had lon^ fought ur,der 

 the Commodore, cam" up in the tulnefs of 

 his heart, and excafmg the liberty he was 

 taking, afked to fliakc him by the hand, to 

 congratulate him upon feeing him fafc on the 

 quarter deck of a Spanilh thiee-deckcr. 



" This new conqueft had fcarcely fubmittcd, 

 and the Commodore returned on board Ihe 

 San Nicholas, when the latter (hip was difco- 

 vered to be on fire in two places. At the 

 firft moment appearances were alarming, but 

 the prcfente of mind and refources of the 

 Coaimodore and his officers in this emergency 

 foon got the fire under. 



*' A lignal was immediately made by th« 

 Captain for boats to afiift in difentangling her 

 from the two prizes ; and as (he was incapable 

 of further fervice until refitted, the Commo* 

 dore again hi^Mled his pendant for the moment 

 on board La Mineive frigate, and in the even- 

 ing fhifted it to the Irrcfiftihie, Captain Mar- 

 tin i but as loon ai I he Captiiin was refitted, 

 he rchoifted his pendant on board the latter 

 /hip." 



The efFefl produced at home by this 

 vi6l-'iy was prodigious. Great rejoicings 

 took iilace every where ; the officers of 

 the viiSorious fleet received the thanks of 

 bo h Hoivlts ot Parli\rr.ent ; the King 

 confcned a patent of an eaildoni, with a 

 pension of jooci. peraiinuin, on the Com- 

 mander-in-Chief ; while Commodore Nel- 

 lon, by whole gallantry anJ exertions two 

 of the prices had been taken, was honour- 

 ed with the Order of the Baih, together 

 with a gold medal and chain. 



In confequence of a promotion in the 

 navy. Sir floratio hoilfed his flig ss a 

 rear-admiral of the blue in April 1797, 

 and was detached foon after to bring away 

 the garrifonof Porto-Ferrajo. After per- 

 forming this fervice, on the 27th of May 

 he changed 10 the Thefeus, and was ap- 

 pointed to command the inner-fquadron 

 then blockading Cadiz. 



An attempt was made hy him, during 

 the night of the 3d cf July, to bombard 

 this City, and he conducted this enterprize 

 with his ul'ual fpirit and relbkition, ths 

 Thunderer bomb having been ftationed, 

 under l-.is maiiagemen', within two thou- 

 fand five hundied yards oi' the walls.— 

 On this the Spaniards, anxious to prevent 

 the confequences, ient out all their armed 

 craft, coriiiting of mortars, gun-boats, 

 and launchts. The confiiil was long and 

 obftinite ; both fides exhibited great Ta- 

 ]siirj and a fir.gultrtvent enfued, fcarcely 

 to be paralleled in the hiftory of modern 

 warfare. The brave Dt n Miguel Terrav 

 i)X\, who commanded ti'e armament, in a 

 barge rowed by twenty-fix oars and thirty 

 men, made a ip.oif defperale effort to over- 

 power Sir Hotatio Nelfon and his hoat's 

 crew. They fought with their fwords, 

 hand to hand, and the coniiift wis long 

 and doubtful. At length, ho^vcver, 

 eighteen of his crew having been killed, 



and 



