NELSON 



8675 



HORATIO, VISCOUNT NELSON 



H. W. Wil.on, Naval Correspondent ot Th Daily Mall 



:>t addition the articles on Nelson's battles, e.g. Nile; Trafalgar; 



Isoat-im his contemporaries, St. Vincent; Colltngivood ; an I 



other seamen. See also Bronte ; Navy, British; Sea Power ; Victor \ 



Horatio Nelson was born Sept. 

 Mxthrlnldof Kilmimil 

 i, rector of Burnham Thorpe, 

 N'.irfnlU : his mother was a grand 

 nie.-e if Sir Robert Walpole, 

 mid her brother, his uncle, an 

 oflieer in the navy. He en- 

 tered tin- naw in 1770 as "cap- 

 tains servant '' in his uncle's ship, 

 <ei\ed in the West Indies, in an 

 . xpedition, and in the East 

 1 in 1 us. He became captain in 1779; 

 rnniiminded the naval contingent 

 in an unsuccessful expedition 

 against the Spanish fort at San 

 Juan de Nicaragua, 1780 ; joined 

 Lord Hood's fleet at New York, 

 IT.vJ. when Hood sent Prince 

 William, afterwards William IV, to 

 him for information on tactics; 

 and was employed in the West 

 Indies, 1784-87. 



In 1787 Nelson married Frances 

 Herbert Nisbet, a widow of 26 

 with one son. He commanded the 

 Agamemnon in the Mediterranean 

 fleet, in 1793, under Hood ; was 

 largely responsible for the capture 

 of Bastia and Calvi in Corsica, in 

 IT'.M. when he lost the sight of his 

 right eye by a wound ; he displayed 

 great gallantry in the action of 

 March 13-14, 1795, with the 

 French fleet, and was bold enough 

 to remonstrate with his admiral 

 (Hot ham) on the feebleness which 

 that officer displayed. He block- 

 aded the Italian coast, and at- 

 tempted to cut Napoleon's com- 

 munications during the campaign 

 of 1796. When Jervis, later Lord 

 St. Vincent, took command of the 

 fleet and decided to withdraw 

 from the Mediterranean, he was 

 charged with the evacuation of 

 Klha. narrowly escaping capture by 

 the Spaniards on his retreat. 

 St. Vincent and Abukir Bay 



Present at the battle of St. 

 Vincent, Feb. 14, 1797, he secured 

 important results by turning out of 

 the line contrary to orders and on 

 his own initiative to attack a 

 part of the Spanish fleet which had 

 been cut off. Of four Spanish 

 ships taken two surrendered to 

 him. In Feb., 1797, he became 

 a rear-admiral, and was knighted. 

 On July 25, 1797, he failed in a 

 night attack on Santa Cruz, Ten- 

 eriffe, and his right arm, shattered 

 by grape, had to be amputated. 

 After some months at home, he re- 

 joined St. Vincent's fleet, and was 

 sent in command of a small de- 

 tached squadron to watch Toulon, 

 whence Napoleon, with 13 ships of 

 the line under Brueys, was about 



to sail for Egypt. In May, 1798, 

 Bruevs put to sea, Nelson's squad- 

 ron having been damaged by a 

 storm. Nelson waa joined by rein- 

 forcements, bringing his strength 

 up to 14 ships of the line, and hur- 

 ried in pursuit. After a long search 

 he found and destroyed the French 

 fleet in Abukir Bay, Aug. 1, 1798. 

 Nelson, who had entered the battle 

 with the words, " A peerage or 

 Westminster Abbey," was badly 

 wounded in the.head. He was made 

 Baron Nelson of the Nile, and 

 given a pension of 2,000. 



In Sept., 1798, he went to 

 Naples, which was under special 

 British protection, was effusively 

 welcomed by Lady Hamilton, wife 

 of the British minister there, and 

 conveyed the king and court to 

 Palermo, when the French took 

 Naples in 1799. On the recovery of 

 the city he was responsible for the 

 execution of Caracciolo (q-v.). 

 Created duke of Bronte by 

 Ferdinand I of Naples, 1799. in 

 1800, he returned home with I^ady 

 Hamilton, who now, as he said, 

 became his "wife in the sight of 

 God," and by whom a daughter, 

 Horatia, his only child, was born 

 to him about Jan. 31, 1801. 

 Copenhagen 



Sent under Sir Hyde Parker to 

 attack Copenhagen, he commanded 

 the squadron of 12 ships of the line, 

 which on April 2, 1801, engaged the 

 Danish forts and ships. The battle 

 was fierce ; at one of the most 

 critical moments Parker, from a 

 distance, imperilled success by 

 making a signal of recall. Nelson 

 put his telescope to his blind eye 

 and fought on. Having beaten 

 down the Danish fire and disabled 

 many of the Danish ships he se- 

 cured an armistice which gave the 

 British all they required. For his 

 victory he was made a viscount. 



After a few weeks in England he 

 was appointed to command the 

 British small craft in the Channel, 

 watching Napoleon's invasion flo- 

 tilla. On Aug. 15 he directed a 

 boat attack on the Boulogne flotilla 

 which failed completely, with 

 heavy loss. In Oct., 1801, as peace 

 was imminent, he was allowed 

 leave and went to Merton Place, 

 Surrey, which Lady Hamilton 

 had bought for him' Here he 

 lived with the Hamilton* 

 "' On May 18, 1 803, on the renewal 

 of war with France, Nelson hoisted 

 his flag in the Victory, to command 

 the Mediterranean rfcet, and a few 

 weeks later began his watch of 



NELSON 



Toulon. He did not blockade, but 

 I far out, and there were fear* 

 that tin- l-'rrnch mi^ht escape with- 

 out IMM knowledge. In 1804 Spain 

 joined I-' ranee, and his work became 

 more difficult. He showed great 

 patience and determination, and, 

 possibly as the result of a promise 

 to Lady Hamilton, never quitted 

 his ship. The French fleet under 

 Villencuve put to sea in Jan., 1805. 

 The moment he knew, Nelson pro- 

 ceeded first to Sicily, which he had 

 special orders to cover, and then to 

 Egypt in chase. The French, how- 

 ever, had returned to port. " My 

 heart is almost broke," he said of 

 his failure to bring them to battle. 

 In March they came out again, 

 and, joined by one French and six 

 Spanish ships from Cadiz, which 

 brought their force up to 18, 

 sailed for the West Indies. 

 " The Nelson Touch " 



Nelson, not knowing the direc- 

 tion of their movement, and so 

 short of cruisers that he could not 

 watch them properly, waited for 

 definite news in a position that 

 covered Sicily and Egypt. When 

 information came he followed to 

 the West Indies, rightly concluding 

 that his business was to watch not 

 a particular sea, but the French 

 fleet usually stationed in it. He 

 had with him only 10 ships of the 

 line. He reached Barbados in 

 June, received information which 

 made him conclude that the French 

 were returning to Europe, and fol- 

 lowed them once more without de- 

 lay, sending a small vessel in ad- 

 vance to England. She sighted the 

 enemy on her passage, and thus the 

 admiralty could make its plans. 

 Nelson arrived in Europe ahead of 

 the enemy. 



The enemy had actually been 

 encountered by Calder with 15 

 British battleships off Ferrol with 

 indecisive result, and had turned 

 south to Cadiz. Nelson, after a last 

 visit to England and Merton, went 

 on board at Portsmouth, where the 

 people greeted him with tears of 

 gratitude and love. Off Cadiz he 

 joined Collingwood, and discussed 

 what he called " the Nelson touch" 

 his plan of battle. He asked the 

 admiralty for a strong force be- 

 cause, as he said, "it is only num- 

 bers which can annihilate." The 

 enemy fleet was ordered by Napo- 

 leon to put to sea, and on Oct. 21 

 was fought the battle of Trafalgar. 



Nelson drove the Victory into 

 the enemy and was engaged by 

 several ships. Conspicuous in his 

 orders, he was mortally wounded 

 by a marksman's bullet and carried 

 below. As he lay dying, he said 

 that he left Lady Hamilton and 

 Horatia " as a legacy to my coun- 

 try." His flag-captain, Hardy, took 



