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@@ -0,0 +1,8788 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Life of Horatio Lord Nelson, by Robert Southey + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Life of Horatio Lord Nelson + +Author: Robert Southey + +Release Date: February 5, 2006 [EBook #947] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIFE OF HORATIO LORD NELSON *** + + + + +Produced by John Hill and David Widger + + + + + +THE LIFE + +OF + +HORATIO LORD NELSON + + + + + +BY ROBERT SOUTHEY (1774-1843) + + TO JOHN WILSON CROKER ESQ., + LL.D., F.R.S., + SECRETARY OF THE ADMIRALTY; + WHO, BY THE OFFICIAL SITUATION WHICH HE SO ABLY FILLS, + IS QUALIFIED TO APPRECIATE ITS HISTORICAL ACCURACY; + AND WHO, + AS A MEMBER OF THE REPUBLIC OF LETTERS, + IS EQUALLY QUALIFIED TO DECIDE UPON ITS + LITERARY MERITS, + THIS WORK + IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED BY HIS FRIEND, + THE AUTHOR + + + +Many Lives of Nelson have been written; one is yet wanting, clear and +concise enough to become a manual for the young sailor, which he may +carry about with him till he has treasured it up for example in his +memory and in his heart. In attempting such a work I shall write the +eulogy of our great national hero, for the best eulogy of NELSON is the +faithful history of his actions, and the best history must be that which +shall relate them most perspicuously. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +1758 - 1783 + + +Nelson's Birth and Boyhood--He is entered on Board the RAISONABLE--Goes +to the West Indies in a Merchant-ship; then serves in the TRIUMPH--He +sails in Captain Phipps' Voyage of Discovery--Goes to the East Indies in +the SEAHORSE, and returns in ill Health--Serves as acting Lieutenant +in the WORCESTER, and is made Lieutenant into the LOWESTOFFE, Commander +into the BADGER Brig, and Post into the HINCHINBROKE--Expedition against +the Spanish Main--Sent to the North Seas in the ALBERMARLE--Services +during the American War. + + +HORATIO, son of Edmund and Catherine Nelson, was born September 29, +1758, in the parsonage-house of Burnham Thorpe, a village in the county +of Norfolk, of which his father was rector. His mother was a daughter of +Dr. Suckling, prebendary of Westminster, whose grandmother was sister +of Sir Robert Walpole, and this child was named after his godfather, +the first Lord Walpole. Mrs. Nelson died in 1767, leaving eight out +of eleven children. Her brother, Captain Maurice Suckling, of the navy +visited the widower upon this event, and promised to take care of one of +the boys. Three years afterwards, when HORATIO was only twelve years of +age, being at home during the Christmas holidays, he read in the county +newspaper that his uncle was appointed to the RAISONNABLE, of sixty-four +guns. "Do, William," said he to a brother who was a year and a half older +than himself, "write to my father, and tell him that I should like to go +to sea with uncle Maurice." Mr. Nelson was then at Bath, whither he had +gone for the recovery of his health: his circumstances were straitened, +and he had no prospect of ever seeing them bettered: he knew that it was +the wish of providing for himself by which Horatio was chiefly actuated, +and did not oppose his resolution; he understood also the boy's +character, and had always said, that in whatever station he might be +placed, he would climb if possible to the very top of the tree. Captain +Suckling was written to. "What," said he in his answer, "has poor Horatio +done, who is so weak, that he, above all the rest, should be sent to +rough it out at sea?--But let him come; and the first time we go into +action, a cannon-ball may knock off his head, and provide for him at +once." + +It is manifest from these words that Horatio was not the boy whom his +uncle would have chosen to bring up in his own profession. He was never +of a strong body; and the ague, which at that time was one of the most +common diseases in England, had greatly reduced his strength; yet he had +already given proofs of that resolute heart and nobleness of mind +which, during his whole career of labour and of glory, so eminently +distinguished him. When a mere child, he strayed a-birds'-nesting +from his grandmother's house in company with a cowboy: the dinner-hour +elapsed; he was absent, and could not be found; and the alarm of the +family became very great, for they apprehended that he might have been +carried off by gipsies. At length, after search had been made for him in +various directions, he was discovered alone, sitting composedly by the +side of a brook which he could not get over. "I wonder, child," said the +old lady when she saw him, "that hunger and fear did not drive you home." +"Fear! grandmama:" replied the future hero, "I never saw fear:--What is +it?" Once, after the winter holidays, when he and his brother William +had set off on horseback to return to school, they came back, because +there had been a fall of snow; and William, who did not much like the +journey, said it was too deep for them to venture on. "If that be the +case," said the father, "you certainly shall not go; but make another +attempt, and I will leave it to your honour. If the road is dangerous +you may return: but remember, boys, I leave it to your honour!" The snow +was deep enough to have afforded them a reasonable excuse; but Horatio +was not to be prevailed upon to turn back. "We must go on," said he: +"remember, brother, it was left to our honour!"--There were some fine +pears growing in the schoolmaster's garden, which the boys regarded as +lawful booty, and in the highest degree tempting; but the boldest among +them were afraid to venture for the prize. Horatio volunteered upon this +service: he was lowered down at night from the bedroom window by some +sheets, plundered the tree, was drawn up with the pears, and then +distributed them among his school-fellows without reserving any for +himself. "He only took them," he said, "because every other boy was +afraid." + +Early on a cold and dark spring morning Mr. Nelson's servant arrived at +this school, at North Walsham, with the expected summons for Horatio to +join his ship. The parting from his brother William, who had been for +so many years his playmate and bed-fellow, was a painful effort, and +was the beginning of those privations which are the sailor's lot through +life. He accompanied his father to London. The RAISONNABLE was lying in +the Medway. He was put into the Chatham stage, and on its arrival was +set down with the rest of the passengers, and left to find his way on +board as he could. After wandering about in the cold, without being able +to reach the ship, an officer observed the forlorn appearance of the +boy, questioned him; and happening to be acquainted with his uncle, took +him home and gave him some refreshments. When he got on board, Captain +Suckling was not in the ship, nor had any person been apprised of the +boy's coming. He paced the deck the whole remainder of the day without +being noticed by any one; and it was not till the second day that +somebody, as he expressed it, "took compassion on him." The pain which +is felt when we are first transplanted from our native soil--when the +living branch is cut from the parent tree is one of the most poignant +which we have to endure through life. There are after-griefs which wound +more deeply, which leave behind them scars never to be effaced, which +bruise the spirit, and sometimes break the heart; but never do we feel +so keenly the want of love, the necessity of being loved, and the sense +of utter desertion, as when we first leave the haven of home, and are, +as it were, pushed off upon the stream of life. Added to these feelings, +the sea-boy has to endure physical hardships, and the privation of every +comfort, even of sleep. Nelson had a feeble body and an affectionate +heart, and he remembered through life his first days of wretchedness in +the service. + +The RAISONNABLE having been commissioned on account of the dispute +respecting the Falkland Islands, was paid off as soon as the difference +with the court of Spain was accommodated, and Captain Suckling was +removed to the TRIUMPH, seventy-four, then stationed as a guard-ship in +the Thames. This was considered as too inactive a life for a boy, +and Nelson was therefore sent a voyage to the West Indies in a +merchant-ship, commanded by Mr. John Rathbone, an excellent seaman, who +had served as master's mate under Captain Suckling in the Dreadnought. +He returned a practical seaman, but with a hatred of the king's service, +and a saying then common among the sailors--"Aft the most honour; +forward the better man." Rathbone had probably been disappointed and +disgusted in the navy; and, with no unfriendly intentions, warned Nelson +against a profession which he himself had found hopeless. His uncle +received him on board the TRIUMPH on his return, and discovering his +dislike to the navy, took the best means of reconciling him to it. He +held it out as a reward that, if he attended well to his navigation, he +should go in the cutter and decked long-boat, which was attached to the +commanding-officer's ship at Chatham. Thus he became a good pilot for +vessels of that description from Chatham to the Tower, and down the Swin +Channel to the North Foreland, and acquired a confidence among rocks and +sands of which he often felt the value. + +Nelson had not been many months on board the TRIUMPH, when his love of +enterprise was excited by hearing that two ships were fitting out for +a voyage of discovery towards the North Pole. In consequence of the +difficulties which were expected on such a service, these vessels were +to take out effective men instead of the usual number of boys. This, +however, did not deter him from soliciting to be received, and, by his +uncle's interest, he was admitted as coxswain under Captain Lutwidge, +second in command. The voyage was undertaken in compliance with an +application from the Royal Society. The Hon. Captain Constantine John +Phipps, eldest son of Lord Mulgrave, volunteered his services. The +RACEHORSE and CARCASS bombs were selected as the strongest ships, and, +therefore, best adapted for such a voyage; and they were taken into dock +and strengthened, to render them as secure as possible against the ice. +Two masters of Greenlandmen were employed as pilots for each ship. No +expedition was ever more carefully fitted out; and the First Lord of +the Admiralty, Lord Sandwich, with a laudable solicitude, went on +board himself, before their departure, to see that everything had been +completed to the wish of the officers. The ships were provided with a +simple and excellent apparatus for distilling fresh from salt water, the +invention of Dr. Irving, who accompanied the expedition. It consisted +merely in fitting a tube to the ship's kettle, and applying a wet mop to +the surface as the vapour was passing. By these means, from thirty-four +to forty gallons were produced every day. + +They sailed from the Nore on the 4th of June. On the 6th of July they +were in latitude 79d 56m 39s; longitude 9d 43m 30s E. The next day, +about the place where most of the old discoverers had been stopped, +the RACEHORSE was beset with ice; but they hove her through with +ice-anchors. Captain Phipps continued ranging along the ice, northward +and westward, till the 24th; he then tried to the eastward. On the 30th +he was in latitude 80d 13m; longitude 18d 48m E. among the islands and +in the ice, with no appearance of an opening for the ships. The weather +was exceedingly fine, mild, and unusually clear. Here they were becalmed +in a large bay, with three apparent openings between the islands which +formed it; but everywhere, as far as they could see, surrounded with +ice. There was not a breath of air, the water was perfectly smooth, the +ice covered with snow, low and even, except a few broken pieces near +the edge; and the pools of water in the middle of the ice-fields just +crusted over with young ice. On the next day the ice closed upon them, +and no opening was to be seen anywhere, except a hole, or lake as it +might be called, of about a mile and a half in circumference, where the +ships lay fast to the ice with their ice-anchors. From these ice-fields +they filled their casks with water, which was very pure and soft. The +men were playing on the ice all day; but the Greenland pilots, who were +further than they had ever been before, and considered that the season +was far advancing, were alarmed at being thus beset. + +The next day there was not the smallest opening; the ships were within +less than two lengths of each other, separated by ice, and neither +having room to turn. The ice, which the day before had been flat and +almost level with the water's edge, was now in many places forced higher +than the mainyard by the pieces squeezing together. A day of thick fog +followed: it was succeeded by clear weather; but the passage by which +the ships had entered from the westward was closed, and no open water +was in sight, either in that or any other quarter. By the pilots' advice +the men were set to cut a passage, and warp through the small openings +to the westward. They sawed through pieces of ice twelve feet thick; and +this labour continued the whole day, during which their utmost efforts +did not move the ships above three hundred yards; while they were +driven, together with the ice, far to the N.E. and E. by the current. +Sometimes a field of several acres square would be lifted up between two +larger islands, and incorporated with them; and thus these larger pieces +continued to grow by aggregation. Another day passed, and there seemed +no probability of getting the ships out without a strong E. or N.E. +wind. The season was far advanced, and every hour lessened the chance of +extricating themselves. Young as he was, Nelson was appointed to command +one of the boats which were sent out to explore a passage into the open +water. It was the means of saving a boat belonging to the RACEHORSE from +a singular but imminent danger. Some of the officers had fired at and +wounded a walrus. As no other animal has so human-like an expression in +its countenance, so also is there none that seems to possess more of the +passions of humanity. The wounded animal dived immediately, and brought +up a number of its companions; and they all joined in an attack upon +the boat. They wrested an oar from one of the men; and it was with +the utmost difficulty that the crew could prevent them from staving +or upsetting her, till the CARCASS's boat came up; and the walruses, +finding their enemies thus reinforced, dispersed. Young Nelson exposed +himself in a more daring manner. One night, during the mid-watch, he +stole from the ship with one of his comrades, taking advantage of a +rising fog, and set off over the ice in pursuit of a bear. It was not +long before they were missed. The fog thickened, and Captain Lutwidge +and his officers became exceedingly alarmed for their safety. Between +three and four in the morning the weather cleared, and the two +adventurers were seen, at a considerable distance from the ship, +attacking a huge bear. The signal for them to return was immediately +made; Nelson's comrade called upon him to obey it, but in vain; his +musket had flashed in the pan; their ammunition was expended; and a +chasm in the ice, which divided him from the bear, probably preserved +his life. "Never mind," he cried; "do but let me get a blow at this +devil with the butt-end of my musket, and we shall have him." Captain +Lutwidge, however, seeing his danger, fired a gun, which had the desired +effect of frightening the beast; and the boy then returned, somewhat +afraid of the consequences of his trespass. The captain reprimanded +him sternly for conduct so unworthy of the office which he filled, and +desired to know what motive he could have for hunting a bear. "Sir," +said he, pouting his lip, as he was wont to do when agitated, "I wished +to kill the bear, that I might carry the skin to my father." + +A party were now sent to an island, about twelve miles off (named +Walden's Island in the charts, from the midshipman who was intrusted +with this service), to see where the open water lay. They came back with +information that the ice, though close all about them, was open to the +westward, round the point by which they came in. They said also, that +upon the island they had had a fresh east wind. This intelligence +considerably abated the hopes of the crew; for where they lay it had +been almost calm, and their main dependence had been upon the effect +of an easterly wind in clearing the bay. There was but one alternative: +either to wait the event of the weather upon the ships, or to betake +themselves to the boats. The likelihood that it might be necessary +to sacrifice the ships had been foreseen. The boats accordingly were +adapted, both in number and size, to transport, in case of emergency, +the whole crew; and there were Dutch whalers upon the coast, in which +they could all be conveyed to Europe. As for wintering where they were, +that dreadful experiment had been already tried too often. No time was +to be lost; the ships had driven into shoal water, having but fourteen +fathoms. Should they, or the ice to which they were fast, take the +ground, they must inevitably be lost; and at this time they were driving +fast toward some rocks on the N.E. Captain Phipps sent for the officers +of both ships, and told them his intention of preparing the boats for +going away. They were immediately hoisted out, and the fitting begun. +Canvas bread-bags were made, in case it should be necessary suddenly to +desert the vessels; and men were sent with the lead and line to N. and +E., to sound wherever they found cracks in the ice, that they might have +notice before the ice took the ground; for in that case the ships must +instantly have been crushed or overset. + +On the 7th of August they began to haul the boats over the ice, Nelson +having command of a four-oared cutter. The men behaved excellently +well, like true British seamen: they seemed reconciled to the thought +of leaving the ships, and had full confidence in their officers. About +noon, the ice appeared rather more open near the vessels; and as the +wind was easterly, though there was but little of it, the sails were +set, and they got about a mile to the westward. They moved very slowly, +and were not now nearly so far to the westward as when they were first +beset. However, all sail was kept upon them, to force them through +whenever the ice slacked the least. Whatever exertions were made, it +could not be possible to get the boats to the water's edge before the +14th; and if the situation of the ships should not alter by that time, +it would not be justifiable to stay longer by them. The commander +therefore resolved to carry on both attempts together, moving the boats +constantly, and taking every opportunity of getting the ships through. A +party was sent out next day to the westward to examine the state of +the ice: they returned with tidings that it was very heavy and close, +consisting chiefly of large fields. The ships, however, moved something, +and the ice itself was drifting westward. There was a thick fog, so +that it was impossible to ascertain what advantage had been gained. It +continued on the 9th; but the ships were moved a little through some +very small openings: the mist cleared off in the afternoon, and it +was then perceived that they had driven much more than could have been +expected to the westward, and that the ice itself had driven still +further. In the course of the day they got past the boats, and took them +on board again. On the morrow the wind sprang up to the N.N.E. All sail +was set, and the ships forced their way through a great deal of very +heavy ice. They frequently struck, and with such force that one stroke +broke the shank of the RACEHORSE's best bower-anchor, but the vessels +made way; and by noon they had cleared the ice, and were out at sea. The +next day they anchored in Smeerenberg Harbour, close to that island of +which the westernmost point is called Hakluyt's Headland, in honour of +the great promoter and compiler of our English voyages of discovery. + +Here they remained a few days, that the men might rest after their +fatigue. No insect was to be seen in this dreary country, nor any +species of reptile--not even the common earth-worm. Large bodies of ice, +called icebergs, filled up the valleys between high mountains, so dark +as, when contrasted with the snow, to appear black. The colour of the +ice was a lively light green. Opposite to the place where they fixed +their observatory was one of these icebergs, above three hundred feet +high; its side toward the sea was nearly perpendicular, and a stream of +water issued from it. Large pieces frequently broke off and rolled down +into the sea. There was no thunder nor lightning during the whole time +they were in these latitudes. The sky was generally loaded with hard +white clouds, from which it was never entirely free even in the clearest +weather. They always knew when they were approaching the ice long +before they saw it, by a bright appearance near the horizon, which the +Greenlandmen called the blink of the ice. The season was now so far +advanced that nothing more could have been attempted, if indeed anything +had been left untried; but the summer had been unusually favourable, +and they had carefully surveyed the wall of ice, extending for more +than twenty degrees between the latitudes of 80d and 81d, without the +smallest appearance of any opening. + +The ships were paid off shortly after their return to England; and +Nelson was then placed by his uncle with Captain Farmer, in the +SEAHORSE, of twenty guns, then going out to the East Indies in the +squadron under Sir Edward Hughes. He was stationed in the foretop at +watch and watch. His good conduct attracted the attention of the master +(afterwards Captain Surridge), in whose watch he was; and upon his +recommendation the captain rated him as midshipman. At this time his +countenance was florid, and his appearance rather stout and athletic; +but when he had been about eighteen months in India, he felt the effects +of that climate, so perilous to European constitutions. The disease +baffled all power of medicine; he was reduced almost to a skeleton; the +use of his limbs was for some time entirely lost; and the only hope +that remained was from a voyage home. Accordingly he was brought home by +Captain Pigot, in the DOLPHIN; and had it not been for the attentive +and careful kindness of that officer on the way, Nelson would never have +lived to reach his native shores. He had formed an acquaintance with Sir +Charles Pole, Sir Thomas Troubridge, and other distinguished officers, +then, like himself, beginning their career: he had left them pursuing +that career in full enjoyment of health and hope, and was returning, +from a country in which all things were to him new and interesting, +with a body broken down by sickness, and spirits which had sunk with his +strength. Long afterwards, when the name of Nelson was known as widely +as that of England itself, he spoke of the feelings which he at this +time endured. "I felt impressed," said he, "with a feeling that I should +never rise in my profession. My mind was staggered with a view of the +difficulties I had to surmount and the little interest I possessed. I +could discover no means of reaching the object of my ambition. After a +long and gloomy reverie, in which I almost wished myself overboard, a +sudden glow of patriotism was kindled within me, and presented my king +and country as my patron. 'Well then,' I exclaimed, 'I will be a hero! +and, confiding in Providence, I will brave every danger!'" + +Long afterwards Nelson loved to speak of the feelings of that moment; +and from that time, he often said, a radiant orb was suspended in his +mind's eye, which urged him onward to renown. The state of mind in +which these feelings began, is what the mystics mean by their season of +darkness and desertion. If the animal spirits fail, they represent it +as an actual temptation. The enthusiasm of Nelson's nature had taken a +different direction, but its essence was the same. He knew to what the +previous state of dejection was to be attributed; that an enfeebled +body, and a mind depressed, had cast this shade over his soul; but he +always seemed willing to believe that the sunshine which succeeded +bore with it a prophetic glory, and that the light which led him on was +"light from heaven." + +His interest, however, was far better than he imagined, During his +absence, Captain Suckling had been made Comptroller of the Navy; his +health had materially improved upon the voyage; and as soon as the +DOLPHIN was paid off, he was appointed acting lieutenant in the +WORCESTER, sixty-four, Captain Mark Robinson, then going out with convoy +to Gibraltar. Soon after his return, on the 8th of April 1777, he passed +his examination for a lieutenancy. Captain Suckling sat at the head +of the board; and when the examination had ended, in a manner highly +honourable to Nelson, rose from his seat, and introduced him to the +examining captains as his nephew. They expressed their wonder that he +had not informed them of this relationship before; he replied that he +did not wish the younker to be favoured; he knew his nephew would pass +a good examination, and he had not been deceived. The next day Nelson +received his commission as second lieutenant of the LOWESTOFFE frigate, +Captain William Locker, then fitting out for Jamaica. + +American and French privateers, under American colours, were at that +time harassing our trade in the West Indies: even a frigate was not +sufficiently active for Nelson, and he repeatedly got appointed to the +command of one of the LOWESTOFFE's tenders. During one of their cruises +the LOWESTOFFE captured an American letter-of-marque: it was blowing +a gale, and a heavy sea running. The first lieutenant being ordered +to board the prize, went below to put on his hanger. It happened to +be mislaid; and while he was seeking it, Captain Locker came on deck. +Perceiving the boat still alongside, and in danger every moment of +being swamped, and being extremely anxious that the privateer should +be instantly taken in charge, because he feared that It would otherwise +founder, he exclaimed, "Have I no officer in the ship who can board +the prize?" Nelson did not offer himself immediately, waiting, with his +usual sense of propriety, for the first lieutenant's return; but hearing +the master volunteer, he jumped into the boat, saying, "It is my turn +now; and if I come back, it is yours." The American, who had carried a +heavy press of sail in hope of escaping, was so completely water-logged +that the LOWESTOFFE's boat went in on deck and out again with the sea. + +About this time he lost his uncle. Captain Locker, however, who had +perceived the excellent qualities of Nelson, and formed a friendship for +him which continued during his life, recommended him warmly to Sir Peter +Parker, then commander-in-chief upon that station. In consequence of +this recommendation he was removed into the BRISTOL flag-ship, and +Lieutenant Cuthbert Collingwood succeeded him in the LOWESTOFFE. Sir +Peter Parker was the friend of both, and thus it happened that whenever +Nelson got a step in rank, Collingwood succeeded him. The former soon +became first lieutenant, and on the 8th of December 1778 was appointed +commander of the BADGER brig; Collingwood taking his place in the +BRISTOL. While the BADGER was lying in Montego Bay, Jamaica, the GLASGOW +of twenty guns came in and anchored there, and in two hours was in +flames, the steward having set fire to her while stealing rum out of the +after-hold. Her crew were leaping into the water, when Nelson came up in +his boats, made them throw their powder overboard and point their guns +upward; and by his presence of mind and personal exertions prevented the +loss of life which would otherwise have ensued. On the 11th of June 1779 +he was made post into the HINCHINBROOK, of twenty-eight guns, an enemy's +merchantman, sheathed with wood, which had been taken into the service. +Collingwood was then made commander into the BADGER. A short time after +he left the LOWESTOFFE, that ship, with a small squadron, stormed the +fort of St. Fernando de Omoa, on the south side of the Bay of Honduras, +and captured some register ships which were lying under its guns. Two +hundred and fifty quintals of quicksilver and three millions of piastres +were the reward of this enterprise; and it is characteristic of Nelson +that the chance by which he missed a share in such a prize is never +mentioned in any of his letters; nor is it likely that it ever excited +even a momentary feeling of vexation. + +Nelson was fortunate in possessing good interest at the time when it +could be most serviceable to him: his promotion had been almost as rapid +as it could be; and before he had attained the age of twenty-one he had +gained that rank which brought all the honours of the service within his +reach. No opportunity, indeed, had yet been given him of distinguishing +himself; but he was thoroughly master of his profession, and his zeal +and ability were acknowledged wherever he was known. Count d'Estaing, +with a fleet of one hundred and twenty-five sail, men of war and +transports, and a reputed force of five-and twenty thousand men, +threatened Jamaica from St. Domingo. Nelson offered his services to the +Admiral and to Governor-General Dalling, and was appointed to command +the batteries of Fort Charles, at Port Royal. Not more than seven +thousand men could be mustered for the defence of the island,--a number +wholly inadequate to resist the force which threatened them. Of this +Nelson was so well aware, that when he wrote to his friends in England, +he told them they must not be surprised to hear of his learning to speak +French. D'Estaing, however, was either not aware of his own superiority, +or not equal to the command with which he was intrusted: he attempted +nothing with his formidable armament; and General Dalling was thus left +to execute a project which he had formed against the Spanish colonies. + +This project was, to take Fort San Juan on the river of that name, which +flows from Lake Nicaragua into the Atlantic; make himself master of the +lake itself, and of the cities of Granada and Leon; and thus cut off +the communication of the Spaniards between their northern and southern +possessions in America. Here it is that a canal between the two seas may +most easily be formed--a work more important in its consequences +than any which has ever yet been effected by human power. Lord George +Germaine, at that time secretary of state for the American Department, +approved the plan; and as discontents at that time were known to prevail +in the Nuevo Reyno, in Popayan, and in Peru, the more sanguine part +of the English began to dream of acquiring an empire in one part of +America, more extensive than that which they were on the point of losing +in another. General Dalling's plans were well formed; but the history +and the nature of the country had not been studied as accurately as its +geography: the difficulties which occurred in fitting out the expedition +delayed it till the season was too far advanced; and the men were thus +sent to adventure themselves, not so much against an enemy, whom they +would have beaten, as against a climate which would do the enemy's work. + +Early in the year 1780, five hundred men destined for this service were +convoyed by Nelson from Port Royal to Cape Gracias a Dios, in Honduras. +Not a native was to be seen when they landed: they had been taught that +the English came with no other intent than that of enslaving them, and +sending them to Jamaica. After a while, however, one of them ventured +down, confiding in his knowledge of one of the party; and by his means +the neighbouring tribes were conciliated with presents, and brought in. +The troops were encamped on a swampy and unwholesome plain, where they +were joined by a party of the 79th regiment from Black River, who were +already in a deplorable state of sickness. Having remained here a month, +they proceeded, anchoring frequently, along the Mosquito shore, to +collect their Indian allies, who were to furnish proper boats for the +river, and to accompany them. They reached the river San Juan, March +24th; and here, according to his orders, Nelson's services were to +terminate; but not a man in the expedition had ever been up the river, +or knew the distance of any fortification from its mouth; and he not +being one who would turn back when so much was to be done, resolved to +carry the soldiers up. About two hundred, therefore, were embarked in +the Mosquito shore craft and in two of the HINCHINBROOK's boats, and +they began their voyage. It was the latter end of the dry season, the +worst time for such an expedition; the river was consequently low. +Indians were sent forward through narrow channels between shoals and +sandbanks, and the men were frequently obliged to quit the boats and +exert their utmost strength to drag or thrust them along. This labour +continued for several days; when they came into deeper water, they +had then currents and rapids to contend with, which would have been +insurmountable but for the skill of the Indians in such difficulties. +The brunt of the labour was borne by them and by the sailors--men never +accustomed to stand aloof when any exertion of strength or hardihood is +required. The soldiers, less accustomed to rely upon themselves, were +of little use. But all equally endured the violent heat of the sun, +rendered more intense by being reflected from the white shoals; while +the high woods, on both sides of the river, were frequently so close as +to prevent any refreshing circulation of air; and during the night all +were equally exposed to the heavy and unwholesome dews. + +On the 9th of April they reached an island in the river, called San +Bartolomeo, which the Spaniards had fortified, as an outpost, with a +small semicircular battery, mounting nine or ten swivels, and manned +with sixteen or eighteen men. It commanded the river in a rapid and +difficult part of the navigation. Nelson, at the head of a few of his +seamen, leaped upon the beach. The ground upon which he sprung was so +muddy that he had some difficulty in extricating himself, and lost +his shoes: bare-footed, however, he advanced, and, in his own phrase, +BOARDED THE BATTERY. In this resolute attempt he was bravely supported +by Despard, at that time a captain in the army, afterward unhappily +executed for his schemes of revolutionary treason. The castle of San +Tuan is situated about 16 miles higher up; the stores and ammunition, +however, were landed a few miles below the castle, and the men had to +march through woods almost impassable. One of the men was bitten under +the eye by a snake which darted upon him from the bough of a tree. He +was unable to proceed from the violence of the pain; and when, after a +short while, some of his comrades were sent back to assist him, he was +dead, and the body already putrid. Nelson himself narrowly escaped a +similar fate. He had ordered his hammock to be slung under some trees, +being excessively fatigued, and was sleeping, when a monitory lizard +passed across his face. The Indians happily observed the reptile; and +knowing what it indicated, awoke him. He started up, and found one of +the deadliest serpents of the country coiled up at his feet. He suffered +from poison of another kind; for drinking at a spring in which some +boughs of the manchineel had been thrown, the effects were so severe as, +in the opinion of some of his friends, to inflict a lasting injury upon +his constitution. + +The castle of San Juan is 32 miles below the point where the river +issues from the Lake of Nicaragua, and 69 from its mouth. Boats reach +the sea from thence in a day and a-half; but their navigation back, even +when unladen, is the labour of nine days. The English appeared before +it on the 11th, two days after they had taken San Bartolomeo. Nelson's +advice was, that it should instantly be carried by assault; but Nelson +was not the commander; and it was thought proper to observe all the +formalities of a siege. Ten days were wasted before this could be +commenced. It was a work more of fatigue than of danger; but fatigue +was more to be dreaded than the enemy; the rains set in; and could the +garrison have held out a little longer, diseases would have rid them of +their invaders. Even the Indians sunk under it, the victims of unusual +exertion, and of their own excesses. The place surrendered on the 24th. +But victory procured to the conquerors none of that relief which had +been expected; the castle was worse than a prison; and it contained +nothing which could contribute to the recovery of the sick, or the +preservation of those who were yet unaffected. The huts which served for +hospitals were surrounded with filth, and with the putrefying hides of +slaughtered cattle--almost sufficient of themselves to have engendered +pestilence; and when at last orders were given to erect a convenient +hospital, the contagion had become so general that there were none who +could work at it; for besides the few who were able to perform garrison +duty, there were not orderly men enough to assist the sick. Added to +these evils, there was the want of all needful remedies; for though the +expedition had been amply provided with hospital stores, river craft +enough had not been procured for transporting the requisite baggage; and +when much was to be left behind, provision for sickness was that which +of all things men in health would be most ready to leave. Now, when +these medicines were required, the river was swollen, and so turbulent +that its upward navigation was almost impracticable. At length even the +task of burying the dead was more than the living could perform, and the +bodies were tossed into the stream, or left for beasts of prey, and for +the gallinazos--those dreadful carrion birds, which do not always +wait for death before they begin their work. Five months the English +persisted in what may be called this war against nature; they then left +a few men, who seemed proof against the climate, to retain the castle +till the Spaniards should choose to retake it and make them prisoners. +The rest abandoned their baleful conquest. Eighteen hundred men were +sent to different posts upon this wretched expedition: not more than +three hundred and eighty ever returned. The HINCHINBROOK's complement +consisted of two hundred men; eighty-seven took to their beds in one +night, and of the whole crew not more than ten survived. + +The transports' men all died, and some of the ships, having none left +to take care of them, sunk in the harbour: but transport ships were not +wanted, for the troops which they had brought were no more: they had +fallen, not by the hand of an enemy, but by the deadly influence of the +climate. + +Nelson himself was saved by a timely removal. In a few days after the +commencement of the siege he was seized with the prevailing dysentery; +meantime Captain Glover (son of the author of LEONIDAS) died, and +Nelson was appointed to succeed him in the Janus, of forty-four guns; +Collingwood being then made post into the HINCHINBROOK. He returned to +the harbour the day before San Juan surrendered, and immediately sailed +for Jamaica in the sloop which brought the news of his appointment. He +was, however, so greatly reduced by the disorder, that when they reached +Port Royal he was carried ashore in his cot; and finding himself, after +a partial amendment, unable to retain the command of his new ship, he +was compelled to ask leave to return to England, as the only means of +recovery. Captain (afterwards Admiral) Cornwallis took him home in the +LION; and to his fare and kindness Nelson believed himself indebted for +his life. He went immediately to Bath, in a miserable state; so helpless +that he was carried to and from his bed; and the act of moving him +produced the most violent pain. In three months he recovered, and +immediately hastened to London, and applied for employment. After an +interval of about four months he was appointed to the ALBEMARLE, of +twenty-eight guns, a French merchantman which had been purchased from +the captors for the king's service. + +His health was not yet thoroughly re-established; and while he was +employed in getting his ship ready, he again became so ill as hardly to +be able to keep out of bed. Yet in this state, still suffering from +the fatal effect of a West Indian climate, as if it might almost be +supposed, he said, to try his constitution, he was sent to the North +Seas, and kept there the whole winter. The asperity with which he +mentioned this so many years afterwards evinces how deeply he resented +a mode of conduct equally cruel to the individual and detrimental to the +service. It was during the armed neutrality; and when they anchored off +Elsinore, the Danish Admiral sent on board, desiring to be informed +what ships had arrived, and to have their force written down. "The +ALBEMARLE," said Nelson to the messenger, "is one of his Britannic +Majesty's ships: you are at liberty, sir, to count the guns as you go +down the side; and you may assure the Danish Admiral that, if necessary, +they shall all be well served." During this voyage he gained a +considerable knowledge of the Danish coast and its soundings, greatly +to the advantage of his country in after-times. The ALBEMARLE was not +a good ship, and was several times nearly overset in consequence of the +masts having been made much too long for her. On her return to England +they were shortened, and some other improvements made at Nelson's +suggestion. Still he always insisted that her first owners, the French, +had taught her to run away, as she was never a good sailer except when +going directly before the wind. + +On their return to the Downs, while he was ashore visiting the senior +officer, there came on so heavy a gale that almost all the vessels +drove, and a store-ship came athwart-hawse of the ALBEMARLE. Nelson +feared she would drive on the Goodwin Sands; he ran to the beach; but +even the Deal boatmen thought it impossible to get on board, such was +the violence of the storm. At length some of the most intrepid offered +to make the attempt for fifteen guineas; and to the astonishment and +fear of all the beholders, he embarked during the height of the tempest. +With great difficulty and imminent danger he succeeded in reaching her. +She lost her bowsprit and foremast, but escaped further injury. He was +now ordered to Quebec, where his surgeon told him he would certainly be +laid up by the climate. Many of his friends urged him to represent this +to Admiral Keppel; but having received his orders from Lord Sandwich, +there appeared to him an indelicacy in applying to his successor to have +them altered. + +Accordingly he sailed for Canada. During her first cruise on that +station the ALBEMARLE captured a fishing schooner which contained in her +cargo nearly all the property that her master possessed, and the poor +fellow had a large family at home, anxiously expecting him. Nelson +employed him as a pilot in Boston Bay, then restored him the schooner +and cargo, and gave him a certificate to secure him against being +captured by any other vessel. The man came off afterwards to the +ALBEMARLE, at the hazard of his life, with a present of sheep, poultry, +and fresh provisions. A most valuable supply it proved, for the scurvy +was raging on board: this was in the middle of August, and the ship's +company had not had a fresh meal since the beginning of April. The +certificate was preserved at Boston in memory of an act of unusual +generosity; and now that the fame of Nelson has given interest to +everything connected with his name, it is regarded as a relic. The +ALBEMARLE had a narrow escape upon this cruise. Four French sail of the +line and a frigate, which had come out of Boston harbour, gave chase to +her; and Nelson, perceiving that they beat him in sailing, boldly ran +among the numerous shoals of St. George's Bank, confiding in his own +skill in pilotage. Captain Salter, in the STA. MARGARETTA, had escaped +the French fleet by a similar manoeuvre not long before. The frigate +alone continued warily to pursue him; but as soon as he perceived that +this enemy was unsupported, he shortened sail and hove to; upon which +the Frenchman thought it advisable to give over the pursuit, and sail in +quest of his consorts. + +At Quebec Nelson became acquainted with Alexander Davison, by whose +interference he was prevented from making what would have been called +an imprudent marriage. The ALBEMARLE was about to leave the station, her +captain had taken leave of his friends, and was gone down the river to +the place of anchorage; when the next morning, as Davison was walking on +the beach, to his surprise he saw Nelson coming back in his boat. Upon +inquiring the cause of this reappearance, Nelson took his arm to walk +towards the town, and told him that he found it utterly impossible +to leave Quebec without again seeing the woman whose society had +contributed so much to his happiness there, and offering her his hand. +"If you do," said his friend, "your ruin must inevitably follow." "Then +let it follow," cried Nelson, "for I am resolved to do it" "And I," +replied Davison, "am resolved you shall not." Nelson, however, upon this +occasion, was less resolute than his friend, and suffered himself to be +led back to the boat. + +The ALBEMARLE was under orders to convoy a fleet of transports to New +York. "A very pretty job" said her captain, "at this late season of +the year" (October was far advanced), "for our sails are at this moment +frozen to the yards." On his arrival at Sandy Hook, he waited on the +commander-in-chief, Admiral Digby, who told him he was come on a fine +station for making prize-money. "Yes, sir," Nelson made answer, "but the +West Indies is the station for honour." Lord Hood, with a detachment of +Rodney's victorious fleet, was at that time at Sandy Hook: he had been +intimate with Captain Suckling; and Nelson, who was desirous of nothing +but honour, requested him to ask for the ALBEMARLE, that he might go +to that station where it was most likely to be obtained. Admiral Digby +reluctantly parted with him. His professional merit was already well +known; and Lord Hood, on introducing him to Prince William Henry, as the +Duke of Clarence was then called, told the prince, if he wished to ask +any questions respecting naval tactics, Captain Nelson could give him as +much information as any officer in the fleet. The Duke--who, to his own +honour, became from that time the firm friend of Nelson--describes him +as appearing the merest boy of a captain he had ever seen, dressed in a +full laced uniform, an old-fashioned waistcoat with long flaps, and +his lank unpowdered hair tied in a stiff Hessian tail of extraordinary +length; making altogether so remarkable a figure, that, says the duke, +"I had never seen anything like it before, nor could I imagine who +he was, nor what he came about. But his address and conversation were +irresistibly pleasing; and when he spoke on professional subjects, it +was with an enthusiasm that showed he was no common being." + +It was expected that the French would attempt some of the passages +between the Bahamas; and Lord Hood, thinking of this, said to Nelson, "I +suppose, sir, from the length of time you were cruising among the Bahama +Keys, you must be a good pilot there." He replied, with that constant +readiness to render justice to every man which was so conspicuous in all +his conduct through life, that he was well acquainted with them himself, +but that in that respect his second lieutenant was far his superior. The +French got into Puerto Cabello, on the coast of Venezuela. Nelson was +cruising between that port and La Guapra, under French colours, for the +purpose of obtaining information; when a king's launch, belonging to +the Spaniards, passed near, and being hailed in French, came alongside +without suspicion, and answered all questions that were asked concerning +the number and force of the enemy's ships. The crew, however, were not +a little surprised when they were taken on board and found themselves +prisoners. One of the party went by the name of the Count de Deux-Ponts. +He was, however, a prince of the German empire, and brother to the heir +of the Electorate of Bavaria: his companions were French officers of +distinction, and men of science, who had been collecting specimens in +the various branches of natural history. Nelson, having entertained them +with the best his table could afford, told them they were at liberty to +depart with their boat, and all that it contained: he only required +them to promise that they would consider themselves as prisoners if +the commander-in-chief should refuse to acquiesce in their being thus +liberated: a circumstance which was not likely to happen. Tidings +soon arrived that the preliminaries of peace had been signed; and the +ALBEMARLE returned to England and was paid off. Nelson's first business, +after he got to London, even before he went to see his relations, was to +attempt to get the wages due to his men for the various ships in which +they had served during the war. "The disgust of seamen to the navy," he +said, "was all owing to the infernal plan of turning them over from ship +to ship; so that men could not be attached to their officers, nor the +officers care the least about the men." Yet he himself was so beloved by +his men that his whole ship's company offered, if he could get a ship, +to enter for her immediately. He was now, for the first time, presented +at court. After going through this ceremony, he dined with his friend +Davison at Lincoln's Inn. As soon as he entered the chambers, he threw +off what he called his iron-bound coat; and, putting himself at ease +in a dressing gown, passed the remainder of the day in talking over all +that had befallen them since they parted on the shore of the River St. +Lawrence. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +1784 - 1793 + +Nelson goes to France--Reappointed to the BOREAS at the Leeward Islands +in the BOREAS--His firm conduct concerning the American Interlopers +and the Contractors--Marries and returns to England--Is on the point +of quitting the Service in Disgust--Manner of Life while +unemployed--Appointed to the AGAMEMNON on the breaking out of the War of +the French Revolution. + + +"I HAVE closed the war," said Nelson in one of his letters, "without a +fortune; but there is not a speck in my character. True honour, I hope, +predominates in my mind far above riches." He did not apply for a ship, +because he was not wealthy enough to live on board in the manner which +was then become customary. Finding it, therefore, prudent to economise +on his half-pay during the peace, he went to France, in company with +Captain Macnamara of the navy, and took lodgings at St. Omer's. The +death of his favourite sister, Anne, who died in consequence of going +out of the ball-room at Bath when heated with dancing, affected his +father so much that it had nearly occasioned him to return in a few +weeks. Time, however, and reason and religion, overcame this grief in +the old man; and Nelson continued at St. Omer's long enough to fall in +love with the daughter of an English clergyman. This second attachment +appears to have been less ardent than the first, for upon weighing the +evils of a straitened income to a married man, he thought it better to +leave France, assigning to his friends something in his accounts as the +cause. This prevented him from accepting an invitation from the Count +of Deux-Ponts to visit him at Paris, couched in the handsomest terms +of acknowledgment for the treatment which he had received on board the +ALBEMARLE. + +The self-constraint which Nelson exerted in subduing this attachment +made him naturally desire to be at sea; and when, upon visiting Lord +Howe at the Admiralty, he was asked if he wished to be employed, he +made answer that he did. Accordingly in March, he was appointed to the +BOREAS, twenty-eight guns, going to the Leeward Islands as a cruiser on +the peace establishment. Lady Hughes and her family went out with him to +Admiral Sir Richard Hughes, who commanded on that station. His ship was +full of young midshipmen, of whom there were not less than thirty on +board; and happy were they whose lot it was to be placed with such a +captain. If he perceived that a boy was afraid at first going aloft, he +would say to him in a friendly manner, "Well, sir, I am going a race +to the mast-head, and beg that I may meet you there." The poor little +fellow instantly began to climb, and got up how he could,--Nelson never +noticed in what manner, but when they met in the top, spoke cheerfully +to him, and would say how much any person was to be pitied who fancied +that getting up was either dangerous or difficult. Every day he went +into the school-room to see that they were pursuing their nautical +studies; and at noon he was always the first on deck with his quadrant. +Whenever he paid a visit of ceremony, some of these youths accompanied +him; and when he went to dine with the governor at Barbadoes, he took +one of them in his hand, and presented him, saying, "Your Excellency +must excuse me for bringing one of my midshipmen. I make it a rule to +introduce them to all the good company I can, as they have few to look +up to, besides myself, during the time they are at sea." + +When Nelson arrived in the West Indies, he found himself senior captain, +and consequently second in command on that station. Satisfactory as this +was, it soon involved him in a dispute with the admiral, which a man +less zealous for the service might have avoided. He found the LATONA +in English Harbour, Antigua, with a broad pendant hoisted; and upon +inquiring the reason, was presented with a written order from Sir R. +Hughes, requiring and directing him to obey the orders of Resident +Commissioner Moutray during the time he might have occasion to remain +there; the said resident commissioner being in consequence, authorised +to hoist a broad pendant on board any of his Majesty's ships in that +port that he might think proper. Nelson was never at a loss how to act +in any emergency. + +"I know of no superior officers," said he, "besides the Lords +Commissioners of the Admiralty, and my seniors on the post list." +Concluding, therefore, that it was not consistent with the service for a +resident commissioner, who held only a civil situation, to hoist a broad +pendant, the moment that he had anchored he sent an order to the captain +of the LATONA to strike it, and return it to the dock-yard. He went on +shore the same day, dined with the commissioner, to show him that he was +actuated by no other motive than a sense of duty, and gave him the +first intelligence that his pendant had been struck. Sir Richard sent an +account of this to the Admiralty; but the case could admit of no doubt, +and Captain Nelson's conduct was approved. + +He displayed the same promptitude on another occasion. While the BOREAS, +after the hurricane months were over, was riding at anchor in Nevis +Roads, a French frigate passed to leeward, close along shore. Nelson had +obtained information that this ship was sent from Martinico, with two +general officers and some engineers on board, to make a survey of our +sugar islands. This purpose he was determined to prevent them from +executing, and therefore he gave orders to follow them. The next day he +came up with them at anchor in the roads of St. Eustatia, and anchored +at about two cables' length on the frigate's quarter. Being afterwards +invited by the Dutch governor to meet the French officers at dinner, he +seized that occasion of assuring the French captain that, understanding +it was his intention to honour the British possessions with a visit, he +had taken the earliest opportunity in his power to accompany him, in his +Majesty's ship the BOREAS, in order that such attention might be paid +to the officers of his Most Christian Majesty as every Englishman in +the islands would be proud to show. The French, with equal courtesy, +protested against giving him this trouble; especially, they said, as +they intended merely to cruise round the islands without landing on any. +But Nelson, with the utmost politeness, insisted upon paying them this +compliment, followed them close in spite of all their attempts to elude +his vigilance, and never lost sight of them; till, finding it impossible +either to deceive or escape him, they gave up their treacherous purpose +in despair, and beat up for Martinico. + +A business of more serious import soon engaged his attention. The +Americans were at this time trading with our islands, taking advantage +of the register of their ships, which had been issued while they +were British subjects. Nelson knew that, by the Navigation Act, no +foreigners, directly or indirectly, are permitted to carry on any trade +with these possessions. He knew, also, that the Americans had made +themselves foreigners with regard to England; they had disregarded the +ties of blood and language when they acquired the independence which +they had been led on to claim, unhappily for themselves before they were +fit for it; and he was resolved that they should derive no profit from +those ties now. Foreigners they had made themselves, and as foreigners +they were to be treated. "If once," said he, "they are admitted to any +kind of intercourse with our islands, the views of the loyalists, in +settling at Nova Scotia, are entirely done away; and when we are again +embroiled in a French war, the Americans will first become the carriers +of these colonies, and then have possession of them. Here they come, +sell their cargoes for ready money, go to Martinico, buy molasses, and +so round and round. The loyalist cannot do this, and consequently must +sell a little dearer. The residents here are Americans by connection and +by interest, and are inimical to Great Britain. They are as great rebels +as ever were in America, had they the power to show it." In November, +when the squadron, having arrived at Barbadoes, was to separate, with +no other orders than those for examining anchorages, and the +usual inquiries concerning wood and water, Nelson asked his friend +Collingwood, then captain of the MEDIATOR, whose opinions he knew upon +the subject, to accompany him to the commander-in-chief, whom he then +respectfully asked, whether they were not to attend to the commerce +of the country, and see that the Navigation Act was respected--that +appearing to him to be the intent of keeping men-of-war upon this +station in time of peace? Sir Richard Hughes replied, he had no +particular orders, neither had the Admiralty sent him any Acts of +Parliament. But Nelson made answer, that the Navigation Act was +included in the statutes of the Admiralty, with which every captain was +furnished, and that Act was directed to admirals, captains, &c., to see +it carried into execution. Sir Richard said he had never seen the book. +Upon this Nelson produced the statutes, read the words of the Act, and +apparently convinced the commander-in-chief, that men-of-war, as he +said, "were sent abroad for some other purpose than to be made a show +of." Accordingly orders were given to enforce the Navigation Act. + +Major-General Sir Thomas Shirley was at this time governor of the +Leeward Islands; and when Nelson waited on him, to inform him how he +intended to act, and upon what grounds, he replied, that "old generals +were not in the habit of taking advice from young gentlemen." "Sir," +said the young officer, with that confidence in himself which never +carried him too far, and always was equal to the occasion, "I am as +old as the prime minister of England, and I think myself as capable of +commanding one of his Majesty's ships as that minister is of governing +the state." He was resolved to do his duty, whatever might be the +opinion or conduct of others; and when he arrived upon his station at +St. Kitt's, he sent away all the Americans, not choosing to seize them +before they had been well apprised that the Act would be carried into +effect, lest it might seem as if a trap had been laid for them. +The Americans, though they prudently decamped from St. Kitt's, were +emboldened by the support they met with, and resolved to resist his +orders, alleging that king's ships had no legal power to seize them +without having deputations from the customs. The planters were to a man +against him; the governors and the presidents of the different islands, +with only a single exception, gave him no support; and the admiral, +afraid to act on either side, yet wishing to oblige the planters, sent +him a note, advising him to be guided by the wishes of the president +of the council. There was no danger in disregarding this, as it came +unofficially, and in the form of advice. But scarcely a month after he +had shown Sir Richard Hughes the law, and, as he supposed, satisfied him +concerning it, he received an order from him, stating that he had now +obtained good advice upon the point, and the Americans were not to +be hindered from coming, and having free egress and regress, if the +governor chose to permit them. An order to the same purport had been +sent round to the different governors and presidents; and General +Shirley and others informed him, in an authoritative manner, that they +chose to admit American ships, as the commander-in-chief had left the +decision to them. These persons, in his own words, he soon "trimmed +up, and silenced;" but it was a more delicate business to deal with the +admiral: "I must either," said he, "disobey my orders, or disobey Acts +of Parliament. I determined upon the former, trusting to the uprightness +of my intentions, and believing that my country would not let me be +ruined for protecting her commerce." With this determination he wrote to +Sir Richard; appealed again to the plain, literal, unequivocal sense of +the Navigation Act; and in respectful language told him, he felt it +his duty to decline obeying these orders till he had an opportunity of +seeing and conversing with him. Sir Richard's first feeling was that of +anger, and he was about to supersede Nelson; but having mentioned +the affair to his captain, that officer told him he believed all the +squadron thought the orders illegal, and therefore did not know how far +they were bound to obey them. It was impossible, therefore, to bring +Nelson to a court-martial, composed of men who agreed with him in +opinion upon the point in dispute; and luckily, though the admiral +wanted vigour of mind to decide upon what was right, he was not +obstinate in wrong, and had even generosity enough in his nature to +thank Nelson afterwards for having shown him his error. + +Collingwood in the MEDIATOR, and his brother, Wilfred Collingwood, in +the RATTLER, actively co-operated with Nelson. The custom-houses were +informed that after a certain day all foreign vessels found in the ports +would be seized; and many were, in consequence, seized, and condemned +in the Admiralty Court. When the BOREAS arrived at Nevis, she found four +American vessels deeply laden, and what are called the island colours +flying--white, with a red cross. They were ordered to hoist their proper +flag, and depart within 48 hours; but they refused to obey, denying that +they were Americans. Some of their crews were then examined in Nelson's +cabin, where the Judge of Admiralty happened to be present. The case was +plain; they confessed that they were Americans, and that the ships, hull +and cargo, were wholly American property; upon which he seized them. +This raised a storm: the planters, the custom-house, and the governor, +were all against him. Subscriptions were opened, and presently filled, +for the purpose of carrying on the cause in behalf of the American +captains; and the admiral, whose flag was at that time in the roads, +stood neutral. But the Americans and their abettors were not content +with defensive law. The marines, whom he had sent to secure the ships, +had prevented some of the masters from going ashore; and those persons, +by whose depositions it appeared that the vessels and cargoes were +American property, declared that they had given their testimony under +bodily fear, for that a man with a drawn sword in his hand had stood +over them the whole time. A rascally lawyer, whom the party employed, +suggested this story; and as the sentry at the cabin door was a man +with a drawn sword, the Americans made no scruple of swearing to +this ridiculous falsehood, and commencing prosecutions against him +accordingly. They laid their damages at the enormous amount of L40,000; +and Nelson was obliged to keep close on board his own ship, lest he +should be arrested for a sum for which it would have been impossible to +find bail. The marshal frequently came on board to arrest him, but was +always prevented by the address of the first lieutenant, Mr. Wallis. Had +he been taken, such was the temper of the people that it was certain he +would have been cast for the whole sum. One of his officers, one day, +in speaking of the restraint which he was thus compelled to suffer, +happened to use the word PITY! "Pity!" exclaimed Nelson: "Pity! did you +say? I shall live, sir, to be envied! and to that point I shall always +direct my course." Eight weeks remained in this state of duresse. During +that time the trial respecting the detained ships came on in the court +of Admiralty. He went on shore under a protection for the day from the +judge; but, notwithstanding this, the marshal was called upon to +take that opportunity of arresting him, and the merchants promised +to indemnify him for so doing. The judge, however, did his duty, and +threatened to send the marshal to prison if he attempted to violate the +protection of the court. Mr. Herbert, the president of Nevis, behaved +with singular generosity upon this occasion. Though no man was a greater +sufferer by the measures which Nelson had pursued, he offered in court +to become his bail for L10,000 if he chose to suffer the arrest. The +lawyer whom he had chosen proved to be an able as well as an honest man; +and notwithstanding the opinions and pleadings of most of the counsel +of the different islands, who maintained that ships of war were not +justified in seizing American vessels without a deputation from the +customs, the law was so explicit, the case so clear, and Nelson pleaded +his own cause so well, that the four ships were condemned. During +the progress of this business he sent a memorial home to the king, in +consequence of which orders were issued that he should be defended at +the expense of the crown. And upon the representation which he made at +the same time to the Secretary of State, and the suggestions with +which he accompanied it, the Register Act was framed. The sanction of +Government, and the approbation of his conduct which it implied, were +highly gratifying to him; but he was offended, and not without +just cause, that the Treasury should have transmitted thanks to the +commander-in-chief for his activity and zeal in protecting the commerce +of Great Britain. "Had they known all," said he, "I do not think they +would have bestowed thanks in that quarter, and neglected me. I feel +much hurt that, after the loss of health and risk of fortune, another +should be thanked for what I did against his orders. I either deserved +to be sent out of the service, or at least to have had some little +notice taken of what I had done. They have thought it worthy of +notice, and yet have neglected me. If this is the reward for a faithful +discharge of my duty, I shall be careful, and never stand forward again. +But I have done my duty, and have nothing to accuse myself of." + +The anxiety which he had suffered from the harassing uncertainties of +law is apparent from these expressions. He had, however, something to +console him, for he was at this time wooing the niece of his friend +the president, then in her eighteenth year, the widow of Dr. Nisbet, a +physician. She had one child, a son, by name Josiah, who was three +years old. One day Mr. Herbert, who had hastened half-dressed to receive +Nelson, exclaimed, on returning to his dressing-room, "Good God! if +I did not find that great little man, of whom everybody is so afraid, +playing in the next room, under the dining-table, with Mrs. Nisbet's +child!" A few days afterwards Mrs. Nisbet herself was first introduced +to him, and thanked him for the partiality which he had shown to her +little boy. Her manners were mild and winning; and the captain, whose +heart was easily susceptible of attachment, found no such imperious +necessity for subduing his inclinations as had twice before withheld +him from marrying. They were married on March 11, 1787: Prince William +Henry, who had come out to the West Indies the preceding winter, being +present, by his own desire, to give away the bride. Mr. Herbert, her +uncle, was at this time so much displeased with his only daughter, that +he had resolved to disinherit her, and leave his whole fortune, which +was very great, to his niece. But Nelson, whose nature was too noble +to let him profit by an act of injustice, interfered, and succeeded in +reconciling the president to his child. + +"Yesterday," said one of his naval friends the day after the wedding, +"the navy lost one of its greatest ornaments by Nelson's marriage. It is +a national loss that such an officer should marry: had it not been for +this, Nelson would have become the greatest man in the service." The +man was rightly estimated; but he who delivered this opinion did not +understand the effect of domestic love and duty upon a mind of the true +heroic stamp. + +"We are often separate," said Nelson, in a letter to Mrs. Nisbet a few +months before their marriage; "but our affections are not by any means +on that account diminished. Our country has the first demand for our +services; and private convenience or happiness must ever give way to the +public good. Duty is the great business of a sea officer: all private +considerations must give way to it, however painful." "Have you not +often heard," says he in another letter, "that salt water and absence +always wash away love? Now I am such a heretic as not to believe that +article, for, behold, every morning I have had six pails of salt water +poured upon my head, and instead of finding what seamen say to be true, +it goes on so contrary to the prescription, that you may, perhaps, see +me before the fixed time." More frequently his correspondence breathed a +deeper strain. "To write letters to you," says he, "is the next greatest +pleasure I feel to receiving them from you. What I experience when I +read such as I am sure are the pure sentiments of your heart, my poor +pen cannot express; nor, indeed, would I give much for any pen or head +which could express feelings of that kind. Absent from you, I feel no +pleasure: it is you who are everything to me. Without you, I care not +for this world; for I have found, lately, nothing in it but vexation and +trouble. These are my present sentiments. God Almighty grant they may +never change! Nor do I think they will. Indeed there is, as far as human +knowledge can judge, a moral certainty that they cannot; for it must +be real affection that brings us together, not interest or compulsion." +Such were the feelings, and such the sense of duty, with which Nelson +became a husband. + +During his stay upon this station he had ample opportunity of observing +the scandalous practices of the contractors, prize-agents, and other +persons in the West Indies connected with the naval service. When he +was first left with the command, and bills were brought him to sign for +money which was owing for goods purchased for the navy, he required the +original voucher, that he might examine whether those goods had been +really purchased at the market price; but to produce vouchers would not +have been convenient, and therefore was not the custom. Upon this +Nelson wrote to Sir Charles Middleton, then Comptroller of the Navy, +representing the abuses which were likely to be practised in this +manner. The answer which he received seemed to imply that the old +forms were thought sufficient; and thus, having no alternative, he was +compelled, with his eyes open, to submit to a practice originating in +fraudulent intentions. Soon afterwards two Antigua merchants informed +him that they were privy to great frauds which had been committed upon +government in various departments; at Antigua, to the amount of nearly +L500,000; at Lucie, L300,000; at Barbadoes, L250,000; at Jamaica, +upwards of a million. The informers were both shrewd sensible men of +business; they did not affect to be actuated by a sense of justice, +but required a percentage upon so much as government should actually +recover through their means. Nelson examined the books and papers +which they produced, and was convinced that government had been most +infamously plundered. Vouchers, he found, in that country, were no check +whatever: the principle was, that "a thing was always worth what it +would bring;" and the merchants were in the habit of signing vouchers +for each other, without even the appearance of looking at the articles. +These accounts he sent home to the different departments which had been +defrauded; but the peculators were too powerful, and they succeeded +not merely in impeding inquiry, but even in raising prejudices against +Nelson at the Board of Admiralty, which it was many years before he +could subdue. + +Owing probably, to these prejudices, and the influence of the +peculators, he was treated, on his return to England, in a manner which +had nearly driven him from the service. During the three years that +the BOREAS had remained upon a station which is usually so fatal, not +a single officer or man of her whole complement had died. This almost +unexampled instance of good health, though mostly, no doubt, imputable +to a healthy season, must in some measure, also, be ascribed to the wise +conduct of the captain. He never suffered the ships to remain more +than three or four weeks at a time at any of the islands; and when the +hurricane months confined him to English Harbour, he encouraged all +kinds of useful amusements--music, dancing, and cudgelling among the +men; theatricals among the officers; anything which could employ their +attention, and keep their spirits cheerful. The BOREAS arrived in +England in June. Nelson, who had many times been supposed to be +consumptive when in the West Indies, and perhaps was saved from +consumption by that climate, was still in a precarious state of health; +and the raw wet weather of one of our ungenial summers brought on cold, +and sore throat, and fever; yet his vessel was kept at the Nore from the +end of June till the end of November, serving as a slop and receiving +ship. This unworthy treatment, which more probably proceeded from +inattention than from neglect, excited in Nelson the strongest +indignation. During the whole five months he seldom or never quitted the +ship, but carried on the duty with strict and sullen attention. On the +morning when orders were received to prepare the BOREAS for being paid +off, he expressed his joy to the senior officer in the Medway, saying, +"It will release me for ever from an ungrateful service; for it is my +firm and unalterable determination never again to set my foot on board +a king's ship. Immediately after my arrival in town I shall wait on the +First Lord of the Admiralty, and resign my commission." The officer to +whom he thus communicated his intentions behaved in the wisest and most +friendly manner; for finding it in vain to dissuade him in his present +state of feeling, he secretly interfered with the First Lord to save him +from a step so injurious to himself, little foreseeing how deeply +the welfare and honour of England were at that moment at stake. This +interference produced a letter from Lord Howe the day before the ship +was paid off, intimating a wish to see Captain Nelson as soon as +he arrived in town; when, being pleased with his conversation, and +perfectly convinced, by what was then explained to him, of the propriety +of his conduct, he desired that he might present him to the king on +the first levee-day; and the gracious manner in which Nelson was then +received effectually removed his resentment. + +Prejudices had been, in like manner, excited against his friend, Prince +William Henry. "Nothing is wanting, sir," said Nelson, in one of his +letters, "to make you the darling of the English nation but truth. Sorry +am I to say, much to the contrary has been dispersed." This was not +flattery, for Nelson was no flatterer. The letter in which this passage +occurs shows in how wise and noble a manner he dealt with the prince. +One of his royal highness's officers had applied for a court-martial +upon a point in which he was unquestionably wrong. His royal highness, +however, while he supported his own character and authority, prevented +the trial, which must have been injurious to a brave and deserving man. +"Now that you are parted," said Nelson, "pardon me, my prince, when I +presume to recommend that he may stand in your royal favour as if he had +never sailed with you, and that at some future day you will serve him. +There only wants this to place your conduct in the highest point of +view. None of us are without failings--his was being rather too hasty; +but that, put in competition with his being a good officer, will not, +I am bold to say, be taken in the scale against him. More able friends +than myself your royal highness may easily find, and of more consequence +in the state; but one more attached and affectionate is not so easily +met with: Princes seldom, very seldom, find a disinterested person to +communicate their thoughts to: I do not pretend to be that person; but +of this be assured, by a man who, I trust, never did a dishonourable +act, that I am interested only that your royal highness should be the +greatest and best man this country ever produced." + +Encouraged by the conduct of Lord Howe, and by his reception at court, +Nelson renewed his attack upon the peculators with fresh spirit. He had +interviews with Mr. Rose, Mr. Pitt, and Sir Charles Middleton, to all of +whom he satisfactorily proved his charges. In consequence, if is said, +these very extensive public frauds were at length put in a proper train +to be provided against in future; his representations were attended to; +and every step which he recommended was adopted; the investigation was +put into a proper course, which ended in the detection and punishment of +some of the culprits; an immense saving was made to government, and thus +its attention was directed to similar peculations in other arts of the +colonies. But it is said also that no mark of commendation seems to have +been bestowed upon Nelson for his exertion. It has been justly remarked +that the spirit of the navy cannot be preserved so effectually by the +liberal honours bestowed on officers when they are worn out in the +service, as by an attention to those who, like Nelson at this part of +his life, have only their integrity and zeal to bring them into notice. +A junior officer, who had been left with the command at Jamaica, +received an additional allowance, for which Nelson had applied in vain. +Double pay was allowed to every artificer and seaman employed in the +naval yard: Nelson had superintended the whole business of that yard +with the most rigid exactness, and he complained that he was neglected. +"It was most true," he said, "that the trouble which he took to detect +the fraudulent practices then carried on was no more than his duty; but +he little thought that the expenses attending his frequent journeys to +St. John's upon that duty (a distance of twelve miles) would have fallen +upon his pay as captain of the BOREAS." Nevertheless, the sense of what +he thought unworthy usage did not diminish his zeal. "I," said he, "must +buffet the waves in search of--What? Alas! that they called honour +is thought of no more. My fortune, God knows, has grown worse for the +service; so much for serving my country! But the devil, ever willing to +tempt the virtuous, has made me offer, if any ships should be sent to +destroy his Majesty of Morocco's ports, to be there; and I have some +reason to think that, should any more come of it, my humble services +will be accepted. I have invariably laid down, and followed close, a +plan of what ought to be uppermost in the breast of an officer,--that +it is much better to serve an ungrateful country than to give up his +own fame. Posterity will do him justice. A uniform course of honour and +integrity seldom fails of bringing a man to the goal of fame at last." + +The design against the Barbary pirates, like all other designs +against them, was laid aside; and Nelson took his wife to his father's +parsonage, meaning only to pay him a visit before they went to France; +a project which he had formed for the sake of acquiring a competent +knowledge of the French language. But his father could not bear to lose +him thus unnecessarily. Mr. Nelson had long been an invalid, suffering +under paralytic and asthmatic affections, which, for several hours after +he rose in the morning, scarcely permitted him to speak. He had been +given over by his physicians for this complaint nearly forty years +before his death; and was, for many of his latter years, obliged to +spend all his winters at Bath. The sight of his son, he declared, had +given him new life. "But, Horatio," said he, "it would have been better +that I had not been thus cheered, if I am so soon to be bereaved of you +again. Let me, my good son, see you whilst I can. My age and infirmities +increase, and I shall not last long." To such an appeal there could be +no reply. Nelson took up his abode at the parsonage, and amused himself +with the sports and occupations of the country. Sometimes he busied +himself with farming the glebe; sometimes spent the greater part of the +day in the garden, where he would dig as if for the mere pleasure of +wearying himself. Sometimes he went a birds'-nesting, like a boy; and +in these expeditions Mrs. Nelson always, by his expressed desire, +accompanied him. Coursing was his favourite amusement. Shooting, as he +practised it, was far too dangerous for his companions; for he carried +his gun upon the full cock, as if he were going to board an enemy; +and the moment a bird rose, he let fly without ever putting the +fowling-piece to his shoulder. It is not, therefore, extraordinary that +his having once shot a partridge should be remembered by his family +among the remarkable events of his life. + +But his time did not pass away thus without some vexatious cares to +ruffle it. The affair of the American ships was not yet over, and he was +again pestered with threats of prosecution. "I have written them word," +said he, "that I will have nothing to do with them, and they must act as +they think proper. Government, I suppose, will do what is right, and not +leave me in the lurch. We have heard enough lately of the consequences +of the Navigation Act to this country. They may take my person; but if +sixpence would save me from a prosecution, I would not give it." It was +his great ambition at this time to possess a pony; and having resolved +to purchase one, he went to a fair for that purpose. During his absence +two men abruptly entered the parsonage and inquired for him: they then +asked for Mrs. Nelson; and after they had made her repeatedly declare +that she was really and truly the captain's wife, presented her with +a writ, or notification, on the part of the American captains, who now +laid their damages at L20,000, and they charged her to give it to her +husband on his return. Nelson, having bought his pony, came home with +it in high spirits. He called out his wife to admire the purchase and +listen to all its excellences: nor was it till his glee had in +some measure subsided that the paper could be presented to him. His +indignation was excessive; and in the apprehension that he should be +exposed to the anxieties of the suit and the ruinous consequences which +might ensue, he exclaimed, "This affront I did not deserve! But I'll be +trifled with no longer. I will write immediately to the Treasury, and +if government will not support me, I am resolved to leave the country." +Accordingly, he informed the Treasury that, if a satisfactory answer +were not sent him by return of post, he should take refuge in France. +To this he expected he should be driven, and for this he arranged +everything with his characteristic rapidity of decision. It was settled +that he should depart immediately, and Mrs. Nelson follow, under the +care of his elder brother Maurice, ten days after him. But the answer +which he received from government quieted his fears: it stated that +Captain Nelson was a very good officer, and needed to be under no +apprehension, for he would assuredly be supported. + +Here his disquietude upon this subject seems to have ended. Still he +was not at ease; he wanted employment, and was mortified that his +applications for it produced no effect. "Not being a man of fortune," he +said, "was a crime which he was unable to get over, and therefore none +of the great cared about him." Repeatedly he requested the Admiralty +that they would not leave him to rust in indolence. During the armament +which was made upon occasion of the dispute concerning Nootka Sound, he +renewed his application; and his steady friend, Prince William, who had +then been created Duke of Clarence, recommended him to Lord Chatham. +The failure of this recommendation wounded him so keenly that he again +thought of retiring from the service in disgust; a resolution from which +nothing but the urgent remonstrances of Lord Hood induced him to desist. +Hearing that the RAISONNABLE, in which he had commenced his career, +was to be commissioned, he asked for her. This also was in vain; and a +coolness ensued, on his part, toward Lord Hood, because that excellent +officer did not use his influence with Lord Chatham upon this +occasion. Lord Hood, however, had certainly sufficient reasons for not +interfering; for he ever continued his steady friend. In the winter of +1792, when we were on the eve of the revolutionary war, Nelson once more +offered his services, earnestly requested a ship, and added, that if +their lordships should be pleased to appoint him to a cockle-boat he +should feel satisfied. He was answered in the usual official form: +"Sir, I have received your letter of the 5th instant, expressing your +readiness to serve, and have read the same to my Lords Commissioners +of the Admiralty." On the 12th of December he received this dry +acknowledgment. The fresh mortification did not, however, affect him +long; for, by the joint interest of the Duke and Lord Hood, he was +appointed, on the 30th of January following, to the AGAMEMNON, of +sixty-four guns. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +1793 - 1795 + + +The AGAMEMNON sent to the Mediterranean --Commencement of Nelson's +Aquaintance with Sir W. Hamilton--He is sent to Corsica, to cooperate +with Paoli--State of Affairs in that Island--Nelson undertakes the Siege +of Bastia, and reduces it--Takes a distinguished Part in the Siege of +Calvi, where he loses an Eye--Admiral Hotham's Action--The AGAMEMNON +ordered to Genoa, to co-operate with the Austrian and Sardinian +Forces--Gross Misconduct of the Austrian General. + + +"THERE are three things, young gentleman," said Nelson to one of his +midshipmen, "which you are constantly to bear in mind. First, you must +always implicitly obey orders, without attempting to form any opinion of +your own respecting their propriety; secondly, you must consider every +man your enemy who speaks ill of your king; and, thirdly, you must hate +a Frenchman as you do the devil." With these feelings he engaged in the +war. Josiah, his son-in-law, went with him as a midshipman. + +The AGAMEMNON was ordered to the Mediterranean under Lord Hood. The +fleet arrived in those seas at a time when the south of France would +willingly have formed itself into a separate republic, under the +protection of England. But good principles had been at that time +perilously abused by ignorant and profligate men; and, in its fear +and hatred of democracy, the English Government abhorred whatever was +republican. Lord Hood could not take advantage of the fair occasion +which presented itself; and which, if it had been seized with vigour, +might have ended in dividing France:--but he negotiated with the people +of Toulon, to take possession provisionally of their port and city; +which, fatally for themselves, was done. Before the British fleet +entered, Nelson was sent with despatches to Sir William Hamilton, our +envoy at the Court of Naples. Sir William, after his first interview +with him, told Lady Hamilton he was about to introduce a little man to +her, who could not boast of being very handsome; but such a man as, he +believed, would one day astonish the world. "I have never before," he +continued, "entertained an officer at my house; but I am determined +to bring him here. Let him be put in the room prepared for Prince +Augustus." Thus that acquaintance began which ended in the destruction +of Nelson's domestic happiness. It seemed to threaten no such +consequences at its commencement. He spoke of Lady Hamilton, in a letter +to his wife, as a young woman of amiable manners, who did honour to the +station to which she had been raised; and he remarked, that she had been +exceedingly kind to Josiah. The activity with which the envoy exerted +himself in procuring troops from Naples, to assist in garrisoning +Toulon, so delighted him, that he is said to have exclaimed, "Sir +William, you are a man after my own heart!--you do business in my own +way:" and then to have added, "I am now only a captain; but I will, if I +live, be at the top of the tree." Here, also, that acquaintance with +the Neapolitan court commenced, which led to the only blot upon Nelson's +public character. The king, who was sincere at that time in his enmity +to the French, called the English the saviours of Italy, and of his +dominions in particular. He paid the most flattering attentions to +Nelson, made him dine with him, and seated him at his right hand. + +Having accomplished this mission, Nelson received orders to join +Commodore Linzee at Tunis. On the way, five sail of the enemy were +discovered off the coast of Sardinia, and he chased them. They proved to +be three forty-four gun frigates, with a corvette of twenty-four and +a brig of twelve. The AGAMEMNON had only 345 men at quarters, having +landed part of her crew at Toulon, and others being absent in prizes. +He came near enough one of the frigates to engage her, but at great +disadvantage, the Frenchman manoeuvring well and sailing greatly better. +A running fight of three hours ensued, during which the other ships, +which were at some distance, made all speed to come up. By this time the +enemy was almost silenced, when a favourable change of wind enabled her +to get out of reach of the AGAMEMNON's guns; and that ship had received +so much damage in the rigging that she could not follow her. Nelson, +conceiving that this was but the forerunner of a far more serious +engagement, called his officers together, and asked them if the ship was +fit to go into action against such a superior force without some small +refit and refreshment for the men. Their answer was, that she certainly +was not. He then gave these orders,--"Veer the ship, and lay her head +to the westward: let some of the best men be employed in refitting the +rigging, and the carpenter in getting crows and capstan-bars to prevent +our wounded spars from coming down: and get the wine up for the people, +with some bread, for it may be half an hour good before we are again +in action." But when the French came up, their comrade made signals of +distress, and they all hoisted out their boats to go to her assistance, +leaving the AGAMEMNON unmolested. + +Nelson found Commodore Linzee at Tunis, where he had been sent to +expostulate with the dey upon the impolicy of his supporting the +revolutionary government of France. Nelson represented to him the +atrocity of that government. Such arguments were of little avail +in Barbary; and when the Dey was told that the French had put their +sovereign to death, he drily replied, that "Nothing could be more +heinous; and yet, if historians told the truth, the English had once +done the same." This answer had doubtless been suggested by the +French about him: they had completely gained the ascendancy, and all +negotiation on our part proved fruitless. Shortly afterward, Nelson was +detached with a small squadron, to co-operate with General Paoli and the +Anti-Gallican party in Corsica. + +Some thirty years before this time the heroic patriotism of the +Corsicans, and of their leader Paoli, had been the admiration of +England. The history of these brave people is but a melancholy tale. The +island which they inhabit has been abundantly blessed by nature; it +has many excellent harbours; and though the MALARIA, or pestilential +atmosphere, which is so deadly in many parts of Italy and of the Italian +islands, prevails on the eastern coast, the greater part of the country +is mountainous and healthy. It is about 150 miles long, and from 40 +to 50 broad; in circumference, some 320; a country large enough, and +sufficiently distant from the nearest shores, to have subsisted as an +independent state, if the welfare and happiness of the human race +had ever been considered as the end and aim of policy. The Moors, the +Pisans, the kings of Aragon, and the Genoese, successively attempted, +and each for a time effected its conquest. The yoke of the Genoese +continued longest, and was the heaviest. These petty tyrants ruled +with an iron rod; and when at any time a patriot rose to resist their +oppressions, if they failed to subdue him by force they resorted to +assassination. At the commencement of the last century they quelled one +revolt by the aid of German auxiliaries, whom the Emperor Charles VI. +sent against a people who had never offended him, and who were fighting +for whatever is most dear to man. In 1734 the war was renewed; and +Theodore, a Westphalian baron, then appeared upon the stage. In that +age men were not accustomed to see adventurers play for kingdoms, and +Theodore became the common talk of Europe. He had served in the +French armies; and having afterwards been noticed both by Ripperda and +Alberoni, their example, perhaps, inflamed a spirit as ambitious and as +unprincipled as their own. He employed the whole of his means in raising +money and procuring arms; then wrote to the leaders of the Corsican +patriots, to offer them considerable assistance, if they would erect +Corsica into an independent kingdom, and elect him king. When he landed +among them, they were struck with his stately person, his dignified +manners, and imposing talents. They believed the magnificent promises of +foreign assistance which he held out, and elected him king accordingly. +Had his means been as he represented them, they could not have acted +more wisely than in thus at once fixing the government of their country, +and putting an end to those rivalries among the leading families, which +had so often proved pernicious to the public weal. He struck money, +conferred titles, blocked up the fortified towns which were held by the +Genoese, and amused the people with promises of assistance for about +eight months: then, perceiving that they cooled in their affections +towards him in proportion as their expectations were disappointed, he +left the island, under the plea of expediting himself the succours which +he had so long awaited. Such was his address, that he prevailed upon +several rich merchants in Holland, particularly the Jews, to trust him +with cannon and warlike stores to a great amount. They shipped these +under the charge of a supercargo. Theodore returned with this supercargo +to Corsica, and put him to death on his arrival, as the shortest way of +settling the account. The remainder of his life was a series of deserved +afflictions. He threw in the stores which he had thus fraudulently +obtained; but he did not dare to land, for Genoa had now called in the +French to their assistance, and a price had been set upon his head. +His dreams of royalty were now at an end; he took refuge in London, +contracted debts, and was thrown into the King's Bench. After lingering +there many years, he was released under an act of insolvency, in +consequence of which he made over the kingdom of Corsica for the use of +his creditors, and died shortly after his deliverance. + +The French, who have never acted a generous part in the history of the +world, readily entered into the views of the Genoese, which accorded +with their own policy: for such was their ascendancy at Genoa, that in +subduing Corsica for these allies, they were in fact subduing it for +themselves. They entered into the contest, therefore, with their usual +vigour, and their usual cruelty. It was in vain that the Corsicans +addressed a most affecting memorial to the court of Versailles; that +remorseless government persisted in its flagitious project. They poured +in troops; dressed a part of them like the people of the country, by +which means they deceived and destroyed many of the patriots; cut down +the standing corn, the vines, and the olives; set fire to the villages, +and hung all the most able and active men who fell into their hands. +A war of this kind may be carried on with success against a country so +small and so thinly peopled as Corsica. Having reduced the island to +perfect servitude, which they called peace, the French withdrew their +forces. As soon as they were gone, men, women, and boys rose at once +against their oppressors. The circumstances of the times were now +favourable to them; and some British ships, acting as allies of +Sardinia, bombarded Bastia and San Fiorenzo, and delivered them into the +hands of the patriots. This service was long remembered with gratitude: +the impression made upon our own countrymen was less favourable. They +had witnessed the heartburnings of rival chiefs, and the dissensions +among the patriots; and perceiving the state of barbarism to which +continual oppression, and habits of lawless turbulence, had reduced the +nation, did not recollect that the vices of the people were owing to +their unhappy circumstances, but that the virtues which they displayed +arose from their own nature. This feeling, perhaps, influenced the +British court, when, in 1746, Corsica offered to put herself under +the protection of Great Britain: an answer was returned, expressing +satisfaction at such a communication, hoping that the Corsicans would +preserve the same sentiments, but signifying also that the present was +not the time for such a measure. + +These brave islanders then formed a government for themselves, under two +leaders, Gaffori and Matra, who had the title of protectors. The latter +is represented as a partisan of Genoa, favouring the views of the +oppressors of his country by the most treasonable means. Gaffori was +a hero worthy of old times. His eloquence was long remembered with +admiration. A band of assassins was once advancing against him; he heard +of their approach, went out to meet them; and, with a serene dignity +which overawed them, requested them to hear him. He then spake to them +so forcibly of the distresses of their country, her intolerable wrongs, +and the hopes and views of their brethren in arms, that the very men +who had been hired to murder him, fell at his feet, implored his +forgiveness, and joined his banner. While he was besieging the Genoese +in Corte, a part of the garrison perceiving the nurse with his eldest +son, then an infant in arms, straying at a little distance from the +camp, suddenly sallied out and seized them. The use they made of their +persons was in conformity to their usual execrable conduct. When Gaffori +advanced to batter the walls, they held up the child directly over that +part of the wall at which the guns were pointed. The Corsicans stopped: +but Gaffori stood at their head, and ordered them to continue the fire. +Providentially the child escaped, and lived to relate, with becoming +feeling, a fact so honourable to his father. That father conducted +the affairs of the island till 1753, when he was assassinated by some +wretches, set on, it is believed, by Genoa, but certainly pensioned by +that abominable government after the deed. He left the country in such a +state that it was enabled to continue the war two years after his death +without a leader: the Corsicans then found one worthy of their cause in +Pasquale de Paoli. + +Paoli's father was one of the patriots who effected their escape from +Corsica when the French reduced it to obedience. He retired to Naples, +and brought up his youngest son in the Neapolitan service. The Corsicans +heard of young Paoli's abilities, and solicited him to come over to +his native country, and take the command. He did not hesitate long: +his father, who was too far advanced in years to take an active part +himself, encouraged him to go; and when they separated, the old man fell +on his neck, and kissed him, and gave him his blessing. "My son," said +he, "perhaps I may never see you more; but in my mind I shall ever be +present with you. Your design is great and noble; and I doubt not +but God will bless you in it. I shall devote to your cause the little +remainder of my life in offering up my prayers for your success." When +Paoli assumed the command, he found all things in confusion: he formed +a democratical government, of which he was chosen chief: restored the +authority of the laws; established a university; and took such measures, +both for repressing abuses and moulding the rising generation, that, if +France had not interfered, upon its wicked and detestable principle of +usurpation, Corsica might at this day have been as free, and flourishing +and happy a commonwealth as any of the Grecian states in the days of +their prosperity. The Genoese were at this time driven out of their +fortified towns, and must in a short time have been expelled. France was +indebted some millions of livres to Genoa: it was not convenient to pay +this money; so the French minister proposed to the Genoese, that she +should discharge the debt by sending six battalions to serve in Corsica +for four years. The indignation which this conduct excited in all +generous hearts was forcibly expressed by Rousseau, who, with all his +errors, was seldom deficient in feeling for the wrongs of humanity. "You +Frenchmen," said he, writing to one of that people, "are a thoroughly +servile nation, thoroughly sold to tyranny, thoroughly cruel and +relentless in persecuting the unhappy. If you knew of a freeman at the +other end of the world, I believe you would go thither for the mere +pleasure of extirpating him." + +The immediate object of the French happened to be purely mercenary: they +wanted to clear off their debt to Genoa; and as the presence of their +troops in the island effected this, they aimed at doing the people no +farther mischief. Would that the conduct of England had been at this +time free from reproach! but a proclamation was issued by the English +government, after the peace of Paris, prohibiting any intercourse with +the rebels of Corsica. Paoli said, he did not expect this from Great +Britain. This great man was deservedly proud of his country. "I defy +Rome, Sparta, or Thebes," he would say, "to show me thirty years of such +patriotism as Corsica can boast!" Availing himself of the respite which +the inactivity of the French and the weakness of the Genoese allowed, +he prosecuted his plans of civilising the people. He used to say, that +though he had an unspeakable pride in the prospect of the fame to which +he aspired; yet if he could but render his countrymen happy, he could +be content to be forgotten. His own importance he never affected to +undervalue. "We are now to our country," said he, "like the prophet +Elisha stretched over the dead child of the Shunamite,--eye to eye, nose +to nose, mouth to mouth. It begins to recover warmth, and to revive: I +hope it will yet regain full health and vigour." + +But when the four years were expired, France purchased the sovereignty +of Corsica from the Genoese for forty millions of livres; as if the +Genoese had been entitled to sell it; as if any bargain and sale could +justify one country in taking possession of another against the will of +the inhabitants, and butchering all who oppose the usurpation! Among the +enormities which France has committed, this action seems but as a +speck; yet the foulest murderer that ever suffered by the hand of the +executioner has infinitely less guilt upon his soul than the statesman +who concluded this treaty, and the monarch who sanctioned and confirmed +it. A desperate and glorious resistance was made, but it was in vain; +no power interposed in behalf of these injured islanders, and the French +poured in as many troops as were required. They offered to confirm Paoli +in the supreme authority, only on condition that he would hold it under +their government. His answer was, that "the rocks which surrounded him +should melt away before he would betray a cause which he held in common +with the poorest Corsican." This people then set a price upon his +head. During two campaigns he kept them at bay: they overpowered him +at length; he was driven to the shore, and having escaped on shipboard, +took refuge in England. It is said that Lord Shelburne resigned his +seat in the cabinet because the ministry looked on without attempting to +prevent France from succeeding in this abominable and important act of +aggrandizement. In one respect, however, our country acted as became +her. Paoli was welcomed with the honours which he deserved, a pension of +L1200 was immediately granted him, and provision was liberally made for +his elder brother and his nephew. + +About twenty years Paoli remained in England, enjoying the friendship of +the wise and the admiration of the good. But when the French Revolution +began, it seemed as if the restoration of Corsica was at hand. The whole +country, as if animated by one spirit, rose and demanded liberty; +and the National Assembly passed a decree recognising the island as a +department of France, and therefore entitled to all the privileges of +the new French constitution. This satisfied the Corsicans, which it +ought not to have done; and Paoli, in whom the ardour of youth was +passed, seeing that his countrymen were contented, and believing that +they were about to enjoy a state of freedom, naturally wished to return +to his native country. He resigned his pension in the year 1790, and +appeared at the bar of the Assembly with the Corsican deputies, when +they took the oath of fidelity to France. But the course of events in +France soon dispelled those hopes of a new and better order of things, +which Paoli, in common with so many of the friends of human-kind, had +indulged; and perceiving, after the execution of the king, that a civil +war was about to ensue, of which no man could foresee the issue, +he prepared to break the connection between Corsica and the French +Republic. The convention suspecting such a design, and perhaps +occasioning it by their suspicions, ordered him to their bar. That way +he well knew led to the guillotine; and returning a respectful answer, +he declared that he would never be found wanting in his duty, but +pleaded age and infirmity as a reason for disobeying the summons. +Their second order was more summary; and the French troops, who were in +Corsica, aided by those of the natives, who were either influenced by +hereditary party feelings, or who were sincere in Jacobinism, took the +field against him. But the people were with him. He repaired to Corte, +the capital of the island, and was again invested with the authority +which he had held in the noonday of his fame. The convention upon this +denounced him as a rebel, and set a price upon his head. It was not the +first time that France had proscribed Paoli. + +Paoli now opened a correspondence with Lord Hood, promising, if the +English would make an attack upon St. Fiorenzo from the sea, he would at +the same time attack it by land. This promise he was unable to perform; +and Commodore Linzee, who, in reliance upon it, was sent upon this +service, was repulsed with some loss. Lord Hood, who had now been +compelled to evacuate Toulon, suspected Paoli of intentionally deceiving +him. This was an injurious suspicion. Shortly afterwards he dispatched +Lieutenant-Colonel (afterward Sir John) Moore and Major Koehler +to confer with him upon a plan of operations. Sir Gilbert Elliot +accompanied them; and it was agreed that, in consideration of the +succours, both military and naval, which his Britannic Majesty should +afford for the purpose of expelling the French, the island of Corsica +should be delivered into the immediate possession of his Majesty, +and bind itself to acquiesce in any settlement he might approve of +concerning its government, and its future relation with Great Britain. +While this negotiation was going on, Nelson cruised off the island with +a small squadron, to prevent the enemy from throwing in supplies. Close +to St. Fiorenzo the French had a storehouse of flour near their only +mill: he watched an opportunity, and landed 120 men, who threw the flour +into the sea, burnt the mill, and re-embarked before 1000 men, who were +sent against him, could occasion them the loss of a single man. While he +exerted himself thus, keeping out all supplies, intercepting despatches, +attacking their outposts and forts, and cutting out vessels from the +bay,--a species of warfare which depresses the spirit of an enemy +even more than it injures them, because of the sense of individual +superiority which it indicates in the assailants--troops were landed, +and St. Fiorenzo was besieged. The French finding themselves unable +to maintain their post sunk one of their frigates, burnt another, +and retreated to Bastia. Lord Hood submitted to General Dundas, who +commanded the land forces, a plan for the reduction of this place: +the general declined co-operating, thinking the attempt impracticable +without a reinforcement of 2000 men, which he expected from Gibraltar. +Upon this Lord Hood determined to reduce it with the naval force under +his command; and leaving part of his fleet off Toulon, he came with the +rest to Bastia. + +He showed a proper sense of respect for Nelson's services, and of +confidence in his talents, by taking care not to bring with him any +older captain. A few days before their arrival, Nelson had had what he +called a brush with the enemy. "If I had had with me 500 troops," he +said, "to a certainty I should have stormed the town; and I believe it +might have been carried. Armies go so slow that seamen think they +never mean to get forward; but I daresay they act on a surer principle, +although we seldom fail." During this partial action our army appeared +upon the heights; and having reconnoitered the place, returned to +St. Fiorenzo. "What the general could have seen to make a retreat +necessary," said Nelson, "I cannot comprehend. A thousand men would +certainly take Bastia: with five hundred and the AGAMEMNON I would +attempt it. My seamen are now what British seamen ought to be--almost +invincible. They really mind shot no more than peas." General Dundas +had not the same confidence. "After mature consideration," he said in a +letter to Lord Hood, "and a personal inspection for several days of all +circumstances, local as well as others, I consider the siege of Bastia, +with our present means and force, to be a most visionary and rash +attempt; such as no officer would be justified in undertaking." Lord +Hood replied that nothing would be more gratifying to his feelings than +to have the whole responsibility upon himself; and that he was ready and +willing to undertake the reduction of the place at his own risk with +the force and means at present there. General D'Aubant, who succeeded +at this time to the command of the army, coincided in opinion with his +predecessor, and did not think it right to furnish his lordship with a +single soldier, cannon, or any stores. Lord Hood could only obtain a few +artillerymen; and ordering on board that part of the troops who, having +been embarked as marines, "were borne on the ships" books as part of +their respective complements, he began the siege with 1183 soldiers, +artillerymen, and marines, and 250 sailors. "We are but few," said +Nelson, "but of the right sort; our general at St. Fiorenzo not giving +us one of the five regiments he has there lying idle." + +These men were landed on the 4th of April, under Lieutenant-Colonel +Villettes and Nelson, who had now acquired from the army the title of +brigadier. Guns were dragged by the sailors up heights where it appeared +almost impossible to convey them--a work of the greatest difficulty, and +which Nelson said could never, in his opinion, have been accomplished +by any but British seamen. The soldiers, though less dexterous in such +service, because not accustomed, like sailors, to habitual dexterity. +behaved with equal spirit. "Their zeal," said the brigadier, "is almost +unexampled. There is not a man but considers himself as personally +interested in the event, and deserted by the general. It has, I am +persuaded, made them equal to double their numbers." This is one proof, +of many, that for our soldiers to equal our seamen, it is only necessary +for them to be equally well commanded. They have the same heart and +soul, as well as the same flesh and blood. Too much may, indeed, be +exacted from them in a retreat; but set their face toward a foe, and +there is nothing within the reach of human achievement which they +cannot perform. The French had improved the leisure which our military +commander had allowed them; and before Lord Hood commenced his +operations, he had the mortification of seeing that the enemy were +every day erecting new works, strengthening old ones, and rendering the +attempt more difficult. La Combe St. Michel, the commissioner from the +national convention, who was in the city, replied in these terms to the +summons of the British admiral--"I have hot shot for your ships, and +bayonets for your troops. When two-thirds of our men are killed, I will +then trust to the generosity of the English." The siege, however, was +not sustained with the firmness which such a reply seemed to augur. On +the 19th of May a treaty of capitulation was begun; that same evening +the troops from St. Fiorenzo made their appearance on the hills; and, on +the following morning, General d'Aubant arrived with the whole army to +take possession of Bastia. + +The event of the siege had justified the confidence of the sailors; but +they themselves excused the opinion of the generals when they saw what +they had done. "I am all astonishment," said Nelson, "when I reflect on +what we have achieved; 1000 regulars, 1500 national guards, and a large +party of Corsican troops, 4000 in all, laying down their arms to 1200 +soldiers, marines, and seamen! I always was of opinion, have ever acted +up to it, and never had any reason to repent it, that one Englishman was +equal to three Frenchmen. Had this been an English town, I am sure it +would not have been taken by them." When it had been resolved to attack +the place, the enemy were supposed to be far inferior in number; and +it was not till the whole had been arranged, and the siege publicly +undertaken, that Nelson received certain information of the great +superiority of the garrison. This intelligence he kept secret, +fearing lest, if so fair a pretext were afforded, the attempt would be +abandoned. "My own honour," said he to his wife, "Lord Hood's honour, +and the honour of our country, must have been sacrificed had I mentioned +what I knew; therefore you will believe what must have been my feelings +during the whole siege, when I had often proposals made to me to write +to Lord Hood to raise it." Those very persons who thus advised him, were +rewarded for their conduct at the siege of Bastia: Nelson, by whom it +may truly be affirmed that Bastia was taken, received no reward. Lord +Hood's thanks to him, both public and private, were, as he himself said, +the handsomest which man could give; but his signal merits were not so +mentioned in the despatches as to make them sufficiently known to the +nation, nor to obtain for him from government those honours to which +they so amply entitled him. This could only have arisen from the haste +in which the despatches were written; certainly not from any deliberate +purpose, for Lord Hood was uniformly his steady and sincere friend. + +One of the cartel's ships, which carried the garrison of Bastia to +Toulon, brought back intelligence that the French were about to sail +from that port;-such exertions had they made to repair the damage done +at the evacuation, and to fit out a fleet. The intelligence was speedily +verified. Lord Hood sailed in quest of them toward the islands of +Hieres. The AGAMEMNON was with him. "I pray God," said Nelson, writing +to his wife, "that we may meet their fleet. If any accident should +happen to me, I am sure my conduct will be such as will entitle you to +the royal favour; not that I have the least idea but I shall return to +you, and full of honour: if not, the Lord's will be done. My name shall +never be a disgrace to those who may belong to me. The little I have, +I have given to you, except a small annuity--I wish it was more; but +I have never got a farthing dishonestly: it descends from clean hands. +Whatever fate awaits me, I pray God to bless you, and preserve you, for +your son's sake." With a mind thus prepared, and thus confident, his +hopes and wishes seemed on the point of being gratified, when the enemy +were discovered close under the land, near St. Tropez. The wind fell, +and prevented Lord Hood from getting between them and the shore, as +he designed: boats came out from Antibes and other places to their +assistance, and towed them within the shoals in Gourjean Roads, where +they were protected by the batteries on isles St. Honore and St. +Marguerite, and on Cape Garousse. Here the English admiral planned a new +mode of attack, meaning to double on five of the nearest ships; but the +wind again died away, and it was found that they had anchored in compact +order, guarding the only passage for large ships. There was no way of +effecting this passage, except by towing or warping the vessels; +and this rendered the attempt impracticable. For this time the enemy +escaped; but Nelson bore in mind the admirable plan of attack which Lord +Hood had devised, and there came a day when they felt its tremendous +effects. + +The AGAMEMNON was now despatched to co-operate at the siege of Calvi +with General Sir Charles Stuart; an officer who, unfortunately for his +country, never had an adequate field allotted him far the display of +those eminent talents which were, to all who knew him, so conspicuous. +Nelson had less responsibility here than at Bastia; and was acting with +a man after his own heart, who was never sparing of himself, and slept +every night in the advanced battery. But the service was not less hard +than that of the former siege. "We will fag ourselves to death," said he +to Lord Hood, "before any blame shall lie at our doors. I trust it will +not be forgotten, that twenty-five pieces of heavy ordnance have been +dragged to the different batteries, mounted, and, all but three, fought +by seamen, except one artilleryman to point the guns." The climate +proved more destructive than the service; for this was during the lion +sun, as they call our season of the dog-days. Of 2000 men, above half +were sick, and the rest like so many phantoms. Nelson described himself +as the reed among the oaks, bowing before the storm when they were laid +low by it. "All the prevailing disorders have attacked me," said he, +"but I have not strength enough for them to fasten on." The loss from +the enemy was not great; but Nelson received a serious injury: a shot +struck the ground near him, and drove the sand and small gravel into one +of his eyes. He spoke of it slightly at the time: writing the same day +to Lord Hood, he only said that he had got a little hurt that morning, +not much; and the next day, he said, he should be able to attend his +duty in the evening. In fact, he suffered it to confine him only one +day; but the sight was lost. + +After the fall of Calvi, his services were, by a strange omission, +altogether overlooked; and his name was not even mentioned in the list +of wounded. This was no ways imputable to the admiral, for he sent +home to government Nelson's journal of the siege, that they might fully +understand the nature of his indefatigable and unequalled exertions. If +those exertions were not rewarded in the conspicuous manner which they +deserved, the fault was in the administration of the day, not in Lord +Hood. Nelson felt himself neglected. "One hundred and ten days," said +he, "I have been actually engaged at sea and on shore against the enemy; +three actions against ships, two against Bastia in my ship, four boat +actions, and two villages taken, and twelve sail of vessels burnt. I do +not know that any one has done more. I have had the comfort to be always +applauded by my Commander-in-Chief, but never to be rewarded; and, what +is more mortifying, for services in which I have been wounded, others +have been praised, who, at the same time, were actually in bed, far from +the scene of action. They have not done me justice. But never mind, +I'll have a GAZETTE of my own." How amply was this second-sight of glory +realised! + +The health of his ship's company had now, in his own words, been +miserably torn to pieces by as hard service as a ship's crew ever +performed: 150 were in their beds when he left Calvi; of them he lost 54 +and believed that the constitutions of the rest were entirely destroyed. +He was now sent with despatches to Mr. Drake, at Genoa, and had his +first interview with the Doge. The French had, at this time, taken +possession of Vado Bay, in the Genoese territory; and Nelson foresaw +that, if their thoughts were bent on the invasion of Italy, they would +accomplish it the ensuing spring. "The allied powers," he said, "were +jealous of each other; and none but England was hearty in the cause." +His wish was for peace on fair terms, because England he thought was +draining herself to maintain allies who would not fight for themselves. +Lord Hood had now returned to England, and the command devolved on +Admiral Hotham. The affairs of the Mediterranean wore at this time a +gloomy aspect. The arts, as well as the arms of the enemy, were gaining +the ascendancy there. Tuscany concluded peace relying upon the faith of +France, which was, in fact, placing itself at her mercy. Corsica was in +danger. We had taken that island for ourselves, annexed it formally to +the crown of Great Britain, and given it a constitution as free as our +own. This was done with the consent of the majority of the inhabitants; +and no transaction between two countries was ever more fairly or +legitimately conducted: yet our conduct was unwise;--the island is large +enough to form an independent state, and such we should have made +it, under our protection, as long as protection might be needed; the +Corsicans would then have felt as a nation; but when one party had given +up the country to England, the natural consequence was that the other +looked to France. The question proposed to the people was, to which +would they belong? Our language and our religion were against us; our +unaccommodating manners, it is to be feared, still more so. The French +were better politicians. In intrigue they have ever been unrivalled; and +it now became apparent that, in spite of old wrongs, which ought +never to have been forgotten nor forgiven, their partisans were daily +acquiring strength. It is part of the policy of France, and a wise +policy it is, to impress upon other powers the opinion of its strength, +by lofty language: and by threatening before it strikes; a system which, +while it keeps up the spirit of its allies, and perpetually stimulates +their hopes, tends also to dismay its enemies. Corsica was now loudly +threatened. "The French, who had not yet been taught to feel their own +inferiority upon the seas, braved us in contempt upon that element." +They had a superior fleet in the Mediterranean, and they sent it out +with express orders to seek the English and engage them. Accordingly, +the Toulon fleet, consisting of seventeen ships of the line and five +smaller vessels, put to sea. Admiral Hotham received this information +at Leghorn, and sailed immediately in search of them. He had with him +fourteen sail of the line, and one Neapolitan seventy-four; but his +ships were only half-manned, containing but 7650 men, whereas the +enemy had 16,900. He soon came in sight of them: a general action was +expected; and Nelson, as was his custom on such occasions, wrote a +hasty letter to his wife, as that which might possibly contain his last +farewell. "The lives of all," said he, "are in the hand of Him who knows +best whether to preserve mine or not; my character and good name are in +my own keeping." + +But however confident the French government might be of their naval +superiority, the officers had no such feeling; and after manoeuvring +for a day in sight of the English fleet, they suffered themselves to +be chased. One of their ships, the CA IRA, of eighty-four guns, carried +away her main and fore top-masts. The INCONSTANT frigate fired at the +disabled ship, but received so many shot that she was obliged to leave +her. Soon afterwards a French frigate took the CA IRA in tow; and +the SANS-CULOTTES, one hundred and twenty, and the JEAN BARRAS, +seventy-four, kept about gunshot distance on her weather bow. The +AGAMEMNON stood towards her, having no ship of the line to support her +within several miles. As she drew near, the CA IRA fired her stern guns +so truly, that not a shot missed some part of the ship; and latterly, +the masts were struck by every shot. It had been Nelson's intention not +to fire before he touched her stern; but seeing how impossible it was +that he should be supported, and how certainly the AGAMEMNON must +be severely cut up if her masts were disabled, he altered his plan +according to the occasion. As soon, therefore, as he was within a +hundred yards of her stern, he ordered the helm to be put a-starboard, +and the driver and after-sails to be brailed up and shivered; and, as +the ship fell off, gave the enemy her whole broadside. They instantly +braced up the after-yards, put the helm a-port, and stood after her +again. This manoeuvre he practised for two hours and a quarter, never +allowing the CA IRA to get a single gun from either side to bear on him; +and when the French fired their after-guns now, it was no longer with +coolness and precision, for every shot went far ahead. By this time her +sails were hanging in tatters, her mizen-top-mast, mizen-top-sail, and +cross-jack-yards shot away. But the frigate which had her in tow hove in +stays, and got her round. Both these French ships now brought their +guns to bear, and opened their fire. The AGAMEMNON passed them within +half-pistol shot; almost every shot passed over her, for the French had +elevated their guns for the rigging, and for distant firing, and did not +think of altering the elevation. As soon as the AGAMEMNON's after-guns +ceased to bear, she hove in stays, keeping a constant fire as she came +round; and being worked, said Nelson, with as much exactness as if +she had been turning into Spithead. On getting round, he saw that the +Sans-Culottes, which had wore, with many of the enemy's ships, was under +his lee bow, and standing to leeward. The admiral, at the same time, +made the signal for the van ships to join him. Upon this Nelson bore +away, and prepared to set all sail; and the enemy, having saved their +ship, hauled close to the wind, and opened upon him a distant and +ineffectual fire. Only seven of the AGAMEMNON's men were hurt--a thing +which Nelson himself remarked as wonderful: her sails and rigging were +very much cut, and she had many shots in her hull, and some between wind +and water. The CA IRA lost 110 men that day, and was so cut up that she +could not get a top-mast aloft during the night. + +At daylight on the following morning, the English ships were taken aback +with a fine breeze at N.W., while the enemy's fleet kept the southerly +wind. The body of their fleet was about five miles distant; the CA IRA +and the CENSEUR, seventy-four, which had her in tow, about three and +a half. All sail was made to cut these ships off; and as the French +attempted to save them, a partial action was brought on. The AGAMEMNON +was again engaged with her yesterday's antagonist; but she had to fight +on both sides the ship at the same time. The CA IRA and the CENSEUR +fought most gallantly: the first lost nearly 300 men, in addition to +her former loss; the last, 350. Both at length struck; and Lieutenant +Andrews, of the AGAMEMNON, brother to the lady to whom Nelson had become +attached in France, and, in Nelson's own words, "as gallant an officer +as ever stepped a quarter-deck," hoisted English colours on board them +both. The rest of the enemy's ships' behaved very ill. As soon as these +vessels had struck, Nelson went to Admiral Hotham and proposed that the +two prizes should be left with the ILLUSTRIOUS and COURAGEUX, which had +been crippled in the action, and with four frigates, and that the rest +of the fleet should pursue the enemy, and follow up the advantage to +the utmost. But his reply was--"We must be contented: we have done very +well."--"Now," said Nelson, "had we taken ten sail, and allowed the +eleventh to escape, when it had been possible to have got at her, I +could never have called it well done. Goodall backed me; I got him to +write to the admiral; but it would not do. We should have had such a day +as, I believe, the annals of England never produced." In this letter the +character of Nelson fully manifests itself. "I wish," said he, "to be +an admiral, and in the command of the English fleet: I should very soon +either do much, or be ruined: my disposition cannot bear tame and slow +measures. Sure I am, had I commanded on the 14th, that either the whole +French fleet would have graced my triumph, or I should have been in a +confounded scrape." What the event would have been, he knew from his +prophetic feelings and his own consciousness of power; and we also know +it now, for Aboukir and Trafalgar have told it. + +The CA IRA and CENSEUR probably defended themselves with more obstinacy +in this action, from a persuasion that, if they struck, no quarter +would be given; because they had fired red-hot shot, and had also a +preparation sent, as they said, by the convention from Paris, which +seems to have been of the nature of the Greek fire; for it became liquid +when it was discharged, and water would not extinguish its flames. This +combustible was concealed with great care in the captured ships; like +the red-hot shot, it had been found useless in battle. Admiral Hotham's +action saved Corsica for the time; but the victory had been incomplete, +and the arrival at Toulon of six sail of the line, two frigates, and two +cutters from Brest, gave the French a superiority which, had they +known how to use it, would materially have endangered the British +Mediterranean fleet. That fleet had been greatly neglected at the +Admiralty during Lord Chatham's administration: and it did not, for some +time, feel the beneficial effect of his removal. Lord Hood had gone +home to represent the real state of affairs, and solicit reinforcements +adequate to the exigencies of the time, and the importance of the scene +of action. But that fatal error of under-proportioning the force to the +service; that ruinous economy, which, by sparing a little, renders all +that is spent useless, infected the British councils; and Lord Hood, +not being able to obtain such reinforcements as he knew were necessary, +resigned the command. "Surely," said Nelson, "the people at home have +forgotten us." Another Neapolitan seventy-four joined Admiral Hotham, +and Nelson observed with sorrow that this was matter of exultation to +an English fleet. When the store-ships and victuallers from Gibraltar +arrived, their escape from the enemy was thought wonderful; and yet, had +they not escaped, "the game," said Nelson, "was up here. At this moment +our operations are at a stand for want of ships to support the Austrians +in getting possession of the sea-coast of the king of Sardinia; and +behold our admiral does not feel himself equal to show himself, much +less to give assistance in their operations." It was reported that +the French were again out with 18 or 20 sail. The combined British and +Neapolitan were but sixteen; should the enemy be only eighteen, Nelson +made no doubt of a complete victory; but if they were twenty, he said, +it was not to be expected; and a battle, without complete victory, would +have been destruction, because another mast was not to be got on that +side Gibraltar. At length Admiral Man arrived with a squadron from +England. "What they can mean by sending him with only five sail of the +line," said Nelson, "is truly astonishing; but all men are alike, and +we in this country do not find any amendment or alteration from the old +Board of Admiralty. They should know that half the ships in the +fleet require to go to England; and that long ago they ought to have +reinforced us." + +About this time Nelson was made colonel of marines; a mark of +approbation which he had long wished for rather than expected. It came +in good season, for his spirits were oppressed by the thought that his +services had not been acknowledged as they deserved; and it abated the +resentful feeling which would else have been excited by the answer to an +application to the War-office. During his four months' land service in +Corsica, he had lost all his ship furniture, owing to the movements of +a camp. Upon this he wrote to the Secretary at War, briefly stating what +his services on shore had been, and saying, he trusted it was not asking +an improper thing to request that the same allowance might be made to +him which would be made to a land officer of his rank, which, situated +as he was, would be that of a brigadier-general: if this could not be +accorded, he hoped that his additional expenses would be paid him. The +answer which he received was, that "no pay had ever been issued under +the direction of the War-office to officers of the navy serving with the +army on shore." + +He now entered upon a new line of service. The Austrian and Sardinian +armies, under General de Vins, required a British squadron to co-operate +with them in driving the French from the Riviera di Genoa; and as Nelson +had been so much in the habit of soldiering, it was immediately fixed +that the brigadier should go. He sailed from St. Fiorenzo on this +destination; but fell in, off Cape del Mele, with the enemy's fleet, who +immediately gave his squadron chase. The chase lasted four-and-twenty +hours; and, owing to the fickleness of the wind, the British ships were +sometimes hard pressed; but the want of skill on the part of the French +gave Nelson many advantages. Nelson bent his way back to St. Fiorenzo, +where the fleet, which was in the midst of watering and refitting, had, +for seven hours, the mortification of seeing him almost in possession +of the enemy, before the wind would allow them to put out to his +assistance. The French, however, at evening, went off, not choosing to +approach nearer the shore. During the night, Admiral Hotham, by great +exertions, got under weigh; and, having sought the enemy four days, came +in sight of them on the fifth. Baffling winds and vexatious calms, so +common in the Mediterranean, rendered it impossible to close with them; +only a partial action could be brought on; and then the firing made +a perfect calm. The French being to windward, drew inshore; and the +English fleet was becalmed six or seven miles to the westward. L'ALCIDE, +of seventy-four guns, struck; but before she could be taken possession +of, a box of combustibles in her fore-top took fire, and the unhappy +crew experienced how far more perilous their inventions were to +themselves than to their enemies. So rapid was the conflagration, that +the French in their official account say, the hull, the masts, and +sails, all seemed to take fire at the same moment; and though the +English boats were put out to the assistance of the poor wretches on +board, not more than 200 could be saved. The AGAMEMNON, and Captain +Rowley in the CUMBERLAND, were just getting into close action a second +time, when the admiral called them off, the wind now blowing directly +into the Gulf of Frejus, where the enemy anchored after the evening +closed. + +Nelson now proceeded to his station with eight sail of frigates under +his command. Arriving at Genoa, he had a conference with Mr. Drake, the +British envoy to that state; the result of which was, that the object +of the British must be to put an entire stop to all trade between Genoa, +France, and the places occupied by the French troops; for unless this +trade were stopped, it would be scarcely possible for the allied armies +to hold their situation, and impossible for them to make any progress in +driving the enemy out of the Riviera di Genoa. Mr. Drake was of opinion +that even Nice might fall for want of supplies, if the trade with Genoa +were cut off. This sort of blockade Nelson could not carry on without +great risk to himself. A captain in the navy, as he represented to the +envoy, is liable to prosecution for detention and damages. This danger +was increased by an order which had then lately been issued; by which, +when a neutral ship was detained, a complete specification of her cargo +was directed to be sent to the secretary of the Admiralty, and no legal +process instituted against her till the pleasure of that board should be +communicated. This was requiring an impossibility. The cargoes of ships +detained upon this station, consisting chiefly of corn, would be spoiled +long before the orders of the Admiralty could be known; and then, if +they should happen to release the vessel, the owners would look to +the captain for damages. Even the only precaution which could be taken +against this danger, involved another danger not less to be apprehended: +for if the captain should direct the cargo to be taken out, the freight +paid for, and the vessel released, the agent employed might prove +fraudulent, and become bankrupt; and in that case the captain became +responsible. Such things had happened: Nelson therefore required, as the +only means for carrying on that service, which was judged essential +to the common cause, without exposing the officers to ruin, that the +British envoy should appoint agents to pay the freight, release the +vessels, sell the cargo, and hold the amount till process was had upon +it: government thus securing its officers. "I am acting," said Nelson. +"not only without the orders of my commander-in-chief, but, in some +measure, contrary to him. However, I have not only the support of his +Majesty's ministers, both at Turin and Genoa, but a consciousness that +I am doing what is right and proper for the service of our king and +country. Political courage, in an officer abroad, is as highly necessary +as military courage." + +This quality, which is as much rarer than military courage as it is more +valuable, and without which the soldier's bravery is often of little +avail, Nelson possessed in an eminent degree. His representations were +attended to as they deserved. Admiral Hotham commended him for what he +had done; and the attention of government was awakened to the injury +which the cause of the allies continually suffered from the frauds +of neutral vessels. "What changes in my life of activity!" said the +indefatigable man. "Here I am, having commenced a co-operation with an +old Austrian general, almost fancying myself charging at the head of +a troop of horse! I do not write less than from ten to twenty letters +every day; which, with the Austrian general and aides-de-camp, and my +own little squadron, fully employ my time. This I like; active service +or none." It was Nelson's mind which supported his feeble body through +these exertions. He was at this time almost blind, and wrote with very +great pain. "Poor AGAMEMNON," he sometimes said, "was as nearly worn out +as her captain; and both must soon be laid up to repair." + +When Nelson first saw General de Vins, he thought him an able man, who +was willing to act with vigour. The general charged his inactivity upon +the Piedmontese and Neapolitans, whom, he said, nothing could induce +to act; and he concerted a plan with Nelson for embarking a part of the +Austrian army, and landing it in the rear of the French. But the English +commodore soon began to suspect that the Austrian general was little +disposed to any active operations. In the hope of spurring him on, he +wrote to him, telling him that he had surveyed the coast to the W. as +far as Nice, and would undertake to embark 4000 or 5000 men, with their +arms and a few days' provisions, on board the squadron, and land them +within two miles of St. Remo, with their field-pieces. Respecting +further provisions for the Austrian army, he would provide convoys, that +they should arrive in safety; and if a re-embarkation should be found +necessary, he would cover it with the squadron. The possession of St. +Remo, as headquarters for magazines of every kind, would enable the +Austrian general to turn his army to the eastward or westward. The enemy +at Oneglia would be cut off from provisions, and men could be landed +to attack that place whenever it was judged necessary. St. Remo was the +only place between Vado and Ville Franche where the squadron could lie +in safety, and anchor in almost all winds. The bay was not so good as +Vado for large ships; but it had a mole, which Vado had not, where all +small vessels could lie, and load and unload their cargoes. This bay +being in possession of the allies, Nice could be completely blockaded by +sea. General de Vins affecting, in his reply, to consider that Nelson's +proposal had no other end than that of obtaining the bay of St. Remo as +a station for the ships, told him, what he well knew, and had expressed +before, that Vado Bay was a better anchorage; nevertheless, if MONSIEUR +LE COMMANDANT NELSON was well assured that part of the fleet could +winter there, there was no risk to which he would not expose himself +with pleasure, for the sake of procuring a safe station for the vessels +of his Britannic Majesty. Nelson soon assured the Austrian commander +that this was not the object of his memorial. He now began to suspect +that both the Austrian Court and their general had other ends in view +than the cause of the allies. "This army," said he, "is slow beyond all +description; and I begin to think that the Emperor is anxious to touch +another L4,000,000 of English money. As for the German generals, war is +their trade, and peace is ruin to them; therefore we cannot expect that +they should have any wish to finish the war. The politics of courts are +so mean, that private people would be ashamed to act in the same way; +all is trick and finesse, to which the common cause is sacrificed. The +general wants a loop-hole; it has for some time appeared to me that +he means to go no further than his present position, and to lay the +miscarriage of the enterprise against Nice, which has always been held +out as the great object of his army, to the non-cooperation of the +British fleet and of the Sardinians." + +To prevent this plea, Nelson again addressed De Vins, requesting only to +know the time, and the number of troops ready to embark; then he would, +he said, dispatch a ship to Admiral Hotham, requesting transports, +having no doubt of obtaining them, and trusting that the plan would be +successful to its fullest extent. Nelson thought at the time that, if +the whole fleet were offered him for transports, he would find some +other excuse; and Mr. Drake, who was now appointed to reside at the +Austrian headquarters, entertained the same idea of the general's +sincerity. It was not, however, put so clearly to the proof as it ought +to have been. He replied that, as soon as Nelson could declare himself +ready with the vessels necessary for conveying 10,000 men, with their +artillery and baggage, he would put the army in motion. But Nelson was +not enabled to do this: Admiral Hotham, who was highly meritorious in +leaving such a man so much at his own discretion, pursued a cautious +system, ill according with the bold and comprehensive views of Nelson, +who continually regretted Lord Hood, saying that the nation had suffered +much by his resignation of the Mediterranean command. The plan which +had been concerted, he said, would astonish the French, and perhaps the +English. + +There was no unity in the views of the allied powers, no cordiality +in their co-operation, no energy in their councils. The neutral powers +assisted France more effectually than the allies assisted each other. +The Genoese ports were at this time filled with French privateers, which +swarmed out every night, and covered the gulf; and French vessels were +allowed to tow out of the port of Genoa itself, board vessels which were +coming in, and then return into the mole. This was allowed without +a remonstrance; while, though Nelson abstained most carefully from +offering any offence to the Genoese territory or flag, complaints were +so repeatedly made against his squadron, that, he says, it seemed a +trial who should be tired first; they of complaining, or he of answering +their complaints. But the question of neutrality was soon at an end. An +Austrian commissary was travelling from Genoa towards Vado; it was known +that he was to sleep at Voltri, and that he had L10,000 with him--a +booty which the French minister in that city, and the captain of a +French frigate in that port, considered as far more important than the +word of honour of the one, the duties of the other, and the laws of +neutrality. The boats of the frigate went out with some privateers, +landed, robbed the commissary, and brought back the money to Genoa. The +next day men were publicly enlisted in that city for the French army: +700 men were embarked, with 7000 stand of arms, on board the frigates +and other vessels, who were to land between Voltri and Savona. There +a detachment from the French army was to join them, and the Genoese +peasantry were to be invited to insurrection--a measure for which +everything had been prepared. The night of the 13th was fixed for the +sailing of this expedition; the Austrians called loudly for Nelson to +prevent it; and he, on the evening of the 13th, arrived at Genoa. His +presence checked the plan: the frigate, knowing her deserts, got within +the merchant-ships, in the inner mole; and the Genoese government did +not now even demand of Nelson respect to the neutral port, knowing that +they had allowed, if not connived at, a flagrant breach of neutrality, +and expecting the answer which he was prepared to return, that it was +useless and impossible for him to respect it longer. + +But though this movement produced the immediate effect which was +designed, it led to ill consequences, which Nelson foresaw, but for want +of sufficient force was unable to prevent. His squadron was too small +for the service which it had to perform. He required two seventy-fours +and eight or ten frigates and sloops; but when he demanded this +reinforcement, Admiral Hotham had left the command. Sir Hyde Parker +had succeeded till the new commander should arrive; and he immediately +reduced it to almost nothing, leaving him only one frigate and a brig. +This was a fatal error. While the Austrian and Sardinian troops, +whether from the imbecility or the treachery of their leaders, remained +inactive, the French were preparing for the invasion of Italy. Not many +days before Nelson was thus summoned to Genoa, he chased a large convoy +into Alassio. Twelve vessels he had formerly destroyed in that port, +though 2000 French troops occupied the town. This former attack had made +them take new measures of defence; and there were now above 100 sail +of victuallers, gun-boats, and ships of war. Nelson represented to the +Admiral how important it was to destroy these vessels; and offered, +with his squadron of frigates, and the CULLODEN and COURAGEUX, to lead +himself in the AGAMEMNON, and take or destroy the whole. The attempt was +not permitted; but it was Nelson's belief that, if it had been made, it +would have prevented the attack upon the Austrian army, which took place +almost immediately afterwards. + +General de Vins demanded satisfaction of the Genoese government for the +seizure of his commissary; and then, without waiting for their reply, +took possession of some empty magazines of the French, and pushed his +sentinels to the very gates of Genoa. Had he done so at first, he +would have found the magazines full; but, timed as the measure was, and +useless as it was to the cause of the allies, it was in character with +the whole of the Austrian general's conduct; and it is no small proof of +the dexterity with which he served the enemy, that in such circumstances +he could so act with Genoa as to contrive to put himself in the wrong. +Nelson was at this time, according to his own expression, placed in a +cleft stick. Mr. Drake, the Austrian minister, and the Austrian general, +all joined in requiring him not to leave Genoa; if he left that port +unguarded, they said, not only the imperial troops at St. Pier d'Arena +and Voltri would be lost, but the French plan for taking post between +Voltri and Savona would certainly succeed; if the Austrians should be +worsted in the advanced posts, the retreat of the Bocchetta would be cut +off; and if this happened, the loss of the army would be imputed to him, +for having left Genoa. On the other hand, he knew that if he were not +at Pietra, the enemy's gun-boats would harass the left flank of the +Austrians, who, if they were defeated, as was to be expected, from the +spirit of all their operations, would, very probably, lay their defeat +to the want of assistance from the AGAMEMNON. Had the force for which +Nelson applied been given him, he could have attended to both objects; +and had he been permitted to attack the convoy in Alassio, he would have +disconcerted the plans of the French, in spite of the Austrian general. +He had foreseen the danger, and pointed out how it might be prevented; +but the means of preventing it were withheld. The attack was made as +he foresaw; and the gun-boats brought their fire to bear upon the +Austrians. It so happened, however, that the left flank, which was +exposed to them, was the only part of the army that behaved well: this +division stood its ground till the centre and the right wing fled, and +then retreated in a soldier-like manner. General de Vins gave up the +command in the middle of the battle, pleading ill health. "From that +moment," says Nelson, "not a soldier stayed at his post: it was the +devil take the hindmost. Many thousands ran away who had never seen the +enemy; some of them thirty miles from the advanced posts. Had I not, +though I own, against my inclination, been kept at Genoa, from 8000 to +10,000 men would have been taken prisoners, and, amongst the number, +General de Vins himself; but by this means the pass of the Bocchetta +was kept open. The purser of the ship, who was at Vado, ran with +the Austrians eighteen miles without stopping; the men without arms, +officers without soldiers, women without assistance. The oldest officers +say they never heard of so complete a defeat, and certainly without +any reason. Thus has ended my campaign. We have established the French +republic: which but for us, I verily believe, would never have been +settled by such a volatile, changeable people. I hate a Frenchman: they +are equally objects of my detestation whether royalists or republicans: +in some points, I believe, the latter are the best." Nelson had a +lieutenant and two midshipmen taken at Vado: they told him, in their +letter, that few of the French soldiers were more than three or four +and twenty years old, a great many not more than fourteen, and all were +nearly naked; they were sure, they said, his barge's crew could have +beat a hundred of them; and that, had he himself seen them, he would not +have thought, if the world had been covered with such people, that they +could have beaten the Austrian army. + +The defeat of General de Vins gave the enemy possession of the Genoese +coast from Savona to Voltri, and it deprived the Austrians of their +direct communication with the English fleet. The AGAMEMNON, therefore, +could no longer be useful on this station, and Nelson sailed for Leghorn +to refit. When his ship went into dock, there was not a mast, yard, +sail, or any part of the rigging, but what stood in need of repair, +having been cut to pieces with shot. The hull was so damaged that it +had for some time been secured by cables, which were served or thrapped +round it. + + + +CHAPTER IV + +1796 - 1797 + + +Sir J. Jervis takes the Command--Genoa joins the French--Bounaparte +begins his Career--Evacuation of Corsica--Nelson hoists his broad +Pennant in the MINERVE--Action with the SABINA--Battle off Cape St. +Vincent--Nelson commands the inner Squadron at the Blockade of Cadiz +Boat Action in the Bay of Cadiz--Expedition against Teneriffe--Nelson +loses an Arm--His Sufferings in England, and Recovery. + + +SIR JOHN JERVIS had now arrived to take the command of the Mediterranean +fleet. The AGAMEMNON having, as her captain said, been made as fit for +sea as a rotten ship could be, Nelson sailed from Leghorn, and joined +the admiral in Fiorenzo Bay. "I found him," said he, "anxious to know +many things which I was a good deal surprised to find had not been +communicated to him by others in the fleet; and it would appear that he +was so well satisfied with my opinion of what is likely to happen, and +the means of prevention to be taken, that he had no reserve with me +respecting his information and ideas of what is likely to be done." The +manner in which Nelson was received is said to have excited some envy. +One captain observed to him: "You did just as you pleased in Lord Hood's +time, the same in Admiral Hotham's, and now again with Sir John Jervis: +it makes no difference to you who is commander-in-chief." A higher +compliment could not have been paid to any commander-in-chief than to +say of him that he understood the merits of Nelson, and left him, as far +as possible, to act upon his own judgment. + +Sir John Jervis offered him the ST. GEORGE, ninety, or the ZEALOUS, +seventy-four, and asked if he should have any objection to serve under +him with his flag. He replied, that if the AGAMEMNON were ordered home, +and his flag were not arrived, he should, on many accounts, wish to +return to England; still, if the war continued, he should be very proud +of hoisting his flag under Sir John's command, "We cannot spare you," +said Sir John, "either as captain or admiral." Accordingly, he resumed +his station in the Gulf of Genoa. The French had not followed up their +successes in that quarter with their usual celerity. Scherer, who +commanded there, owed his advancement to any other cause than his merit: +he was a favourite of the directory; but for the present, through +the influence of Barras, he was removed from a command for which his +incapacity was afterwards clearly proved, and Buonaparte was appointed +to succeed him. Buonaparte had given indications of his military talents +at Toulon, and of his remorseless nature at Paris; but the extent either +of his ability or his wickedness was at this time known to none, and +perhaps not even suspected by himself. + +Nelson supposed, from the information which he had obtained, that one +column of the French army would take possession of Port Especia; either +penetrating through the Genoese territory, or proceeding coast-ways in +light vessels; our ships of war not being able to approach the coast, +because of the shallowness of the water. To prevent this, he said; two +things were necessary: the possession of Vado Bay, and the taking of +Port Especia; if either of these points were secured, Italy would be +safe from any attack of the French by sea. General Beaulieu, who had now +superseded De Vins in the command of the allied Austrian and Sardinian +army, sent his nephew and aide-de-camp to communicate with Nelson, and +inquire whether he could anchor in any other place than Vado Bay. Nelson +replied, that Vado was the only place where the British fleet could +lie in safety, but all places would suit his squadron; and wherever the +general came to the sea-coast, there he should find it. The Austrian +repeatedly asked, if there was not a risk of losing the squadron? and +was constantly answered, that if these ships should be lost, the admiral +would find others. But all plans of co-operation with the Austrians were +soon frustrated by the battle of Montenotte. Beaulieu ordered an attack +to be made upon the post of Voltri. It was made twelve hours before +the time which he had fixed, and before he arrived to direct it. In +consequence, the French were enabled to effect their retreat, and fall +back to Montenotte, thus giving the troops there a decisive superiority +in number over the division which attacked them. This drew on the defeat +of the Austrians. Buonaparte, with a celerity which had never before +been witnessed in modern war, pursued his advantages; and, in the course +of a fortnight, dictated to the court of Turin terms of peace, or rather +of submission; by which all the strongest places of Piedmont were put +into his bands. + +On one occasion, and only on one, Nelson was able to impede the +progress of this new conqueror. Six vessels, laden with cannon and +ordnance-stores for the siege of Mantua, sailed from Toulon for St. Pier +d'Arena. Assisted by Captain Cockburn, in the MELEAGER, he drove them +under a battery; pursued them, silenced the batteries, and captured +the whole. Military books, plans and maps of Italy, with the different +points marked upon them where former battles had been fought, sent by +the directory for Buonaparte's use, were found in the convoy. The loss +of this artillery was one of the chief causes which compelled the French +to raise the siege of Mantua; but there was too much treachery, and too +much imbecility, both in the councils and armies of the allied powers, +for Austria to improve this momentary success. Buonaparte perceived that +the conquest of Italy was within his reach; treaties, and the rights of +neutral or of friendly powers, were as little regarded by him as by +the government for which he acted. In open contempt of both he entered +Tuscany, and took possession of Leghorn. In consequence of this +movement, Nelson blockaded that port, and landed a British force in +the Isle of Elba, to secure Porto Ferrajo. Soon afterwards he took the +Island of Capraja, which had formerly belonged to Corsica, being less +than forty miles distant from it; a distance, however, short as it was, +which enabled the Genoese to retain it, after their infamous sale of +Corsica to France. Genoa had now taken part with France: its government +had long covertly assisted the French, and now willingly yielded to the +first compulsory menace which required them to exclude the English from +their ports. Capraja was seized in consequence; but this act of vigour +was not followed up as it ought to have been. England at that time +depended too much upon the feeble governments of the Continent, and too +little upon itself. It was determined by the British cabinet to evacuate +Corsica, as soon as Spain should form an offensive alliance with France. +This event, which, from the moment that Spain had been compelled to make +peace, was clearly foreseen, had now taken place; and orders for the +evacuation of the island were immediately sent out. It was impolitic to +annex this island to the British dominions; but having done so, it was +disgraceful thus to abandon it. The disgrace would have been spared, and +every advantage which could have been derived from the possession of +the island secured, if the people had at first been left to form a +government for themselves, and protected by us in the enjoyment of their +independence. + +The viceroy, Sir Gilbert Elliott, deeply felt the impolicy and +ignominy of this evacuation. The fleet also was ordered to leave the +Mediterranean. This resolution was so contrary to the last instructions +which had been received, that Nelson exclaimed, "Do his majesty's +ministers know their own minds? They at home," said he, "do not know +what this fleet is capable of performing--anything and everything. +Much as I shall rejoice to see England, I lament our present orders in +sackcloth and ashes, so dishonourable to the dignity of England, whose +fleets are equal to meet the world in arms; and of all the fleets I ever +saw, I never beheld one, in point of officers and men, equal to Sir John +Jervis's, who is a commander-in-chief able to lead them to glory." +Sir Gilbert Elliott believed that the great body of the Corsicans were +perfectly satisfied, as they had good reason to be, with the British +Government, sensible of its advantages, and attached to it. However this +may have been, when they found that the English intended to evacuate the +island, they naturally and necessarily sent to make their peace with the +French. The partisans of France found none to oppose them. A committee +of thirty took upon them the government of Bastia, and sequestrated all +the British property; armed Corsicans mounted guard at every place, and +a plan was laid for seizing the viceroy. Nelson, who was appointed to +superintend the evacuation, frustrated these projects. At a time when +every one else despaired of saving stores, cannon, provisions, or +property of any kind, and a privateer was moored across the mole-head to +prevent all boats from passing, he sent word to the committee, that +if the slightest opposition were made to the embarkment and removal of +British property, he would batter the town down. The privateer pointed +her guns at the officer who carried this message, and muskets were +levelled against his boats from the mole-head. Upon this Captain Sutton, +of the EGMONT, pulling out his watch, gave them a quarter of an hour to +deliberate upon their answer. In five minutes after the expiration of +that time, the ships, he said, would open their fire. Upon this the +very sentinels scampered off, and every vessel came out of the mole. A +shipowner complained to the commodore that the municipality refused to +let him take his goods out of the custom-house. Nelson directed him to +say, that unless they were instantly delivered, he would open his fire. +The committee turned pale, and, without answering a word, gave him the +keys. Their last attempt was to levy a duty upon the things that were +re-embarked. He sent them word, that he would pay them a disagreeable +visit, if there were any more complaints. The committee then finding +that they had to deal with a man who knew his own power, and was +determined to make the British name respected, desisted from the +insolent conduct which they had assumed; and it was acknowledged that +Bastia never had been so quiet and orderly since the English were in +possession of it. This was on the 14th of October; during the five +following days the work of embarkation was carried on, the private +property was saved, and public stores to the amount of L200,000. The +French, favoured by the Spanish fleet, which was at that time within +twelve leagues of Bastia, pushed over troops from Leghorn, who landed +near Cape Corse on the 18th; and on the 20th, at one in the morning, +entered the citadel, an hour only after the British had spiked the guns +and evacuated it. Nelson embarked at daybreak, being the last person who +left the shore; having thus, as he said, seen the first and the last +of Corsica. Provoked at the conduct of the municipality, and the +disposition which the populace had shown to profit by the confusion, he +turned towards the shore, as he stepped into his boat, and exclaimed: +"Now, John Corse, follow the natural bent of your detestable character +--plunder and revenge." This, however, was not Nelson's deliberate +opinion of the people of Corsica; he knew that their vices were the +natural consequences of internal anarchy and foreign oppression, such +as the same causes would produce in any people; and when he saw, that +of all those who took leave of the viceroy there was not one who parted +from him without tears, he acknowledged that they manifestly acted not +from dislike of the English, but from fear of the French. England then +might, with more reason, reproach her own rulers for pusillanimity than +the Corsicans for ingratitude. + +Having thus ably effected this humiliating service, Nelson was ordered +to hoist his broad pendant on board the MINERVE frigate, Captain George +Cockburn, and with the BLANCHE under his command, proceed to Porto +Ferrajo, and superintend the evacuation of that place also. On his way, +he fell in with two Spanish frigates, the SABINA and the CERES. The +MINERVE engaged the former, which was commanded by D. Jacobo Stuart, +a descendent of the Duke of Berwick. After an action of three hours, +during which the Spaniards lost 164 men, the SABINA struck. The Spanish +captain, who was the only surviving officer, had hardly been conveyed on +board the MINERVE, when another enemy's frigate came up, compelled her +to cast off the prize, and brought her a second time into action. After +half an hour's trial of strength, this new antagonist wore and hauled +off; but a Spanish squadron of two ships of the line and two frigates +came in sight. The BLANCHE, from which the CERES had got off, was far +to windward, and the MINERVE escaped only by the anxiety of the enemy to +recover their own ship. As soon as Nelson reached Porto Ferrajo he sent +his prisoner in a flag of truce to Carthagena, having returned him +his sword; this he did in honour of the gallantry which D. Jacobo had +displayed, and not without some feeling of respect for his ancestry. "I +felt it," said he, "consonant to the dignity of my country and I always +act as I feel right, without regard to custom; he was reputed the best +officer in Spain, and his men were worthy of such a commander." By +the same flag of truce he sent back all the Spanish prisoners at Porto +Ferrajo; in exchange for whom he received his own men who had been taken +in the prize. + +General de Burgh, who commanded at the Isle of Elba, did not think +himself authorised to abandon the place till he had received specific +instructions from England to that effect; professing that he was unable +to decide between the contradictory orders of government, or to guess at +what their present intentions might be; but he said, his only motive for +urging delay in this measure arose from a desire that his own conduct +might be properly sanctioned, not from any opinion that Porto Ferrajo +ought to be retained. But Naples having made peace, Sir John Jervis +considered his business with Italy as concluded; and the protection of +Portugal was the point to which he was now instructed to attend. Nelson, +therefore, whose orders were perfectly clear and explicit, withdrew +the whole naval establishment from that station, leaving the transports +victualled, and so arranged that all the troops and stores could be +embarked in three days. He was now about to leave the Mediterranean. +Mr. Drake, who had been our minister at Genoa, expressed to him, on +this occasion, the very high opinion which the allies entertained of his +conspicuous merit; adding, that it was impossible for any one, who +had the honour of co-operating with him, not to admire the activity, +talents, and zeal which he had so eminently and constantly displayed. +In fact, during this long course of services in the Mediterranean, the +whole of his conduct had exhibited the same zeal, the same indefatigable +energy, the same intuitive judgment, the same prompt and unerring +decision which characterised his after-career of glory. His name was as +yet hardly known to the English public; but it was feared and respected +throughout Italy. A letter came to him, directed "Horatio Nelson, +Genoa;" and the writer, when he was asked how he could direct it so +vaguely, replied, "Sir, there is but one Horatio Nelson in the world." +At Genoa, in particular, where he had so long been stationed, and where +the nature of his duty first led him to continual disputes with the +government, and afterwards compelled him to stop the trade of the port, +he was equally respected by the doge and by the people; for, while +he maintained the rights and interests of Great Britain with becoming +firmness, he tempered the exercise of power with courtesy and humanity +wherever duty would permit. "Had all my actions," said he, writing at +this time to his wife, "been gazetted, not one fortnight would have +passed, during the whole war, without a letter from me. One day or other +I will have a long GAZETTE to myself. I feel that such an opportunity +will be given me. I cannot, if I am in the field of glory, be kept out +of sight; wherever there is anything to be done, there Providence is +sure to direct my steps." + +These hopes and anticipations were soon to be fulfilled. Nelson's mind +had long been irritated and depressed by the fear that a general action +would take place before he could join the fleet. At length he sailed +from Porto Ferrajo with a convoy for Gibraltar; and having reached that +place, proceeded to the westward in search of the admiral. Off the mouth +of the Straits he fell in with the Spanish fleet; and on the 13th of +February reaching the station off Cape St. Vincent, communicated this +intelligence to Sir John Jervis. He was now directed to shift his broad +pendant on board the CAPTAIN, seventy-four, Captain R.W. Miller; and +before sunset the signal was made to prepare for action, and to keep, +during the night, in close order. At daybreak the enemy were in sight. +The British force consisted of two ships of one hundred guns, two +of ninety-eight, two of ninety, eight of seventy-four, and one +sixty-four;-fifteen of the line in all; with four frigates, a sloop, +and a cutter. The Spaniards had one four-decker, of one hundred and +thirty-six guns; six three-deckers, of one hundred and twelve; two +eighty-four, eighteen seventy-four--in all, twenty-seven ships of the +line, with ten frigates and a brig. Their admiral, D. Joseph de Cordova, +had learnt from an American on the 5th, that the English had only nine +ships, which was indeed the case when his informer had seen them; for a +reinforcement of five ships from England, under Admiral Parker, had not +then joined, and the CULLODEN had parted company. Upon this information +the Spanish commander, instead of going into Cadiz, as was his intention +when he sailed from Carthagena, determined to seek an enemy so inferior +in force; and relying, with fatal confidence, upon the American account, +he suffered his ships to remain too far dispersed, and in some disorder. +When the morning of the 14th broke, and discovered the English fleet, +a fog for some time concealed their number. That fleet had heard their +signal-guns during the night, the weather being fine though thick and +hazy; soon after daylight they were seen very much scattered, while the +British ships were in a compact little body. The look-out ship of the +Spaniards, fancying that her signal was disregarded because so little +notice seemed to be taken of it, made another signal, that the English +force consisted of forty sail of the line. The captain afterwards said +he did this to rouse the admiral; it had the effect of perplexing him +and alarming the whole fleet. The absurdity of such an act shows what +was the state of the Spanish navy under that miserable government by +which Spain was so long oppressed and degraded, and finally betrayed. In +reality, the general incapacity of the naval officers was so well known, +that in a pasquinade, which about this time appeared at Madrid, wherein +the different orders of the state were advertised for sale, the greater +part of the sea-officers, with all their equipments, were offered as a +gift; and it was added, that any person who would please to take them, +should receive a handsome gratuity. When the probability that +Spain would take part in the war, as an ally of France, was first +contemplated, Nelson said that their fleet, if it were no better than +when it acted in alliance with us, would "soon be done for." + +Before the enemy could form a regular order of battle, Sir J. Jervis, by +carrying a press of sail, came up with them, passed through their fleet, +then tacked, and thus cut off nine of their ships from the main body. +These ships attempted to form on the larboard tack, either with a design +of passing through the British line, or to leeward of it, and thus +rejoining their friends. Only one of them succeeded in this attempt; and +that only because she was so covered with smoke that her intention was +not discovered till she had reached the rear: the others were so warmly +received, that they put about, took to flight, and did not appear again +in the action to its close. The admiral was now able to direct his +attention to the enemy's main body, which was still superior in number +to his whole fleet, and greatly so in weight of metal. He made signal to +tack in succession. Nelson, whose station was in the rear of the British +line, perceived that the Spaniards were bearing up before the wind, +with an intention of forming their line, going large, and joining +their separated ships, or else of getting off without an engagement. +To prevent either of these schemes, he disobeyed the signal without +a moment's hesitation: and ordered his ship to be wore. This at once +brought him into action with the SANTISSIMA TRINIDAD, one hundred and +thirty-six; the SAN JOSEPH, one hundred and twelve; the SALVADOR DEL +MUNDO, one hundred and twelve; the SAN NICOLAS, eighty; the SAN ISIDRO, +seventy-four, another seventy-four, and another first-rate. Troubridge, +in the CULLODEN, immediately joined, and most nobly supported him; and +for nearly an hour did the CULLODEN and CAPTAIN maintain what Nelson +called "this apparently, but not really unequal contest;"--such was the +advantage of skill and discipline, and the confidence which brave men +derive from them. The BLENHEIM then passing between them and the enemy, +gave them a respite, and poured in her fire upon the Spaniards. The +SALVADOR DEL MUNDO and SAN ISIDRO dropped astern, and were fired into in +a masterly style by the EXCELLENT, Captain Collingwood. The SAN +ISIDRO struck; and Nelson thought that the SALVADOR struck also. "But +Collingwood," says he, "disdaining the parade of taking possession of +beaten enemies, most gallantly pushed up, with every sail set, to +save his old friend and messmate, who was to appearance in a critical +situation;" for the CAPTAIN was at this time actually fired upon by +three first-rates--by the SAN NICOLAS, and by a seventy-four, within +about pistol-shot of that vessel. The BLENHEIM was ahead, the CULLODEN +crippled and astern. Collingwood ranged up, and hauling up his mainsail +just astern, passed within ten feet of the SAN NICOLAS, giving her a +most tremendous fire, then passed on for the SANTISSIMA TRINIDAD. The +SAN NICOLAS luffing up, the SAN JOSEPH fell on board her, and Nelson +resumed his station abreast of them, and close alongside. The CAPTAIN +was now incapable of further service, either in the line or in chase: +she had lost her foretop-mast; not a sail, shroud, or rope was left, and +her wheel was shot away. Nelson therefore directed Captain Miller to +put the helm a-starboard, and calling for the boarders, ordered them to +board. + +Captain Berry, who had lately been Nelson's first lieutenant, was the +first man who leaped into the enemy's mizen chains. Miller, when in the +very act of going, was ordered by Nelson to remain. Berry was supported +from the spritsail-yard, which locked in the SAN NICOLAS's main rigging. +A soldier of the 69th broke the upper quarter-gallery window, and jumped +in, followed by the commodore himself and by the others as fast as +possible. The cabin doors were fastened, and the Spanish officers fired +their pistols at them through the window; the doors were soon forced, +and the Spanish brigadier fell while retreating to the quarter-deck. +Nelson pushed on, and found Berry in possession of the poop, and the +Spanish ensign hauling down. He passed on to the forecastle, where +he met two or three Spanish officers, and received their swords. The +English were now in full possession of every part of the ship, when +a fire of pistols and musketry opened upon them from the admiral's +stern-gallery of the SAN JOSEPH. Nelson having placed sentinels at the +different ladders, and ordered Captain Miller to send more men into the +prize, gave orders for boarding that ship from the SAN NICOLAS. It +was done in an instant, he himself leading the way, and exclaiming, +"Westminster Abbey or victory!" Berry assisted him into the main chains; +and at that moment a Spanish officer looked over the quarter-deck +rail, and said they surrendered. It was not long before he was on the +quarter-deck, where the Spanish captain presented to him his sword, +and told him the admiral was below dying of his wounds. There, on the +quarter-deck of an enemy's first-rate, he received the swords of the +officers, giving them, as they were delivered, one by one to William +Fearney, one of his old AGAMEMNONs, who, with the utmost coolness, put +them under his arm, "bundling them up," in the lively expression of +Collingwood, "with as much composure as he would have made a faggot, +though twenty-two sail of their line were still within gunshot." One of +his sailors came up, and with an Englishman's feeling took him by the +hand, saying he might not soon have such another place to do it in, and +he was heartily glad to see him there. Twenty-four of the CAPTAIN's men +were killed, and fifty-six wounded; a fourth part of the loss sustained +by the whole squadron falling upon this ship. Nelson received only a few +bruises. + +The Spaniards had still eighteen or nineteen ships which had suffered +little or no injury: that part of the fleet which had been separated +from the main body in the morning was now coming up, and Sir John +Jervis made signal to bring to. His ships could not have formed without +abandoning those which they had captured, and running to leeward: the +CAPTAIN was lying a perfect wreck on board her two prizes; and many of +the other vessels were so shattered in their masts and rigging as to +be wholly unmanageable. The Spanish admiral meantime, according to +his official account, being altogether undecided in his own opinion +respecting the state of the fleet, inquired of his captains whether it +was proper to renew the action; nine of them answered explicitly that it +was not; others replied that it was expedient to delay the business. +The PELAYO and the PRINCE CONQUISTADOR were the only ships that were for +fighting. + +As soon as the action was discontinued, Nelson went on board the +admiral's ship. Sir John Jervis received him on the quarter-deck, took +him in his arms, and said he could not sufficiently thank him. For this +victory the commander-in-chief was rewarded with the title of Earl St. +Vincent. Nelson, who before the action was known in England had been +advanced to the rank of rear-admiral, had the Order of the Bath given +him. The sword of the Spanish rear-admiral, which Sir John Jervis +insisted upon his keeping, he presented to the Mayor and Corporation +of Norwich, saying that he knew no place where it could give him or his +family more pleasure to have it kept than in the capital city of the +county where he was born. The freedom of that city was voted him on this +occasion. But of all the numerous congratulations which he received, +none could have affected him with deeper delight than that which came +from his venerable father. "I thank my God," said this excellent man, +"with all the power of a grateful soul, for the mercies he has +most graciously bestowed on me in preserving you. Not only my few +acquaintance here, but the people in general, met me at every corner +with such handsome words, that I was obliged to retire from the public +eye. The height of glory to which your professional judgment, united +with a proper degree of bravery, guarded by Providence, has raised you, +few sons, my dear child, attain to, and fewer fathers live to see. Tears +of joy have involuntarily trickled down my furrowed cheeks: who could +stand the force of such general congratulation? The name and services +of Nelson have sounded through this city of Bath--from the common +ballad-singer to the public theatre." The good old man concluded by +telling him that the field of glory, in which he had so long been +conspicuous, was still open, and by giving him his blessing. + +Sir Horatio, who had now hoisted his flag as rear-admiral of the blue, +was sent to bring away the troops from Porto Ferrajo; having performed +this, he shifted his flag to the THESEUS. That ship, had taken part in +the mutiny in England, and being just arrived from home, some danger was +apprehended from the temper of the men. This was one reason why Nelson +was removed to her. He had not been on board many weeks before a +paper, signed in the name of all the ship's company, was dropped on the +quarter-deck, containing these words: "Success attend Admiral Nelson! +God bless Captain Miller! We thank them for the officers they have +placed over us. We are happy and comfortable, and will shed every drop +of blood in our veins to support them; and the name of the THESEUS shall +be immortalised as high as her captain's." Wherever Nelson commanded, +the men soon became attached to him; in ten days' time he would have +restored the most mutinous ship in the navy to order. Whenever an +officer fails to win the affections of those who are under his command, +he may be assured that the fault is chiefly in himself. + +While Sir Horatio was in the THESEUS, he was employed in the command of +the inner squadron at the blockade of Cadiz. During this service, the +most perilous action occurred in which he was ever engaged. Making a +night attack upon the Spanish gun-boats, his barge was attacked by an +armed launch, under their commander, D. Miguel Tregoyen, carrying 26 +men. Nelson had with him only his ten bargemen, Captain Freemantle, and +his coxswain, John Sykes, an old and faithful follower, who twice saved +the life of his admiral by parrying the blows that were aimed at him, +and at last actually interposed his own head to receive the blow of a +Spanish sabre, which he could not by any other means avert; thus dearly +was Nelson beloved. This was a desperate service--hand to hand with +swords; and Nelson always considered that his personal courage was more +conspicuous on this occasion than on any other during his whole life. +Notwithstanding the great disproportion of numbers, 18 of the enemy were +killed, all the rest wounded, and their launch taken. Nelson would have +asked for a lieutenancy for Sykes, if he had served long enough; his +manner and conduct, he observed, were so entirely above his situation, +that Nature certainly intended him for a gentleman; but though he +recovered from the dangerous wound which he received in this act of +heroic attachment, he did not live to profit by the gratitude and +friendship of his commander. + +Twelve days after this rencontre, Nelson sailed at the head of an +expedition against Teneriffe. A report had prevailed a few months +before, that the viceroy of Mexico, With the treasure ships, had put +into that island. This had led Nelson to meditate the plan of an attack +upon it, which he communicated to Earl St. Vincent. He was perfectly +aware of the difficulties of the attempt. "I do not," said he, "reckon +myself equal to Blake; but, if I recollect right, he was more obliged +to the wind coming off the land than to any exertions of his own. The +approach by sea to the anchoring-place is under very high land, passing +three valleys; therefore the wind is either in from the sea, or squally +with calms from the mountains:" and he perceived that if the Spanish +ships were won, the object would still be frustrated if the wind did +not come off shore. The land force, he thought, would render success +certain; and there were the troops from Elba, with all necessary stores +and artillery, already embarked. "But here," said he, "soldiers must be +consulted; and I know, from experience, they have not the same boldness +in undertaking a political measure that we have: we look to the benefit +of our country, and risk our own fame every day to serve her; a soldier +obeys his orders, and no more." Nelson's experience at Corsica justified +him in this harsh opinion: he did not live to see the glorious days of +the British army under Wellington. The army from Elba, consisting of +3700 men, would do the business, he said, in three days, probably in +much less time; and he would undertake, with a very small squadron, to +perform the naval part; for though the shore was not easy of access, the +transports might run in and land the troops in one day. + +The report concerning the viceroy was unfounded: but a homeward-bound +Manilla ship put into Santa Cruz at this time, and the expedition was +determined upon. It was not fitted out upon the scale which Nelson had +proposed. Four ships of the line, three frigates, and the FOX cutter, +formed the squadron; and he was allowed to choose such ships and +officers as he thought proper. No troops were embarked; the seamen and +marines of the squadron being thought sufficient. His orders were, to +make a vigorous attack; but on no account to land in person, unless his +presence should be absolutely necessary. The plan was, that the boats +should land in the night, between the fort on the N.E. side of Santa +Cruz bay and the town, make themselves masters of that fort, and then +send a summons to the governor. By midnight, the three frigates, having +the force on board which was intended for this debarkation, approached +within three miles of the place; but owing to a strong gale of wind in +the offing, and a strong current against them in-shore, they were not +able to get within a mile of the landing-place before daybreak; and then +they were seen, and their intention discovered. Troubridge and Bowen, +with Captain Oldfield, of the marines, went upon this to consult with +the admiral what was to be done; and it was resolved that they should +attempt to get possession of the heights above the fort. The +frigates accordingly landed their men; and Nelson stood in with the +line-of-battle ships, meaning to batter the fort for the purpose of +distracting the attention of the garrison. A calm and contrary current +hindered him from getting within a league of the shore; and the heights +were by this time so secured, and manned with such a force, as to be +judged impracticable. Thus foiled in his plans by circumstances of wind +and tide, he still considered it a point of honour that some attempt +should be made. This was on the 22nd of July: he re-embarked his men +that night, got the ships on the 24th to anchor about two miles north of +the town, and made show as if he intended to attack the heights. At six +in the evening signal was made for the boats to prepare to proceed on +the service as previously ordered. + +When this was done, Nelson addressed a letter to the +commander-in-chief--the last which was ever written with his right +hand. "I shall not," said he, "enter on the subject, why we are not in +possession of Santa Cruz. Your partiality will give credit, that all has +hitherto been done which was possible, but without effect. This night I, +humble as I am, command the whole destined to land under the batteries +of the town; and to-morrow my head will probably be crowned either with +laurel or cypress. I have only to recommend Josiah Nisbet to you and my +country. The Duke of Clarence, should I fall, will, I am confident, +take a lively interest for my son-in-law, on his name being mentioned." +Perfectly aware how desperate a service this was likely to prove, before +he left the THESEUS he called Lieutenant Nisbet, who had the watch on +deck, into the cabin, that he might assist in arranging and burning his +mother's letters. Perceiving that the young man was armed, he earnestly +begged him to remain behind. "Should we both fall, Josiah," said he, +"what will become of your poor mother! The care of the THESEUS falls to +you: stay, therefore, and take charge of her." Nisbet replied: "Sir, the +ship must take care of herself: I will go with you to-night, if I never +go again." + +He met his captains at supper on board the SEAHORSE, Captain Freemantle, +whose wife, whom he had lately married in the Mediterranean, presided at +table. At eleven o'clock the boats, containing between 600 and 700 men, +with 180 on board the FOX cutter, and from 70 to 80 in a boat which had +been taken the day before, proceeded in six divisions toward the town, +conducted by all the captains of the squadron, except Freemantle and +Bowen, who attended with Nelson to regulate and lead the way to the +attack. They were to land on the mole, and thence hasten as fast as +possible into the great square; then form and proceed as should be found +expedient. They were not discovered till about half-past one o'clock, +when, being within half gun-shot of the landing-place, Nelson directed +the boats to cast off from each other, give a huzza, and push for the +shore. But the Spaniards were exceedingly well prepared; the alarm-bells +answered the huzza, and a fire of thirty or forty pieces of cannon, +with musketry from one end of the town to the other, opened upon the +invaders. Nothing, however, could check the intrepidity with which they +advanced. The night was exceedingly dark: most of the boats missed the +mole and went on shore through a raging surf, which stove all to the +left of it. The Admiral, Freemantle, Thompson, Bowen, and four or five +other boats, found the mole: they stormed it instantly, and carried it, +though it was defended, as they imagined, by 400 or 500 men. Its guns, +which were six-and-twenty pounders, were spiked; but such a heavy fire +of musketry and grape was kept up from the citadel and the houses at the +head of the mole, that the assailants could not advance, and nearly all +of them were killed or wounded. + +In the act of stepping out of the boat, Nelson received a shot through +the right elbow, and fell; but as he fell he caught the sword, which he +had just drawn, in his left hand, determined never to part with it while +he lived, for it had belonged to his uncle, Captain Suckling, and he +valued it like a relic. Nisbet, who was close to him, placed him at the +bottom of the boat, and laid his hat over the shattered arm, lest the +sight of the blood, which gushed out in great abundance, should +increase his faintness. He then examined the wound, and taking some silk +handkerchiefs from his neck, bound them round tight above the lacerated +vessels. Had it not been for this presence of mind in his son-in-law, +Nelson must have perished. One of his bargemen, by name Level, tore his +shirt into shreds, and made a sling with them for the broken limb. They +then collected five other seamen, by whose assistance they succeeded at +length in getting the boat afloat; for it had grounded with the falling +tide. Nisbet took one of the oars and ordered the steersman to go +close under the guns of the battery, that they might be safe from its +tremendous fire. Hearing his voice, Nelson roused himself, and desired +to be lifted up in the boat that he might look about him. Nisbet raised +him up; but nothing could be seen except the firing of the guns on +shore, and what could be discerned by their flashes upon a stormy sea. +In a few minutes a general shriek was heard from the crew of the FOX, +which had received a shot under water, and went down. Ninety-seven men +were lost in her: 83 were saved, many by Nelson himself, whose exertions +on this occasion greatly increased the pain and danger of his wound. The +first ship which the boat could reach happened to be the SEAHORSE; but +nothing could induce him to go on board, though he was assured that if +they attempted to row to another ship it might be at the risk of +his life. "I had rather suffer death," he replied, "than alarm Mrs. +Freemantle, by letting her see me in this state, when I can give her no +tidings whatever of her husband." They pushed on for the THESEUS. When +they came alongside he peremptorily refused all assistance in getting on +board, so impatient was he that the boat should return, in hopes that +it might save a few more from the FOX. He desired to have only a single +rope thrown over the side, which he twisted round his left hand, saying +"Let me alone; I have yet my legs left and one arm. Tell the surgeon to +make haste and get his instruments. I know I must lose my right arm, +so the sooner it is off the better." The spirit which he displayed in +jumping up the ship's side astonished everybody. + +Freemantle had been severely wounded in the right arm soon after the +admiral. He was fortunate enough to find a boat on the beach, and got +instantly to his ship. Thompson was wounded: Bowen killed, to the +great regret of Nelson: as was also one of his own officers, Lieutenant +Weatherhead, who had followed him from the AGAMEMNON, and whom he +greatly and deservedly esteemed. Troubridge, meantime, fortunately for +his party, missed the mole in the darkness, but pushed on shore under +the batteries, close to the south end of the citadel. Captain Waller, of +the EMERALD, and two or three other boats, landed at the same time. The +surf was so high that many others put back. The boats were instantly +filled with water and stove against the rocks; and most of the +ammunition in the men's pouches was wetted. Having collected a few men +they pushed on to the great square, hoping there to find the admiral +and the rest of the force. The ladders were all lost, so that they could +make no immediate attempt on the citadel; but they sent a sergeant with +two of the town's-people to summon it: this messenger never returned; +and Troubridge having waited about an hour in painful expectation of +his friends, marched to join Captains Hood and Miller, who had effected +their landing to the south-west. They then endeavoured to procure some +intelligence of the admiral and the rest of the officers, but without +success. By daybreak they had gathered together about eighty marines, +eighty pikemen, and one hundred and eighty small-arm seamen; all the +survivors of those who had made good their landing. They obtained some +ammunition from the prisoners whom they had taken, and marched on to try +what could be done at the citadel without ladders. They found all the +streets commanded by field-pieces, and several thousand Spaniards, with +about a hundred French, under arms, approaching by every avenue. Finding +himself without provisions, the powder wet, and no possibility of +obtaining either stores or reinforcements from the ships, the boats +being lost, Troubridge with great presence of mind, sent Captain Samuel +Hood with a flag of truce to the governor to say he was prepared to burn +the town, and would instantly set fire to it if the Spaniards approached +one inch nearer. This, however, if he were compelled to do it, he should +do with regret, for he had no wish to injure the inhabitants; and he +was ready to treat upon these terms--that the British troops should +reembark, with all their arms of every kind, and take their own boats, +if they were saved, or be provided with such others as might be wanting; +they, on their part, engaging that the squadron should not molest the +town, or any of the Canary Islands: all prisoners on both sides to be +given up. When these terms were proposed the governor made answer, that +the English ought to surrender as prisoners of war; but Captain Hood +replied, he was instructed to say, that if the terms were not accepted +in five minutes, Captain Troubridge would set the town on fire and +attack the Spaniards at the point of the bayonet. Satisfied with his +success, which was indeed sufficiently complete, and respecting, like +a brave and honourable man, the gallantry of his enemy, the Spaniard +acceded to the proposal, found boats to re-embark them, their own having +all been dashed to pieces in landing, and before they parted gave every +man a loaf and a pint of wine. + +"And here," says Nelson in his journal, "it is right we should notice +the noble and generous conduct of Don Juan Antonio Gutierrez, the +Spanish governor. The moment the terms were agreed to, he directed our +wounded men to be received into the hospitals, and all our people to be +supplied with the best provisions that could be procured; and made +it known that the ships were at liberty to send on shore and purchase +whatever refreshments they were in want of during the time they might +be off the island." A youth, by name Don Bernardo Collagon, stripped +himself of his shirt to make bandages for one of those Englishmen +against whom, not an hour before, he had been engaged in battle. Nelson +wrote to thank the governor for the humanity which he had displayed. +Presents were interchanged between them. Sir Horatio offered to take +charge of his despatches for the Spanish Government, and thus actually +became the first messenger to Spain of his own defeat. + +The total loss of the English in killed, wounded, and drowned, amounted +to 250. Nelson made no mention of his own wound in his official +despatches; but in a private letter to Lord St. Vincent--the first +which he wrote with his left hand--he shows himself to have been deeply +affected by the failure of this enterprise. "I am become," he said, "a +burthen to my friends, and useless to my country; but by my last letter +you will perceive my anxiety for the promotion of my son-in-law, Josiah +Nisbet. When I leave your command I become dead to the world--'I go +hence, and am no more seen.' If from poor Bowen's loss, you think it +proper to oblige me, I rest confident you will do it. The boy is under +obligations to me, but he repaid me by bringing me from the mole of +Santa Cruz. I hope you will be able to give me a frigate to convey the +remains of my carcass to England." "A left-handed admiral," he said in a +subsequent letter, "will never again be considered as useful; therefore +the sooner I get to a very humble cottage the better, and make room for +a sounder man to serve the state." His first letter to Lady Nelson was +written under the same opinion, but in a more cheerful strain. "It was +the chance of war," said he, "and I have great reason to be thankful: +and I know it will add much to your pleasure to find that Josiah, under +God's providence, was principally instrumental in saving my life. I +shall not be surprised if I am neglected and forgotten: probably I +shall no longer be considered as useful; however, I shall feel rich if +I continue to enjoy your affection. I beg neither you nor my father +will think much of this mishap; my mind has long been made up to such an +event." + +His son-in-law, according to his wish, was immediately promoted; and +honours enough to heal his wounded spirit awaited him in England. +Letters were addressed to him by the first lord of the Admiralty, and +by his steady friend the Duke of Clarence, to congratulate him on his +return, covered as he was with glory. He assured the Duke, in his reply, +that not a scrap of that ardour with which he had hitherto served his +king had been shot away. The freedom of the cities of Bristol and London +were transmitted to him; he was invested with the Order of the Bath, and +received a pension of L1000 a-year. The memorial which, as a matter +of form, he was called upon to present on this occasion, exhibited an +extraordinary catalogue of services performed during the war. It stated +that he had been in four actions with the fleets of the enemy, and +in three actions with boats employed in cutting out of harbour, in +destroying vessels, and in taking three towns. He had served on shore +with the army four months, and commanded the batteries at the sieges +of Basti and Calvi: he had assisted at the capture of seven sail of the +line, six frigates, four corvettes, and eleven privateers: taken and +destroyed near fifty sail of merchant vessels, and actually been engaged +against the enemy upwards of a hundred and twenty times, in which +service he had lost his right eye and right arm, and been severely +wounded and bruised in his body. + +His sufferings from the lost limb were long and painful. A nerve had +been taken up in one of the ligatures at the time of the operation; and +the ligature, according to the practice of the French surgeons, was of +silk instead of waxed thread; this produced a constant irritation and +discharge; and the ends of the ligature being pulled every day, in +hopes of bringing it away, occasioned fresh agony. He had scarcely any +intermission of pain, day or night, for three months after his return to +England. Lady Nelson, at his earnest request, attended the dressing of +his arm, till she had acquired sufficient resolution and skill to dress +it herself. One night, during this state of suffering, after a day of +constant pain, Nelson retired early to bed, in hope of enloying some +respite by means of laudanum. He was at that time lodging in Bond +Street, and the family were soon disturbed by a mob knocking loudly +and violently at the door. The news of Duncan's victory had been made +public, and the house was not illuminated. But when the mob were told +that Admiral Nelson lay there in bed, badly wounded, the foremost of +them made answer: "You shall hear no more from us to-night:" and in +fact, the feeling of respect and sympathy was communicated from one to +another with such effect that, under the confusion of such a night, the +house was not molested again. + +About the end of November, after a night of sound sleep, he found the +arm nearly free from pain. The surgeon was immediately sent for to +examine it; and the ligature came away with the slightest touch. +From that time it began to heal. As soon as he thought his health +established, he sent the following form of thanksgiving to the minister +of St. George's, Hanover Square:--"An officer desires to return thanks +to Almighty God for his perfect recovery from a severe wound, and also +for the many mercies bestowed on him." + +Not having been in England till now, since he lost his eye, he went +to receive a year's pay as smart money; but could not obtain payment, +because he had neglected to bring a certificate from a surgeon that the +sight was actually destroyed. A little irritated that this form should +be insisted upon, because, though the fact was not apparent, he thought +it was sufficiently notorious, he procured a certificate at the same +time for the loss of his arm; saying, they might just as well doubt one +as the other. This put him in good humour with himself, and with the +clerk who had offended him. On his return to the office, the clerk, +finding it was only the annual pay of a captain, observed, he thought it +had been more. "Oh!" replied Nelson, "this is only for an eye. In a few +days I shall come for an arm; and in a little time longer, God knows, +most probably for a leg." Accordingly he soon afterwards went, and with +perfect good humour exhibited the certificate of the loss of his arm. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +1798 + +Nelson rejoins Earl St. Vincent in the VANGUARD--Sails in Pursuit of the +French in Egypt--Returns to Sicily, and sails again to Egypt--Battle of +the Nile. + + +EARLY in the year 1798, Sir Horatio Nelson hoisted his flag in +the VANGUARD, and was ordered to rejoin Earl St. Vincent. Upon his +departure, his father addressed him with that affectionate solemnity by +which all his letters were distinguished. "I trust in the Lord," said +he, "that He will prosper your going out and your coming in. I earnestly +desired once more to see you, and that wish has been heard. If I should +presume to say, I hope to see you again, the question would be readily +asked, How old art thou? VALE! VALE! DOMINE, VALE!" It is said that a +gloomy foreboding hung on the spirits of Lady Nelson at their parting. +This could have arisen only from the dread of losing him by the chance +of war. Any apprehension of losing his affections could hardly have +existed, for all his correspondence to this time shows that he thought +himself happy in his marriage; and his private character had hitherto +been as spotless as his public conduct. One of the last things he said +to her was, that his own ambition was satisfied, but that he went to +raise her to that rank in which he had long wished to see her. + +Immediately on his rejoining the fleet, he was despatched to the +Mediterranean with a small squadron, in order to ascertain, if possible, +the object of the great expedition which at that time was fitting out +under Buonaparte at Toulon. The defeat of this armament, whatever might +be its destination, was deemed by the British government an object +paramount to every other; and Earl St. Vincent was directed, if he +thought it necessary, to take his whole force into the Mediterranean, +to relinquish, for that purpose, the blockade of the Spanish fleet, as a +thing of inferior moment; but if he should deem a detachment sufficient, +"I think it almost necessary," said the first lord of the Admiralty in +his secret instructions, "to suggest to you the propriety of putting it +under Sir Horatio Nelson." It is to the honour of Earl St. Vincent that +he had already made the same choice. This appointment to a service in +which so much honour might be acquired, gave great offence to the senior +admirals of the fleet. Sir William Parker, who was a very excellent +naval officer, and as gallant a man as any in the navy, and Sir John +Orde, who on all occasions of service had acquitted himself with +great honour, each wrote to Lord Spencer, complaining that so marked a +preference should have been given to a junior of the same fleet. This +resentment is what most men in a like case would feel; and if the +preference thus given to Nelson had not originated in a clear perception +that (as his friend Collingwood said of him a little while before) his +spirit was equal to all undertakings, and his resources fitted to all +occasions, an injustice would have been done to them by his appointment. +But if the service were conducted with undeviating respect to seniority, +the naval and military character would soon be brought down to the dead +level of mediocrity. + +The armament at Toulon consisted of thirteen ships of the line, seven +forty-gun frigates, with twenty-four smaller vessels of war, and nearly +200 transports. Mr. Udney, our consul at Leghorn, was the first person +who procured certain intelligence of the enemy's design against Malta; +and, from his own sagacity, foresaw that Egypt must be their after +object. Nelson sailed from Gibraltar on the 9th of May, with the +VANGUARD, ORION, and ALEXANDER, seventy-fours; the CAROLINE, FLORA, +EMERALD, and TERPSICHORE, frigates; and the BONNE CITOYENNE, sloop of +war, to watch this formidable armament. On the 19th, when they were in +the Gulf of Lyons, a gale came on from the N.W. It moderated so much +on the 20th as to enable them to get their top-gallant masts and yards +aloft. After dark it again began to blow strong, but the ships had been +prepared for a gale, and therefore Nelson's mind was easy. Shortly +after midnight, however, his main-topmast went over the side, and the +mizentopmast soon afterward. The night was so tempestuous that it +was impossible for any signal either to be seen or heard; and Nelson +determined, as soon as it should be daybreak, to wear, and scud before +the gale; but at half-past three the fore-mast went in three pieces, and +the bowsprit was found to be sprung in three places. + +When day broke they succeeded in wearing the ship with a remnant of the +spritsail. This was hardly to have been expected. The VANGUARD was at +that time twenty-five leagues south of the island of Hieres; with her +head lying to the N.E., and if she had not wore, the ship must have +drifted to Corsica. Captain Ball, in the ALEXANDER, took her in tow, to +carry her into the Sardinian harbour of St. Pietro. Nelson, apprehensive +that this attempt might endanger both vessels, ordered him to cast off; +but that excellent officer, with a spirit like his commanders, replied, +he was confident he could save the VANGUARD, and, by God's help, he +would do it. There had been a previous coolness between these great men; +but from this time Nelson became fully sensible of the extraordinary +talents of Captain Ball, and a sincere friendship subsisted between them +during the remainder of their lives. "I ought not," said the admiral, +writing to his wife--"I ought not to call what has happened to the +VANGUARD by the cold name of accident: I believe firmly it was the +Almighty's goodness, to check my consummate vanity. I hope it has made +me a better officer, as I feel confident it has made me a better man. +Figure to yourself, on Sunday evening at sunset, a vain man walking in +his cabin, with a squadron around him, who looked up to their chief to +lead them to glory, and in whom their chief placed the firmest reliance +that the proudest ships of equal numbers belonging to France would have +lowered their flags; figure to yourself, on Monday morning, when the +sun rose, this proud man, his ship dismasted, his fleet dispersed, and +himself in such distress that the meanest frigate out of France would +have been an unwelcome guest." Nelson had, indeed, more reason to refuse +the cold name of accident to this tempest than he was then aware of, +for on that very day the French fleet sailed from Toulon, and must +have passed within a few leagues of his little squadron, which was thus +preserved by the thick weather that came on. + +The British Government at this time, with a becoming spirit, gave orders +that any port in the Mediterranean should be considered as hostile where +the governor or chief magistrate should refuse to let our ships of +war procure supplies of provisions, or of any article which they might +require. + +In these orders the ports of Sardinia were excepted. The continental +possessions of the King of Sardinia were at this time completely at the +mercy of the French, and that prince was now discovering, when too late, +that the terms to which he had consented, for the purpose of escaping +immediate danger, necessarily involved the loss of the dominions which +they were intended to preserve. The citadel of Turin was now occupied by +French troops; and his wretched court feared to afford the common rights +of humanity to British ships, lest it should give the French occasion +to seize on the remainder of his dominions--a measure for which it was +certain they would soon make a pretext, if they did not find one. Nelson +was informed that he could not be permitted to enter the port of St +Pietro. Regardless of this interdict, which, under his circumstances, it +would have been an act of suicidal folly to have regarded, he anchored +in the harbour; and, by the exertions of Sir James Saumarez, Captain +Ball, and Captain Berry, the VANGUARD was refitted in four days; months +would have been employed in refitting her in England. Nelson, with that +proper sense of merit, wherever it was found, which proved at once the +goodness and the greatness of his character, especially recommended to +Earl St. Vincent the carpenter of the ALEXANDER, under whose directions +the ship had been repaired; stating, that he was an old and faithful +servant of the Crown, who had been nearly thirty years a warrant +carpenter, and begging most earnestly that the Commander-in-Chief would +recommend him to the particular notice of the Board of Admiralty. He +did not leave the harbour without expressing his sense of the treatment +which he had received there, in a letter to the Viceroy of Sardinia. +"Sir," it said, "having, by a gale of wind, sustained some trifling +damages, I anchored a small part of his Majesty's fleet under my orders +off this island, and was surprised to hear, by an officer sent by the +governor, that admittance was to be refused to the flag of his Britannic +Majesty into this port. When I reflect, that my most gracious sovereign +is the oldest, I believe, and certainly the most faithful ally which the +King of Sardinia ever had, I could feel the sorrow which it must have +been to his majesty to have given such an order; and also for your +excellency, who had to direct its execution. I cannot but look at the +African shore, where the followers of Mahomet are performing the part of +the good Samaritan, which I look for in vain at St. Peter's, where it is +said the Christian religion is professed." + +The delay which was thus occasioned was useful to him in many respects; +it enabled him to complete his supply of water, and to receive a +reinforcement which Earl St. Vincent, being himself reinforced from +England, was enabled to send him. It consisted of the best ships of +his fleet; the CULLODEN, seventy-four, Captain T. Troubridge; GOLIATH, +seventy-four, Captain T. Foley; MINOTAUR, seventy-four, Captain T. Louis; +DEFENCE, seventy-four, Captain John Peyton; BELLEROPHON, seventy-four, +Captain H.D.E. Darby; MAJESTIC, seventy-four, Captain G. B. Westcott; +ZEALOUS, seventy-four, Captain S. Hood; SWIFTSURE, seventy-four, Captain +B. Hallowell; THESEUS, seventy-four, Captain R. W. Miller; AUDACIOUS, +seventy-four, Captain Davidge Gould. The LEANDER, fifty, Captain T. +E. Thompson, was afterwards added. These ships were made ready for the +service as soon as Earl St. Vincent received advice from England that +he was to be reinforced. As soon as the reinforcement was seen from the +mast-head of the admiral's ship, off Cadiz Bay, signal was immediately +made to Captain Troubridge to put to sea; and he was out of sight before +the ships from home cast anchor in the British station. Troubridge took +with him no instructions to Nelson as to the course he was to steer, nor +any certain account of the enemy's destination; everything was left to +his own judgment. Unfortunately, the frigates had been separated from +him in the tempest and had not been able to rejoin: they sought him +unsuccessfully in the Bay of Naples, where they obtained no tidings of +his course: and he sailed without them. + +The first news of the enemy's armament was that it had surprised Malta, +Nelson formed a plan for attacking it while at anchor at Gozo; but on +the 22nd of June intelligence reached him that the French had left that +island on the 16th, the day after their arrival. It was clear that +their destination was eastward--he thought for Egypt--and for Egypt, +therefore, he made all sail. Had the frigates been with him, he could +scarcely have failed to gain information of the enemy; for want of them, +he only spoke three vessels on the way: two came from Alexandria, one +from the Archipelago, and neither of them had seen anything of the +French. He arrived off Alexandria on the 28th, and the enemy were not +there, neither was there any account of them; but the governor was +endeavouring to put the city in a state of defence, having received +advice from Leghorn that the French expedition was intended against +Egypt, after it had taken Malta. Nelson then shaped his course to the +northward for Caramania, and steered from thence along the southern side +of Candia, carrying a press of sail both night and day, with a contrary +wind. It would have been his delight, he said, to have tried Bonaparte +on a wind. It would have been the delight of Europe, too, and the +blessing of the world, if that fleet had been overtaken with its general +on board. But of the myriads and millions of human beings who would +have been preserved by that day's victory, there is not one to whom such +essential benefit would have resulted as to Bonaparte himself. It would +have spared him his defeat at Acre--his only disgrace; for to have been +defeated by Nelson upon the seas would not have been disgraceful; it +would have spared him all his after enormities. Hitherto his career had +been glorious; the baneful principles of his heart had never yet passed +his lips; history would have represented him as a soldier of fortune, +who had faithfully served the cause in which he engaged; and whose +career had been distinguished by a series of successes unexampled in +modern times. A romantic obscurity would have hung over the expedition +to Egypt, and he would have escaped the perpetration of those crimes +which have incarnadined his soul with a deeper dye than that of the +purple for which he committed them--those acts of perfidy, midnight +murder, usurpation, and remorseless tyranny, which have consigned his +name to universal execration, now and for ever. + +Conceiving that when an officer is not successful in his plans it is +absolutely necessary that he should explain the motives upon which they +were founded, Nelson wrote at this time an account and vindication of +his conduct for having carried the fleet to Egypt. The objection which +he anticipated was that he ought not to have made so long a voyage +without more certain information. "My answer," said he, "is ready. Who +was I to get it from? The governments of Naples and Sicily either knew +not, or chose to keep me in ignorance. Was I to wait patiently until I +heard certain accounts? If Egypt were their object, before I could hear +of them they would have been in India. To do nothing was disgraceful; +therefore I made use of my understanding. I am before your lordships' +judgment; and if, under all circumstances, it is decided that I am +wrong, I ought, for the sake of our country, to be superseded; for at +this moment, when I know the French are not in Alexandria, I hold the +same opinion as off Cape Passaro--that, under all circumstances, I was +right in steering for Alexandria; and by that opinion I must stand or +fall." Captain Ball, to whom he showed this paper, told him he should +recommend a friend never to begin a defence of his conduct before he +was accused of error: he might give the fullest reasons for what he had +done, expressed in such terms as would evince that he had acted from the +strongest conviction of being right; and of course he must expect that +the public would view it in the same light. Captain Ball judged rightly +of the public, whose first impulses, though, from want of sufficient +information, they must frequently be erroneous, are generally founded +upon just feelings. But the public are easily misled, and there are +always persons ready to mislead them. Nelson had not yet attained that +fame which compels envy to be silent; and when it was known in England +that he had returned after an unsuccessful pursuit, it was said that +he deserved impeachment; and Earl St. Vincent was severely censured for +having sent so young an officer upon so important a service. + +Baffled in his pursuit, he returned to Sicily. The Neapolitan ministry +had determined to give his squadron no assistance, being resolved to +do nothing which could possibly endanger their peace with the French +Directory; by means, however, of Lady Hamilton's influence at court, he +procured secret orders to the Sicilian governors; and under those +orders obtained everything which he wanted at Syracuse--a timely supply; +without which, he always said, he could not have recommenced his pursuit +with any hope of success. "It is an old saying," said he in his letter, +"that the devil's children have the devil's luck. I cannot to this +moment learn, beyond vague conjecture, where the French fleet have gone +to; and having gone a round of 600 leagues, at this season of the year, +with an expedition incredible, here I am, as ignorant of the situation +of the enemy as I was twenty-seven days ago. Every moment I have to +regret the frigates having left me; had one-half of them been with me, +I could not have wanted information. Should the French be so strongly +secured in port that I cannot get at them, I shall immediately shift +my flag into some other ship, and send the VANGUARD to Naples to be +refitted; for hardly any person but myself would have continued +on service so long in such a wretched state." Vexed, however, and +disappointed as he was, Nelson, with the true spirit of a hero, was +still full of hope. "Thanks to your exertions," said he, writing to Sir. +William and Lady Hamilton, "we have victualled and watered; and surely +watering at the fountain of Arethusa, we must have victory. We shall +sail with the first breeze; and be assured I will return either crowned +with laurel or covered with cypress." Earl St. Vincent he assured, that +if the French were above water he would find them out: he still held his +opinion that they were bound for Egypt: "but," said he to the First Lord +of the Admiralty, "be they bound to the Antipodes, your lordship may +rely that I will not lose a moment in bringing them to action." + +On the 25th of July he sailed from Syracuse for the Morea. Anxious +beyond measure, and irritated that the enemy should so long have eluded +him, the tediousness of the nights made him impatient; and the officer +of the watch was repeatedly called on to let him know the hour, and +convince him, who measured time by his own eagerness, that it was +not yet daybreak. The squadron made the Gulf of Coron on the 28th. +Troubridge entered the port, and returned with intelligence that the +French fleet had been seen about four weeks before steering to the S.E. +from Candia. Nelson then determined immediately to return to Alexandria; +and the British fleet accordingly, with every sail set, stood once more +for the coast of Egypt. On the 1st of August, about 10 in the morning, +they came in sight of Alexandria: the port had been vacant and solitary +when they saw it last; it was now crowded with ships; and they perceived +with exultation that the tri-coloured flag was flying upon the walls. At +four in the afternoon, Captain Hood, in the ZEALOUS, made the signal +for the enemy's fleet. For many preceding days Nelson had hardly taken +either sleep or food: he now ordered his dinner to be served, while +preparations were making for battle; and when his officers rose from +table, and went to their separate stations, he said to them, "Before +this time to-morrow I shall have gained a peerage or Westminster Abbey." + +The French, steering direct for Candia, had made an angular passage for +Alexandria; whereas Nelson, in pursuit of them, made straight for that +place, and thus materially shortened the distance. The comparative +smallness of his force made it necessary to sail in close order, and it +covered a less space than it would have done if the frigates had been +with him: the weather also was constantly hazy. These circumstances +prevented the English from discovering the enemy on the way to Egypt, +though it appeared, upon examining the journals of the French officers +taken in the action, that the two fleets must actually have crossed +on the night of the 22nd of June. During the return to Syracuse, the +chances of falling in with them were become fewer. + +Why Buonaparte, having effected his landing, should not have suffered +the fleet to return, has never yet been explained. This much is certain, +that it was detained by his command, though, with his accustomed +falsehood, he accused Admiral Brueys, after that officer's death, +of having lingered on the coast contrary to orders. The French fleet +arrived at Alexandria on the 1st of July, and Brueys, not being able to +enter the port, which time and neglect had ruined, moored his ships +in Aboukir Bay, in a strong and compact line of battle; the headmost +vessel, according to his own account, being as close as possible to a +shoal on the N.W., and the rest of the fleet forming a kind of curve +along the line of deep water, so as not to be turned by any means in the +S.W. By Buonaparte's desire he had offered a reward of 10,000 livres to +any pilot of the country who would carry the squadron in, but none could +be found who would venture to take charge of a single vessel drawing +more than twenty feet. He had therefore made the best of his situation, +and chosen the strongest position which he could possibly take in an +open road. The commissary of the fleet said they were moored in such a +manner as to bid defiance to a force more than double their own. This +presumption could not then be thought unreasonable. Admiral Barrington, +when moored in a similar manner off St. Lucia, in the year 1778, beat +off the Comte d'Estaign in three several attacks, though his force +was inferior by almost one-third to that which assailed it. Here, the +advantage in numbers, both in ships, guns, and men, was in favour of the +French. They had thirteen ships of the line and four frigates, carrying +1196 guns and 11,230 men. The English had the same number of ships of +the line and one fifty-gun ship, carrying 1012 guns and 8068 men. The +English ships were all seventy-fours; the French had three eighty-gun +ships, and one three-decker of one hundred and twenty. + +During the whole pursuit it had been Nelson's practice, whenever +circumstances would permit, to have his captains on board the VANGUARD, +and explain to them his own ideas of the different and best modes of +attack, and such plans as he proposed to execute on falling in with the +enemy, whatever their situation might be. There is no possible position, +it is said, which he did not take into calculation. His officers were +thus fully acquainted with his principles of tactics; and such was his +confidence in their abilities that the only thing determined upon, in +case they should find the French at anchor, was for the ships to form +as most convenient for their mutual support, and to anchor by the stern. +"First gain the victory," he said, "and then make the best use of it you +can." The moment he perceived the position of the French, that intuitive +genius with which Nelson was endowed displayed itself; and it instantly +struck him that where there was room for an enemy's ship to swing, +there was room for one of ours to anchor. The plan which he intended to +pursue, therefore, was to keep entirely on the outer side of the French +line, and station his ships, as far as he was able, one on the outer +bow, and another on the outer quarter, of each of the enemy's. This plan +of doubling on the enemy's ships was projected by Lord Hood, when he +designed to attack the French fleet at their anchorage in Gourjean Road. +Lord Hood found it impossible to make the attempt; but the thought +was not lost upon Nelson, who acknowledged himself, on this occasion, +indebted for it to his old and excellent commander. Captain Berry, when +he comprehended the scope of the design, exclaimed with transport, "If +we succeed, what will the world say?" "There is no IF in the case," +replied the admiral: "that we shall succeed is certain; who may live to +tell the story is a very different question." + +As the squadron advanced, they were assailed by a shower of shot and +shells from the batteries on the island, and the enemy opened a steady +fire from the starboard side of their whole line, within half gunshot +distance, full into the bows of our van ships. It was received in +silence: the men on board every ship were employed aloft in furling +sails, and below in tending the braces and making ready for anchoring. A +miserable sight for the French; who, with all their skill, and all their +courage, and all their advantages of numbers and situation, were upon +that element on which, when the hour of trial comes, a Frenchman has +no hope. Admiral Brueys was a brave and able man; yet the indelible +character of his country broke out in one of his letters, wherein he +delivered it as his private opinion, that the English had missed him, +because, not being superior in force, they did not think it prudent to +try their strength with him. The moment was now come in which he was to +be undeceived. + +A French brig was instructed to decoy the English by manoeuvring so as +to tempt them toward a shoal lying off the island of Bekier; but Nelson +either knew the danger or suspected some deceit; and the lure was +unsuccessful. Captain Foley led the way in the GOLIATH, outsailing the +ZEALOUS, which for some minutes disputed this post of honour with him. +He had long conceived that if the enemy were moored in line of battle in +with the land, the best plan of attack would be to lead between them and +the shore, because the French guns on that side were not likely to be +manned, nor even ready for action. Intending, therefore, to fix himself +on the inner bow of the GUERRIER, he kept as near the edge of the bank +as the depth of water would admit; but his anchor hung, and having +opened his fire he drifted to the second ship, the CONQUERANT, before it +was clear; then anchored by the stern inside of her, and in ten minutes +shot away her mast. Hood, in the ZEALOUS, perceiving this, took the +station which the GOLIATH intended to have occupied, and totally +disabled the GUERRIER in twelve minutes. The third ship which doubled +the enemy's van was the ORION, Sir J. Saumarez; she passed to windward +of the ZEALOUS, and opened her larboard guns as long as they bore on +GUERRIER; then, passing inside the GOLIATH, sunk a frigate which annoyed +her, hauled round toward the French line, and anchoring inside, between +the fifth and sixth ships from the GUERRIER, took her station on the +larboard bow of the FRANKLIN and the quarter of the PEUPLE SOUVERAIN, +receiving and returning the fire of both. The sun was now nearly down. +The AUDACIOUS, Captain Could, pouring a heavy fire into the GUERRIER +and the CONQUERANT, fixed herself on the larboard bow of the latter, and +when that ship struck, passed on to the PEUPLE SOUVERAIN. The THESEUS, +Capt Miller, followed, brought down the GUERRIER's remaining main and +mizzen masts, then anchored inside of the SPARTIATE, the third in the +French line. + +While these advanced ships doubled the French line, the VANGUARD was +the first that anchored on the outer side of the enemy, within half +pistol-shot of their third ship, the SPARTIATE. Nelson had six colours +flying in different parts of his rigging, lest they should be shot +away; that they should be struck, no British admiral considers as a +possibility. He veered half a cable, and instantly opened a tremendous +fire; under cover of which the other four ships of his division, the +MINOTAUR, BELLEROPHON, DEFENCE, and MAJESTIC, sailed on ahead of the +admiral. In a few minutes, every man stationed at the first six guns in +the fore part of the VANGUARD's deck was killed or wounded. These guns +were three times cleared. Captain Louis, in the MINOTAUR, anchored just +ahead, and took off the fire of the AQUILON, the fourth in the enemy's +line. The BELLEROPHON, Captain Darby, passed ahead, and dropped her +stern anchor on the starboard bow of the ORIENT, seventh in the line, +Brueys' own ship, of one hundred and twenty guns, whose difference of +force was in proportion of more than seven to three, and whose weight of +ball, from the lower deck alone, exceeded that from the whole broadside +of the BELLEROPHON. Captain Peyton, in the DEFENCE, took his station +ahead of the MINOTAUR, and engaged the FRANKLIN, the sixth in the line, +by which judicious movement the British line remained unbroken. The +MAJESTIC, Captain Westcott, got entangled with the main rigging of one +of the French ships astern of the ORIENT, and suffered dreadfully from +that three-decker's fire; but she swung clear, and closely engaging the +HEUREUX, the ninth ship on the starboard bow, received also the fire of +the TONNANT, which was the eighth in the line. The other four ships of +the British squadron, having been detached previous to the discovery of +the French, were at a considerable distance when the action began. It +commenced at half after six; about seven night closed, and there was no +other light than that from the fire of the contending fleets. + +Troubridge, in the CULLODEN, then foremost of the remaining ships, was +two leagues astern. He came on sounding, as the others had done: as +he advanced, the increasing darkness increased the difficulty of the +navigation; and suddenly, after having found eleven fathoms water, +before the lead could be hove again he was fast aground; nor could all +his own exertions, joined with those of the LEANDER and the MUTINE brig, +which came to his assistance, get him off in time to bear a part in +the action. His ship, however, served as a beacon to the ALEXANDER and +SWIFTSURE, which would else, from the course which they were holding, +have gone considerably further on the reef, and must inevitably have +been lost. These ships entered the bay, and took their stations in +the darkness, in a manner still spoken of with admiration by all who +remember it. Captain Hallowell, in the SWIFTSURE, as he was bearing +down, fell in with what seemed to be a strange sail. Nelson had directed +his ships to hoist four lights horizontally at the mizzen peak as soon +as it became dark; and this vessel had no such distinction. Hallowell, +however, with great judgment, ordered his men not to fire: if she was an +enemy, he said, she was in too disabled a state to escape; but from her +sails being loose, and the way in which her head was, it was probable +she might be an English ship. It was the BELLEROPHON, overpowered by the +huge ORIENT: her lights had gone overboard, nearly 200 of her crew were +killed or wounded, all her masts and cables had been shot away; and she +was drifting out of the line toward the leeside of the bay. Her station, +at this important time, was occupied by the SWIFTSURE, which opened a +steady fire on the quarter of the FRANKLIN and the bows of the French +admiral. At the same instant, Captain Ball, with the ALEXANDER, passed +under his stern, and anchored within-side on his larboard quarter, +raking; him, and keeping up a severe fire of musketry upon his decks. +The last ship which arrived to complete the destruction of the enemy was +the LEANDER. Captain Thompson, finding that nothing could be done that +night to get off the CULLODEN, advanced with the intention of anchoring +athwart-hawse of the ORIENT. The FRANKLIN was so near her ahead that +there was not room for him to pass clear of the two; he therefore took +his station athwart-hawse of the latter in such a position as to rake +both. + +The two first ships of the French line had been dismasted within a +quarter of an hour after the commencement of the action; and the others +had in that time suffered so severely that victory was already certain. +The third, fourth, and fifth were taken possession of at half-past +eight. + +Meantime Nelson received a severe wound on the head from a piece of +langridge shot. Captain Berry caught him in his arms as he was falling. +The great effusion of blood occasioned an apprehension that the wound +was mortal: Nelson himself thought so; a large flap of the skin of the +forehead, cut from the bone, had fallen over one eye; and the other +being blind, he was in total darkness. When he was carried down, the +surgeon--in the midst of a scene scarcely to be conceived by those who +have never seen a cockpit in time of action, and the heroism which is +displayed amid its horrors,--with a natural and pardonable eagerness, +quitted the poor fellow then under his hands, that he might instantly +attend the admiral. "No!" said Nelson, "I will take my turn with my +brave fellows." Nor would he suffer his own wound to be examined till +every man who had been previously wounded was properly attended to. +Fully believing that the wound was mortal, and that he was about to +die, as he had ever desired, in battle, and in victory, he called the +chaplain, and desired him to deliver what he supposed to be his dying +remembrance to lady Nelson; he then sent for Captain Louis on board +from the MINOTAUR, that he might thank him personally for the great +assistance which he had rendered to the VANGUARD; and ever mindful of +those who deserved to be his friends, appointed Captain Hardy from the +brig to the command of his own ship, Captain Berry having to go home +with the news of the victory. When the surgeon came in due time to +examine his wound (for it was in vain to entreat him to let it be +examined sooner), the most anxious silence prevailed; and the joy of the +wounded men, and of the whole crew, when they heard that the hurt was +merely superficial, gave Nelson deeper pleasure than the unexpected +assurance that his life was in no danger. The surgeon requested, and as +far as he could, ordered him to remain quiet; but Nelson could not rest. +He called for his secretary, Mr. Campbell, to write the despatches. +Campbell had himself been wounded, and was so affected at the blind and +suffering state of the admiral that he was unable to write. The chaplain +was then sent for; but before he came, Nelson with his characteristic +eagerness took the pen, and contrived to trace a few words, marking his +devout sense of the success which had already been obtained. He was now +left alone; when suddenly a cry was heard on the deck that the ORIENT +was on fire. In the confusion he found his way up, unassisted and +unnoticed; and, to the astonishment of every one, appeared on the +quarter-decks where he immediately gave order that the boats should be +sent to the relief of the enemy. + +It was soon after nine that the fire on, board the ORIENT broke out. +Brueys was dead; he had received three wounds, yet would not leave +his post: a fourth cut him almost in two. He desired not to be carried +below, but to be left to die upon deck. The flames soon mastered his +ship. Her sides had just been painted; and the oil-jars and paint +buckets were lying on the poop. By the prodigious light of this +conflagration, the situation of the two fleets could now be perceived, +the colours of both being clearly distinguishable. About ten o'clock the +ship blew up, with a shock which was felt to the very bottom of every +vessel. Many of her officers and men jumped overboard, some clinging +to the spars and pieces of wreck with which the sea was strewn, others +swimming to escape from the destruction which they momently dreaded. +Some were picked up by our boats; and some even in the heat and fury +of the action were dragged into the lower ports of the nearest British +ships by the British sailors. The greater part of her crew, however, +stood the danger till the last, and continued to fire from the lower +deck. This tremendous explosion was followed by a silence not less +awful: the firing immediately ceased on both sides; and the first sound +which broke the silence, was the dash of her shattered masts and yards, +falling into the water from the vast height to which they had been +exploded. It is upon record that a battle between two armies was once +broken off by an earthquake. Such an event would be felt like a miracle; +but no incident in war, produced by human means, has ever equalled the +sublimity of this co-instantaneous pause, and all its circumstances. + +About seventy of the ORIENT's crew were saved by the English boats. +Among the many hundreds who perished were the commodore, Casa-Bianca, +and his son, a brave boy, only ten years old. They were seen floating +on a shattered mast when the ship blew up. She had money on board (the +plunder of Malta) to the amount of L600,000 sterling. The masses of +burning wreck, which were scattered by the explosion, excited for some +moments apprehensions in the English which they had never felt from any +other danger. Two large pieces fell into the main and fore tops of the +SWIFTSURE without injuring any person. A port-fire also fell into the +main-royal of the ALEXANDER; the fire which it occasioned was speedily +extinguished. Captain Ball had provided, as far as human foresight could +provide, against any such danger. All the shrouds and sails of his ship, +not absolutely necessary for its immediate management, were thoroughly +wetted, and so rolled up that they were as hard and as little +inflammable as so many solid cylinders. + +The firing recommenced with the ships to leeward of the centre, and +continued till about three. At daybreak, the GUILLAUME TELL and the +GENEREUX, the two rear ships of the enemy, were the only French ships +of the line which had their colours flying; they cut their cables in +the forenoon, not having been engaged, and stood out to sea, and two +frigates with them. The ZEALOUS pursued; but as there was no other +ship in a condition to support Captain Hood, he was recalled. It was +generally believed by the officers that if Nelson had not been wounded, +not one of these ships could have escaped. The four certainly could not +if the CULLODEN had got into action; and if the frigates belonging to +the squadron had been present, not one of the enemy's fleet would have +left Aboukir Bay. These four vessels, however, were all that escaped; +and the victory was the most complete and glorious in the annals of +naval history. "Victory," said Nelson, "is not a name strong enough for +such a scene:" he called it a conquest. Of thirteen sail of the line, +nine were taken and two burned. Of the four frigates, one was sunk, +another, the ARTEMISE, was burned in a villanous manner by her captain, +M. Estandlet, who, having fired a broadside at the THESEUS, struck his +colours, then set fire to the ship and escaped with most of his crew to +shore. The British loss, in killed and wounded, amounted to 895 Westcott +was the only captain who fell; 3105 of the French, including the +wounded, were sent on shore by cartel, and 5225 perished. + +As soon as the conquest was completed, Nelson sent orders through the +fleet to return thanksgiving in every ship for the victory with which +Almighty God had blessed his majesty's arms. The French at Rosetta, who +with miserable fear beheld the engagement, were at a loss to understand +the stillness of the fleet during the performance of this solemn duty; +but it seemed to affect many of the prisoners, officers as well as men; +and graceless and godless as the officers were, some of them remarked +that it was no wonder such order was Preserved in the British navy, when +the minds of our men could be Impressed with such sentiments after +so great a victory, and at a moment of such confusion. The French +at Rosetta, seeing their four ships sail out of the bay unmolested, +endeavoured to persuade themselves that they were in possession of the +place of battle. But it was in vain thus to attempt, against their own +secret and certain conviction, to deceive themselves; and even if they +could have succeeded in this, the bonfires which the Arabs kindled along +the whole coast, and over the country, for the three following nights, +would soon have undeceived them. Thousands of Arabs and Egyptians lined +the shore, and covered the house tops during the action, rejoicing +in the destruction which had overtaken their invaders. Long after the +battle, innumerable bodies were seen floating about the bay, in spite +of all the exertions which were made to sink them, as well from fear of +pestilence as from the loathing and horror which the sight occasioned. +Great numbers were cast up upon the Isle of Bekier (Nelson's Island, as +it has since been called), and our sailors raised mounds of sand over +them. Even after an interval of nearly three years Dr. Clarke saw them, +and assisted in interring heaps of human bodies, which, having been +thrown up by the sea where there were no jackals to devour them, +presented a sight loathsome to humanity. The shore, for an extent of +four leagues, was covered with wreck; and the Arabs found employment for +many days in burning on the beach the fragments which were cast up, for +the sake of the iron. Part of the ORIENT's main-mast was picked up by +the SWIFTSURE. Captain Hallowell ordered his carpenter to make a coffin +of it; the iron, as well as the wood, was taken from the wreck of the +same ship; it was finished as well and handsomely as the workman's skill +and materials would permit; and Hallowell then sent it to the admiral +with the following letter:--"Sir, I have taken the liberty of presenting +you a coffin made from the main mast of L'ORIENT, that when you have +finished your military career in this world you may be buried in one of +your trophies. But that that period may be far distant is the earnest +wish of your sincere friend, Benjamin Hallowell."--An offering so +strange, and yet so suited to the occasion, was received by Nelson in +the spirit with which it was sent. As if he felt it good for him, now +that he was at the summit of his wishes, to have death before his eyes, +he ordered the coffin to be placed upright in his cabin. Such a piece of +furniture, however, was more suitable to his own feelings than to those +of his guests and attendants; and an old favourite servant entreated him +so earnestly to let it be removed, that at length he consented to have +the coffin carried below; but he gave strict orders that it should be +safely stowed, and reserved for the purpose for which its brave and +worthy donor had designed it. + +The victory was complete; but Nelson could not pursue it as he would +have done for want of means. Had he been provided with small craft, +nothing could have prevented the destruction of the store-ships and +transports in the port of Alexandria: four bomb-vessels would at that +time have burned the whole in a few hours. "Were I to die this moment." +said he in his despatches to the Admiralty, "WANT OF FRIGATES would +be found stamped on my heart! No words of mine can express what I have +suffered, and am suffering, for want of them." He had also to bear up +against great bodily suffering: the blow had so shaken his head, that +from its constant and violent aching, and the perpetual sickness which +accompanied the pain, he could scarcely persuade himself that the skull +was not fractured. Had it not been for Troubridge, Ball, Hood, and +Hallowell, he declared that he should have sunk under the fatigue +of refitting the squadron. "All," he said, "had done well; but these +officers were his supporters." But, amidst his sufferings and exertions, +Nelson could yet think of all the consequences of his victory; and that +no advantage from it might be lost, he despatched an officer overland +to India, with letters to the governor of Bombay, informing him of the +arrival of the French in Egypt, the total destruction of their fleet, +and the consequent preservation of India from any attempt against it on +the part of this formidable armament. "He knew that Bombay," he said, +"was their first object, if they could get there; but he trusted that +Almighty God would overthrow in Egypt these pests of the human race. +Buonaparte had never yet had to contend with an English officer, and he +would endeavour to make him respect us." This despatch he sent upon his +own responsibility, with letters of credit upon the East India Company, +addressed to the British consuls, vice-consuls, and merchants on his +route; Nelson saying, "that if he had done wrong, he hoped the bills +would be paid, and he would repay the Company; for, as an Englishman, he +should be proud that it had been in his power to put our settlements on +their guard." The information which by this means reached India was +of great importance. Orders had just been received for defensive +preparations, upon a scale proportionate to the apprehended danger; and +the extraordinary expenses which would otherwise have been incurred were +thus prevented. + +Nelson was now at the summit of glory; congratulations, rewards, and +honours were showered upon him by all the states, and princes, and +powers to whom his victory gave a respite. The first communication of +this nature which he received was from the Turkish sultan, who, as soon +as the invasion of Egypt was known, had called upon "all true believers +to take arms against those swinish infidels the French, that they might +deliver these blessed habitations from their accursed hands;" and who +had ordered his "pashas to turn night into day in their efforts to +take vengeance." The present of "his imperial majesty, the powerful, +formidable, and most magnificent Grand Seignior," was a pelisse +of sables, with broad sleeves, valued at 5000 dols.; and a diamond +aigrette, valued at 18,000 dols., the most honourable badge among the +Turks; and in this instance more especially honourable, because it was +taken from one of the royal turbans. "If it were worth a million," said +Nelson to his wife, "my pleasure would be to see it in your possession." +The sultan also sent, in a spirit worthy of imitation, a purse of 2000 +sequins, to be distributed among the wounded. The mother of the sultan +sent him a box, set with diamonds, valued at L1000. The Czar Paul, in +whom the better part of his strangely compounded nature at this time +predominated, presented him with his portrait, set in diamonds, in a +gold box, accompanied with a letter of congratulation, written by his +own hand. The king of Sardinia also wrote to him, and sent a gold box +set with diamonds. Honours in profusion were awaiting him at Naples. In +his own country the king granted these honourable augmentations to his +armorial ensign: a chief undulated, ARGENT: thereon waves of the sea; +from which a palm tree issuant, between a disabled ship on the dexter, +and a ruinous battery on the sinister all proper; and for his crest, on +a naval crown, OR, the chelengk, or plume, presented to him by the Turk, +with the motto, PALMAM QUI MERUIT FERAT. And to his supporters, being +a sailor on the dexter, and a lion on the sinister, were given these +honourable augmentations: a palm branch in the sailor's hand, and +another in the paw of the lion, both proper; with a tri-coloured flag +and staff in the lion's mouth. He was created Baron Nelson of the Nile, +and of Burnham Thorpe, with a pension of L2000 for his own life, and +those of his two immediate successors. When the grant was moved in the +House of Commons, General Walpole expressed an opinion that a higher +degree of rank ought to be conferred. Mr. Pitt made answer, that he +thought it needless to enter into that question. "Admiral Nelson's +fame," he said, "would be co-equal with the British name; and it would +be remembered that he had obtained the greatest naval victory on record, +when no man would think of asking whether he had been created a baron, +a viscount, or an earl." It was strange that, in the very act of +conferring a title, the minister should have excused himself for not +having conferred a higher one, by representing all titles, on such an +occasion, as nugatory and superfluous. True, indeed, whatever title had +been bestowed, whether viscount, earl, marquis, duke, or prince, if our +laws had so permitted, he who received it would have been Nelson still. +That name he had ennobled beyond all addition of nobility; it was the +name by which England loved him, France feared him, Italy, Egypt, and +Turkey celebrated him, and by which he will continue to be known while +the present kingdoms and languages of the world endure, and as long as +their history after them shall be held in remembrance. It depended upon +the degree of rank what should be the fashion of his coronet, in what +page of the red book his name was to be inserted, and what precedency +should be allowed his lady in the drawing-room and at the ball. That +Nelson's honours were affected thus far, and no further, might be +conceded to Mr. Pitt and his colleagues in administration; but the +degree of rank which they thought proper to allot was the measure of +their gratitude, though not of his service. This Nelson felt, and this +he expressed, with indignation, among his friends. + +Whatever may have been the motives of the ministry, and whatever the +formalities with which they excused their conduct to themselves, the +importance and magnitude of the victory were universally acknowledged. +A grant of L10,000 was voted to Nelson by the East India Company; the +Turkish Company presented him with a piece of plate; the City of London +presented a sword to him, and to each of his captains; gold medals were +distributed to the captains; and the first lieutenants of all the ships +were promoted, as had been done after Lord Howe's victory. Nelson +was exceedingly anxious that the captain and first lieutenant of the +CULLODEN should not be passed over because of their misfortune. To +Troubridge himself he said, "Let us rejoice that the ship which got +on shore was commanded by an officer whose character is so thoroughly +established." To the Admiralty he stated that Captain Troubridge's +conduct was as fully entitled to praise as that of any one officer in +the squadron, and as highly deserving of reward. "It was Troubridge," +said he, "who equipped the squadron so soon at Syracuse; it was +Troubridge who exerted himself for me after the action; it was +Troubridge who saved the CULLODEN, when none that I know in the service +would have attempted it." The gold medal, therefore, by the king's +express desire, was given to Captain Troubridge, "for his services both +before and since, and for the great and wonderful exertion which he +made at the time of the action in saving and getting off his ship." The +private letter from the Admiralty to Nelson informed him that the +first lieutenants of all the ships ENGAGED were to be promoted. Nelson +instantly wrote to the commander-in-chief: "I sincerely hope," said he, +"this is not intended to exclude the first lieutenant of the CULLODEN. +For heaven's sake--for my sake, if it be so--get it altered. Our dear +friend Troubridge has endured enough. His sufferings were, in every +respect, more than any of us." To the Admiralty he wrote in terms +equally warm. "I hope, and believe, the word ENGAGED is not intended to +exclude the CULLODEN. The merits of that ship, and her gallant Captain, +are too well known to benefit by anything I could say. Her misfortune +was great in getting aground, while her more fortunate companions were +in the full tide of happiness. No: I am confident that my good Lord +Spencer will never add misery to misfortune. Captain Troubridge on shore +is superior to captains afloat: in the midst of his great misfortunes he +made those signals which prevented certainly the ALEXANDER and SWIFTSURE +from running on the shoals. I beg your pardon for writing on a subject +which, I verily believe, has never entered your lordship's head; but my +heart, as it ought to be, is warm to my gallant friends." Thus feelingly +alive was Nelson to the claims, and interests, and feelings of others. +The Admiralty replied, that the exception was necessary, as the ship had +not been in action; but they desired the commander-in-chief to promote +the lieutenant upon the first vacancy which should occur. + +Nelson, in remembrance of an old and uninterrupted friendship, appointed +Alexander Davison sole prize agent for the captured ships: upon which +Davison ordered medals to be struck in gold, for the captains; in +silver, for the lieutenants and warrant officers; in gilt metal for the +petty officers; and in copper for the seamen and marines. The cost of +this act of liberality amounted nearly to L2000. It is worthy of record +on another account;--for some of the gallant men, who received no other +honorary badge of their conduct on that memorable day than this copper +medal from a private individual, years afterwards, when they died upon +a foreign station, made it their last request, that the medals might +carefully be sent home to their respective friends. So sensible are +brave men of honour, in whatever rank they may be placed. + +Three of the frigates, whose presence would have been so essential a few +weeks sooner, joined the squadron on the twelfth day after the +action. The fourth joined a few days after them. Nelson thus received +despatches, which rendered it necessary for him to return to Naples. +Before he left Egypt he burned three of the prizes; they could not have +been fitted for a passage to Gibraltar in less than a month, and that at +a great expense, and with the loss of the services of at least two sail +of the line. "I rest assured," he said to the Admiralty, "that they will +be paid for, and have held out that assurance to the squadron. For if an +admiral, after a victory, is to look after the captured ships, and not +to the distressing of the enemy, very dearly, indeed, must the nation +pay for the prizes. I trust that L60,000 will be deemed a very moderate +sum for them: and when the services, time, and men, with the expense +of fitting the three ships for a voyage to England, are considered, +government will save nearly as much as they are valued at. Paying for +prizes," he continued, "is no new idea of mine, and would often prove an +amazing saving to the state, even without taking into calculation what +the nation loses by the attention of admirals to the property of the +captors; an attention absolutely necessary, as a recompence for the +exertions of the officers and men. An admiral may be amply rewarded +by his own feelings, and by the approbation of his superiors; but what +reward have the inferior officers and men but the value of the prizes? +If an admiral takes that from them, on any consideration, he cannot +expect to be well supported." To Earl St. Vincent he said, "If he could +have been sure that government would have paid a reasonable value for +them, he would have ordered two of the other prizes to be burnt, for +they would cost more in refitting, and by the loss of ships attending +them, than they were worth." + +Having sent the six remaining prizes forward, under Sir James Saumarez, +Nelson left Captain Hood, in the ZEALOUS off Alexandria, with the +SWIFTSURE, GOLIATH, Alcmene, ZEALOUS, and EMERALD, and stood out to sea +himself on the seventeenth day after the battle. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +1798 - 1800 + +Nelson returns to Naples--State of that Court and Kingdom--General +Mack--The French approach Naples--Flight of the Royal Family--Successes +of the Allies in Italy--Transactions in the Bay of Naples--Expulsion of +the French from the Neapolitan and Roman States--Nelson is made Duke of +Bronte--He leaves the Mediterranean and returns to England. + + +NELSON's health had suffered greatly while he was in the AGAMEMNON. "My +complaint," he said, "is as if a girth were buckled taut over my breast, +and my endeavour in the night is to get it loose." After the battle +of Cape St. Vincent he felt a little rest to be so essential to his +recovery, that he declared he would not continue to serve longer than +the ensuing summer, unless it should be absolutely necessary; for in his +own strong language, he had then been four years and nine months without +one moment's repose for body or mind. A few months' intermission of +labour he had obtained--not of rest, for it was purchased with the +loss of a limb; and the greater part of the time had been a season of +constant pain. As soon as his shattered frame had sufficiently recovered +for him to resume his duties, he was called to services of greater +importance than any on which he had hitherto been employed, which +brought with them commensurate fatigue and care. + +The anxiety which he endured during his long pursuit of the enemy, was +rather changed in its direction than abated by their defeat; and this +constant wakefulness of thought, added to the effect of his wound, and +the exertions from which it was not possible for one of so ardent and +wide-reaching a mind to spare himself, nearly proved fatal. On his way +back to Italy he was seized with fever. For eighteen hours his life was +despaired of; and even when the disorder took a favourable turn, and he +was so far recovered as again to appear on deck, he himself thought that +his end was approaching--such was the weakness to which the fever and +cough had reduced him. Writing to Earl St. Vincent on the passage, he +said to him, "I never expect, my dear lord, to see your face again. It +may please God that this will be the finish to that fever of anxiety +which I have endured from the middle of June; but be that as it pleases +his goodness. I am resigned to his will." + +The kindest attentions of the warmest friendship were awaiting him at +Naples. "Come here," said Sir William Hamilton, "for God's sake, my dear +friend, as soon as the service will permit you. A pleasant apartment +is ready for you in my house, and Emma is looking out for the softest +pillows to repose the few wearied limbs you have left." Happy would it +have been for Nelson if warm and careful friendship had been all that +waited him there. He himself saw at that time the character of the +Neapolitan court, as it first struck an Englishman, in its true light; +and when he was on the way, he declared that he detested the voyage to +Naples, and that nothing but necessity could have forced him to it. +But never was any hero, on his return from victory, welcomed with more +heartfelt joy. Before the battle of Aboukir the Court at Naples had +been trembling for its existence. The language which the Directory held +towards it was well described by Sir William Hamilton as being exactly +the language of a highwayman. The Neapolitans were told that Benevento +might be added to their dominions, provided they would pay a large sum, +sufficient to satisfy the Directory; and they were warned, that if the +proposal were refused, or even if there were any delay in accepting it, +the French would revolutionise all Italy. The joy, therefore, of the +Court at Nelson's success was in proportion to the dismay from which +that success relieved them. The queen was a daughter of Maria Theresa, +and sister of Maria Antoinette. Had she been the wisest and gentlest of +her sex, it would not have been possible for her to have regarded the +French without hatred and horror; and the progress of revolutionary +opinions, while it perpetually reminded her of her sister's fate, +excited no unreasonable apprehensions for her own. Her feelings, +naturally ardent, and little accustomed to restraint, were excited to +the highest pitch when the news of the victory arrived. Lady Hamilton, +her constant friend and favourite, who was present, says, "It is not +possible to describe her transports; she wept, she kissed her husband, +her children, walked frantically about the room, burst into tears again, +and again kissed and embraced every person near her; exclaiming, 'O brave +Nelson! O God! bless and protect our brave deliverer! O Nelson! Nelson! +what do we not owe you! O conqueror--saviour of Italy! O that my swollen +heart could now tell him personally what we owe to him!'" She herself +wrote to the Neapolitan ambassador at London upon the occasion, in terms +which show the fulness of her joy, and the height of the hopes which it +had excited. "I wish I could give wings," said she, "to the bearer of +the news, and at the same time to our most sincere gratitude. The whole +of the sea-coast of Italy saved; and this is owing alone to the generous +English. This battle, or, to speak more correctly, this total defeat of +the regicide squadron, was obtained by the valour of this brave admiral, +seconded by a navy which is the terror of its enemies. The victory is +so complete that I can still scarcely believe it; and if it were not the +brave English nation, which is accustomed to perform prodigies by sea, I +could not persuade myself that it had happened. It would have moved you +to have seen all my children, boys and girls, hanging on my neck, and +crying for joy at the happy news. Recommend the hero to his master: +he has filled the whole of Italy with admiration of the English. Great +hopes were entertained of some advantages being gained by his bravery, +but no one could look for so total a destruction. All here are drunk +with joy." + +Such being the feelings of the royal family, it may well be supposed +with what delight, and with what honours Nelson would be welcomed. Early +on the 22nd of September the poor wretched VANGUARD, as he called +his shattered vessel, appeared in sight of Naples. The CULLODEN and +ALEXANDER had preceded her by some days, and given notice of her +approach. Many hundred boats and barges were ready to go forth and +meet him, with music and streamers and every demonstration of joy and +triumph. Sir William and Lady Hamilton led the way in their state barge. +They had seen Nelson only for a few days, four years ago, but they +then perceived in him that heroic spirit which was now so fully and +gloriously manifested to the world. Emma Lady Hamilton, who from this +time so greatly influenced his future life, was a woman whose personal +accomplishments have seldom been equalled, and whose powers of mind were +not less fascinating than her person. She was passionately attached to +the queen; and by her influence the British fleet had obtained those +supplies at Syracuse, without which, Nelson always asserted, the battle +of Aboukir could not have been fought. During the long interval which +passed before any tidings were received, her anxiety had been hardly +less than that of Nelson himself, while pursuing an enemy of whom he +could obtain no information; and when the tidings were brought her by a +joyful bearer, open-mouthed, its effect was such that she fell like one +who had been shot. She and Sir William had literally been made ill by +their hopes and fears, and joy at a catastrophe so far exceeding +all that they had dared to hope for. Their admiration for the hero +necessarily produced a degree of proportionate gratitude and affection; +and when their barge came alongside the VANGUARD, at the sight of +Nelson, Lady Hamilton sprang up the ship's side, and exclaiming, "O God! +is it possible!" fell into his arms more, he says, like one dead than +alive. He described the meeting as "terribly affecting." These friends +had scarcely recovered from their tears, when the king, who went out to +meet him three leagues in the royal barge, came on board and took him +by the hand, calling him his deliverer and preserver. From all the boats +around he was saluted with the same appellations: the multitude who +surrounded him when he landed repeated the same enthusiastic cries; +and the lazzaroni displayed their joy by holding up birds in cages, and +giving them their liberty as he passed. + +His birth-day, which occurred a week after his arrival, was celebrated +with one of the most splendid fetes ever beheld at Naples. But, +notwithstanding the splendour with which he was encircled, and the +flattering honours with which all ranks welcomed him, Nelson was fully +sensible of the depravity, as well as weakness, of those by whom he was +surrounded. "What precious moments," said he, "the courts of Naples and +Vienna are losing! Three months would liberate Italy! but this court is +so enervated that the happy moment will be lost. I am very unwell; and +their miserable conduct is not likely to cool my irritable temper. It is +a country of fiddlers and poets, whores and scoundrels." This sense of +their ruinous weakness he always retained; nor was he ever blind to +the mingled folly and treachery of the Neapolitan ministers, and the +complication in iniquities under which the country groaned; but he +insensibly, under the influence of Lady Hamilton, formed an affection +for the court, to whose misgovernment the miserable condition of the +country was so greatly to be imputed. By the kindness of her nature, +as well as by her attractions, she had won his heart. Earl St. Vincent, +writing to her at this time, says, "Pray do not let your fascinating +Neapolitan dames approach too near our invaluable friend Nelson, for he +is made of flesh and blood, and cannot resist their temptations." But +this was addressed to the very person from whom he was in danger. + +The state of Naples may be described in few words. The king was one of +the Spanish Bourbons. As the Caesars have shown us to what wickedness +the moral nature of princes may be perverted, so in this family, the +degradation to which their intellectual nature can be reduced has been +not less conspicuously evinced. Ferdinand, like the rest of his race, +was passionately fond of field sports, and cared for nothing else. +His queen had all the vices of the house of Austria, with little to +mitigate, and nothing to ennoble them--provided she could have her +pleasures, and the king his sports, they cared not in what manner the +revenue was raised or administered. Of course a system of favouritism +existed at court, and the vilest and most impudent corruption prevailed +in every department of state, and in every branch of administration, +from the highest to the lowest. It is only the institutions of +Christianity, and the vicinity of better-regulated states, which prevent +kingdoms, under such circumstances of misrule, from sinking into a +barbarism like that of Turkey. A sense of better things was kept alive +in some of the Neapolitans by literature, and by their intercourse with +happier countries. These persons naturally looked to France, at the +commencement of the Revolution, and during all the horrors of that +Revolution still cherished a hope that, by the aid of France, they +might be enabled to establish a new order of things in Naples. They were +grievously mistaken in supposing that the principles of liberty would +ever be supported by France, but they were not mistaken in believing +that no government could be worse than their own; and therefore they +considered any change as desirable. In this opinion men of the most +different characters agreed. Many of the nobles, who were not in favour, +wished for a revolution, that they might obtain the ascendancy to which +they thought themselves entitled; men of desperate fortunes desired +it, in the hope of enriching themselves; knaves and intriguers sold +themselves to the French to promote it; and a few enlightened men, and +true lovers of their country, joined in the same cause, from the purest +and noblest motives. All these were confounded under the common name of +Jacobins; and the Jacobins of the continental kingdoms were regarded by +the English with more hatred than they deserved. They were classed with +Phillippe Egalite, Marat, and Hebert; whereas they deserved rather to be +ranked, if not with Locke, and Sydney, and Russell, at least with Argyle +and Monmouth, and those who, having the same object as the prime movers +of our own Revolution, failed in their premature but not unworthy +attempt. + +No circumstances could be more unfavourable to the best interests of +Europe, than those which placed England in strict alliance with the +superannuated and abominable governments of the continent. The subjects +of those governments who wished for freedom thus became enemies to +England, and dupes and agents of France. They looked to their own +grinding grievances, and did not see the danger with which the liberties +of the world were threatened. England, on the other hand, saw the danger +in its true magnitude, but was blind to these grievances, and found +herself compelled to support systems which had formerly been equally +the object of her abhorrence and her contempt. This was the state of +Nelson's mind; he knew that there could be no peace for Europe till the +pride of France was humbled, and her strength broken; and he regarded +all those who were the friends of France as traitors to the common +cause, as well as to their own individual sovereigns. There are +situations in which the most opposite and hostile parties may +mean equally well, and yet act equally wrong. The court of Naples, +unconscious of committing any crime by continuing the system of misrule +to which they had succeeded, conceived that, in maintaining things as +they were, they were maintaining their own rights, and preserving +the people from such horrors as had been perpetrated in France. The +Neapolitan revolutionists thought that without a total change of system, +any relief from the present evils was impossible, and they believed +themselves justified in bringing about that change by any means. +Both parties knew that it was the fixed intention of the French to +revolutionise Naples. The revolutionists supposed that it was for +the purpose of establishing a free government; the court, and all +disinterested persons, were perfectly aware that the enemy had no other +object than conquest and plunder. + +The battle of the Nile shook the power of France. Her most successful +general, and her finest army, were blocked up in Egypt--hopeless, as it +appeared, of return; and the government was in the hands of men without +talents, without character, and divided among themselves. Austria, whom +Buonaparte had terrified into a peace, at a time when constancy on her +part would probably have led to his destruction, took advantage of the +crisis to renew the war. Russia also was preparing to enter the field +with unbroken forces, led by a general, whose extraordinary military +genius would have entitled him to a high and honourable rank in history, +if it had not been sullied by all the ferocity of a barbarian. Naples, +seeing its destruction at hand, and thinking that the only means of +averting it was by meeting the danger, after long vacillations, which +were produced by the fears and treachery of its council, agreed at last +to join this new coalition with a numerical force of 80,000 men. +Nelson told the king, in plain terms, that he had his choice, either to +advance, trusting to God for his blessing on a just cause, and prepared +to die sword in hand, or to remain quiet, and be kicked out of his +kingdom; one of these things must happen. The king made answer he would +go on, and trust in God and Nelson; and Nelson, who would else have +returned to Egypt, for the purpose of destroying the French shipping in +Alexandria, gave up his intention at the desire of the Neapolitan court, +and resolved to remain on that station, in the hope that he might be +useful to the movements of the army. He suspected also, with reason, +that the continuance of his fleet was so earnestly requested, because +the royal family thought their persons would be safer, in case of any +mishap, under the British flag, than under their own. + +His first object was the recovery of Malta--an island which the King of +Naples pretended to claim. The Maltese, whom the villanous knights of +their order had betrayed to France, had taken up arms against their +rapacious invaders, with a spirit and unanimity worthy of the highest +praise. They blockaded the French garrison by land, and a small +squadron, under Captain Ball, began to blockade them by sea, on the +12th of October. Twelve days afterwards Nelson arrived. "It is as +I suspected," he says: "the ministers at Naples know nothing of the +situation of the island. Not a house or bastion of the town is in +possession of the islanders: and the Marquis de Niza tells us they +want arms, victuals, and support. He does not know that any Neapolitan +officers are on the island; perhaps, although I have their names, none +are arrived; and it is very certain, by the marquis's account, that no +supplies have been sent by the governors of Syracuse and Messina." The +little island of Gozo, dependent upon Malta, which had also been seized +and garrisoned by the French, capitulated soon after his arrival, and +was taken possession of by the British, in the name of his Sicilian +Majesty--a power who had no better claim to it than France. Having seen +this effected, and reinforced Captain Ball, he left that able officer +to perform a most arduous and important part, and returned himself to +cooperate with the intended movements of the Neapolitans. + +General Mack was at the head of the Neapolitan troops. All that is now +doubtful concerning this man is, whether he was a coward or a traitor. +At that time he was assiduously extolled as a most consummate commander, +to whom Europe might look for deliverance. And when he was introduced by +the king and queen to the British admiral, the queen said to him, "Be to +us by land, general, what my hero Nelson has been by sea." Mack, on +his part, did not fail to praise the force which he was appointed to +command. "It was," he said, "the finest army in Europe." Nelson agreed +with him that there could not be finer men; but when the general, at a +review, so directed the operations of a mock fight, that by an unhappy +blunder his own troops were surrounded, instead of those of the enemy, +he turned to his friends and exclaimed with bitterness, that the +fellow did not understand his business. Another circumstance, not less +characteristic, confirmed Nelson in his judgment. "General Mack:" said +he, in one of his letters, "cannot move without five carriages! I have +formed my opinion. I heartily pray I may be mistaken." + +While Mack, at the head of 32,000 men, marched into the Roman state, +5000 Neapolitans were embarked on board the British and Portuguese +squadron, to take possession of Leghorn. This was effected without +opposition; and the Grand Duke of Tuscany, whose neutrality had been +so outrageously violated by the French, was better satisfied with the +measure than some of the Neapolitans themselves. Nasseli, their general, +refused to seize the French vessels at Leghorn, because he and the Duke +di Sangro, who was ambassador at the Tuscan court, maintained that the +king of Naples was not at war with France. "What!" said Nelson, "has not +the king received, as a conquest made by him, the republican flag taken +at Gozo? Is not his own flag flying there, and at Malta, not only by his +permission, but by his order? Is not his flag shot at every day by the +French, and their shot returned from batteries which bear that flag? Are +not two frigates and a corvette placed under my orders ready to fight +the French, meet them where they may? Has not the king sent publicly +from Naples guns, mortars, &c., with officers and artillery, against the +French in Malta? If these acts are not tantamount to any written paper, +I give up all knowledge of what is war." This reasoning was of less +avail than argument addressed to the general's fears. Nelson told him +that, if he permitted the many hundred French who were then in the mole +to remain neutral, till they had a fair opportunity of being active, +they had one sure resource, if all other schemes failed, which was to +set one vessel on fire; the mole would be destroyed, probably the town +also, and the port ruined for twenty years. This representation made +Naselli agree to the half measure of laying an embargo on the vessels; +among them were a great number of French privateers, some of which were +of such force as to threaten the greatest mischief to our commerce, and +about seventy sail of vessels belonging to the Ligurian republic, as +Genoa was now called, laden with corn, and ready to sail for Genoa and +France; where their arrival would have expedited the entrance of more +French troops into Italy. "The general," said Nelson, "saw, I believe, +the consequence of permitting these vessels to depart, in the same light +as myself; but there is this difference between us: he prudently, +and certainly safely, waits the orders of his court, taking no +responsibility upon himself; I act from the circumstances of the moment, +as I feel may be most advantageous for the cause which I serve, taking +all responsibility on myself." It was in vain to hope for anything +vigorous or manly from such men as Nelson was compelled to act with. The +crews of the French ships and their allies were ordered to depart in two +days. Four days elapsed and nobody obeyed the order; nor, in spite of +the representations of the British minister, Mr. Wyndham, were any means +taken to enforce it: the true Neapolitan shuffle, as Nelson called it, +took place on all occasions. After an absence of ten days he returned +to Naples; and receiving intelligence there from Mr. Wyndham that the +privateers were at last to be disarmed, the corn landed, and the crews +sent away, he expressed his satisfaction at the news in characteristic +language, saying, "So far I am content. The enemy will be distressed; +and, thank God, I shall get no money. The world, I know, think that +money is our god; and now they will be undeceived as far as relates to +us. Down, down with the French! is my constant prayer." + +Odes, sonnets, and congratulatory poems of every description were poured +in upon Nelson on his arrival at Naples. An Irish Franciscan, who was +one of the poets, not being content with panegyric upon this occasion, +ventured on a flight of prophecy, and predicted that Lord Nelson would +take Rome with his ships. His lordship reminded Father M'Cormick that +ships could not ascend the Tiber; but the father, who had probably +forgotten this circumstance, met the objection with a bold front, and +declared he saw that it would come to pass notwithstanding. Rejoicings +of this kind were of short duration. The King of Naples was with the +army which had entered Rome; but the castle of St. Angelo was held by +the French, and 13,000 French were strongly posted in the Roman states +at Castallana. Mack had marched against them with 20,000 men. Nelson saw +that the event was doubtful, or rather that there could be very little +hope of the result. But the immediate fate of Naples, as he well knew, +hung upon the issue. "If Mack is defeated," said he, "in fourteen days +this country is lost; for the emperor has not yet moved his army, and +Naples has not the power of resisting the enemy. It was not a case for +choice, but of necessity, which induced the king to march out of his +kingdom, and not wait till the French had collected a force sufficient +to drive him out of it in a week." He had no reliance upon the +Neapolitan officers, who, as he described them, seemed frightened at +a drawn sword or a loaded gun; and he was perfectly aware of the +consequences which the sluggish movements and deceitful policy of +the Austrians were likely to bring down upon themselves and all their +continental allies. "A delayed war on the part of the emperor," said he, +writing to the British minister at Vienna, "will be destructive to this +monarchy of Naples; and, of course, to the newly-acquired dominions of +the Emperor in Italy. Had the war commenced in September or October, all +Italy would, at this moment, have been liberated. This month is worse +than the last; the next will render the contest doubtful; and, in six +months, when the Neapolitan republic will be organised, armed, and +with its numerous resources called forth, the emperor will not only be +defeated in Italy, but will totter on his throne at Vienna. DOWN, +DOWN WITH THE FRENCH! ought to be written in the council-room of every +country in the world; and may Almighty God give right thoughts to +every sovereign, is my constant prayer!" His perfect foresight of the +immediate event was clearly shown in this letter, when he desired the +ambassador to assure the empress (who was a daughter of the house of +Naples) that, notwithstanding the councils which had shaken the throne +of her father and mother, he would remain there, ready to save their +persons, and her brothers and sisters; and that he had also left ships +at Leghorn to save the lives of the grand duke and her sister: "For +all," said he, "must be a republic, if the emperor does not act with +expedition and vigour." + +His fears were soon verified. "The Neapolitan officers," said Nelson, +"did not lose much honour, for, God knows, they had not much to lose; +but they lost all they had." General St. Philip commanded the right +wing, of 19,000 men. He fell in with 3000 of the enemy; and, as soon as +he came near enough, deserted to them. One of his men had virtue enough +to level a musket at him, and shot him through the arm; but the wound +was not sufficient to prevent him from joining with the French in +pursuit of his own countrymen. Cannon, tents, baggage, and military +chest, were all forsaken by the runaways, though they lost only forty +men; for the French having put them to flight and got possession of +everything, did not pursue an army of more than three times their own +number. The main body of the Neapolitans, under Mack, did not behave +better. The king returned to Naples, where every day brought with it +tidings of some new disgrace from the army and the discovery of some new +treachery at home; till, four days after his return, the general sent +him advice that there was no prospect of stopping the progress of the +enemy, and that the royal family must look to their own personal safety. +The state of the public mind at Naples was such, at this time, that +neither the British minister nor the British Admiral thought it prudent +to appear at court. Their motions were watched; and the revolutionists +had even formed a plan for seizing and detaining them as hostages, +to prevent an attack on the city after the French should have taken +possession of it. A letter which Nelson addressed at this time to the +First Lord of the Admiralty, shows in what manner he contemplated the +possible issue of the storm, it was in these words:--"My dear lord, +there is an old saying, that when things are at the worst they must +mend: now the mind of man cannot fancy things worse than they are here. +But, thank God! my health is better, my mind never firmer, and my heart +in the right trim to comfort, relieve, and protect those whom it is +my duty to afford assistance to. Pray, my lord, assure our gracious +sovereign that while I live, I will support his glory; and that if I +fall, it shall be in a manner worthy of your lordship's faithful and +obliged Nelson. I must not write more. Every word may be a text for a +long letter." + +Meantime Lady Hamilton arranged every thing for the removal of the royal +family. This was conducted on her part with the greatest address, +and without suspicion, because she had been in habits of constant +correspondence with the queen. It was known that the removal could not +be effected without danger; for the mob, and especially the lazzaroni, +were attached to the king; and as at this time they felt a natural +presumption in their own numbers and strength, they insisted that he +should not leave Naples. Several persons fell victims to their fury; +among others was a messenger from Vienna, whose body was dragged under +the windows of the palace in the king's sight. The king and queen spoke +to the mob, and pacified them; but it would not have been safe, while +they were in this agitated state, to have embarked the effects of the +royal family openly. Lady Hamilton, like a heroine of modern romance, +explored with no little danger a subterraneous passage leading from the +palace to the sea-side: through this passage the royal treasures, the +choicest pieces of painting and sculpture, and other property to the +amount of two millions and a half, were conveyed to the shore, and +stowed safely on board the English ships. On the night of the 21st, +at half-past eight, Nelson landed, brought out the whole royal family, +embarked them in three barges, and carried them safely, through a +tremendous sea, to the VANGUARD. Notice was then immediately given to +the British merchants, that they would be received on board any ships in +the squadron. Their property had previously been embarked in transports. +Two days were passed in the bay, for the purpose of taking such persons +on board as required an asylum; and, on the night of the 23rd, the fleet +sailed. The next day a more violent storm arose than Nelson had ever +before encountered. On the 25th, the youngest of the princes was taken +ill, and died in Lady Hamilton's arms. During this whole trying season, +Lady Hamilton waited upon the royal family with the zeal of the most +devoted servant, at a time when, except one man, no person belonging to +the court assisted them. + +On the morning of the 26th the royal family were landed at Palermo. +It was soon seen that their flight had not been premature. Prince +Pignatelli, who had been left as vicar-general and viceroy, with +orders to defend the kingdom to the last rock in Calabria, sent +plenipotentiaries to the French camp before Capua; and they, for the +sake of saving the capital, signed an armistice, by which the +greater part of the kingdom was given up to the enemy: a cession that +necessarily led to the loss of the whole. This was on the 10th of +January. The French advanced towards Naples. Mack, under pretext of +taking shelter from the fury of the lazzaroni, fled to the French +General Championet, who sent him under an escort to Milan; but as France +hoped for further services from this wretched traitor, it was thought +prudent to treat him apparently as a prisoner of war. The Neapolitan +army disappeared in a few days: of the men, some, following their +officers, deserted to the enemy; the greater part took the opportunity +of disbanding themselves. The lazzaroni proved true to their country; +they attacked the enemy's advanced posts, drove them in, and were not +dispirited by the murderous defeat which they suffered from the main +body. Flying into the city, they continued to defend it, even after the +French had planted their artillery in the principal streets. Had there +been a man of genius to have directed their enthusiasm, or had there +been any correspondent feelings in the higher ranks, Naples might have +set a glorious example to Europe, and have proved the grave of +every Frenchman who entered it. But the vices of the government had +extinguished all other patriotism than that of the rabble, who had no +other than that sort of loyalty which was like the fidelity of a dog to +its master. This fidelity the French and their adherents counteracted +by another kind of devotion: the priests affirmed that St. Januarius +had declared in favour of the revolution. The miracle of his blood was +performed with the usual success, and more than usual effect, on the +very evening when, after two days of desperate fighting, the French +obtained possession of Naples. A French guard of honour was stationed +at his church. Championet gave, "Respect for St. Januarius!" as the word +for the army; and the next day TE DEUM was sung by the archbishop in the +cathedral; and the inhabitants were invited to attend the ceremony, and +join in thanksgiving for the glorious entry of the French; who, it was +said, being under the peculiar protection of Providence, had regenerated +the Neapolitans, and were come to establish and consolidate their +happiness. + +It seems to have been Nelson's opinion that the Austrian cabinet +regarded the conquest of Naples with complacency, and that its +measures were directed so as designedly not to prevent the French from +overrunning it. That cabinet was assuredly capable of any folly, and of +any baseness; and it is not improbable that at this time, calculating +upon the success of the new coalition, it indulged a dream of adding +extensively to its former Italian possessions; and, therefore, left the +few remaining powers of Italy to be overthrown, as a means which would +facilitate its own ambitious views. The King of Sardinia, finding it +impossible longer to endure the exactions of France and the insults +of the French commissary, went to Leghorn, embarked on board a Danish +frigate, and sailed, under British protection, to Sardinia--that part of +his dominions which the maritime supremacy of England rendered a secure +asylum. On his arrival he published a protest against the conduct of +France, declaring, upon the faith and word of a king, that he had never +infringed, even in the slightest degree, the treaties which he had made +with the French republic. Tuscany was soon occupied by French troops--a +fate which bolder policy might, perhaps, have failed to avert, but which +its weak and timid neutrality rendered inevitable. Nelson began to +fear even for Sicily. "Oh, my dear sir," said he, writing to Commodore +Duckworth, "one thousand English troops would save Messina; and I fear +General Stuart cannot give me men to save this most important island!" +But his representations were not lost upon Sir Charles Stuart. This +officer hastened immediately from Minorca with 1000 men, assisted in the +measures of defence which were taken, and did not return before he +had satisfied himself that, if the Neapolitans were excluded from +the management of affairs, and the spirit of the peasantry properly +directed, Sicily was safe. Before his coming, Nelson had offered the +king, if no resources should arrive, to defend Messina with the ship's +company of an English man-of-war. + +Russia had now entered into the war. Corfu, surrendered to a Russian and +Turkish fleet, acting now, for the first time, in strange confederacy +yet against a power which was certainly the common and worst enemy +of both. Troubridge having given up the blockade of Alexandria to Sir +Sidney Smith, joined Nelson, bringing with him a considerable addition +of strength; and in himself what Nelson valued more, a man, upon whose +sagacity, indefatigable zeal, and inexhaustible resources, he could +place full reliance. Troubridge was intrusted to commence the operations +against the French in the bay of Naples. Meantime Cardinal Ruffo, a man +of questionable character, but of a temper fitted for such times, having +landed in Calabria, raised what he called a Christian army, composed of +the best and the vilest materials--loyal peasants, enthusiastic priests +and friars, galley slaves, the emptying of the jails, and banditti. +The islands in the bay of Naples were joyfully delivered up by the +inhabitants, who were in a state of famine already, from the effect +of this baleful revolution. Troubridge distributed among them all his +flour, and Nelson pressed the Sicilian court incessantly for supplies; +telling them that L10,000 given away in provisions would, at this time, +purchase a kingdom. Money, he was told, they had not to give; and the +wisdom and integrity which might have supplied its wants were not to be +found. "There is nothing," said he, "which I propose, that is not, +so far as orders go, implicitly complied with; but the execution is +dreadful, and almost makes me mad. My desire to serve their majesties +faithfully, as is my duty, has been such that I am almost blind and worn +out; and cannot in my present state hold out much longer." + +Before any government can be overthrown by the consent of the people, +the government must be intolerably oppressive, or the people thoroughly +corrupted. Bad as the misrule at Naples had been, its consequences had +been felt far less there than in Sicily; and the peasantry had that +attachment to the soil which gives birth to so many of the noblest as +well as of the happiest feelings. In all the islands the people were +perfectly frantic with joy when they saw the Neapolitan colours hoisted. +At Procida, Troubridge could not procure even a rag of the tri-coloured +flag to lay at the king's feet: it was rent into ten thousand pieces by +the inhabitants, and entirely destroyed. "The horrid treatment of the +French," he said, "had made them mad." It exasperated the ferocity of a +character which neither the laws nor the religion under which they lived +tended to mitigate. Their hatred was especially directed against +the Neapolitan revolutionists; and the fishermen, in concert among +themselves, chose each his own victim, whom he would stiletto when the +day of vengeance should arrive. The head of one was sent off one morning +to Troubridge, with his basket of grapes for breakfast; and a note from +the Italian who had, what he called, the glory of presenting it, saying, +he had killed the man as he was running away, and begging his excellency +to accept the head, and consider it as a proof of the writer's +attachment to the crown. With the first successes of the court the work +of punishment began. The judge at Ischia said it was necessary to have +a bishop to degrade the traitorous priests before he could execute them; +upon which Troubridge advised him to hang them first, and send them to +him afterwards, if he did not think that degradation sufficient. This +was said with the straightforward feeling of a sailor, who cared as +little for canon-law as he knew about it; but when he discovered that +the judge's orders were to go through the business in a summary manner, +under his sanction, he told him at once that could not be, for the +prisoners were not British subjects; and he declined having anything to +do with it. There were manifestly persons about the court, who, while +they thirsted for the pleasure of vengeance, were devising how to throw +the odium of it upon the English. They wanted to employ an English +man-of-war to carry the priests to Palermo for degradation, and then +bring them back for execution; and they applied to Troubridge for +a hangman, which he indignantly refused. He, meantime, was almost +heartbroken by the situation in which he found himself. He had promised +relief to the islanders, relying upon the queen's promise to him. He had +distributed the whole of his private stock,--there was plenty of grain +at Palermo, and in its neighbourhood, and yet none was sent him: the +enemy, he complained, had more interest there than the king; and the +distress for bread which he witnessed was such, he said, that it would +move even a Frenchman to pity. + +Nelson's heart, too, was at this time a-shore. "To tell you," he says, +writing to Lady Hamilton, "how dreary and uncomfortable the VANGUARD +appears, is only telling you what it is to go from the pleasantest +society to a solitary cell, or from the dearest friends to no friends. I +am now perfectly the GREAT MAN--not a creature near me. From my heart I +wish myself the little man again. You and good Sir William have spoiled +me for any place but with you." + +His mind was not in a happier state respecting public affairs. "As to +politics," said he, "at this time they are my abomination: the ministers +of kings and princes are as great scoundrels as ever lived. The brother +of the emperor is just going to marry the great Something of Russia, and +it is more than expected that a kingdom is to be found for him in Italy, +and that the king of Naples will be sacrificed." Had there been a wise +and manly spirit in the Italian states, or had the conduct of Austria +been directed by anything like a principle of honour, a more favourable +opportunity could not have been desired for restoring order and +prosperity in Europe, than the misconduct of the French Directory +at this time afforded. But Nelson perceived selfishness and knavery +wherever he looked; and even the pleasure of seeing a cause prosper, +in which he was so zealously engaged, was poisoned by his sense of the +rascality of those with whom he was compelled to act. At this juncture +intelligence arrived that the French fleet had escaped from Brest, under +cover of a fog, passed Cadiz unseen by Lord Keith's squadron, in hazy +weather, and entered the Mediterranean. It was said to consist of +twenty-four sail of the line, six frigates, and three sloops. The object +of the French was to liberate the Spanish fleet, form a junction with +them, act against Minorca and Sicily, and overpower our naval force +in the Mediterranean, by falling in with detached squadrons, and +thus destroying it in detail. When they arrived off Carthagena, they +requested the Spanish ships to make sail and join; but the Spaniards +replied they had not men to man them. To this it was answered that the +French had men enough on board for that purpose. But the Spaniards seem +to have been apprehensive of delivering up their ships thus entirely +into the power of such allies, and refused to come out. The fleet from +Cadiz, however, consisting of from seventeen to twenty sail of the line, +got out, under Masaredo, a man who then bore an honourable name, which +he has since rendered infamous by betraying his country. They met with +a violent storm off the coast of Oran, which dismasted many of their +ships, and so effectually disabled them as to prevent the junction, and +frustrate a well-planned expedition. + +Before this occurred, and while the junction was as probable as it would +have been formidable, Nelson was in a state of the greatest anxiety. +"What a state am I in!" said he to Earl St. Vincent. "If I go, I risk, +and more than risk, Sicily; for we know, from experience, that more +depends upon opinion than upon acts themselves; and, as I stay, my heart +is breaking." His first business was to summon Troubridge to join him, +with all the ships of the line under his command, and a frigate, if +possible. Then hearing that the French had entered the Mediterranean, +and expecting them at Palermo, where he had only his own ship--with that +single ship he prepared to make all the resistance possible. Troubridge +having joined him, he left Captain E. J. Foote, of the SEAHORSE, to +command the smaller vessels in the bay of Naples, and sailed with six +ships--one a Portuguese, and a Portuguese corvette--telling Earl St. +Vincent that the squadron should never fall into the hands of the enemy. +"And before we are destroyed," said he, "I have little doubt but they +will have their wings so completely clipped that they may be easily +overtaken." It was just at this time that he received from Captain +Hallowell the present of the coffin. Such a present was regarded by the +men with natural astonishment. One of his old shipmates in the AGAMEMNON +said, "We shall have hot work of it indeed! You see the admiral intends +to fight till he is killed; and there he is to be buried." Nelson placed +it upright against the bulkhead of his cabin, behind his chair, where he +sat at dinner. The gift suited him at this time. It is said that he +was disappointed in the step-son whom he had loved so dearly from his +childhood, and who had saved his life at Teneriffe; and it is certain +that he had now formed an infatuated attachment for Lady Hamilton, which +totally weaned his affections from his wife. Farther than this, there is +no reason to believe that this most unfortunate attachment was criminal; +but this was criminality enough, and it brought with it its punishment. +Nelson was dissatisfied with himself, and therefore weary of the world. +This feeling he now frequently expressed. "There is no true happiness +in this life," said he, "and in my present state I could quit it with a +smile." And in a letter to his old friend Davison he said, "Believe me, +my only wish is to sink with honour into the grave; and when that shall +please God, I shall meet death with a smile. Not that I am insensible to +the honours and riches my king and country have heaped upon me--so much +more than any officer could deserve; yet am I ready to quit this world +of trouble, and envy none but those of the estate six feet by two." + +Well had it been for Nelson if he had made no other sacrifices to this +unhappy attachment than his peace of mind; but it led to the only +blot upon his public character. While he sailed from Palermo, with +the intention of collecting his whole force, and keeping off Maretimo, +either to receive reinforcements there if the French were bound upwards, +or to hasten to Minorca if that should be their destination, Captain +Foote, in the Sea-horse, with the Neapolitan frigates, and some small +vessels, under his command, was left to act with a land force consisting +of a few regular troops, of four different nations, and with the armed +rabble which Cardinal Ruffo called the Christian army. His directions +were to co-operate to the utmost of his power with the royalists, at +whose head Ruffo had been placed, and he had no other instructions +whatever. Ruffo advancing without any plan, but relying upon the enemy's +want of numbers, which prevented them from attempting to act upon the +offensive, and ready to take advantage of any accident which might +occur, approached Naples. Fort St. Elmo, which commands the town, was +wholly garrisoned by the French troops; the castles of Uovo and Nuovo, +which commanded the anchorage, were chiefly defended by Neapolitan +revolutionists, the powerful men among them having taken shelter there. +If these castles were taken, the reduction of Fort St. Elmo would be +greatly expedited. They were strong places, and there was reason to +apprehend that the French fleet might arrive to relieve them. Ruffo +proposed to the garrison to capitulate, on condition that their persons +and property should be guaranteed, and that they should, at their own +option, either be sent to Toulon or remain at Naples, without being +molested either in their persons or families. This capitulation was +accepted: it was signed by the cardinal, and the Russian and Turkish +commanders; and lastly, by Captain Foote, as commander of the British +force. About six-and-thirty hours afterwards Nelson arrived in the +bay with a force which had joined him during his cruise, consisting of +seventeen sail of the line, with 1700 troops on board, and the Prince +Royal of Naples in the admiral's ship. A flag of truce was flying on the +castles, and on board the SEAHORSE. Nelson made a signal to annul the +treaty; declaring that he would grant rebels no other terms than those +of unconditional submission. The cardinal objected to this: nor could +all the arguments of Nelson, Sir W. Hamilton, and Lady Hamilton, who +took an active part in the conference, convince him that a treaty of +such a nature, solemnly concluded, could honourably be set aside. He +retired at last, silenced by Nelson's authority, but not convinced. +Captain Foote was sent out of the bay; and the garrisons, taken out +of the castles under pretence of carrying the treaty into effect, were +delivered over as rebels to the vengeance of the Sicilian court. A +deplorable transaction! a stain upon the memory of Nelson and the honour +of England! To palliate it would be in vain; to justify it would be +wicked: there is no alternative, for one who will not make himself a +participator in guilt, but to record the disgraceful story with sorrow +and with shame. + +Prince Francesco Caraccioli, a younger branch of one of the noblest +Neapolitan families, escaped from one of these castles before it +capitulated. He was at the head of the marine, and was nearly seventy +years of age, bearing a high character, both for professional and +personal merit. He had accompanied the court to Sicily; but when the +revolutionary government, or Parthenopean Republic, as it was called, +issued an edict, ordering all absent Neapolitans to return on pain of +confiscation of their property, he solicited and obtained permission of +the king to return, his estates being very great. It is said that the +king, when he granted him this permission, warned him not to take any +part in politics; expressing at the same time his own persuasion that he +should recover his kingdom. But neither the king, nor he himself, ought +to have imagined that, in such times, a man of such reputation would be +permitted to remain inactive; and it soon appeared that Caraccioli was +again in command of the navy, and serving under the republic against his +late sovereign. The sailors reported that he was forced to act thus; and +this was believed, till it was seen that he directed ably the offensive +operations of the revolutionists, and did not avail himself of +opportunities for escaping when they offered. When the recovery of +Naples was evidently near, he applied to Cardinal Ruffo, and to the Duke +of Calvirrano, for protection; expressing his hope that the few days +during which he had been forced to obey the French would not outweigh +forty years of faithful services; but perhaps not receiving such +assurances as he wished, and knowing too well the temper of the Sicilian +court, he endeavoured to secrete himself, and a price was set upon his +head. More unfortunately for others than for himself, he was brought in +alive, having been discovered in the disguise of a peasant, and carried +one morning on board Lord Nelson's ship, with his hands tied behind him. + +Caraccioli was well known to the British officers, and had been +ever highly esteemed by all who knew him. Captain Hardy ordered him +immediately to be unbound, and to be treated with all those attentions +which he felt due to a man who, when last on board the FOUDROYANT, had +been received as an admiral and a prince. Sir William and Lady Hamilton +were in the ship; but Nelson, it is affirmed, saw no one except his +own officers during the tragedy which ensued. His own determination was +made; and he issued an order to the Neapolitan commodore, Count Thurn, +to assemble a court-martial of Neapolitan officers, on board the British +flag-ship, proceed immediately to try the prisoner, and report to him, +if the charges were proved, what punishment he ought to suffer. These +proceedings were as rapid as possible; Caraccioli was brought on board +at nine in the forenoon, and the trial began at ten. It lasted two +hours: he averred in his defence that he had acted under compulsion, +having been compelled to serve as a common soldier, till he consented to +take command of the fleet. This, the apologists of Lord Nelson say, he +failed in proving. They forget that the possibility of proving it was +not allowed him, for he was brought to trial within an hour after he +was legally in arrest; and how, in that time, was he to collect his +witnesses? He was found guilty, and sentenced to death; and Nelson gave +orders that the sentence should be carried into effect that evening, at +five o'clock, on board the Sicilian frigate, LA MINERVA, by hanging him +at the fore-yard-arm till sunset; when the body was to be cut down and +thrown into the sea. Caraccioli requested Lieut. Parkinson, under +whose custody he was placed, to intercede with Lord Nelson for a second +trial--for this, among other reasons, that Count Thurn, who presided +at the court-martial, was notoriously his personal enemy. Nelson made +answer, that the prisoner had been fairly tried by the officers of his +own country, and he could not interfere; forgetting that, if he felt +himself justified in ordering the trial and the execution, no human +being could ever have questioned the propriety of his interfering on the +side of mercy. Caraccioli then entreated that he might be shot. "I am an +old man, sir," said he: "I leave no family to lament me, and therefore +cannot be supposed to be very anxious about prolonging my life; but the +disgrace of being hanged is dreadful to me." When this was repeated +to Nelson, he only told the lieutenant, with much agitation, to go and +attend his duty. As a last hope, Caraccioli asked the lieutenant if he +thought an application to Lady Hamilton would be beneficial? Parkinson +went to seek her; she was not to be seen on this occasion; but she was +present at the execution. She had the most devoted attachment to the +Neapolitan court; and the hatred which she felt against those whom she +regarded as its enemies, made her at this time forget what was due +to the character of her sex as well as of her country. Here, also, a +faithful historian is called upon to pronounce a severe and unqualified +condemnation of Nelson's conduct. Had he the authority of his Sicilian +majesty for proceeding as he did? If so, why was not that authority +produced? If not, why were the proceedings hurried on without it? Why +was the trial precipitated, so that it was impossible for the prisoner, +if he had been innocent, to provide the witnesses, who might have proved +him so? Why was a second trial refused, when the known animosity of the +president of the court against the prisoner was considered? Why was the +execution hastened, so as to preclude any appeal for mercy, and render +the prerogative of mercy useless? Doubtless, the British Admiral seemed +to himself to be acting under a rigid sense of justice; but to all +other persons it was obvious that he was influenced by an infatuated +attachment--a baneful passion, which destroyed his domestic happiness, +and now, in a second instance, stained ineffaceably his public +character. + +The body was carried out to a considerable distance, and sunk in the +bay, with three double-headed shot, weighing 250 lbs., tied to its legs. +Between two or three weeks afterward, when the king was on board the +FOUDROYANT, a Neapolitan fisherman came to the ship, and solemnly +declared that Caraccioli had risen from the bottom of the sea, and was +coming as fast as he could to Naples, swimming half out of the water. +Such an account was listened to like a tale of idle credulity. The day +being fair, Nelson, to please the king, stood out to sea; but the ship +had not proceeded far before a body was distinctly seen, upright in the +water, and approaching them. It was soon recognised to be indeed the +corpse of Caraccioli, which had risen and floated, while the great +weights attached to the legs kept the body in a position like that of +a living man. A fact so extraordinary astonished the king, and perhaps +excited some feeling of superstitious fear, akin to regret. He gave +permission for the body to be taken on shore and receive Christian +burial. It produced no better effect. Naples exhibited more dreadful +scenes than it had witnessed in the days of Massaniello. After the +mob had had their fill of blood and plunder, the reins were given +to justice--if that can be called justice which annuls its own +stipulations, looks to the naked facts alone, disregarding all motives +and all circumstances; and without considering character, or science, or +sex, or youth, sacrifices its victims, not for the public weal, but for +the gratification of greedy vengeance. + +The castles of St. Elmo, Gaieta, and Capua remained to be subdued. On +the land side there was no danger that the French in these garrisons +should be relieved, for Suvarof was now beginning to drive the enemy +before him; but Nelson thought his presence necessary in the bay of +Naples: and when Lord Keith, having received intelligence that the +French and Spanish fleets had formed a junction, and sailed for +Carthagena, ordered him to repair to Minorca with the whole or the +greater part of his force, he sent Admiral Duckworth with a small part +only. This was a dilemma which he had foreseen. "Should such an order +come at this moment," he said, in a letter previously written to the +Admiralty, "it would be a case for some consideration, whether Minorca +is to be risked, or the two kingdoms of Naples and Sicily; I rather +think my decision would be to risk the former." And after he had acted +upon this opinion, he wrote in these terms to the Duke of Clarence, with +whose high notions of obedience he was well acquainted: "I am well aware +of the consequences of disobeying my orders; but as I have often +before risked my life for the good cause, so I with cheerfulness did my +commission; for although a military tribunal may think me criminal, the +world will approve of my conduct; and I regard not my own safety when +the honour of my king is at stake." + +Nelson was right in his judgment: no attempt was made on Minorca: and +the expulsion of the French from Naples may rather be said to have been +effected than accelerated by the English and Portuguese of the allied +fleet, acting upon shore, under Troubridge. The French commandant at +St. Elmo, relying upon the strength of the place, and the nature of +the force which attacked it, had insulted Captain Foote in the +grossest terms; but CITOYEN Mejan was soon taught better manners, when +Troubridge, in spite of every obstacle, opened five batteries upon +the fort. He was informed that none of his letters, with the insolent +printed words at the top, LIBERTE EQALITE, GUERRE AUX TYRANS, &c. would +be received; but that if he wrote like a soldier and a gentleman he +would be answered in the same style. The Frenchman then began to flatter +his antagonist upon the BIENFAISANCE and HUMANITE which, he said, were +the least of the many virtues which distinguished Monsieur Troubridge. +Monsieur Troubridge's BIENFAISANCE was at this time thinking of mining +the fort. "If we can accomplish that," said he, "I am a strong advocate +to send them, hostages and all, to Old Nick, and surprise him with a +group of nobility and republicans. Meantime," he added, "it was some +satisfaction to perceive that the shells fell well, and broke some +of their shins." Finally, to complete his character, Mejan offered to +surrender for 150,000 ducats. Great Britain, perhaps, has made but +too little use of this kind of artillery, which France has found so +effectual towards subjugating the continent: but Troubridge had the prey +within his reach; and in the course of a few days, his last battery, +"after much trouble and palaver," as he said, "brought the vagabonds to +their senses." + +Troubridge had more difficulties to overcome this siege, from the +character of the Neapolitans who pretended to assist him, and whom he +made useful, than even from the strength of the place and the skill of +the French. "Such damned cowards and villains," he declared, "he had +never seen before." The men at the advanced posts carried on, what +he called, "a diabolical good understanding" with the enemy, and the +workmen would sometimes take fright and run away. "I make the best I +can," said he, "of the degenerate race I have to deal with; the whole +means of guns, ammunition, pioneers, &c., with all materials, rest with +them. With fair promises to the men, and threats of instant death if I +find any one erring, a little spur has been given." Nelson said of him +with truth, upon this occasion, that he was a first-rate general. "I +find, sir," said he afterwards in a letter to the Duke of Clarence, +"that General Koehler does not approve of such irregular proceedings as +naval officers attacking and defending fortifications. We have but one +idea--to get close alongside. None but a sailor would have placed a +battery only 180 yards from the Castle of St. Elmo; a soldier must have +gone according to art, and the /\/\/\/\ way. My brave Troubridge went +straight on, for we had no time to spare." + +Troubridge then proceeded to Capua, and took the command of the motley +besieging force. One thousand of the best men in the fleet were sent +to assist in the siege. Just at this time Nelson received a peremptory +order from Lord Keith to sail with the whole of his force for the +protection of Minorca; or, at least, to retain no more than was +absolutely necessary at Sicily. "You will easily conceive my feelings," +said he in communicating this to Earl St. Vincent; "but my mind, as your +lordship knows, was perfectly prepared for this order; and it is now, +more than ever, made up. At this moment I will not part with a single +ship; as I cannot do that without drawing a hundred and twenty men from +each ship, now at the siege of Capua. I am fully aware of the act I +have committed; but I am prepared for any fate which may await my +disobedience. Capua and Gaieta will soon fall; and the moment the +scoundrels of French are out of this kingdom I shall send eight or nine +ships of the line to Minorca. I have done what I thought right--others +may think differently; but it will be my consolation that I have gained +a kingdom, seated a faithful ally of his Majesty firmly on his throne, +and restored happiness to millions." + +At Capua, Troubridge had the same difficulties as at St. Elmo; and being +farther from Naples, and from the fleet, was less able to overcome them. +The powder was so bad that he suspected treachery; and when he asked +Nelson to spare him forty casks from the ships, he told him it would be +necessary that some Englishmen should accompany it, or they would steal +one-half, and change the other. "All the men you see," said he, "gentle +and simple, are such notorious villains, that it is misery to be +with them." Capua, however, soon fell; Gaieta immediately afterwards +surrendered to Captain Louis of the MINOTAUR. Here the commanding +officer acted more unlike a Frenchman, Captain Louis said, than any +one he had ever met; meaning that he acted like a man of honour. He +required, however, that the garrison should carry away their horses, +and other pillaged property: to which Nelson replied, "That no property +which they did not bring with them into the country could be theirs: and +that the greatest care should be taken to prevent them from carrying it +away." "I am sorry," said he to Captain Louis, "that you have entered +into any altercation. There is no way of dealing with a Frenchman but to +knock him down; to be civil to them is only to be laughed at, when they +are enemies." + +The whole kingdom of Naples was thus delivered by Nelson from the +French. The Admiralty, however, thought it expedient to censure him for +disobeying Lord Keith's orders, and thus hazarding Minorca, without, as +it appeared to them, any sufficient reason; and also for having landed +seamen for the siege of Capua, to form part of an army employed in +operations at a distance from the coast; where, in case of defeat, +they might have been prevented from returning to their ships; and they +enjoined him, "not to employ the seamen in like manner in future." This +reprimand was issued before the event was known; though, indeed, the +event would not affect the principle upon which it proceeded. When +Nelson communicated the tidings of his complete success, he said, in his +public letter, "that it would not be the less acceptable for having +been principally brought about by British sailors." His judgment in +thus employing them had been justified by the result; and his joy was +evidently heightened by the gratification of a professional and becoming +pride. To the first lord he said, at the same time, "I certainly, from +having only a left hand, cannot enter into details which may explain the +motives that actuated my conduct. My principle is, to assist in driving +the French to the devil, and in restoring peace and happiness to +mankind. I feel that I am fitter to do the action than to describe it." +He then added that he would take care of Minorca. + +In expelling the French from Naples, Nelson had, with characteristic +zeal and ability, discharged his duty; but he deceived himself when he +imagined that he had seated Ferdinand firmly on his throne, and that +he had restored happiness to millions. These objects might have been +accomplished if it had been possible to inspire virtue and wisdom into +a vicious and infatuated court; and if Nelson's eyes had not been, as it +were, spell-bound by that unhappy attachment, which had now completely +mastered him, he would have seen things as they were; and might, +perhaps, have awakened the Sicilian court to a sense of their interest, +if not of their duty. That court employed itself in a miserable round +of folly and festivity, while the prisons of Naples were filled with +groans, and the scaffolds streamed with blood. St. Januarius was +solemnly removed from his rank as patron saint of the kingdom, having +been convicted of Jacobinism; and St. Antonio as solemnly installed in +his place. The king, instead of re-establishing order at Naples by his +presence, speedily returned to Palermo, to indulge in his favourite +amusements. Nelson, and the ambassador's family, accompanied the court; +and Troubridge remained, groaning over the villany and frivolity of +those with whom he was compelled to deal. A party of officers applied to +him for a passage to Palermo, to see the procession of St. Rosalia: he +recommended them to exercise their troops, and not behave like children. +It was grief enough for him that the court should be busied in these +follies, and Nelson involved in them. "I dread, my lord," said he, "all +the feasting, &c. at Palermo. I am sure your health will be hurt. If so, +all their saints will be damned by the navy. The king would be better +employed digesting a good government; everything gives way to their +pleasures. The money spent at Palermo gives discontent here; fifty +thousand people are unemployed, trade discouraged, manufactures at a +stand. It is the interest of many here to keep the king away: they all +dread reform. Their villanies are so deeply rooted, that if some method +is not taken to dig them out, this government cannot hold together. Out +of twenty millions of ducats, collected as the revenue, only thirteen +millions reach the treasury; and the king pays four ducats where he +should pay one. He is surrounded by thieves; and none of them have +honour or honesty enough to tell him the real and true state of things." +In another letter he expressed his sense of the miserable state of +Naples. "There are upwards of forty thousand families," said he, "who +have relations confined. If some act of oblivion is not passed, there +will be no end of persecution; for the people of this country have +no idea of anything but revenge, and to gain a point would swear ten +thousand false oaths. Constant efforts are made to get a man taken up, +in order to rob him. The confiscated property does not reach the king's +treasury. All thieves! It is selling for nothing. His own people, whom +he employs, are buying it up, and the vagabonds pocket the whole. I +should not be surprised to hear that they brought a bill of expenses +against him for the sale." + +The Sicilian court, however, were at this time duly sensible of the +services which had been rendered them by the British fleet, and their +gratitude to Nelson was shown with proper and princely munificence. They +gave him the dukedom and domain of Bronte, worth about L3000 a year. It +was some days before he could be persuaded to accept it; the argument +which finally prevailed is said to have been suggested by the queen, and +urged, at her request, by Lady Hamilton upon her knees. "He considered +his own honour too much," she said, "if he persisted in refusing what +the king and queen felt to be absolutely necessary for the preservation +of theirs." The king himself, also, is said to have addressed him in +words, which show that the sense of rank will sometimes confer a virtue +upon those who seem to be most unworthy of the lot to which they have +been born: "Lord Nelson, do you wish that your name alone should pass +with honour to posterity; and that I, Ferdinand Bourbon, should +appear ungrateful?" He gave him also, when the dukedom was accepted, a +diamond-hilted sword, which his father, Char. III. of Spain, had given +him on his accession to the throne of the two Sicilies. Nelson said, +"the reward was magnificent, and worthy of a king, and he was determined +that the inhabitants on the domain should be the happiest in all his +Sicilian majesty's dominions. Yet," said he, speaking of these and +the other remunerations which were made him for his services, "these +presents, rich as they are, do not elevate me. My pride is, that at +Constantinople, from the grand seignior to the lowest Turk, the name of +Nelson is familiar in their mouths; and in this country I am everything +which a grateful monarch and people can call me." Nelson, however, had a +pardonable pride in the outward and visible signs of honour which he +had so fairly won. He was fond of his Sicilian title; the signification, +perhaps, pleased him; Duke of Thunder was what in Dahomy would be called +a STRONG NAME; it was to a sailor's taste; and certainly, to no man +could it ever be more applicable. But a simple offering, which he +received not long afterwards, from the island of Zante, affected him +with a deeper and finer feeling. The Greeks of that little community +sent him a golden-headed sword and a truncheon, set round with all the +diamonds that the island could furnish, in a single row. They thanked +him "for having, by his victory, preserved that part of Greece from the +horrors of anarchy; and prayed that his exploits might accelerate the +day, in which, amidst the glory and peace of thrones, the miseries of +the human race would cease." This unexpected tribute touched Nelson to +the heart. "No officer," he said, "had ever received from any country a +higher acknowledgment of his services." + +The French still occupied the Roman states; from which, according to +their own admission, they had extorted in jewels, plate, specie, and +requisitions of every kind, to the enormous amount of eight millions +sterling; yet they affected to appear as deliverers among the people +whom they were thus cruelly plundering; and they distributed portraits +of Buonaparte, with the blasphemous inscription, "This is the true +likeness of the holy saviour of the world!" The people, detesting the +impiety, and groaning beneath the exactions of these perfidious +robbers, were ready to join any regular force that should come to their +assistance; but they dreaded Cardinal Ruffo's rabble, and declared +they would resist him as a banditti, who came only for the purpose of +pillage. Nelson perceived that no object was now so essential for the +tranquillity of Naples as the recovery of Rome; which in the present +state of things, when Suvarof was driving the French before him, would +complete the deliverance of Italy. He applied, therefore, to Sir James +St. Clair Erskine, who in the absence of General Fox commanded at +Minorca, to assist in this great object with 1200 men. "The field of +glory," said he, "is a large one, and was never more open to any one +than at this moment to you. Rome would throw open her gates and receive +you as her deliverer; and the pope would owe his restoration to a +heretic." But Sir James Erskine looked only at the difficulties of the +undertaking. "Twelve hundred men, he thought, would be too small a force +to be committed in such an enterprise; for Civita Vecchia was a regular +fortress; the local situation and climate also were such, that even if +this force were adequate, it would be proper to delay the expedition +till October. General Fox, too, was soon expected; and during his +absence, and under existing circumstances, he did not feel justified in +sending away such a detachment." + +What this general thought it imprudent to attempt, Nelson and Troubridge +effected without his assistance, by a small detachment from the fleet. +Troubridge first sent Captain Hallowell to Civita Vecchia to offer the +garrison there and at Castle St. Angelo the same terms which had been +granted to Gaieta. Hallowell perceived, by the overstrained civility of +the officers who came off to him, and the compliments which they paid +to the English nation, that they were sensible of their own weakness and +their inability to offer any effectual resistance; but the French know, +that while they are in a condition to serve their government, they can +rely upon it for every possible exertion in their support; and this +reliance gives them hope and confidence to the last. Upon Hallowell's +report, Troubridge, who had now been made Sir Thomas for his services, +sent Captain Louis with a squadron to enforce the terms which he had +offered; and, as soon as he could leave Naples, he himself followed. The +French, who had no longer any hope from the fate of arms, relied upon +their skill in negotiation, and proposed terms to Troubridge with that +effrontery which characterises their public proceedings; but which is as +often successful as it is impudent. They had a man of the right stamp +to deal with. Their ambassador at Rome began by saying, that the Roman +territory was the property of the French by right of conquest. The +British commodore settled that point, by replying, "It is mine by +reconquest." A capitulation was soon concluded for all the Roman states, +and Captain Louis rowed up the Tiber in his barge, hoisted English +colours on the capitol, and acted for the time as governor of Rome. The +prophecy of the Irish poet was thus accomplished, and the friar +reaped the fruits; for Nelson, who was struck with the oddity of the +circumstance, and not a little pleased with it, obtained preferment for +him from the King of Sicily, and recommended him to the Pope. + +Having thus completed his work upon the continent of Italy, Nelson's +whole attention was directed towards Malta; where Captain Ball, with +most inadequate means, was besieging the French garrison. Never was +any officer engaged in more anxious and painful service: the smallest +reinforcement from France would, at any moment, have turned the scale +against him; and had it not been for his consummate ability, and the +love and veneration with which the Maltese regarded him, Malta must have +remained in the hands of the enemy. Men, money, food--all things were +wanting. The garrison consisted of 5000 troops; the besieging force of +500 English and Portuguese marines, and about 1500 armed peasants. Long +and repeatedly did Nelson solicit troops to effect the reduction of +this important place. "It has been no fault of the navy," said he, +"that Malta has not been attacked by land; but we have neither the +means ourselves nor influence with those who have." The same causes of +demurral existed which prevented British troops from assisting in the +expulsion of the French from Rome. Sir James Erskine was expecting +General Fox; he could not act without orders; and not having, like +Nelson, that lively spring of hope within him, which partakes enough of +the nature of faith to work miracles in war, he thought it "evident that +unless a respectable land force, in numbers sufficient to undertake the +siege of such a garrison, in one of the strongest places of Europe, and +supplied with proportionate artillery and stores, were sent against +it, no reasonable hope could be entertained of its surrender." Nelson +groaned over the spirit of over-reasoning caution and unreasoning +obedience. "My heart," said he, "is almost broken. If the enemy gets +supplies in, we may bid adieu to Malta; all the force we can collect +would then be of little use against the strongest place in Europe. To +say that an officer is never, for any object, to alter his orders, is +what I cannot comprehend. The circumstances of this war so often vary, +that an officer has almost every moment to consider, what would my +superiors direct, did they know what was passing under my nose?" "But, +sir," said he writing to the Duke of Clarence, "I find few think as I +do. To obey orders is all perfection. To serve my king, and to destroy +the French, I consider as the great order of all, from which little +ones spring; and if one of these militate against it (for who can tell +exactly at a distance?) I go back and obey the great order and object, +to down--down with the damned French villains!--my blood boils at the +name of Frenchmen!" + +At length, General Fox arrived at Minorca--and at length permitted Col. +Graham to go to Malta, but with means miserably limited. In fact, the +expedition was at a stand for want of money; when Troubridge arriving at +Messina to co-operate in it, and finding this fresh delay, immediately +offered all that he could command of his own. "I procured him, my lord," +said he to Nelson,"1500 of my cobs--every farthing and every atom of me +shall be devoted to the cause." "What can this mean?" said Nelson, when +he learned that Col. Graham was ordered not to incur any expenses for +stores, or any articles except provisions!--"the cause cannot stand +still for want of a little money. If nobody will pay it, I will sell +Bronte and the Emperor of Russia's box." And he actually pledged Bronte +for L6600 if there should be any difficulty about paying the bills. The +long-delayed expedition was thus, at last, sent forth; but Troubridge +little imagined in what scenes of misery he was to bear his part. He +looked to Sicily for supplies: it was the interest, as well as the duty +of the Sicilian government to use every exertion for furnishing them; +and Nelson and the British ambassador were on the spot to press upon +them the necessity of exertion. But, though Nelson saw with what a +knavish crew the Sicilian court was surrounded, he was blind to +the vices of the court itself; and resigning himself wholly to Lady +Hamilton's influence, never even suspected the crooked policy which +it was remorselessly pursuing. The Maltese and the British in Malta +severely felt it. Troubridge, who had the truest affection for Nelson, +knew his infatuation, and feared that it might prove injurious to his +character, as well as fatal to an enterprise which had begun so well, +and been carried on so patiently. + +"My lord," said he, writing to him from the siege, "we are dying off +fast for want. I learn that Sir William Hamilton says Prince Luzzi +refused corn some time ago, and Sir William does not think it worth +while making another application. If that be the case, I wish he +commanded this distressing scene instead of me. Puglia had an immense +harvest; near thirty sail left Messina before I did, to load corn. Will +they let us have any? If not, a short time will decide the business. The +German interest prevails. I wish I was at your Lordship's elbow for an +hour. ALL, ALL, will be thrown on you!--I will parry the blow as much as +in my power: I foresee much mischief brewing. God bless your Lordship; I +am miserable I cannot assist your operations more. Many happy returns +of the day to you--(it was the first of the new year)--I never spent so +miserable a one. I am not very tender-hearted; but really the distress +here would even move a Neapolitan." Soon afterwards he wrote, "I have +this day saved thirty thousand people from starving; but with this day +my ability ceases. As the government are bent on starving us, I see no +alternative but to leave these poor unhappy people to perish, without +our being witnesses of their distress. I curse the day I ever served +the Neapolitan government. We have characters, my lord, to lose; these +people have none. Do not suffer their infamous conduct to fall on us. +Our country is just, but severe. Such is the fever of my brain this +minute, that I assure you, on my honour, if the Palermo traitors were +here, I would shoot them first, and then myself. Girgenti is full of +corn; the money is ready to pay for it; we do not ask it as a gift. Oh! +could you see the horrid distress I daily experience, something would be +done. Some engine is at work against us at Naples; and I believe I hit +on the proper person. If you complain he will be immediately promoted, +agreeably to the Neapolitan custom. All I write to you is known at the +queen's. For my own part, I look upon the Neapolitans as the worst of +intriguing enemies: every hour shows me their infamy and duplicity. I +pray your lordship be cautious: your honest, open manner of acting will +be made a handle of. When I see you, and tell of their infamous tricks, +you will be as much surprised as I am. The whole will fall on you." + +Nelson was not, and could not be, insensible to the distress which his +friend so earnestly represented. He begged, almost on his knees, +he said, small supplies of money and corn, to keep the Maltese from +starving. And when the court granted a small supply, protesting their +poverty, he believed their protestations, and was satisfied with +their professions, instead of insisting that the restrictions upon the +exportation of corn should be withdrawn. The anxiety, however, which he +endured, affected him so deeply that he said it had broken his spirit +for ever. Happily, all that Troubridge with so much reason foreboded, +did not come to pass. For Captain Ball, with more decision than Nelson +himself would have shown at that time and upon that occasion, ventured +upon a resolute measure, for which his name would deserve always to be +held in veneration by the Maltese, even if it had no other claims to the +love and reverence of a grateful people. Finding it hopeless longer to +look for succour or common humanity from the deceitful and infatuated +court of Sicily, which persisted in prohibiting by sanguinary edicts the +exportation of supplies, at his own risk, he sent his first lieutenant +to the port of Girgenti, with orders to seize and bring with him to +Malta the ships which were there lying laden with corn; of the numbers +of which he had received accurate information. These orders were +executed to the great delight and advantage of the shipowners and +proprietors: the necessity of raising the siege was removed, and Captain +Ball waited in calmness for the consequences to himself. The Neapolitan +government complained to the English ambassador, and the complaint was +communicated to Nelson, who, in return, requested Sir William Hamilton +would fully and plainly state, that the act ought not to be considered +as any intended disrespect to his Sicilian Majesty, but as of the +most absolute and imperious necessity; the alternative being either of +abandoning Malta to the French, or of anticipating the king's orders for +carrying the corn in those vessels to Malta. "I trust," he added, "that +the government of the country will never again force any of our royal +master's servants to so unpleasant an alternative." Thus ended the +complaint of the Neapolitan court. "The sole result was," says Mr. +Coleridge, "that the governor of Malta became an especial object of its +hatred, its fears, and its respect." + +Nelson himself, at the beginning of February, sailed for that island. +On the way he fell in with a French squadron bound for its relief, and +consisting of the GENEREUX seventy-four, three frigates, and a corvette. +One of these frigates and the line-of-battle ship were taken; the +others escaped, but failed in their purpose of reaching La Valette. This +success was peculiarly gratifying to Nelson, for many reasons. During +some months he had acted as commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean, +while Lord Keith was in England. Lord Keith was now returned; and Nelson +had, upon his own plan, and at his own risk, left him to sail for Malta, +"for which," said he, "if I had not succeeded, I might have been broke: +and if I had not acted thus, the GENEREUX never would have been taken." +This ship was one of those which had escaped from Aboukir. Two frigates, +and the GUILLAUME TELL, eighty-six were all that now remained of the +fleet which Buonaparte had conducted to Egypt. The GUILLAUME TELL was +at this time closely watched in the harbour of La Valette; and shortly +afterwards, attempting to make her escape from thence, was taken after +an action, in which greater skill was never displayed by British ships, +nor greater gallantry by an enemy. She was taken by the FOUDROYANT, +LION, and PENELOPE frigate. Nelson, rejoicing at what he called this +glorious finish to the whole French Mediterranean fleet, rejoiced also +that he was not present to have taken a sprig of these brave men's +laurels. "They are," said he, "and I glory in them, my children; they +served in my school; and all of us caught our professional zeal and +fire from the great and good Earl St. Vincent. What a pleasure, what +happiness, to have the Nile fleet all taken, under my orders and +regulations!" The two frigates still remained in La Valette; before its +surrender they stole out; one was taken in the attempt; the other was +the only ship of the whole fleet which escaped capture or destruction. + +Letters were found on board the GUILLAUME TELL showing that the French +were now become hopeless of preserving the conquest which they had so +foully acquired. Troubridge and his brother officers were anxious that +Nelson should have the honour of signing the capitulation. They told, +him that they absolutely, as far as they dared, insisted on his staying +to do this; but their earnest and affectionate entreaties were vain. +Sir William Hamilton had just been superseded: Nelson had no feeling of +cordiality towards Lord Keith; and thinking that after Earl St. Vincent +no man had so good a claim to the command in the Mediterranean as +himself, he applied for permission to return to England; telling the +First Lord of the Admiralty that his spirit could not submit patiently, +and that he was a broken-hearted man. From the time of his return +from Egypt, amid all the honours which were showered upon him, he had +suffered many mortifications. Sir Sidney Smith had been sent to Egypt +with orders to take under his command the squadron which Nelson had left +there. Sir Sidney appears to have thought that this command was to be +independent of Nelson; and Nelson himself thinking so, determined to +return, saying to Earl St. Vincent, "I do feel, for I am a man, that +it is impossible for me to serve in these seas with a squadron under a +junior officer." Earl St. Vincent seems to have dissuaded him from +this resolution: some heart-burnings, however, still remained, and some +incautious expressions of Sir Sidney's were noticed by him in terms of +evident displeasure. But this did not continue long, as no man bore more +willing testimony than Nelson to the admirable defence of Acre. + +He differed from Sir Sidney as to the policy which ought to be pursued +toward the French in Egypt; and strictly commanded him, in the strongest +language, not, on any pretence, to permit a single Frenchman to leave +the country, saying that he considered it nothing short of madness to +permit that band of thieves to return to Europe. "No," said he, "to +Egypt they went with their own consent, and there they shall remain +while Nelson commands this squadron; for never, never, will he consent +to the return of one ship or Frenchman. I wish them to perish in Egypt, +and give an awful lesson to the world of the justice of the Almighty." +If Nelson had not thoroughly understood the character of the enemy +against whom he was engaged, their conduct in Egypt would have disclosed +it. After the battle of the Nile he had landed all his prisoners, upon a +solemn engagement made between Troubridge on one side and Captain Barre +on the other, that none of them should serve until regularly exchanged. +They were no sooner on shore than part of them were drafted into the +different regiments, and the remainder formed into a corps, called the +Nautic Legion. This occasioned Captain Hallowell to say that the French +had forfeited all claim to respect from us. "The army of Buonaparte," +said he, "are entirely destitute of every principle of honour: they have +always acted like licentious thieves." Buonaparte's escape was the more +regretted by Nelson, because, if he had had sufficient force, he thought +it would certainly have been prevented. He wished to keep ships upon +the watch to intercept anything coming from Egypt; but the Admiralty +calculated upon the assistance of the Russian fleet, which failed when +it was most wanted. The ships which should have been thus employed were +then required for more pressing services; and the bloody Corsican was +thus enabled to reach Europe in safety; there to become the guilty +instrument of a wider-spreading destruction than any with which the +world had ever before been visited. + +Nelson had other causes of chagrin. Earl St. Vincent, for whom he felt +such high respect, and whom Sir John Orde had challenged for having +nominated Nelson instead of himself to the command of the Nile squadron, +laid claim to prize money, as commander-in-chief, after he had quitted +the station. The point was contested, and decided against him. Nelson, +perhaps, felt this the more, because his own feelings, with regard to +money, were so different. An opinion had been given by Dr. Lawrence, +which would have excluded the junior flag-officers from prize-money. +When this was made known to him, his reply was in these words: +"Notwithstanding Dr. Lawrence's opinion, I do not believe I have any +right to exclude the junior flag-officers; and if I have, I desire that +no such claim may be made: no, not if it were sixty times the sum--and, +poor as I am, I were never to see prize-money." + +A ship could not be spared to convey him to England; he therefore +travelled through Germany to Hamburgh, in company with his inseparable +friends, Sir William and Lady Hamilton. The Queen of Naples went with +them to Vienna. While they were at Leghorn, upon a report that the +French were approaching (for, through the folly of weak courts and the +treachery of venal cabinets, they had now recovered their ascendancy +in Italy), the people rose tumultuously, and would fain have persuaded +Nelson to lead them against the enemy. Public honours, and yet more +gratifying testimonials of public admiration, awaited Nelson wherever +he went. The Prince of Esterhazy entertained him in a style of Hungarian +magnificence--a hundred grenadiers, each six feet in height, constantly +waiting at table. At Madgeburgh, the master of the hotel where he was +entertained contrived to show him for money--admitting the curious to +mount a ladder, and peep at him through a small window. A wine merchant +at Hamburgh, who was above seventy years of age, requested to speak with +Lady Hamilton; and told her he had some Rhenish wine, of the vintage of +1625, which had been in his own possession more than half-a-century: he +had preserved it for some extraordinary occasion; and that which had now +arrived was far beyond any that he could ever have expected. His request +was, that her ladyship would prevail upon Lord Nelson to accept six +dozen of this incomparable wine: part of it would then have the honour +to flow into the heart's blood of that immortal hero; and this thought +would make him happy during the remainder of his life. Nelson, when this +singular request was reported to him, went into the room, and taking +the worthy old gentleman kindly by the hand, consented to receive six +bottles, provided the donor would dine with him next day. Twelve were +sent; and Nelson, saying that he hoped yet to win half-a-dozen more +great victories, promised to lay by six bottles of his Hamburgh friend's +wine, for the purpose of drinking one after each. A German pastor, +between seventy and eighty years of age, travelled forty miles, with the +Bible of his parish church, to request that Nelson would write his name +on the first leaf of it. He called him the Saviour of the Christian +world. The old man's hope deceived him. There was no Nelson upon shore, +or Europe would have been saved; but in his foresight of the horrors +with which all Germany and all Christendom were threatened by France, +the pastor could not possibly have apprehended more than has actually +taken place. + + + +CHAPTER VII + +1800 - 1801 + +Nelson separates himself from his Wife--Northern Confederacy--He goes to +the Baltic, under Sir Hyde Parker--Battle of Copenhagen, and subsequent +Negotiation--Nelson is made a Viscount. + + +NELSON was welcomed in England with every mark of popular honour. +At Yarmouth, where he landed, every ship in the harbour hoisted her +colours. The mayor and corporation waited upon him with the freedom +of the town, and accompanied him in procession to church, with all the +naval officers on shore, and the principal inhabitants. Bonfires and +illuminations concluded the day; and on the morrow, the volunteer +cavalry drew up, and saluted him as he departed, and followed the +carriage to the borders of the county. At Ipswich, the people came out +to meet him, drew him a mile into the town, and three miles out. When he +was in the AGAMEMNON, he wished to represent this place in parliament, +and some of his friends had consulted the leading men of the +corporation--the result was not successful; and Nelson, observing that +he would endeavour to find out a preferable path into parliament, said +there might come a time when the people of Ipswich would think it an +honour to have had him for their representative. In London, he was +feasted by the City, drawn by the populace from Ludgate-hill to +Guildhall, and received the thanks of the common-council for his great +victory, and a golden-hilted sword studded with diamonds. Nelson had +every earthly blessing except domestic happiness; he had forfeited that +for ever. Before he had been three months in England he separated from +Lady Nelson. Some of his last words to her were--"I call God to witness, +there is nothing in you, or your conduct, that I wish otherwise." This +was the consequence of his infatuated attachment to Lady Hamilton. +It had before caused a quarrel with his son-in-law, and occasioned +remonstrances from his truest friends, which produced no other effect +than that of making him displeased with them, and more dissatisfied with +himself. + +The Addington administration was just at this time formed; and Nelson, +who had solicited employment, and been made vice-admiral of the blue, +was sent to the Baltic, as second in command, under Sir Hyde Parker, +by Earl St. Vincent, the new First Lord of the Admiralty. The three +Northern courts had formed a confederacy for making England resign her +naval rights. Of these courts, Russia was guided by the passions of its +emperor, Paul, a man not without fits of generosity, and some natural +goodness, but subject to the wildest humours of caprice, and erased +by the possession of greater power than can ever be safely, or perhaps +innocently, possessed by weak humanity. Denmark was French at heart: +ready to co-operate in all the views of France, to recognise all her +usurpations, and obey all her injunctions. Sweden, under a king whose +principles were right, and whose feelings were generous, but who had a +taint of hereditary insanity, acted in acquiescence with the dictates +of two powers whom it feared to offend. The Danish navy, at this time, +consisted of 23 ships of the line, with about 31 frigates and smaller +vessels, exclusive of guard-ships. The Swedes had 18 ships of the +line, 14 frigates and sloops, seventy-four galleys and smaller vessels, +besides gun-boats; and this force was in a far better state of equipment +than the Danish. The Russians had 82 sail of the line and 40 +frigates. Of these there were 47 sail of the line at Cronstadt, Revel, +Petersburgh, and Archangel; but the Russian fleet was ill-manned, +ill-officered, and ill-equipped. Such a combination under the influence +of France would soon have become formidable; and never did the British +Cabinet display more decision than in instantly preparing to crush it. +They erred, however, in permitting any petty consideration to prevent +them from appointing Nelson to the command. The public properly murmured +at seeing it intrusted to another; and he himself said to Earl St. +Vincent that, circumstanced as he was, this expedition would probably +be the last service that he should ever perform. The earl, in reply, +besought him, for God's sake, not to suffer himself to be carried away +by any sudden impulse. + +The season happened to be unusually favourable; so mild a winter had not +been known in the Baltic for many years. When Nelson joined the fleet at +Yarmouth, he found the admiral "a little nervous about dark nights and +fields of ice." "But we must brace up," said he; "these are not times +for nervous systems. I hope we shall give our northern enemies that +hailstorm of bullets which gives our dear country the dominion of the +sea. We have it, and all the devils in the north cannot take it from us, +if our wooden walls have fair play." Before the fleet left Yarmouth, it +was sufficiently known that its destination was against Denmark. Some +Danes, who belonged to the AMAZON frigate, went to Captain Riou, and +telling him what they had heard, begged that he would get them exchanged +into a ship bound on some other destination. "They had no wish," they +said, "to quit the British service; but they entreated that they might +not be forced to fight against their own country." There was not in our +whole navy a man who had a higher and more chivalrous sense of duty +than Riou. Tears came into his eyes while the men were speaking. Without +making any reply, he instantly ordered his boat, and did not return to +the AMAZON till he could tell them that their wish was effected. The +fleet sailed on the 12th of March. Mr. Vansittart sailed in it; the +British Cabinet still hoping to attain its end by negotiation. It was +well for England that Sir Hyde Parker placed a fuller confidence in +Nelson than the government seems to have done at this most important +crisis. Her enemies might well have been astonished at learning that any +other man should for a moment have been thought of for the command. But +so little deference was paid, even at this time, to his intuitive +and all-commanding genius, that when the fleet had reached its first +rendezvous, at the entrance of the Cattegat, he had received no official +communication whatever of the intended operations. His own mind had been +made up upon them with its accustomed decision. "All I have gathered of +our first plans," said he, "I disapprove most exceedingly. Honour may +arise from them; good cannot. I hear we are likely to anchor outside of +Cronenburgh Castle, instead of Copenhagen, which would give weight to +our negotiation. A Danish minister would think twice before he would put +his name to war with England, when the next moment he would probably see +his master's fleet in flames, and his capital in ruins. The Dane should +see our flag every moment he lifted up his head." + +Mr Vansittart left the fleet at the Scaw, and preceded it in a frigate +with a flag of truce. Precious time was lost by this delay, which was to +be purchased by the dearest blood of Britain and Denmark: according to +the Danes themselves, the intelligence that a British fleet was seen +off the Sound produced a much more general alarm in Copenhagen than its +actual arrival in the Roads; for the means of defence were at that time +in such a state that they could hardly hope to resist, still less to +repel an enemy. On the 21st Nelson had a long conference with Sir Hyde; +and the next day addressed a letter to him, worthy of himself and of the +occasion. Mr. Vansittart's report had then been received. It represented +the Danish government as in the highest degree hostile, and their state +of preparation as exceeding what our cabinet had supposed possible; +for Denmark had profited with all activity of the leisure which had so +impoliticly been given her. "The more I have reflected," said Nelson to +his commander, "the more I am confirmed in opinion, that not a moment +should be lost in attacking the enemy. They will every day and every +hour be stronger; we shall never be so good a match for them as at this +moment. The only consideration is, how to get at them with the least +risk to our ships. Here you are, with almost the safety, certainly with +the honour of England, more entrusted to you than ever yet fell to the +lot of any British officer. On your decision depends whether our country +shall be degraded in the eyes of Europe, or whether she shall rear her +head higher than ever. Again, I do repeat, never did our country depend +so much upon the success of any fleet as on this. How best to honour her +and abate the pride of her enemies, must be the subject of your deepest +consideration." + +Supposing him to force the passage of the Sound, Nelson thought some +damage might be done among the masts and yards; though, perhaps, not one +of them but would be serviceable again. "If the wind be fair," said +he, "and you determined to attack the ships and Crown Islands, you must +expect the natural issue of such a battle--ships crippled, and perhaps +one or two lost for the wind which carries you in will most probably +not bring out a crippled ship. This mode I call taking the bull by the +horns. It, however, will not prevent the Revel ships, or the Swedes, +from joining the Danes and to prevent this is, in my humble opinion, a +measure absolutely necessary, and still to attack Copenhagen." For this +he proposed two modes. One was to pass Cronenburg, taking the risk +of danger; take the deepest and straightest channel along the middle +grounds, and then coming down to Garbar, or King's Channel, attack +the Danish line of floating batteries and ships as might be found +convenient. This would prevent a junction, and might give an opportunity +of bombarding Copenhagen. Or to take the passage of the Belt, which +might be accomplished in four or five days; and then the attack by Draco +might be made, and the junction of the Russians prevented. Supposing +them through the Belt, he proposed that a detachment of the fleet should +be sent to destroy the Russian squadron at Revel; and that the business +at Copenhagen should be attempted with the remainder. "The measure," he +said, "might be thought bold; but the boldest measures are the safest." + +The pilots, as men who had nothing but safety to think of, were +terrified by the formidable report of the batteries of Elsinore, and +the tremendous preparations which our negotiators, who were now returned +from their fruitless mission, had witnessed. They, therefore, persuaded +Sir Hyde to prefer the passage of the Belt. "Let it be by the Sound, by +the Belt, or anyhow," cried Nelson, "only lose not an hour!" On the 26th +they sailed for the Belt. Such was the habitual reserve of Sir Hyde that +his own captain, the captain of the fleet, did not know which course +he had resolved to take till the fleet were getting under weigh. When +Captain Domett was thus apprised of it, he felt it his duty to represent +to the admiral his belief that if that course were persevered in, the +ultimate object would be totally defeated: it was liable to long delays, +and to accidents of ships grounding; in the whole fleet there were only +one captain and one pilot who knew anything of this formidable passage +(as it was then deemed), and their knowledge was very slight--their +instructions did not authorise them to attempt it. Supposing them safe +through the Belts, the heavy ships could not come over the GROUNDS to +attack Copenhagen; and light vessels would have no effect on such a line +of defence as had been prepared against them. Domett urged these reasons +so forcibly that Sir Hyde's opinion was shaken, and he consented to +bring the fleet to and send for Nelson on board. There can be little +doubt but that the expedition would have failed if Captain Domett had +not thus timeously and earnestly given his advice. Nelson entirely +agreed with him; and it was finally determined to take the passage of +the Sound, and the fleet returned to its former anchorage. + +The next day was more idly expended in despatching a flag of truce to +the governor of Cronenburg Castle, to ask whether he had received orders +to fire at the British fleet; as the admiral must consider the first gun +to be a declaration of war on the part of Denmark. A soldier-like and +becoming answer was returned to this formality. The governor said that +the British minister had not been sent away from Copenhagen, but had +obtained a passport at his own demand. He himself, as a soldier, could +not meddle with politics; but he was not at liberty to suffer a fleet, +of which the intention was not yet known, to approach the guns of the +castle which he had the honour to command: and he requested, "if the +British admiral should think proper to make any proposals to the King +of Denmark, that he might be apprised of it before the fleet approached +nearer." During this intercourse, a Dane, who came on board the +commander's ship, having occasion to express his business in writing, +found the pen blunt; and, holding it up, sarcastically said, "If +your guns are not better pointed than your pens, you will make little +impression on Copenhagen!" + +On that day intelligence reached the admiral of the loss of one of his +fleet, the INVINCIBLE, seventy-four, wrecked on a sand-bank, as she was +coming out of Yarmouth: four hundred of her men perished in her. Nelson, +who was now appointed to lead the van, shifted his flag to the ELEPHANT, +Captain Foley--a lighter ship than the ST. GEORGE, and, therefore, +fitter for the expected operations. The two following days were calm. +Orders had been given to pass the Sound as soon as the wind would +permit; and, on the afternoon of the 29th, the ships were cleared for +action, with an alacrity characteristic of British seamen. At daybreak +on the 30th it blew a topsail breeze from N.W. The signal was made, and +the fleet moved on in order of battle; Nelson's division in the van, Sir +Hyde's in the centre, and Admiral Graves' in the rear. + +Great actions, whether military or naval, have generally given celebrity +to the scenes from whence they are denominated; and thus petty villages, +and capes and bays known only to the coasting trader, become associated +with mighty deeds, and their names are made conspicuous in the history +of the world. Here, however, the scene was every way worthy of the +drama. The political importance of the Sound is such, that grand objects +are not needed there to impress the imagination; yet is the channel full +of grand and interesting objects, both of art and nature. This passage, +which Denmark had so long considered as the key of the Baltic, is, +in its narrowest part, about three miles wide; and here the city of +Elsinore is situated; except Copenhagen, the most flourishing of the +Danish towns. Every vessel which passes lowers her top-gallant sails and +pays toll at Elsinore; a toll which is believed to have had its origin +in the consent of the traders to that sea, Denmark taking upon itself +the charge of constructing lighthouses, and erecting signals, to mark +the shoals and rocks from the Cattegat to the Baltic; and they, on their +part, agreeing that all ships should pass this way in order that all +might pay their shares: none from that time using the passage of the +Belt, because it was not fitting that they who enjoyed the benefit of +the beacons in dark and stormy weather, should evade contributing to +them in fair seasons and summer nights. Of late years about ten thousand +vessels had annually paid this contribution in time of peace. Adjoining +Elsinore, and at the edge of the peninsular promontory, upon the nearest +point of land to the Swedish coast, stands Cronenburgh Castle, built +after Tycho Brahe's design; a magnificent pile--at once a palace, +and fortress, and state-prison, with its spires, and towers, and +battlements, and batteries. On the left of the strait is the old Swedish +city of Helsinburg, at the foot, and on the side of a hill. To the north +of Helsinburg the shores are steep and rocky; they lower to the south; +and the distant spires of Lanscrona, Lund, and Malmoe are seen in the +flat country. The Danish shores consist partly of ridges of sand; but +more frequently they are diversified with cornfields, meadows, slopes, +and are covered with rich wood, and villages, and villas, and summer +palaces belonging to the king and the nobility, and denoting the +vicinity of a great capital. The isles of Huen, Statholm, and Amak, +appear in the widening channel; and at the distance of twenty miles from +Elsinore stands Copenhagen in full view; the best city of the north, and +one of the finest capitals of Europe, visible, with its stately spires, +far off. Amid these magnificent objects there are some which possess a +peculiar interest for the recollections which they call forth. The isle +of Huen, a lovely domain, about six miles in circumference, had been the +munificent gift of Frederick the Second to Tycho Brahe. It has higher +shores than the near coast of Zealand, or than the Swedish coast in that +part. Here most of his discoveries were made; and here the ruins are to +be seen of his observatory, and of the mansion where he was visited by +princes; and where, with a princely spirit, he received and entertained +all comers from all parts, and promoted science by his liberality as +well as by his labours. Elsinore is a name familiar to English ears, +being inseparably associated with HAMLET, and one of the noblest works +of human genius. Cronenburgh had been the scene of deeper tragedy: here +Queen Matilda was confined, the victim of a foul and murderous court +intrigue. Here, amid heart-breaking griefs, she found consolation in +nursing her infant. Here she took her everlasting leave of that infant, +when, by the interference of England, her own deliverance was +obtained; and as the ship bore her away from a country where the venial +indiscretions of youth and unsuspicious gaiety had been so cruelly +punished, upon these towers she fixed her eyes, and stood upon the deck, +obstinately gazing toward them till the last speck had disappeared. + +The Sound being the only frequented entrance to the Baltic, the great +Mediterranean of the North, few parts of the sea display so frequent a +navigation. In the height of the season not fewer than a hundred vessels +pass every four-and-twenty hours for many weeks in succession; but never +had so busy or so splendid a scene been exhibited there as on this day, +when the British fleet prepared to force that passage where, till now, +all ships had vailed their topsails to the flag of Denmark. The whole +force consisted of fifty-one sail of various descriptions, of which +sixteen were of the line. The greater part of the bomb and gun vessels +took their stations off Cronenburgh Castle, to cover the fleet; while +others on the larboard were ready to engage the Swedish shore. The +Danes, having improved every moment which ill-timed negotiation and +baffling weather gave them, had lined their shores with batteries; and +as soon as the MONARCH, which was the leading ship, came abreast of +them, a fire was opened from about a hundred pieces of cannon and +mortars; our light vessels immediately, in return, opened their fire +upon the castle. Here was all the pompous circumstance and exciting +reality of war, without its effects; for this ostentatious display was +but a bloodless prelude to the wide and sweeping destruction which was +soon to follow. The enemy's shot fell near enough to splash the water +on board our ships: not relying upon any forbearance of the Swedes, they +meant to have kept the mid channel; but when they perceived that not a +shot was fired from Helsinburg, and that no batteries were to be seen on +the Swedish shore, they inclined to that side, so as completely to get +out of reach of the Danish guns. The uninterrupted blaze which was kept +up from them till the fleet had passed, served only to exhilarate our +sailors, and afford them matter for jest, as the shot fell in showers +a full cable's length short of its destined aim. A few rounds were +returned from some of our leading ships, till they perceived its +inutility: this, however, occasioned the only bloodshed of the day, some +of our men being killed and wounded by the bursting of a gun. As soon as +the main body had passed, the gun vessels followed, desisting from their +bombardment, which had been as innocent as that of the enemy; and, +about mid-day, the whole fleet anchored between the island of Huen and +Copenhagen. Sir Hyde, with Nelson, Admiral Graves, some of the senior +captains, and the commanding officers of the artillery and the troops, +then proceeded in a lugger to reconnoitre the enemy's means of defence; +a formidable line of ships, radeaus, pontoons, galleys, fire-ships and +gun-boats, flanked and supported by extensive batteries, and occupying, +from one extreme point to the other, an extent of nearly four miles. + +A council of war was held In the afternoon. It was apparent that the +Danes could not be attacked without great difficulty and risk; and some +of the members of the council spoke of the number of the Swedes and the +Russians whom they should afterwards have to engage, as a consideration +which ought to be borne in mind. Nelson, who kept pacing the cabin, +impatient as he ever was of anything which savoured of irresolution, +repeatedly said, "The more numerous the better: I wish they were twice +as many,--the easier the victory, depend on it." The plan upon which he +had determined; if ever it should be his fortune to bring a Baltic +fleet to action, was, to attack the head of their line and confuse their +movements. "Close with a Frenchman," he used to say, "but out manoeuvre +a Russian." He offered his services for the attack, requiring ten sail +of the line and the whole of the smaller craft. Sir Hyde gave him two +more line-of-battle ships than he asked, and left everything to his +judgment. + +The enemy's force was not the only, nor the greatest, obstacle with +which the British fleet had to contend: there was another to be overcome +before they could come in contact with it. The channel was little known +and extremely intricate: all the buoys had been removed; and the Danes +considered this difficulty as almost insuperable, thinking the channel +impracticable for so large a fleet. Nelson himself saw the soundings +made and the buoys laid down, boating it upon this exhausting service, +day and night, till it was effected. When this was done he thanked God +for having enabled him to get through this difficult part of his duty. +"It had worn him down," he said, "and was infinitely more grievous to +him than any resistance which he could experience from the enemy." + +At the first council of war, opinions inclined to an attack from the +eastward; but the next day, the wind being southerly, after a second +examination of the Danish position, it was determined to attack from the +south, approaching in the manner which Nelson had suggested in his first +thoughts. On the morning of the 1st of April the whole fleet removed to +an anchorage within two leagues of the town, and off the N.W. end of +the Middle Ground; a shoal lying exactly before the town, at about three +quarters of a mile distance, and extending along its whole sea-front. +The King's Channel, where there is deep water, is between this shoal and +the town; and here the Danes had arranged their line of defence, as near +the shore as possible: nineteen ships and floating batteries, flanked, +at the end nearest the town, by the Crown Batteries, which were two +artificial islands, at the mouth of the harbour--most formidable works; +the larger one having, by the Danish account, 66 guns; but, as Nelson +believed, 88. The fleet having anchored, Nelson, with Riou, in the +AMAZON, made his last examination of the ground; and about one o'clock, +returning to his own ship, threw out the signal to weigh. It was +received with a shout throughout the whole division; they weighed with +a light and favourable wind: the narrow channel between the island of +Saltholm and the Middle Ground had been accurately buoyed; the small +craft pointed out the course distinctly; Riou led the way: the whole +division coasted along the outer edge of the shoal, doubled its further +extremity, and anchored there off Draco Point, just as the darkness +closed--the headmost of the enemy's line not being more than two miles +distant. The signal to prepare for action had been made early in the +evening; and as his own anchor dropt, Nelson called out, "I will fight +them the moment I have a fair wind!" It had been agreed that Sir Hyde, +with the remaining ships, should weigh on the following morning, at the +same time as Nelson, to menace the Crown Batteries on his side, and the +four ships of the line which lay at the entrance of the arsenal; and to +cover our own disabled ships as they came out of action. + +The Danes, meantime, had not been idle: no sooner did the guns of +Cronenburgh make it known to the whole city that all negotiation was +at an end, that the British fleet was passing the Sound, and that the +dispute between the two crowns must now be decided by arms, than a +spirit displayed itself most honourable to the Danish character. All +ranks offered themselves to the service of their country; the university +furnished a corps of 1200 youth, the flower of Denmark--it was one of +those emergencies in which little drilling or discipline is necessary +to render courage available: they had nothing to learn but how to manage +the guns, and day and night were employed in practising them. When the +movements of Nelson's squadron were perceived, it was known when and +where the attack was to be expected, and the line of defence was manned +indiscriminately by soldiers, sailors, and citizens. Had not the whole +attention of the Danes been directed to strengthen their own means of +defence, they might most materially have annoyed the invading squadron, +and perhaps frustrated the impending attack; for the British ships were +crowded in an anchoring ground of little extent:--it was calm, so that +mortar-boats might have acted against them to the utmost advantage; +and they were within range of shells from Amak Island. A few fell among +them; but the enemy soon ceased to fire. It was learned afterwards, +that, fortunately for the fleet, the bed of the mortar had given way; +and the Danes either could not get it replaced, or, in the darkness, +lost the direction. + +This was an awful night for Copenhagen--far more so than for the British +fleet, where the men were accustomed to battle and victory, and had none +of those objects before their eyes which rendered death terrible. Nelson +sat down to table with a large party of his officers: he was, as he was +ever wont to be when on the eve of action, in high spirits, and drank +to a leading wind, and to the success of the morrow. After supper they +returned to their respective ships, except Riou, who remained to arrange +the order of battle with Nelson and Foley, and to draw up instructions. +Hardy, meantime, went in a small boat to examine the channel between +them and the enemy; approaching so near that he sounded round their +leading ship with a pole, lest the noise of throwing the lead should +discover him. The incessant fatigue of body, as well as mind, which +Nelson had undergone during the last three days, had so exhausted him +that he was earnestly urged to go to his cot; and his old servant, +Allen, using that kind of authority which long and affectionate services +entitled and enabled him to assume on such occasions, insisted upon his +complying. The cot was placed on the floor, and he continued to dictate +from it. About eleven Hardy returned, and reported the practicability +of the channel, and the depth of water up to the enemy's line. About +one the orders were completed; and half-a-dozen clerks, in the foremost +cabin, proceeded to transcribe them, Nelson frequently calling out to +them from his cot to hasten their work, for the wind was becoming fair. +Instead of attempting to get a few hours' sleep, he was constantly +receiving reports on this important point. At daybreak it was announced +as becoming perfectly fair. The clerks finished their work about +six. Nelson, who was already up, breakfasted, and made signal for +all captains. The land forces and five hundred seamen, under Captain +Freemantle and the Hon. Colonel Stewart, were to storm the Crown Battery +as soon as its fire should be silenced: and Riou--whom Nelson had never +seen till this expedition, but whose worth he had instantly perceived, +and appreciated as it deserved--had the BLANCHE and ALCMENE frigates, +the DART and ARROW sloops, and the ZEPHYR and OTTER fire-ships, given +him, with a special command to act as circumstances might require--every +other ship had its station appointed. + +Between eight and nine, the pilots and masters were ordered on board the +admirals' ships. The pilots were mostly men who had been mates in Baltic +traders; and their hesitation about the bearing of the east end of the +shoal, and the exact line of deep water, gave ominous warning of how +little their knowledge was to be trusted. The signal for action had been +made, the wind was fair--not a moment to be lost. Nelson urged them +to be steady, to be resolute, and to decide; but they wanted the only +ground for steadiness and decision in such cases; and Nelson had reason +to regret that he had not trusted to Hardy's single report. This was one +of the most painful moments of his life; and he always spoke of it with +bitterness. "I experienced in the Sound," said he, "the misery of having +the honour of our country entrusted to a set of pilots, who have no +other thought than to keep the ships clear of danger, and their own +silly heads clear of shot. Everybody knows what I must have suffered; +and if any merit attaches itself to me, it was for combating the dangers +of the shallows in defiance of them." At length Mr. Bryerly, the master +of the BELLONA, declared that he was prepared to lead the fleet; his +judgment was acceded to by the rest; they returned to their ships; and +at half-past nine the signal was made to weigh in succession. + +Captain Murray, in the EDGAR, led the way; the AGAMEMNON was next in +order; but on the first attempt to leave her anchorage, she could not +weather the edge of the shoal; and Nelson had the grief to see his +old ship, in which he had performed so many years' gallant services, +immovably aground at a moment when her help was so greatly required. +Signal was then made for the POLYPHEMUS; and this change in the order of +sailing was executed with the utmost promptitude: yet so much delay +had thus been unavoidably occasioned, that the EDGAR was for some time +unsupported, and the POLYPHEMUS, whose place should have been at the end +of the enemy's line, where their strength was the greatest, could get +no further than the beginning, owing to the difficulty of the channel: +there she occupied, indeed, an efficient station, but one where her +presence was less required. The ISIS followed with better fortune, and +took her own berth. The BELLONA, Sir Thomas Boulden Thompson, kept too +close on the starboard shoal, and grounded abreast of the outer ship of +the enemy: this was the more vexatious, inasmuch as the wind was fair, +the room ample, and three ships had led the way. The RUSSELL, following +the BELLONA, grounded in like manner: both were within reach of shot; +but their absence from their intended stations was severely felt. Each +ship had been ordered to pass her leader on the starboard side, because +the water was supposed to shoal on the larboard shore. Nelson, who +came next after these two ships, thought they had kept too far on the +starboard direction, and made signal for them to close with the enemy, +not knowing that they were aground; but when he perceived that they did +not obey the signal, he ordered the ELEPHANT's helm to starboard, and +went within these ships: thus quitting the appointed order of sailing, +and guiding those which were to follow. The greater part of the fleet +were probably, by this act of promptitude on his part, saved from going +on shore. Each ship, as she arrived nearly opposite to her appointed +station, let her anchor go by the stern, and presented her broadside to +the Danes. The distance between each was about half a cable. The action +was fought nearly at the distance of a cable's length from the enemy. +This, which rendered its continuance so long, was owing to the ignorance +and consequent indecision of the pilots. In pursuance of the same error +which had led the BELLONA and the RUSSELL aground, they, when the lead +was at a quarter less five, refused to approach nearer, in dread of +shoaling their water on the larboard shore: a fear altogether erroneous, +for the water deepened up to the very side of the enemy's line of +battle. + +At five minutes after ten the action began. The first half of our fleet +was engaged in about half an hour; and by half-past eleven the battle +became general. The plan of the attack had been complete: but seldom has +any plan been more disconcerted by untoward accidents. Of twelve ships +of the line, one was entirely useless, and two others in a situation +where they could not render half the service which was required of them. +Of the squadron of gun-brigs, only one could get into action; the rest +were prevented, by baffling currents, from weathering the eastern end of +the shoal; and only two of the bomb-vessels could reach their station +on the Middle Ground, and open their mortars on the arsenal, firing over +both fleets. Riou took the vacant station against the Crown Battery, +with his frigates: attempting, with that unequal force, a service in +which three sail of the line had been directed to assist. + +Nelson's agitation had been extreme when he saw himself, before the +action began, deprived of a fourth part of his ships of the line; but no +sooner was he in battle, where his squadron was received with the fire +of more than a thousand guns, than, as if that artillery, like +music, had driven away all care and painful thoughts, his countenance +brightened; and, as a bystander describes him, his conversation became +joyous, animated, elevated, and delightful. The Commander-in-Chief +meantime, near enough to the scene of action to know the unfavourable +accidents which had so materially weakened Nelson, and yet too distant +to know the real state of the contending parties, suffered the most +dreadful anxiety. To get to his assistance was impossible; both wind +and current were against him. Fear for the event, in such circumstances, +would naturally preponderate in the bravest mind; and at one o'clock, +perceiving that, after three hours' endurance, the enemy's fire was +unslackened, he began to despair of success. "I will make the signal +of recall," said he to his captain, "for Nelson's sake. If he is in a +condition to continue the action successfully, he will disregard it; +if he is not, it will be an excuse for his retreat, and no blame can be +imputed to him." Captain Domett urged him at least to delay the signal +till he could communicate with Nelson; but in Sir Hyde's opinion the +danger was too pressing for delay. "The fire," he said, "was too hot for +Nelson to oppose; a retreat he thought must be made; he was aware of the +consequences to his own personal reputation, but it would be cowardly in +him to leave Nelson to bear the whole shame of the failure, if shame it +should be deemed." Under, a mistaken judgment, therefore, but with this +disinterested and generous feeling, he made the signal for retreat. + +Nelson was at this time, in all the excitement of action, pacing the +quarter-deck. A shot through the mainmast knocked the splinters about; +and he observed to one of his officers with a smile, "It is warm work, +and this day may be the last to any of us at a moment:"--and then +stopping short at the gangway, added, with emotion--"But mark you! +I would not be elsewhere for thousands." About this time the +signal-lieutenant called out that number Thirty-nine (the signal for +discontinuing the action) was thrown out by the Commander-in-Chief. He +continued to walk the deck, and appeared to take no notice of it. The +signal officer met him at the next turn, and asked if he should repeat +it. "No," he replied, "acknowledge it." Presently he called after him +to know if the signal for close action was still hoisted; and being +answered in the affirmative, said, "Mind you keep it so." He now paced +the deck, moving the stump of his lost arm in a manner which always +indicated great emotion. "Do you know," said he to Mr. Ferguson, "what +is shown on board the Commander-in-Chief? Number Thirty-nine!" Mr. +Ferguson asked what that meant. "Why, to leave off action!" Then +shrugging up his shoulders, he repeated the words--"Leave off action? +Now, damn me if I do! You know, Foley," turning to the captain, "I have +only one eye,--I have a right to be blind sometimes:" and then putting +the glass to his blind eye, in that mood of mind which sports with +bitterness, he exclaimed, "I really do not see the signal!" Presently he +exclaimed, "Damn the signal! Keep mine for closer battle flying! That's +the way I answer signals! Nail mine to the mast!" Admiral Graves, who +was so situated that he could not discern what was done on board +the ELEPHANT, disobeyed Sir Hyde's signal in like manner; whether by +fortunate mistake, or by a like brave intention, has not been made +known. The other ships of the line, looking only to Nelson, continued +the action. The signal, however, saved Riou's little squadron, but +did not save its heroic leader. This squadron, which was nearest the +Commander-in-Chief, obeyed and hauled off. It had suffered severely in +its most unequal contest. For a long time the AMAZON had been firing, +enveloped in smoke, when Riou desired his men to stand fast, and let +the smoke clear off, that they might see what they were about. A fatal +order--for the Danes then got clear sight of her from the batteries, +and pointed their guns with such tremendous effect that nothing but +the signal for retreat saved this frigate from destruction. "What will +Nelson think of us?" was Riou's mournful exclamation when he unwillingly +drew off. He had been wounded in the head by a splinter, and was sitting +on a gun, encouraging his men, when, just as the AMAZON showed her stern +to the Trekroner battery, his clerk was killed by his side; and another +shot swept away several marines who were hauling in the main-brace. +"Come, then, my boys!" cried Riou; "let us die all together!" The words +had scarcely been uttered before a raking shot cut him in two. Except +it had been Nelson himself, the British navy could not have suffered a +severer loss. + +The action continued along the line with unabated vigour on our side, +and with the most determined resolution on the part of the Danes. They +fought to great advantage, because most of the vessels in their line +of defence were without masts; the few which had any standing had their +top-masts struck, and the hulls could not be seen at intervals. The ISIS +must have been destroyed by the superior weight of her enemy's fire, +if Captain Inman, in the DESIREE frigate, had not judiciously taken a +situation which enabled him to rake the Dane, if the POLYPHEMUS had not +also relieved her. Both in the BELLONA and the ISIS many men were lost +by the bursting of their guns. The former ship was about forty years +old, and these guns were believed to be the same which she had first +taken to sea: they were, probably, originally faulty, for the fragments +were full of little air-holes. The BELLONA lost 75 men; the ISIS, 110; +the MONARCH, 210. She was, more than any other line-of-battle ship, +exposed to the great battery; and supporting, at the same time, the +united fire of the HOLSTEIN and the ZEALAND, her loss this day exceeded +that of any single ship during the whole war. Amid the tremendous +carnage in this vessel, some of the men displayed a singular instance of +coolness: the pork and peas happened to be in the kettle; a shot knocked +its contents about; they picked up the pieces, and ate and fought at the +same time. + +The Prince-Royal had taken his station upon one of the batteries, from +whence he beheld the action and issued his orders. Denmark had never +been engaged in so arduous a contest, and never did the Danes more +nobly display their national courage--a courage not more unhappily +than impolitically exerted in subserviency to the interests of France. +Captain Thura, of the INDFOEDSRETTEN, fell early in the action; and all +his officers, except one lieutenant and one marine officer, were either +killed or wounded In the confusion, the colours were either struck or +shot away; but she was moored athwart one of the batteries in such a +situation that the British made no attempt to board her; and a boat was +despatched to the prince, to inform him of her situation. He turned to +those about him, and said, "Gentlemen, Thura is killed; which of you +will take the command?" Schroedersee, a captain who had lately resigned +on account of extreme ill-health, answered in a feeble voice, "I will!" +and hastened on board. The crew, perceiving a new commander coming +alongside, hoisted their colours again, and fired a broadside. +Schroedersee, when he came on deck, found himself surrounded by the dead +and wounded, and called to those in the boat to get quickly on board: a +ball struck him at that moment. A lieutenant, who had accompanied him, +then took the command, and continued to fight the ship. A youth of +seventeen, by name Villemoes, particularly distinguished himself on +this memorable day. He had volunteered to take the command of a floating +battery, which was a raft, consisting merely of a number of beams nailed +together, with a flooring to support the guns: it was square, with a +breast-work full of port-holes, and without masts--carrying twenty-four +guns, and one hundred and twenty men. With this he got under the stern +of the ELEPHANT, below the reach of the stern-chasers; and under a heavy +fire of small-arms from the marines, fought his raft, till the truce +was announced, with such skill as well as courage, as to excite Nelson's +warmest admiration. + +Between one and two the fire of the Danes slackened; about two it ceased +from the greater part of their line, and some of their lighter ships +were adrift. It was, however, difficult to take possession of those +which struck, because the batteries on Amak Island protected them; and +because an irregular fire was kept up from the ships themselves as the +boats approached. This arose from the nature of the action: the crews +were continually reinforced from the shore; and fresh men coming on +board, did not inquire whether the flag had been struck, or, perhaps, +did not heed it; many or most of them never having been engaged in war +before--knowing nothing, therefore, of its laws, and thinking only of +defending their country to the last extremity. The DANBROG fired upon +the ELEPHANT's boats in this manner, though her commodore had removed +her pendant and deserted her, though she had struck, and though she was +in flames. After she had been abandoned by the commodore, Braun fought +her till he lost his right hand, and then Captain Lemming took the +command. This unexpected renewal of her fire made the ELEPHANT and +GLATTON renew theirs, till she was not only silenced, but nearly every +man in the praams, ahead and astern of her, was killed. When the smoke +of their guns died away, she was seen drifting in flames before +the wind: those of her crew who remained alive, and able to exert +themselves, throwing themselves out at her port-holes. Captain Bertie +of the ARDENT sent his launch to their assistance, and saved +three-and-twenty of them. + +Captain Rothe commanded the NYEBORG praam; and perceiving that she could +not much longer be kept afloat, made for the inner road. As he passed +the line, he found the AGGERSHUUS praam in a more miserable condition +than his own; her masts had all gone by the board, and she was on the +point of sinking. Rothe made fast a cable to her stern, and towed her +off; but he could get her no further than a shoal called Stubben, +when she sunk, and soon after he had worked the NYEBORG up to the +landing-place, that vessel also sunk to her gunwale. Never did any +vessel come out of action in a more dreadful plight. The stump of her +foremast was the only stick standing; her cabin had been stove in; every +gun, except a single one, was dismounted; and her deck was covered with +shattered limbs and dead bodies. + +By half-past two the action had ceased along that part of the line which +was astern of the ELEPHANT, but not with the ships ahead and the Crown +Batteries. Nelson, seeing the manner in which his boats were fired upon +when they went to take possession of the prizes, became angry, and said +he must either send ashore to have this irregular proceeding stopped, +or send a fire-ship and burn them. Half the shot from the Trekroner, and +from the batteries at Amak, at this time, struck the surrendered ships, +four of which had got close together; and the fire of the English, +in return, was equally or even more destructive to these poor devoted +Danes. Nelson, who was as humane as he was brave, was shocked at the +massacre--for such he called it; and with a presence of mind peculiar to +himself, and never more signally displayed than now, he retired into the +stern gallery, and wrote thus to the Crown Prince:--"Vice-Admiral Lord +Nelson has been commanded to spare Denmark when she no longer resists. +The line of defence which covered her shores has struck to the British +flag; but if the firing is continued on the part of Denmark, he must set +on fire all the prizes that he has taken, without having the power of +saving the men who have so nobly defended them. The brave Danes are the +brothers, and should never be the enemies, of the English." A wafer was +given him, but he ordered a candle to be brought from the cockpit, and +sealed the letter with wax, affixing a larger seal than he ordinarily +used. "This," said he, "is no time to appear hurried and informal." +Captain Sir Frederick Thesiger, who acted as his aide-de-camp, carried +this letter with a flag of truce. Meantime the fire of the ships ahead, +and the approach of the RAMILLIES and DEFENCE from Sir Hyde's division, +which had now worked near enough to alarm the enemy, though not to +injure them, silenced the remainder of the Danish line to the eastward +of the Trekroner. That battery, however, continued its fire. This +formidable work, owing to the want of the ships which had been destined +to attack it, and the inadequate force of Riou's little squadron, was +comparatively uninjured. Towards the close of the action it had been +manned with nearly fifteen hundred men; and the intention of storming +it, for which every preparation had been made, was abandoned as +impracticable. + +During Thesiger's absence, Nelson sent for Freemantle, from the GANGES, +and consulted with him and Foley whether it was advisable to advance, +with those ships which had sustained least damage, against the yet +uninjured part of the Danish line. They were decidedly of opinion that +the best thing which could be done was, while the wind continued fair, +to remove the fleet out of the intricate channel from which it had to +retreat. In somewhat more than half an hour after Thesiger had been +despatched, the Danish adjutant-general, Lindholm came, bearing a +flag of truce, upon which the Trekroner ceased to fire, and the action +closed, after four hours' continuance. He brought an inquiry from the +prince,--What was the object of Nelson's note? The British admiral +wrote in reply:--"Lord Nelson's object in sending the flag of truce was +humanity; he therefore consents that hostilities shall cease, and that +the wounded Danes may be taken on shore. And Lord Nelson will take his +prisoners out of the vessels, and burn or carry off his prizes as he +shall think fit. Lord Nelson, with humble duty to his royal highness the +prince, will consider this the greatest victory he has ever gained, if +it may be the cause of a happy reconciliation and union between his +own most gracious sovereign and his majesty the King of Denmark." Sir +Frederick Thesiger was despatched a second time with the reply; and the +Danish adjutant-general was referred to the commander-in-chief for a +conference upon this overture. Lindholm assenting to this, proceeded to +the LONDON, which was riding at anchor full four miles off and Nelson, +losing not one of the critical moments which he had thus gained, made +signal for his leading ships to weigh in succession; they had the shoal +to clear, they were much crippled, and their course was immediately +under the guns of the Trekroner. + +The MONARCH led the way. This ship had received six-and-twenty shot +between wind and water. She had not a shroud standing; there was a +double-headed shot in the heart of her foremast, and the slightest wind +would have sent every mast over her side. The imminent danger from which +Nelson had extricated himself soon became apparent: the MONARCH touched +immediately upon a shoal, over which she was pushed by the GANGES taking +her amidships; the GLATTON went clear; but the other two, the DEFIANCE +and the ELEPHANT, grounded about a mile from the Trekroner, and there +remained fixed for many hours, in spite of all the exertions of their +wearied crews. The DESIREE frigate also, at the other end of the line, +having gone toward the close of the action to assist the BELLONA, became +fast on the same shoal. Nelson left the ELEPHANT soon after she took the +ground, to follow Lindholm. The heat of the action was over, and that +kind of feeling which the surrounding scene of havoc was so well fitted +to produce, pressed heavily upon his exhausted spirits. The sky had +suddenly become overcast; white flags were waving from the mast-heads of +so many shattered ships; the slaughter had ceased, but the grief was to +come; for the account of the dead was not yet made up, and no man could +tell for what friends he might have to mourn. The very silence which +follows the cessation of such a battle becomes a weight upon the +heart at first, rather than a relief; and though the work of mutual +destruction was at an end, the DANBROG was at this time drifting about +in flames; presently she blew up; while our boats, which had put off in +all directions to assist her, were endeavouring to pick up her devoted +crew, few of whom could be saved. The fate of these men, after the +gallantry which they had displayed, particularly affected Nelson; for +there was nothing in this action of that indignation against the enemy, +and that impression of retributive justice, which at the Nile had +given a sterner temper to his mind, and a sense of austere delight in +beholding the vengeance of which he was the appointed minister. The +Danes were an honourable foe; they were of English mould as well as +English blood; and now that the battle had ceased, he regarded them +rather as brethren than as enemies. There was another reflection also +which mingled with these melancholy thoughts, and predisposed him to +receive them. He was not here master of his own movements, as at Egypt; +he had won the day by disobeying his orders; and in so far as he had +been successful, had convicted the commander-in-chief of an error in +judgment. "Well," said he, as he left the ELEPHANT, "I have fought +contrary to orders, and I shall perhaps be hanged. Never mind: let +them!" + +This was the language of a man who, while he is giving utterance to +uneasy thought, clothes it half in jest, because he half repents that it +has been disclosed. His services had been too eminent on that day, his +judgment too conspicuous, his success too signal, for any commander, +however jealous of his own authority, or envious of another's merits, to +express anything but satisfaction and gratitude: which Sir Hyde heartily +felt, and sincerely expressed. It was speedily agreed that there should +be a suspension of hostilities for four-and-twenty hours; that all the +prizes should be surrendered, and the wounded Danes carried on shore. +There was a pressing necessity for this, for the Danes, either from too +much confidence in the strength of their position and the difficulty +of the channel, or supposing that the wounded might be carried on shore +during the action, which was found totally impracticable, or perhaps +from the confusion which the attack excited, had provided no surgeons; +so that, when our men boarded the captured ships, they found many of +the mangled and mutilated Danes bleeding to death for want of proper +assistance--a scene, of all others, the most shocking to a brave man's +feelings. + +The boats of Sir Hyde's division were actively employed all night in +bringing out the prizes, and in getting afloat the ships which were +on shore. At daybreak, Nelson, who had slept in his own ship, the St. +George, rowed to the ELEPHANT; and his delight at finding her afloat +seemed to give him new life. There he took a hasty breakfast, praising +the men for their exertions, and then pushed off to the prizes, which +had not yet been removed. The ZEALAND, seventy-four, the last which +struck, had drifted on the shoal under the Trekroner; and relying, as +it seems, upon the protection which that battery might have afforded, +refused to acknowledge herself captured; saying, that though it was +true her flag was not to be seen, her pendant was still flying. Nelson +ordered one of our brigs and three long-boats to approach her, and +rowed up himself to one of the enemy's ships, to communicate with the +commodore. This officer proved to be an old acquaintance, whom he had +known in the West Indies; so he invited himself on board, and with that +urbanity as well as decision which always characterised him, urged his +claim to the ZEALAND so well that it was admitted. The men from the +boats lashed a cable round her bowsprit, and the gun-vessel towed her +away. It is affirmed, and probably with truth, that the Danes felt more +pain at beholding this than at all their misfortunes on the preceding +day; and one of the officers, Commodore Steen Rille, went to the +Trekroner battery, and asked the commander why he had not sunk the +ZEALAND, rather than suffer her thus to be carried off by the enemy? + +This was, indeed, a mournful day for Copenhagen! It was Good Friday; but +the general agitation, and the mourning which was in every house, +made all distinction of days be forgotten. There were, at that hour, +thousands in that city who felt, and more perhaps who needed, the +consolations of Christianity, but few or none who could be calm enough +to think of its observances. The English were actively employed in +refitting their own ships, securing the prizes, and distributing the +prisoners; the Danes, in carrying on shore and disposing of the wounded +and the dead. It had been a murderous action. Our loss, in killed and +wounded, was 953. Part of this slaughter might have been spared. The +commanding officer of the troops on board one of our ships asked where +his men should be stationed? He was told that they could be of no use! +that they were not near enough for musketry, and were not wanted at +the guns; they had, therefore, better go below. This, he said, was +impossible; it would be a disgrace that could never be wiped away. They +were, therefore, drawn up upon the gangway, to satisfy this cruel point +of honour; and there, without the possibility of annoying the enemy, +they were mowed down! The loss of the Danes, including prisoners, +amounted to about six thousand. The negotiations, meantime, went on; and +it was agreed that Nelson should have an interview with the prince the +following day. Hardy and Freemantle landed with him. This was a thing as +unexampled as the other circumstances of the battle. A strong guard +was appointed to escort him to the palace, as much for the purpose of +security as of honour. The populace, according to the British account, +showed a mixture of admiration, curiosity, and displeasure, at beholding +that man in the midst of them who had inflicted such wounds upon +Denmark. But there were neither acclamations nor murmurs. "The people," +says a Dane, "did not degrade themselves with the former, nor disgrace +themselves with the latter: the admiral was received as one brave +enemy ever ought to receive another--he was received with respect." The +preliminaries of the negotiation were adjusted at this interview. +During the repast which followed, Nelson, with all the sincerity of his +character, bore willing testimony to the valour of his foes. He told the +prince that he had been in a hundred and five engagements, but that this +was the most tremendous of all. "The French," he said, "fought bravely; +but they could not have stood for one hour the fight which the Danes had +supported for four." He requested that Villemoes might be introduced to +him; and, shaking hands with the youth, told the prince that he ought to +be made an admiral. The prince replied: "If, my lord, I am to make all +my brave officers admirals, I should have no captains or lieutenants in +my service." + +The sympathy of the Danes for their countrymen who had bled in their +defence, was not weakened by distance of time or place in this instance. +Things needful for the service, or the comfort of the wounded, were +sent in profusion to the hospitals, till the superintendents gave public +notice that they could receive no more. On the third day after the +action, the dead were buried in the naval churchyard: the ceremony was +made as public and as solemn as the occasion required; such a procession +had never before been seen in that, or perhaps in any other city. A +public monument was erected upon the spot where the slain were gathered +together. A subscription was opened on the day of the funeral for the +relief of the sufferers, and collections in aid of it made throughout +all the churches in the kingdom. This appeal to the feelings of the +people was made with circumstances which gave it full effect. A monument +was raised in the midst of the church, surmounted by the Danish colours: +young maidens, dressed in white, stood round it, with either one who had +been wounded in the battle, or the widow and orphans of some one who had +fallen: a suitable oration was delivered from the pulpit, and patriotic +hymns and songs were afterwards performed. Medals were distributed to +all the officers, and to the men who had distinguished themselves. +Poets and painters vied with each other in celebrating a battle which, +disastrous as it was, had yet been honourable to their country: some, +with pardonable sophistry, represented the advantage of the day as +on their own side. One writer discovered a more curious, but less +disputable ground of satisfaction, in the reflection that Nelson, as +may be inferred from his name, was of Danish descent, and his actions +therefore, the Dane argued, were attributable to Danish valour. + +The negotiation was continued during the five following days; and in +that interval the prizes were disposed of, in a manner which was little +approved by Nelson. Six line-of-battle ships and eight praams had been +taken. Of these the HOLSTEIN, sixty-four, was the only one which was +sent home. The ZEALAND was a finer ship; but the ZEALAND and all the +others were burned, and their brass battering cannon sunk with the hulls +in such shoal water, that, when the fleet returned from Revel, they +found the Danes, with craft over the wrecks, employed in getting the +guns up again. Nelson, though he forbore from any public expression of +displeasure at seeing the proofs and trophies of his victory destroyed, +did not forget to represent to the Admiralty the case of those who +were thus deprived of their prize-money. "Whether," said he to Earl St. +Vincent, "Sir Hyde Parker may mention the subject to you, I know not; +for he is rich, and does not want it: nor is it, you will believe me, +any desire to get a few hundred pounds that actuates me to address this +letter to you; but justice to the brave officers and men who fought +on that day. It is true our opponents were in hulks and floats, only +adapted for the position they were in; but that made our battle so much +the harder, and victory so much the more difficult to obtain. Believe +me, I have weighed all circumstances; and, in my conscience, I think +that the king should send a gracious message to the House of Commons +for a gift to this fleet; for what must be the natural feelings of the +officers and men belonging to it, to see their rich commander-in-chief +burn all the fruits of their victory, which, if fitted up and sent to +England (as many of them might have been by dismantling part of our +fleet), would have sold for a good round sum." + +On the 9th, Nelson landed again, to conclude the terms of the armistice. +During its continuance the armed ships and vessels of Denmark were to +remain in their actual situation, as to armament, equipment, and hostile +position; and the treaty of armed neutrality, as far as related to the +co-operation of Denmark, was suspended. The prisoners were to be sent on +shore; an acknowledgment being given for them, and for the wounded also, +that: they might be carried to Great Britain's credit in the account +of war, in case hostilities should be renewed. The British fleet was +allowed to provide itself with all things requisite for the health and +comfort of its men. A difficulty arose respecting the duration of the +armistice. The Danish commissioners fairly stated their fears of Russia; +and Nelson, with that frankness which sound policy and the sense of +power seem often to require as well as justify in diplomacy, told them +his reason for demanding a long term was, that he might have time to act +against the Russian fleet, and then return to Copenhagen. Neither party +would yield upon this point; and one of the Danes hinted at the +renewal of hostilities. "Renew hostilities!" cried Nelson to one of his +friends--for he understood French enough to comprehend what was said, +though not to answer it in the same language--"tell him we are ready +at a moment! ready to bombard this very night!" The conference, however, +proceeded amicably on both sides; and as the commissioners could not +agree on this head, they broke up, leaving Nelson to settle it with the +prince. A levee was held forthwith in one of the state-rooms, a scene +well suited for such a consultation; for all these rooms had been +stripped of their furniture, in fear of a bombardment. To a bombardment +also Nelson was looking at this time: fatigue and anxiety, and vexation +at the dilatory measures of the commander-in-chief, combined to make +him irritable; and as he was on his way to the prince's dining-room, +he whispered to the officer on whose arm he was leaning, "Though I have +only one eye, I can see that all this will burn well." After dinner he +was closeted with the prince; and they agreed that the armistice should +continue fourteen weeks; and that, at its termination, fourteen days' +notice should be given before the recommencement of hostilities. + +An official account of the battle was published by Olfert Fischer, the +Danish commander-in-chief in which it was asserted that our force was +greatly superior; nevertheless, that two of our ships of the line had +struck; that the others were so weakened, and especially Lord Nelson's +own ship, as to fire only single shots for an hour before the end of the +action; and that this hero himself, in the middle and very heat of +the conflict, sent a flag of truce on shore, to propose a cessation +of hostilities. For the truth of this account the Dane appealed to the +prince, and all those who, like him, had been eyewitnesses of the scene. +Nelson was exceedingly indignant at such a statement, and addressed a +letter in confutation of it to the Adjutant-General Lindholm; thinking +this incumbent on him for the information of the prince, since His Royal +Highness had been appealed to as a witness: "Otherwise," said he, "had +Commodore Fischer confined himself to his own veracity, I should have +treated his official letter with the contempt it deserved, and allowed +the world to appreciate the merits of the two commanding officers." +After pointing out and detecting some of the misstatements in the +account, he proceeds: "As to his nonsense about victory, His Royal +Highness will not much credit him. I sunk, burnt, captured, or drove +into the harbour, the whole line of defence to the southward of the +Crown Islands. He says he is told that two British ships struck. Why did +he not take possession of them? I took possession of his as fast as they +struck. The reason is clear, that he did not believe it: he must have +known the falsity of the report. He states that the ship in which I had +the honour to hoist my flag fired latterly only single guns. It is true; +for steady and cool were my brave fellows, and did not wish to throw +away a single shot. He seems to exult that I sent on shore a flag of +truce. You know, and His Royal Highness knows, that the guns fired +from the shore could only fire through the Danish ships which had +surrendered; and that, if I fired at the shore, it could only be in the +same manner. God forbid that I should destroy an unresisting Dane! When +they become my prisoners, I become their protector." + +This letter was written in terms of great asperity to the Danish +commander. Lindholm replied in a manner every way honourable to himself. +He vindicated the commodore in some points, and excused him in others; +reminding Nelson that every commander-in-chief was liable to receive +incorrect reports. With a natural desire to represent the action in the +most favourable light to Denmark, he took into the comparative strength +of the two parties the ships which were aground, and which could not +get into action; and omitted the Trekroner and the batteries upon Amak +Island. He disclaimed all idea of claiming as a victory, "what, to every +intent and purpose," said he, "was a defeat--but not an inglorious one. +As to your lordship's motive for sending a flag of truce, it never can +be misconstrued and your subsequent conduct has sufficiently shown that +humanity is always the companion of true valour. You have done more: you +have shown yourself a friend to the re-establishment of peace and good +harmony between this country and Great Britain. It is, therefore, +with the sincerest esteem I shall always feel myself attached to +your lordship." Thus handsomely winding up his reply, he soothed and +contented Nelson; who drawing up a memorandum of the comparative force +of the two parties for his own satisfaction, assured Lindholm that, +if the commodore's statement had been in the same manly and honourable +strain, he would have been the last man to have noticed any little +inaccuracies which might get into a commander-in-chiefs public letter. + +For the battle of Copenhagen Nelson was raised to the rank of +viscount--an inadequate mark of reward for services so splendid, and +of such paramount importance to the dearest interests of England. There +was, however, some prudence in dealing out honours to him step by step: +had he lived long enough, he would have fought his way up to a dukedom. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +1801 - 1805 + +Sir Hyde Parker is recalled and Nelson appointed Commander--He goes to +Revel--Settlement of Affairs in the Baltic--Unsuccessful Attempt upon +the Flotilla at Boulogne--Peace of Amiens--Nelson takes Command in +the Mediterranean on the Renewal of the War--Escape of the Toulon +Fleet--Nelson chases them to the West Indies and back--Delivers up his +Squadron to Admiral Cornwallis and lands in England. + + +WHEN Nelson informed Earl St. Vincent that the armistice had been +concluded, he told him also, without reserve, his own discontent at the +dilatoriness and indecision which he witnessed, and could not remedy. +"No man," said he, "but those who are on the spot, can tell what I have +gone through, and do suffer. I make no scruple in saying, that I would +have been at Revel fourteen days ago! that, without this armistice, the +fleet would never have gone, but by order of the Admiralty; and with it, +I daresay, we shall not go this week. I wanted Sir Hyde to let me, at +least, go and cruise off Carlscrona, to prevent the Revel ships from +getting in. I said I would not go to Revel to take any of those laurels +which I was sure he would reap there. Think for me, my dear lord: and if +I have deserved well, let me return; if ill, for Heaven's sake supersede +me, for I cannot exist in this state." + +Fatigue, incessant anxiety, and a climate little suited to one of a +tender constitution, which had now for many years been accustomed to +more genial latitudes, made him at this time seriously determine +upon returning home. "If the northern business were not settled," he +said, "they must send more admirals; for the keen air of the north had +cut him to the heart." He felt the want of activity and decision in +the commander-in-chief more keenly; and this affected his spirits, and, +consequently, his health, more than the inclemency of the Baltic. Soon +after the armistice was signed, Sir Hyde proceeded to the eastward with +such ships as were fit for service, leaving Nelson to follow with the +rest, as soon as those which had received slight damages should be +repaired, and the rest sent to England. In passing between the isles +of Amak and Saltholm, most of the ships touched the ground, and some of +them stuck fast for a while: no serious injury, however, was sustained. +It was intended to act against the Russians first, before the breaking +up of the frost should enable them to leave Revel; but learning on the +way that the Swedes had put to sea to effect a junction with them, +Sir Hyde altered his course, in hopes of intercepting this part of the +enemy's force. Nelson had, at this time, provided for the more pressing +emergencies of the service, and prepared on the 18th to follow the +fleet. The ST. GEORGE drew too much water to pass the channel between +the isles without being lightened; the guns were therefore taken out, +and put on board an American vessel; a contrary wind, however, prevented +Nelson from moving; and on that same evening, while he was thus delayed, +information reached him of the relative situation of the Swedish and +British fleets, and the probability of an action. The fleet was nearly +ten leagues distant, and both wind and current contrary, but it was not +possible that Nelson could wait for a favourable season under such an +expectation. He ordered his boat immediately, and stepped into it. Night +was setting in, one of the cold spring nights of the north; and it was +discovered, soon after they left the ship, that in their haste they had +forgotten to provide him with a boat-cloak. He, however, forbade them +to return for one; and when one of his companions offered his own +great-coat, and urged him to make use of it, he replied, "I thank you +very much; but, to tell you the truth, my anxiety keeps me sufficiently +warm at present." + +"Do you think," said he presently, "that our fleet has quitted Bornholm? +If it has, we must follow it to Carlscrona." About midnight he reached +it, and once more got on board the ELEPHANT. On the following morning +the Swedes were discovered; as soon, however, as they perceived the +English approaching, they retired, and took shelter in Carlscrona, +behind the batteries on the island, at the entrance of that port. Sir +Hyde sent in a flag of truce, stating that Denmark had concluded an +armistice, and requiring an explicit declaration from the court of +Sweden, whether it would adhere to or abandon the hostile measures which +it had taken against the rights and interests of Great Britain? The +commander, Vice-Admiral Cronstadt, replied, "That he could not answer +a question which did not come within the particular circle of his duty; +but that the king was then at Maloe, and would soon be at Carlscrona." +Gustavus shortly afterwards arrived, and an answer was then returned to +this effect: "That his Swedish majesty would not, for a moment, fail to +fulfil, with fidelity and sincerity, the engagements he had entered +into with his allies; but he would not refuse to listen to equitable +proposals made by deputies furnished with proper authority by the King +of Great Britain to the united northern powers." Satisfied with this +answer, and with the known disposition of the Swedish court, Sir Hyde +sailed for the Gulf of Finland; but he had not proceeded far before +a despatch boat from the Russian ambassador at Copenhagen arrived, +bringing intelligence of the death of the Emperor Paul, and that his +successor Alexander had accepted the offer made by England to his father +of terminating the dispute by a convention: the British admiral was, +therefore, required to desist from all further hostilities. + +It was Nelson's maxim, that, to negotiate with effect, force should be +at hand, and in a situation to act. The fleet, having been reinforced +from England, amounted to eighteen sail of the line, and the wind was +fair for Revel. There he would have sailed immediately to place +himself between that division of the Russian fleet and the squadron at +Cronstadt, in case this offer should prove insincere. Sir Hyde, on the +other hand, believed that the death of Paul had effected all which was +necessary. The manner of that death, indeed, rendered it apparent that +a change of policy would take place in the cabinet of Petersburgh; but +Nelson never trusted anything to the uncertain events of time, which +could possibly be secured by promptitude or resolution. It was +not, therefore, without severe mortification, that he saw the +commander-in-chief return to the coast of Zealand, and anchor in Kioge +Bay, there to wait patiently for what might happen. + +There the fleet remained till dispatches arrived from home, on the 5th +of May, recalling Sir Hyde, and appointing Nelson commander-in-chief. + +Nelson wrote to Earl St. Vincent that he was unable to hold this +honourable station. Admiral Graves also was so ill as to be confined to +his bed; and he entreated that some person might come out and take the +command. "I will endeavour," said he, "to do my best while I remain; +but, my dear lord, I shall either soon go to heaven, I hope, or must +rest quiet for a time. If Sir Hyde were gone, I would now be under +sail." On the day when this was written, he received news of +his appointment. Not a moment was now lost. His first signal, as +commander-in-chief, was to hoist in all launches and prepare to weigh; +and on the 7th he sailed from Kioge. Part of his fleet was left at +Bornholm, to watch the Swedes, from whom he required and obtained an +assurance that the British trade in the Cattegat and in the Baltic +should not be molested; and saying how unpleasant it would be to him if +anything should happen which might for a moment disturb the returning +harmony between Sweden and Great Britain, he apprised them that he was +not directed to abstain from hostilities should he meet with the Swedish +fleet at sea. Meantime he himself; with ten sail of the line, two +frigates, a brig, and a schooner, made for the Gulf of Finland. Paul, +in one of the freaks of his tyranny, had seized upon all the British +effects in Russia, and even considered British subjects as his +prisoners. "I will have all the English shipping and property restored," +said Nelson, "but I will do nothing violently, neither commit the +affairs of my country, nor suffer Russia to mix the affairs of Denmark +or Sweden with the detention of our ships." The wind was fair, and +carried him in four days to Revel Roads. But the Bay had been clear +of firm ice on the 29th of April, while the English were lying idly at +Kioge. The Russians had cut through the ice in the mole six feet thick, +and their whole squadron had sailed for Cronstadt on the 3rd. Before +that time it had lain at the mercy of the English. "Nothing," Nelson +said, "if it had been right to make the attack, could have saved one +ship of them in two hours after our entering the bay." + +It so happened that there was no cause to regret the opportunity which +had been lost, and Nelson immediately put the intentions of Russia to +the proof. He sent on shore, to say that he came with friendly views, +and was ready to return a salute. On their part the salute was delayed, +till a message was sent to them to inquire for what reason; and the +officer whose neglect had occasioned the delay, was put under arrest. +Nelson wrote to the emperor, proposing to wait on him personally and +congratulate him on his accession, and urged the immediate release of +British subjects, and restoration of British property. + +The answer arrived on the 16th: Nelson, meantime, had exchanged visits +with the governor, and the most friendly intercourse had subsisted +between the ships and the shore. Alexander's ministers, in their reply, +expressed their surprise at the arrival of a British fleet in a Russian +port, and their wish that it should return: they professed, on the part +of Russia, the most friendly disposition towards Great Britain; but +declined the personal visit of Lord Nelson, unless he came in a single +ship. There was a suspicion implied in this which stung Nelson; and he +said the Russian ministers would never have written thus if their fleet +had been at Revel. He wrote an immediate reply, expressing what he felt; +he told the court of Petersburgh, "That the word of a British admiral, +when given in explanation of any part of his conduct, was as sacred as +that of any sovereign's in Europe." And he repeated, "that, under other +circumstances, it would have been his anxious wish to have paid his +personal respects to the emperor, and signed with his own hand the act +of amity between the two countries." Having despatched this, he stood +out to sea immediately, leaving a brig to bring off the provisions which +had been contracted for, and to settle the accounts. "I hope all is +right," said he, writing to our ambassador at Berlin; "but seamen are +but bad negotiators; for we put to issue in five minutes what diplomatic +forms would be five months doing." + +On his way down the Baltic, however, he met the Russian admiral, +Tchitchagof, whom the emperor, in reply to Sir Hyde's overtures, had +sent to communicate personally with the British commander-in-chief. The +reply was such as had been wished and expected; and these negotiators +going, seamen-like, straight to their object, satisfied each other of +the friendly intentions of their respective governments. Nelson then +anchored off Rostock; and there he received an answer to his last +despatch from Revel, in which the Russian court expressed their regret +that there should have been any misconception between them; informed +him that the British vessels which Paul had detained were ordered to +be liberated, and invited him to Petersburgh, in whatever mode might +be most agreeable to himself. Other honours awaited him: the Duke of +Mecklenburgh Strelitz, the queen's brother, came to visit him on +board his ship; and towns of the inland parts of Mecklenburgh sent +deputations, with their public books of record, that they might have the +name of Nelson in them written by his own hand. + +From Rostock the fleet returned to Kioge Bay. Nelson saw that the +temper of the Danes towards England was such as naturally arose from the +chastisement which they had so recently received. "In this nation," said +he, "we shall not be forgiven for having the upper hand of them: I only +thank God we have, or they would try to humble us to the dust." He saw +also that the Danish cabinet was completely subservient to France: a +French officer was at this time the companion and counsellor of the +Crown Prince; and things were done in such open violation of the +armistice, that Nelson thought a second infliction of vengeance would +soon be necessary. He wrote to the Admiralty, requesting a clear and +explicit reply to his inquiry, Whether the commander-in-chief was at +liberty to hold the language becoming a British admiral? "Which, very +probably," said he, "if I am here, will break the armistice, and set +Copenhagen in a blaze. I see everything which is dirty and mean going +on, and the Prince Royal at the head of it. Ships have been masted, guns +taken on board, floating batteries prepared, and except hauling out and +completing their rigging, everything is done in defiance of the treaty. +My heart burns at seeing the word of a prince, nearly allied to our +good king, so falsified; but his conduct is such, that he will lose +his kingdom if he goes on; for Jacobins rule in Denmark. I have made no +representations yet, as it would be useless to do so until I have +the power of correction. All I beg, in the name of the future +commander-in-chief, is, that the orders may be clear; for enough is done +to break twenty treaties, if it should be wished, or to make the Prince +Royal humble himself before British generosity." + +Nelson was not deceived in his judgment of the Danish cabinet, but the +battle of Copenhagen had crippled its power. The death of the Czar Paul +had broken the confederacy; and that cabinet, therefore, was compelled +to defer till a more convenient season the indulgence of its enmity +towards Great Britain. Soon afterwards Admiral Sir Charles Maurice Pole +arrived to take the command. The business, military and political, had +by that time been so far completed that the presence of the British +fleet soon became no longer necessary. Sir Charles, however, made the +short time of his command memorable, by passing the Great Belt for +the first time with line-of-battle ships, working through the channel +against adverse winds. When Nelson left the fleet, this speedy +termination of the expedition, though confidently expected, was not +certain; and he, in his unwillingness to weaken the British force, +thought at one time of traversing Jutland in his boat, by the canal +to Tonningen on the Eyder and finding his way home from thence. This +intention was not executed; but he returned in a brig, declining to +accept a frigate, which few admirals would have done, especially if, +like him, they suffered from sea-sickness in a small vessel. On his +arrival at Yarmouth, the first thing he did was to visit the hospital +and see the men who had been wounded in the late battle--that victory +which had added new glory to the name of Nelson, and which was of more +importance even than the battle of the Nile to the honour, the strength, +and security of England. + +The feelings of Nelson's friends, upon the news of his great victory at +Copenhagen, were highly described by Sir William Hamilton in a letter to +him. "We can only expect," he says, "what me know well, and often said +before, that Nelson WAS, IS, and to the LAST WILL EVER BE, THE FIRST. +Emma did not know whether she was on her head or heels--in such a hurry +to tell your great news, that she could utter nothing but tears of joy +and tenderness. I went to Davison, and found him still in bed, having +had a severe fit of the gout, and with your letter, which he had just +received; and he cried like a child; but, what was very extraordinary, +assured me that, from the instant he had read your letter, all pain had +left him, and that he felt himself able to get up and walk about. Your +brother, Mrs. Nelson, and Horace dined with us. Your brother was more +extraordinary than ever. He would get up suddenly and cut a caper, +rubbing his hands every time that the thought of your fresh laurels came +into his head. But I am sure that no one really rejoiced more at heart +than I did. I have lived too long to have ecstasies! But with calm +reflection, I felt for my friend having got to the very summit of glory! +the NE PLUS ULTRA! that he has had another opportunity of rendering his +country the most important service, and manifesting again his judgment, +his intrepidity, and his humanity." + +He had not been many weeks on shore before he was called upon to +undertake a service, for which no Nelson was required. Buonaparte, who +was now first consul, and in reality sole ruler of France, was making +preparations, upon a great scale, for invading England; but his schemes +in the Baltic had been baffled; fleets could not be created as they were +wanted; and his armies, therefore, were to come over in gun-boats, +and such small craft as could be rapidly built or collected for the +occasion. From the former governments of France such threats have only +been matter of insult and policy: in Buonaparte they were sincere; for +this adventurer, intoxicated with success, already began to imagine that +all things were to be submitted to his fortune. We had not at that +time proved the superiority of our soldiers over the French; and the +unreflecting multitude were not to be persuaded that an invasion could +only be effected by numerous and powerful fleets. A general alarm was +excited; and, in condescension to this unworthy feeling, Nelson was +appointed to a command, extending from Orfordness to Beachy Head, on +both shores--a sort of service, he said, for which he felt no other +ability than what might be found in his zeal. + +To this service, however, such as it was, he applied with his wonted +alacrity; though in no cheerful frame of mind. To Lady Hamilton, his +only female correspondent, he says at this time; "I am not in very +good spirits; and, except that our country demands all our services and +abilities to bring about an honourable peace, nothing should prevent my +being the bearer of my own letter. But, my dear friend, I know you are +so true and loyal an Englishwoman, that you would hate those who would +not stand forth in defence of our king, laws, religion, and all that is +dear to us. It is your sex that makes us go forth, and seem to tell us, +'None but the brave deserve the fair'; and if we fall, we still live in +the hearts of those females. It is your sex that rewards us; it is your +sex who cherish our memories; and you, my dear honoured friend, are, +believe me, the first, the best of your sex. I have been the world +around, and in every corner of it, and never yet saw your equal, or +even one who could be put in comparison with you. You know how to reward +virtue, honour, and courage, and never to ask if it is placed in a +prince, duke, lord, or peasant." Having hoisted his flag in the MEDUSA +frigate, he went to reconnoitre Boulogne the point from which it was +supposed the great attempt would be made, and which the French, in fear +of an attack themselves, were fortifying with all care. He approached +near enough to sink two of their floating batteries, and to destroy a +few gun-boats which were without the pier. What damage was done within +could not be ascertained. "Boulogne," he said, "was certainly not a +very pleasant place that morning; but," he added, "it is not my wish +to injure the poor inhabitants; and the town is spared as much as the +nature of the service will admit." Enough was done to show the enemy +that they could not, with impunity, come outside their own ports. Nelson +was satisfied by what he saw, that they meant to make an attempt from +this place, but that it was impracticable; for the least wind at W.N.W. +and they were lost. The ports of Flushing and Flanders were better +points: there we could not tell by our eyes what means of transport +were provided. From thence, therefore, if it came forth at all, the +expedition would come. "And what a forlorn undertaking!" said he: +"consider cross tides, &c. As for rowing, that is impossible. It Is +perfectly right to be prepared for a mad government; but with the active +force which has been given me, I may pronounce it almost impracticable." + +That force had been got together with an alacrity which has seldom been +equalled. On the 28th of July, we were, in Nelson's own words, literally +at the foundation of our fabric of defence, and twelve days afterwards +we were so prepared on the enemy's coast that he did not believe they +could get three miles from their ports. The MEDUSA, returning to our +own shores, anchored in the rolling ground off Harwich; and when Nelson +wished to get to the Nore in her, the wind rendered it impossible +to proceed there by the usual channel. In haste to be at the Nore, +remembering that he had been a tolerable pilot for the mouth of the +Thames in his younger days, and thinking it necessary that he should +know all that could be known of the navigation, he requested the +maritime surveyor of the coast, Mr. Spence, to get him into the Swin +by any channel; for neither the pilots which he had on board, nor the +Harwich ones, would take charge of the ship. No vessel drawing more +than fourteen feet had ever before ventured over the Naze. Mr. Spence, +however, who had surveyed the channel, carried her safely through. The +channel has since been called Nelson's, though he himself wished it to +be named after the MEDUSA: his name needed no new memorial. + +Nelson's eye was upon Flushing. "To take possession of that place," he +said, "would be a week's expedition for four or five thousand troops." +This, however, required a consultation with the Admiralty; and that +something might be done, meantime he resolved upon attacking the +flotilla in the mouth of the Boulogne harbour. This resolution was made +in deference to the opinion of others, and to the public feeling, which +was so preposterously excited. He himself scrupled not to assert that +the French army would never embark at Boulogne for the invasion of +England; and he owned that this boat warfare was not exactly congenial +to his feelings. Into Helvoet or Flushing he should be happy to lead, if +Government turned their thoughts that way. "While I serve," said he, +"I will do it actively, and to the very best of my abilities. I require +nursing like a child," he added; "my mind carries me beyond my strength, +and will do me up; but such is my nature." + +The attack was made by the boats of the squadron in five divisions, +under Captains Somerville, Parker, Cotgrave, Jones, and Conn. The +previous essay had taught the French the weak parts of their position; +and they omitted no means of strengthening it, and of guarding against +the expected attempt. The boats put off about half-an-hour before +midnight; but, owing to the darkness, and tide and half-tide, which must +always make night attacks so uncertain on the coasts of the Channel, the +divisions separated. One could not arrive at all; another not till near +daybreak. The others made their attack gallantly; but the enemy were +fully prepared: every vessel was defended by long poles, headed with +iron spikes, projecting from their sides: strong nettings were braced up +to their lower yards; they were moored by the bottom to the shore, they +were strongly manned with soldiers, and protected by land batteries, +and the shore was lined with troops. Many were taken possession of; and, +though they could not have been brought out, would have been burned, +had not the French resorted to a mode of offence, which they have often +used, but which no other people have ever been wicked enough to employ. +The moment the firing ceased on board one of their own vessels they +fired upon it from the shore, perfectly regardless of their own men. + +The commander of one of the French divisions acted like a generous +enemy. He hailed the boats as they approached, and cried out in English: +"Let me advise you, my brave Englishmen, to keep your distance: you can +do nothing here; and it is only uselessly shedding the blood of brave +men to make the attempt." The French official account boasted of the +victory. "The combat," it said, "took place in sight of both countries; +it was the first of the kind, and the historian would have cause to make +this remark." They guessed our loss at four or five hundred; it amounted +to one hundred and seventy-two. In his private letters to the Admiralty, +Nelson affirmed, that had our force arrived as he intended, it was +not all the chains in France which could have prevented our men +from bringing off the whole of the vessels. There had been no error +committed, and never did Englishmen display more courage. Upon this +point Nelson was fully satisfied; but he said he should never bring +himself again to allow any attack wherein he was not personally +concerned; and that his mind suffered more than if he had had a leg +shot off in the affair. He grieved particularly for Captain Parker, an +excellent officer, to whom he was greatly attached, and who had an aged +father looking to him for assistance. His thigh was shattered in the +action; and the wound proved mortal, after some weeks of suffering +and manly resignation. During this interval, Nelson's anxiety was +very great. "Dear Parker is my child," said he; "for I found him in +distress." And when he received the tidings of his death, he replied: +"You will judge of my feelings: God's will be done. I beg that his hair +may be cut off and given me; it shall be buried in my grave. Poor Mr. +Parker! What a son has he lost! If I were to say I was content, I should +lie; but I shall endeavour to submit with all the fortitude in my power. +His loss has made a wound in my heart, which time will hardly heal." + +"You ask me, my dear friend," he says to Lady Hamilton, "if I am going +on more expeditions? and even if I was to forfeit your friendship, which +is dearer to me than all the world, I can tell you nothing. For, I go +out: I see the enemy, and can get at them, it is my duty: and you would +naturally hate me, if I kept back one moment. I long to pay them for +their tricks t'other day, the debt of a drubbing, which surely I'll pay: +but WHEN, WHERE or HOW, it is impossible, your own good sense must tell +you, for me or mortal man to say." Yet he now wished to be relieved from +this service. The country, he said, had attached a confidence to his +name, which he had submitted to, and therefore had cheerfully repaired +to the station; but this boat business, though it might be part of a +great plan of invasion, could never be the only one, and he did not +think it was a command for a vice-admiral. It was not that he wanted +a more lucrative situation; for, seriously indisposed as he was, and +low-spirited from private considerations, he did not know, if the +Mediterranean were vacant, that he should be equal to undertake it. He +was offended with the Admiralty for refusing him leave to go to town +when he had solicited: in reply to a friendly letter from Troubridge he +says, "I am at this moment as firmly of opinion as ever, that Lord St. +Vincent and yourself should have allowed of my coming to town for my own +affairs, for every one knows I left it without a thought for myself." + +His letters at this time breathe an angry feeling toward Troubridge, who +was now become, he said, one of his lords and masters. "I have a letter +from him," he says, "recommending me to wear flannel shirts. Does he +care for me? NO: but never mind. They shall work hard to get me +again. The cold has settled in my bowels. I wish the Admiralty had my +complaint: but they have no bowels, at least for me. I daresay Master +Troubridge is grown fat; I know I am grown lean with my complaint, +which, but for their indifference about my health, could never have +happened; or, at least, I should have got well long ago in a warm room +with a good fire and sincere friend." In the same tone of bitterness +he complained that he was not able to promote those whom he thought +deserving. "Troubridge," he says, "has so completely prevented my ever +mentioning anybody's service, that I am become a cipher, and he has +gained a victory over Nelson's spirit. I am kept here, for what?--he may +be able to tell, I cannot. But long it cannot, shall not be." An end +was put to this uncomfortable state of mind when, fortunately (on that +account) for him, as well as happily for the nation, the peace of Amiens +was just at this time signed. Nelson rejoiced that the experiment was +made, but was well aware that it was an experiment. He saw what he +called the misery of peace, unless the utmost vigilance and prudence +were exerted; and he expressed, in bitter terms, his proper indignation +at the manner in which the mob of London welcomed the French general +who brought the ratification saying, "that they made him ashamed of his +country." + +He had purchased a house and estate at Merton, in Surrey, meaning to +pass his days there in the society of Sir William and Lady Hamilton. He +had indulged in pleasant dreams when looking on to this as his place +of residence and rest. "To be sure," he says, "we shall employ the +tradespeople of our village in preference to any others in what we +want for common use, and give them every encouragement to be kind and +attentive to us." "Have we a nice church at Merton? We will set an +example of goodness to the under-parishioners. I admire the pigs and +poultry. Sheep are certainly most beneficial to eat off the grass. Do +you get paid for them, and take care that they are kept on the premises +all night, for that is the time they do good to the land. They should +be folded. Is your head-man a good person, and true to our interest? I +intend to have a farming-book. I expect that all animals will increase +where you are, for I never expect that you will suffer any to be killed. +No person can take amiss our not visiting. The answer from me will +always be very civil thanks, but that I wish to live retired. We shall +have our sea-friends; and I know Sir William thinks they are the best." +This place he had never seen till he was now welcomed there by the +friends to whom he had so passionately devoted himself, and who were +not less sincerely attached to him. The place, and everything which Lady +Hamilton had done to it, delighted him; and he declared that the longest +liver should possess it all. Here he amused himself with angling in the +Wandle, having been a good fly-fisher in former days, and learning +now to practise with his left hand what he could no longer pursue as a +solitary diversion. His pensions for his victories, and for the loss of +his eye and arm, amounted with his half-pay to about L3400 a-year. From +this he gave L1800 to Lady Nelson, L200 to a brother's widow, and +L150 for the education of his children; and he paid L500 interest for +borrowed money; so that Nelson was comparatively a poor man; and though +much of the pecuniary embarrassment which he endured was occasioned by +the separation from his wife--even if that cause had not existed, his +income would not have been sufficient for the rank which he held, +and the claims which would necessarily be made upon his bounty. The +depression of spirits under which he had long laboured arose partly from +this state of his circumstances, and partly from the other disquietudes +in which his connection with Lady Hamilton had involved him--a +connection which it was not possible his father could behold without +sorrow and displeasure. Mr. Nelson, however, was soon persuaded that +the attachment, which Lady Nelson regarded with natural jealousy and +resentment, did not in reality pass the bounds of ardent and romantic +admiration: a passion which the manners and accomplishments of Lady +Hamilton, fascinating as they were, would not have been able to +excite, if they had not been accompanied by more uncommon intellectual +endowments, and by a character which, both in its strength and in +its weakness, resembled his own. It did not, therefore, require much +explanation to reconcile him to his son--an event the more essential to +Nelson's happiness, because, a few months afterwards, the good old man +died at the age of seventy-nine. + +Soon after the conclusion of peace, tidings arrived of our final and +decisive successes in Egypt; in consequence of which, the common council +voted their thanks to the army and navy for bringing the campaign to +so glorious a conclusion. When Nelson, after the action of Cape St. +Vincent, had been entertained at a city feast, he had observed to the +lord mayor, "that, if the city continued its generosity, the navy would +ruin them in gifts." To which the lord mayor replied, putting his hand +upon the admiral's shoulder: "Do you find victories and we will find +rewards." Nelson, as he said, had kept his word, had doubly fulfilled +his part of the contract, but no thanks had been voted for the battle of +Copenhagen; and feeling that he and his companions in that day's glory +had a fair and honourable claim to this reward, he took the present +opportunity of addressing a letter to the lord mayor, complaining of the +omission and the injustice. "The smallest services," said he, "rendered +by the army or navy to the country, have always been noticed by the +great city of London with one exception--the glorious 2nd of April--a +day when the greatest dangers of navigation were overcome; and +the Danish force, which they thought impregnable, totally taken or +destroyed, by the consummate skill of our commanders, and by the +undaunted bravery of as gallant a band as ever defended the rights of +this country. For myself, if I were only personally concerned, I should +bear the stigma, attempted to be now first placed upon my brow, with +humility. But, my lord, I am the natural guardian of the fame of all +the officers of the navy, army, and marines who fought, and so profusely +bled, under my command on that day. Again I disclaim for myself more +merit than naturally falls to a successful commander; but when I am +called upon to speak of the merits of the captains of his Majesty's +ships, and of the officers and men, whether seamen, marines, or +soldiers, whom I that day had the happiness to command, I then say, that +never was the glory of this country upheld with more determined bravery +than on that occasion: and if I may be allowed to give an opinion as a +Briton, then I say, that more important service was never rendered to +our king and country. It is my duty, my lord, to prove to the brave +fellows, my companions in danger, that I have not failed at every proper +place to represent, as well as I am able, their bravery and meritorious +conduct." + +Another honour, of greater import, was withheld from the conquerors. The +king had given medals to those captains who were engaged in the battles +of the 1st of June, of Cape St. Vincent, of Camperdown, and of the Nile. +Then came the victory at Copenhagen, which Nelson truly called the most +difficult achievement, the hardest-fought battle, the most glorious +result that ever graced the annals of our country. He, of course, +expected the medal; and in writing to Earl St. Vincent, said, "He longed +to have it, and would not give it up to be made an English duke." The +medal, however, was not given:--"For what reason," said Nelson, "Lord +St. Vincent best knows." Words plainly implying a suspicion that it was +withheld by some feeling of jealousy; and that suspicion estranged him, +during the remaining period of his life, from one who had at one +time been essentially, as well as sincerely, his friend; and of whose +professional abilities he ever entertained the highest opinion. + +The happiness which Nelson enjoyed in the society of his chosen friends +was of no long continuance. Sir William Hamilton, who was far advanced +in years, died early in 1803; a mild, amiable, and accomplished man, +who has thus in a letter described his own philosophy: "My study of +antiquities," he says, "has kept me in constant thought of the perpetual +fluctuation of everything. The whole art is really to live all the DAYS +of our life; and not with anxious care disturb the sweetest hour that +life affords--which is the present. Admire the Creator, and all His +works, to us incomprehensible; and do all the good you can upon earth; +and take the chance of eternity without dismay." He expired in his +wife's arms, holding Nelson by the hand; and almost in his last words, +left her to his protection; requesting him that he would see justice +done her by the government, as he knew what she had done for her +country. He left him her portrait in enamel, calling him his dearest +friend; the most virtuous, loyal, and truly brave character he had ever +known. The codicil, containing this bequest, concluded with these +words, "God bless him, and shame fall on those who do not say amen." Sir +William's pension of L1200 a year ceased with his death. Nelson applied +to Mr. Addington in Lady Hamilton's behalf, stating the important +service which she had rendered to the fleet at Syracuse; and Mr. +Addington, it is said, acknowledged that she had a just claim upon the +gratitude of the country. This barren acknowledgment was all that was +obtained; but a sum, equal to the pension which her husband had enjoyed, +was settled on her by Nelson, and paid in monthly payments during his +life. A few weeks after this event, the war was renewed; and the day +after his Majesty's message to Parliament, Nelson departed to take the +command of the Mediterranean fleet. The war he thought, could not be +long; just enough to make him independent in pecuniary matters. + +He took his station immediately off Toulon; and there, with incessant +vigilance, waited for the coming out of the enemy. The expectation of +acquiring a competent fortune did not last long. "Somehow," he says, "my +mind is not sharp enough for prize-money. Lord Keith would have made +L20,000, and I have not made L6000." More than once he says that the +prizes taken in the Mediterranean had not paid his expenses; and once +he expresses himself as if it were a consolation to think that some ball +might soon close all his accounts with this world of care and vexation. +At this time the widow of his brother, being then blind and advanced in +years, was distressed for money, and about to sell her plate; he wrote +to Lady Hamilton, requesting of her to find out what her debts were, and +saying that, if the amount was within his power, he would certainly pay +it, and rather pinch himself than that she should want. Before he had +finished the letter, an account arrived that a sum was payable to him +for some neutral taken four years before, which enabled him to do this +without being the poorer; and he seems to have felt at the moment that +what was thus disposed of by a cheerful giver, shall be paid to him +again. One from whom he had looked for very different conduct, had +compared his own wealth, in no becoming manner, with Nelson's limited +means. "I know," said he to Lady Hamilton, "the full extent of the +obligation I owe him, and he may be useful to me again; but I can never +forget his unkindness to you. But, I guess many reasons influenced his +conduct in bragging of his riches and my honourable poverty; but, as I +have often said, and with honest pride, what I have is my own: it never +cost the widow a tear, or the nation a farthing. I got what I have with +my pure blood, from the enemies of my country. Our house, my own Emma, +is built upon a solid foundation; and will last to us, when his houses +and lands may belong to others than his children." + +His hope was that peace might soon be made, or that he should be +relieved from his command, and retire to Merton, where at that distance +he was planning and directing improvements. On his birthday he writes, +"This day, my dearest Emma, I consider as more fortunate than common +days, as by my coming into this world it has brought me so intimately +acquainted with you. I well know that you will keep it, and have my dear +Horatio to drink my health. Forty-six years of toil and trouble! How few +more the common lot of mankind leads us to expect! and therefore it +is almost time to think of spending the few last years in peace and +quietness." It is painful to think that this language was not addressed +to his wife, but to one with whom he promised himself "many many happy +years, when that impediment," as he calls her, "shall be removed, if God +pleased; and they might be surrounded by their children's children." + +When he had been fourteen months off Toulon, he received a vote of +thanks from the city of London for his skill and perseverance in +blockading that port, so as to prevent the French from putting to sea. +Nelson had not forgotten the wrong which the city had done to the Baltic +fleet by their omission, and did not lose the opportunity which this +vote afforded of recurring to that point. "I do assure your lordship," +said he, in his answer to the lord mayor, "that there is not that man +breathing who sets a higher value upon the thanks of his fellow-citizens +of London than myself; but I should feel as much ashamed to receive them +for a particular service marked in the resolution, if I felt that I did +not come within that line of service, as I should feel hurt at having a +great victory passed over without notice. I beg to inform your lordship, +that the port of Toulon has never been blockaded by me; quite the +reverse. Every opportunity has been offered the enemy to put to sea; for +it is there that we hope to realise the hopes and expectations of our +country." Nelson then remarked that the junior flag-officers of his +fleet had been omitted in this vote of thanks; and his surprise at the +omission was expressed with more asperity, perhaps, than an offence so +entirely and manifestly unintentional deserved; but it arose from that +generous regard for the feelings as well as the interests of all who +were under his command, which made him as much beloved in the fleets of +Britain as he was dreaded in those of the enemy. + +Never was any commander more beloved. He governed men by their reason +and their affections; they knew that he was incapable of caprice or +tyranny and they obeyed him with alacrity and joy, because he possessed +their confidence as well as their love. "Our Nel," they used to say, +"is as brave as a lion and as gentle as a lamb." Severe discipline he +detested, though he had been bred in a severe school. He never inflicted +corporal punishment if it were possible to avoid it; and when compelled +to enforce it, he, who was familiar with wounds and death, suffered +like a woman. In his whole life, Nelson was never known to act unkindly +towards an officer. If he was asked to prosecute one for ill behaviour, +he used to answer, "That there was no occasion for him to ruin a poor +devil who was sufficiently his own enemy to ruin himself." But in Nelson +there was more than the easiness and humanity of a happy nature: he +did not merely abstain from injury; his was an active and watchful +benevolence, ever desirous not only to render justice, but to do good. +During the peace he had spoken in parliament upon the abuses respecting +prize-money, and had submitted plans to government for more easily +manning the navy, and preventing desertion from it, by bettering the +condition of the seamen. He proposed that their certificates should be +registered, and that every man who had served, with a good character, +five years in war, should receive a bounty of two guineas annually +after that time, and of four guineas after eight years. "This," he said, +"might, at first sight, appear an enormous sum for the state to pay; +but the average life of seamen is, from hard service, finished at +forty-five. He cannot, therefore, enjoy the annuity many years, and the +interest of the money saved by their not deserting would go far to pay +the whole expense." + +To his midshipmen he ever showed the most winning kindness, encouraging +the diffident, tempering the hasty, counselling and befriending both. +"Recollect," he used to say, "that you must be a seaman to be an +officer; and also that you cannot be a good officer without being a +gentleman." A lieutenant wrote to him to say that he was dissatisfied +with his captain. Nelson's answer was in that spirit of perfect wisdom +and perfect goodness which regulated his whole conduct towards those who +were under his command. "I have just received your letter, and am truly +sorry that any difference should arise between your captain, who has +the reputation of being one of the bright officers of the service, and +yourself, a very young man, and a very young officer, who must naturally +have much to learn; therefore the chance is that you are perfectly wrong +in the disagreement. However, as your present situation must be very +disagreeable, I will certainly take an early opportunity of removing +you, provided your conduct to your present captain be such that another +may not refuse to receive you." The gentleness and benignity of his +disposition never made him forget what was due to discipline. Being on +one occasion applied to, to save a young officer from a court-martial, +which he had provoked by his misconduct, his reply was, "That he would +do everything in his power to oblige so gallant and good an officer as +Sir John Warren," in whose name the intercession had been made. "But +what," he added, "would he do if he were here? Exactly what I have done, +and am still willing to do. The young man must write such a letter of +contrition as would be an acknowledgment of his great fault; and with a +sincere promise, if his captain will intercede to prevent the impending +court-martial, never to so misbehave again. On his captain's enclosing +me such a letter, with a request to cancel the order for the trial, I +might be induced to do it; but the letters and reprimand will be given +in the public order-book of the fleet, and read to all the officers. +The young man has pushed himself forward to notice, and he must take +the consequence. It was upon the quarter-deck, in the face of the ship's +company, that he treated his captain with contempt; and I am in duty +bound to support the authority and consequence of every officer under my +command. A poor ignorant seaman is for ever punished for contempt to HIS +superiors." + +A dispute occurred in the fleet while it was off Toulon, which called +forth Nelson's zeal for the rights and interests of the navy. Some young +artillery officers, serving on board the bomb vessels, refused to let +their men perform any other duty but what related to the mortars. They +wished to have it established that their corps was not subject to the +captain's authority. The same pretensions were made in the Channel fleet +about the same time, and the artillery rested their claims to separate +and independent authority on board, upon a clause in the act, which they +interpreted in their favour. Nelson took up the subject with all the +earnestness which its importance deserved. "There is no real happiness +in this world," said he, writing to Earl St. Vincent, as first lord. +"With all content and smiles around me, up start these artillery boys +(I understand they are not beyond that age), and set us at defiance; +speaking in the most disrespectful manner of the navy and its +commanders. I know you, my dear lord, so well, that with your quickness +the matter would have been settled, and perhaps some of them been broke. +I am perhaps more patient, but I do assure you not less resolved, if +my plan of conciliation is not attended to. You and I are on the eve +of quitting the theatre of our exploits; but we hold it due to our +successors never, whilst we have a tongue to speak or a hand to write, +to allow the navy to be in the smallest degree injured in its discipline +by our conduct." To Troubridge he wrote in the same spirit: "It is the +old history, trying to do away the act of parliament; but I trust they +will never succeed; for when they do, farewell to our naval superiority. +We should be prettily commanded! Let them once gain the step of being +independent of the navy on board a ship, and they will soon have the +other, and command us. But, thank God! my dear Troubridge, the king +himself cannot do away the act of parliament. Although my career is +nearly run, yet it would embitter my future days, and expiring moments, +to hear of our navy being sacrificed to the army." As the surest way of +preventing such disputes, he suggested that the navy should have it's +own corps of artillery; and a corps of marine artillery was accordingly +established. + +Instead of lessening the power of the commander, Nelson would have +wished to see it increased: it was absolutely necessary, he thought, +that merit should be rewarded at the moment, and that the officers of +the fleet should look up to the commander-in-chief for their reward. He +himself was never more happy than when he could promote those who were +deserving of promotion. Many were the services which he thus rendered +unsolicited; and frequently the officer, in whose behalf he had +interested himself with the Admiralty, did not know to whose friendly +interference he was indebted for his good fortune. He used to say, "I +wish it to appear as a God-send." The love which he bore the navy made +him promote the interests, and honour the memory, of all who had added +to its glories. "The near relations of brother officers," he said, "he +considered as legacies to the service." Upon mention being made to him +of a son of Rodney, by the Duke of Clarence, his reply was: "I agree +with your Royal Highness most entirely, that the son of a Rodney ought +to be the PROTEGE of every person in the kingdom, and particularly of +the sea-officers. Had I known that there had been this claimant, some +of my own lieutenants must have given way to such a name, and he should +have been placed in the VICTORY: she is full, and I have twenty on my +list; but, whatever numbers I have, the name of Rodney must cut many of +them out." Such was the proper sense which Nelson felt of what was due +to splendid services and illustrious names. His feelings toward the +brave men who had served with him are shown by a note in his diary, +which was probably not intended for any other eye than his own: "Nov. +7. I had the comfort of making an old AGAMEMNON, George Jones, a gunner +into the CHAMELEON brig." + +When Nelson took the command, it was expected that the Mediterranean +would be an active scene. Nelson well understood the character of the +perfidious Corsican, who was now sole tyrant of France; and knowing that +he was as ready to attack his friends as his enemies, knew, therefore, +that nothing could be more uncertain than the direction of the +fleet from Toulon, whenever it should put to sea. "It had as many +destinations," he said, "as there were countries." The momentous +revolutions of the last ten years had given him ample matter for +reflection, as well as opportunities for observation: the film was +cleared from his eyes; and now, when the French no longer went abroad +with the cry of liberty and equality, he saw that the oppression and +misrule of the powers which had been opposed to them, had been the main +causes of their success, and that those causes would still prepare the +way before them. Even in Sicily, where, if it had been possible longer +to blind himself, Nelson would willingly have seen no evil, he perceived +that the people wished for a change, and acknowledged that they had +reason to wish for it. In Sardinia the same burden of misgovernment +was felt; and the people, like the Sicilians, were impoverished by +a government so utterly incompetent to perform its first and most +essential duties that it did not protect its own coasts from the Barbary +pirates. He would fain have had us purchase this island (the finest in +the Mediterranean) from its sovereign, who did not receive L5000 a year +from it after its wretched establishment was paid. There was reason to +think that France was preparing to possess herself of this important +point, which afforded our fleet facilities for watching Toulon, not to +be obtained elsewhere. An expedition was preparing at Corsica for the +purpose; and all the Sardes, who had taken part with revolutionary +France, were ordered to assemble there. It was certain that if the +attack were made it would succeed. Nelson thought that the only means to +prevent Sardinia from becoming French was to make it English, and that +half a million would give the king a rich price, and England a cheap +purchase. A better, and therefore a wiser policy, would have been +to exert our influence in removing the abuses of the government, for +foreign dominion is always, in some degree, an evil and allegiance +neither can nor ought to be made a thing of bargain and sale. Sardinia, +like Sicily and Corsica, is large enough to form a separate state. Let +us hope that these islands may one day be made free and independent. +Freedom and independence will bring with them industry and +prosperity; and wherever these are found, arts and letters will flourish, +and the improvement of the human race proceed. + +The proposed attack was postponed. Views of wider ambition were opening +upon Buonaparte, who now almost undisguisedldy aspired to make himself +master of the continent of Europe; and Austria was preparing for another +struggle, to be conducted as weakly and terminated as miserably as the +former. Spain, too, was once more to be involved in war by the policy of +France: that perfidious government having in view the double object of +employing the Spanish resources against England, and exhausting them in +order to render Spain herself finally its prey. Nelson, who knew that +England and the Peninsula ought to be in alliance, for the common +interest of both, frequently expressed his hopes that Spain might resume +her natural rank among the nations. "We ought," he said, "by mutual +consent, to be the very best friends, and both to be ever hostile to +France." But he saw that Buonaparte was meditating the destruction of +Spain; and that, while the wretched court of Madrid professed to remain +neutral, the appearances of neutrality were scarcely preserved, An order +of the year 1771, excluding British ships of war from the Spanish ports, +was revived, and put in force: while French privateers, from these very +ports, annoyed the British trade, carried their prizes in, and sold them +even at Barcelona. Nelson complained of this to the captain-general +of Catalonia, informing him that he claimed, for every British ship or +squadron, the right of lying, as long as it pleased, in the ports of +Spain, while that right was allowed to other powers. To the British +Ambassador he said: "I am ready to make large allowances for the +miserable situation Spain has placed herself in; but there is a certain +line, beyond which I cannot submit to be treated with disrespect. We +have given up French vessels taken within gunshot of the Spanish shore, +and yet French vessels are permitted to attack our ships from the +Spanish shore. Your excellency may assure the Spanish government that, +in whatever place the Spaniards allow the French to attack us, in that +place I shall order the French to be attacked." + +During this state of things, to which the weakness of Spain, and not her +will, consented, the enemy's fleet did not venture to put to sea. Nelson +watched it with unremitting and almost unexampled perseverance. The +station off Toulon he called his home. "We are in the right fighting +trim," said he: "let them come as soon as they please. I never saw a +fleet altogether so well officered and manned; would to God the +ships were half as good! The finest ones in the service would soon be +destroyed by such terrible weather. I know well enough that if I were to +go into Malta I should save the ships during this bad season; but if I +am to watch the French I must be at sea; and if at sea, must have bad +weather; and if the ships are not fit to stand bad weather, they are +useless." Then only he was satisfied and at ease when he had the enemy +in view. Mr. Elliot, our minister at Naples, seems at this time to have +proposed to send a confidential Frenchman to him with information. "I +should be very happy," he replied, "to receive authentic intelligence +of the destination of the French squadron, their route, and time +of sailing. Anything short of this is useless; and I assure your +excellency, that I would not upon any consideration have a Frenchman in +the fleet, except as a prisoner. I put no confidence in them. You think +yours good; the queen thinks the same; I believe they are all alike. +Whatever information you can get me I shall be very thankful for; but +not a Frenchman comes here. Forgive me, but my mother hated the French." + +M. Latouche Treville, who had commanded at Boulogne, commanded now at +Toulon. "He was sent for on purpose," said Nelson, "as he BEAT ME at +Boulogne, to beat me again; but he seems very loath to try." One day, +while the main body of our fleet was out of sight of land, Rear-Admiral +Campbell, reconnoitring with the CANOPUS, DONEGAL, and AMAZON, stood in +close to the port; and M. Latouche, taking advantage of a breeze which +sprung up, pushed out with four ships of the line and three heavy +frigates, and chased him about four leagues. The Frenchman, delighted +at having found himself in so novel a situation, published a boastful +account, affirming that he had given chase to the whole British fleet, +and that Nelson had fled before him! Nelson thought it due to the +Admiralty to send home a copy of the VICTORY's log upon this occasion. +"As for himself," he said, "if his character was not established by that +time for not being apt to run away, it was not worth his while to put +the world right."--"If this fleet gets fairly up with M. Latouche," said +he to one of his correspondents, "his letter, with all his ingenuity, +must be different from his last. We had fancied that we chased him into +Toulon; for, blind as I am, I could see his water line, when he clued +his topsails up, shutting in Sepet. But from the time of his meeting +Captain Hawker in the ISIS, I never heard of his acting otherwise than +as a poltroon and a liar. Contempt is the best mode of treating such +a miscreant." In spite, however, of contempt, the impudence of this +Frenchman half angered him. He said to his brother: "You will have seen +Latouche's letter; how he chased me and how I ran. I keep it; and if I +take him, by God he shall eat it." + +Nelson, who used to say, that in sea affairs nothing is impossible, and +nothing improbable, feared the more that this Frenchman might get +out and elude his vigilance; because he was so especially desirous +of catching him, and administering to him his own lying letter in a +sandwich. M. Latouche, however, escaped him in another way. He died, +according to the French papers, in consequence of walking so often up +to the signal-post upon Sepet, to watch the British fleet. "I always +pronounced that would be his death," said Nelson. "If he had come out +and fought me, it would at least have added ten years to my life." The +patience with which he had watched Toulon, he spoke of, truly, as a +perseverance at sea which had never been surpassed. From May, 1803, to +August, 1805, he himself went out of his ship but three times; each of +those times was upon the king's service, and neither time of absence +exceeded an hour. In 1804 the SWIFT cutter going out with despatches +was taken, and all the despatches and letters fell into the hands of the +enemy. "A very pretty piece of work," says Nelson; "I am not surprised +at the capture, but am very much so that any despatches should be sent +in a vessel with twenty-three men, not equal to cope with any row-boat +privateer. The loss of the HINDOSTAN was great enough; but for +importance it is lost in comparison to the probable knowledge the enemy +will obtain of our connexions with foreign countries. Foreigners for +ever say, and it is true, we dare not trust England: one way or other we +are sure to be committed." In a subsequent letter he says, speaking of +the same capture: "I find, my dearest Emma, that your picture is very +much admired by the French Consul at Barcelona, and that he has not +sent it to be admired, which I am sure it would be, by Buonaparte. They +pretend that there were three pictures taken. I wish I had them; but +they are all gone as irretrievably as the despatches, unless we may read +them in a book, as we printed their correspondence from Egypt. But from +us what can they find out? That I love you most dearly, and hate the +French most damnably. Dr. Scott went to Barcelona to try to get the +private letters, but I fancy they are all gone to Paris. The Swedish and +American Consuls told him that the French Consul had your picture and +read your letters; and the Doctor thinks one of them, probably, read the +letters. By the master's account of the cutter, I would not have trusted +an old pair of shoes in her. He tells me she did not sail, but was a +good sea-boat. I hope Mr. Marsden will not trust any more of my private +letters in such a conveyance: if they choose to trust the affairs of the +public in such a thing, I cannot help it." + +While he was on this station, the weather had been so unusually severe +that he said the Mediterranean seemed altered. It was his rule never to +contend with the gales; but either run to the southward to escape their +violence, or furl all the sails, and make the ships as easy as possible. +The men, though he said flesh and blood could hardly stand it, continued +in excellent health, which he ascribed, in great measure, to a plentiful +supply of lemons and onions. For himself, he thought he could only last +till the battle was over. One battle more it was his hope that he might +fight. "However," said he, "whatever happens, I have run a glorious +race." "A few months rest," he says, "I must have very soon. If I am in +my grave, what are the mines of Peru to me? But to say the truth, I have +no idea of killing myself. I may, with care, live yet to do good service +to the state. My cough is very bad, and my side, where I was struck on +the 14th of February, is very much swelled: at times a lump as large +as my fist, brought on occasionally by violent coughing. But I hope and +believe my lungs are yet safe." He was afraid of blindness and this was +the only evil which he could not contemplate without unhappiness. More +alarming symptoms he regarded with less apprehension, describing his own +"shattered carcass" as in the worst plight of any in the fleet; and he +says, "I have felt the blood gushing up the left side of my head; and, +the moment it covers the brain, I am fast asleep." The fleet was in +worse trim than the men; but when he compared it with the enemy's, it +was with a right English feeling. "The French fleet yesterday," said he, +in one of his letters, "was to appearance in high feather, and as fine +as paint could make them; but when they may sail, or where they may +go, I am very sorry to say is a secret I am not acquainted with. Our +weather-beaten ships, I have no fear, will make their sides like +a plum-pudding." "Yesterday," he says, on another occasion, "a +rear-admiral and seven sail of ships put their nose outside the harbour. +If they go on playing this game, some day we shall lay salt on their +tails." + +Hostilities at length commenced between Great Britain and Spain. That +country, whose miserable government made her subservient to France, was +once more destined to lavish her resources and her blood in furtherance +of the designs of a perfidious ally. The immediate occasion of the +war was the seizure of four treasure-ships by the English. The act was +perfectly justifiable, for those treasures were intended to furnish +means for France; but the circumstances which attended it were as +unhappy as they were unforeseen. Four frigates had been despatched to +intercept them. They met with an equal force. Resistance, therefore, +became a point of honour on the part of the Spaniards, and one of their +ships soon blew up with all on board. Had a stronger squadron been sent, +this deplorable catastrophe might have been spared: a catastrophe which +excited not more indignation in Spain than it did grief in those who +were its unwilling instruments, in the English government, and in the +English people. On the 5th of October this unhappy affair occurred, and +Nelson was not apprised of it till the twelfth of the ensuing month. +He had, indeed, sufficient mortification at the breaking out of this +Spanish war; an event which, it might reasonably have been supposed, +would amply enrich the officers of the Mediterranean fleet, and repay +them for the severe and unremitting duty on which they had been so long +employed. But of this harvest they were deprived; for Sir John Orde was +sent with a small squadron, and a separate command, to Cadiz. Nelson's +feelings were never wounded so deeply as now. "I had thought," said he, +writing in the first flow and freshness of indignation; "Fancied--but +nay; it must have been a dream, an idle dream; yet I confess it, I DID +fancy that I had done my country service; and thus they use me! And +under what circumstances, and with what pointed aggravation? Yet, if +I know my own thoughts, it is not for myself, or on my own account +chiefly, that I feel the sting and the disappointment. No! it is for my +brave officers: for my noble minded friends and comrades. Such a gallant +set of fellows! Such a band of brothers! My heart swells at the thought +of them." + +War between Spain and England was now declared; and on the eighteenth of +January, the Toulon fleet, having the Spaniards to co-operate with them, +put to sea. Nelson was at anchor off the coast of Sardinia, where the +Madelena islands form one of the finest harbours in the world, when, +at three in the afternoon of the nineteenth, the ACTIVE and SEAHORSE +frigates brought this long-hoped-for intelligence. They had been close +to the enemy at ten on the preceding night, but lost sight of them in +about four hours. The fleet immediately unmoored and weighed, and at +six in the evening ran through the strait between Biche and Sardinia: +a passage so narrow that the ships could only pass one at a time, each +following the stern-lights of its leader. From the position of the +enemy, when they were last seen, it was inferred that they must be bound +round the southern end of Sardinia. Signal was made the next morning to +prepare for battle. Bad weather came on, baffling the one fleet in its +object, and the other in its pursuit. Nelson beat about the Sicilian +seas for ten days, without obtaining any other information of the enemy +than that one of their ships had put into Ajaccio, dismasted; and having +seen that Sardinia, Naples, and Sicily were safe, believing Egypt to +be their destination, for Egypt he ran. The disappointment and distress +which he had experienced in his former pursuits of the French through +the same seas were now renewed; but Nelson, while he endured these +anxious and unhappy feelings, was still consoled by the same confidence +as on the former occasion--that, though his judgment might be erroneous, +under all circumstances he was right in having formed it. "I have +consulted no man," said he to the Admiralty; "therefore the whole blame +of ignorance in forming my judgment must rest with me. I would allow no +man to take from me an atom of my glory had I fallen in with the French +fleet; nor do I desire any man to partake any of the responsibility. +All is mine, right or wrong." Then stating the grounds upon which he had +proceeded, he added, "At this moment of sorrow, I still feel that I have +acted right." In the same spirit he said to Sir Alexander Ball: "When +I call to remembrance all the circumstances, I approve, if nobody else +does, of my own conduct." + +Baffled thus, he bore up for Malta, and met intelligence from Naples +that the French, having been dispersed in a gale, had put back to +Toulon. From the same quarter he learned that a great number of saddles +and muskets had been embarked; and this confirmed him in his opinion +that Egypt was their destination. That they should have put him back in +consequence of storms which he had weathered, gave him a consoling sense +of British superiority. "These gentlemen," said he, "are not accustomed +to a Gulf of Lyons gale: we have buffeted them for one-and-twenty +months, and not carried away a spar." He, however, who had so often +braved these gales, was now, though not mastered by them, vexatiously +thwarted and impeded; and on February 27th he was compelled to anchor in +Pula Bay in the Gulf of Cagliari. From the 21st of January the fleet +had remained ready for battle, without a bulk-head up night or day. He +anchored here that he might not be driven to leeward. As soon as the +weather moderated he put to sea again; and after again beating about +against contrary winds, another gale drove him to anchor in the Gulf of +Palma on the 8th of March. This he made his rendezvous: he knew that the +French troops still remained embarked; and wishing to lead them into +a belief that he was stationed upon the Spanish coast, he made his +appearance off Barcelona with that intent. About the end of the month he +began to fear that the plan of the expedition was abandoned; and sailing +once more towards his old station off Toulon on the 4th of April, he +met the PHOEBE, with news that Villeneuve had put to sea on the last +of March, with eleven ships of the line, seven frigates, and two brigs. +When last seen they were steering towards the coast of Africa. Nelson +first covered the channel between Sardinia and Barbary, so as to satisfy +himself that Villeneuve was not taking the same route for Egypt +which Gantheaume had taken before him, when he attempted to carry +reinforcements thither. Certain of this, he bore up on the 7th for +Palermo, lest the French should pass to the north of Corsica, and he +despatched cruisers in all directions. On the 11th he felt assured that +they were not gone down the Mediterranean; and sending off frigates +to Gibraltar, to Lisbon, and to Admiral Cornwallis, who commanded the +squadron off Brest, he endeavoured to get to the westward, beating +against westerly winds. After five days a neutral gave intelligence that +the French had been seen off Cape de Gatte on the 7th. It was soon after +ascertained that they had passed the Straits of Gibraltar on the day +following; and Nelson, knowing that they might already be half way to +Ireland or to Jamaica, exclaimed that he was miserable. One gleam of +comfort only came across him in the reflection, that his vigilance +had rendered it impossible for them to undertake any expedition in the +Mediterranean. + +Eight days after this certain intelligence had been obtained, he +described his state of mind thus forcibly in writing to the governor of +Malta: "My good fortune, my dear Ball, seems flown away. I cannot get +a fair wind, or even a side-wind. Dead foul!--Dead foul! But my mind is +fully made up what to do when I leave the supposing there is no certain +account of the enemy's destination. I believe this ill-luck will go +near to kill me; but as these are times for exertion, I must not be cast +down, whatever I may feel." In spite of every exertion which could be +made by all the zeal and all the skill of British seamen, he did not get +in sight of Gibraltar till the 30th of April; and the wind was then so +adverse that it was impossible to pass the Gut. He anchored in Mazari +Bay, on the Barbary shore; obtained supplies from Tetuan; and when, on +the 5th, a breeze from the eastward sprang up at last, sailed once more, +hoping to hear of the enemy from Sir John Orde, who commanded off Cadiz, +or from Lisbon. "If nothing is heard of them," said he to the Admiralty, +"I shall probably think the rumours which have been spread are true, +that their object is the West Indies; and, in that case, I think it my +duty to follow them--or to the Antipodes, should I believe that to be +their destination." At the time when this resolution was taken, the +physician of the fleet had ordered him to return to England before the +hot months. + +Nelson had formed his judgment of their destination, and made up his +mind accordingly, when Donald Campbell, at that time an admiral in the +Portuguese service, the same person who had given important tidings to +Earl St. Vincent of the movements of that fleet from which he won his +title, a second time gave timely and momentous intelligence to the flag +of his country. He went on board the VICTORY, and communicated to Nelson +his certain knowledge that the combined Spanish and French fleets were +bound for the West Indies. Hitherto all things had favoured the enemy. +While the British commander was beating up again strong southerly and +westerly gales, they had wind to their wish from the N.E., and had done +in nine days what he was a whole month in accomplishing. Villeneuve, +finding the Spaniards at Carthagena were not in a fit state of equipment +to join him, dared not wait, but hastened on to Cadiz. Sir John Orde +necessarily retired at his approach. Admiral Gravina, with six Spanish +ships of the line and two French, come out to him, and they sailed +without a moment's loss of time. They had about three thousand French +troops on board, and fifteen hundred Spanish: six hundred were under +orders, expecting them at Martinique, and one thousand at Guadaloupe. +General Lauriston commanded the troops. The combined fleet now consisted +of eighteen sail of the line, six forty-four gun frigates, one +of twenty-six guns, three corvettes, and a brig. They were joined +afterwards by two new French line-of-battle ships, and one forty-four. +Nelson pursued them with ten sail of the line and three frigates. "Take +you a Frenchman apiece," said he to his captains, "and leave me the +Spaniards: when I haul down my colours, I expect you to do the same, and +not till then." + +The enemy had five-and-thirty days' start; but he calculated that he +should gain eight or ten days upon them by his exertions. May 15th he +made Madeira, and on June 4th reached Barbadoes, whither he had sent +despatches before him; and where he found Admiral Cochrane, with two +ships, part of our squadron in those seas being at Jamaica. He found +here also accounts that the combined fleets had been seen from St. Lucia +on the 28th, standing to the southward, and that Tobago and Trinidad +were their objects. This Nelson doubted; but he was alone in his +opinion, and yielded it with these foreboding words: "If your +intelligence proves false, you lose me the French fleet." Sir W. Myers +offered to embark here with 2000 troops; they were taken on board, and +the next morning he sailed for Tobago. Here accident confirmed the false +intelligence which had, whether from intention or error, misled him. A +merchant at Tobago, in the general alarm, not knowing whether this fleet +was friend or foe, sent out a schooner to reconnoitre, and acquaint him +by signal. The signal which he had chosen happened to be the very one +which had been appointed by Col. Shipley of the engineers to signify +that the enemy were at Trinidad; and as this was at the close of the +day, there was no opportunity of discovering the mistake. An American +brig was met with about the same time, the master of which, with that +propensity to deceive the English and assist the French in any manner +which has been but too common among his countrymen, affirmed that he +had been boarded off Granada a few days before by the French, who were +standing towards the Bocas of Trinidad. This fresh intelligence removed +all doubts. The ships were cleared for action before daylight, and +Nelson entered the Bay of Paria on the 7th, hoping and expecting to make +the mouths of the Orinoco as famous in the annals of the British navy +as those of the Nile. Not an enemy was there; and it was discovered that +accident and artifice had combined to lead him so far to leeward, that +there could have been little hope of fetching to windward of Granada +for any other fleet. Nelson, however, with skill and exertions never +exceeded, and almost unexampled, bore for that island. + +Advices met him on the way, that the combined fleets, having captured +the Diamond Rock, were then at Martinique on the fourth, and were +expected to sail that night for the attack of Granada. On the 9th Nelson +arrived off that island; and there learned that they had passed to +leeward of Antigua the preceding day, and had taken a homeward-bound +convoy. Had it not been for false information, upon which Nelson had +acted reluctantly, and in opposition to his own judgment, he would have +been off Port Royal just as they were leaving; it, and the battle would +have been fought on the spot where Rodney defeated De Grasse. This he +remembered in his vexation; but he had saved the colonies, and above 200 +ships laden for Europe, which would else have fallen into the enemy's +hands; and he had the satisfaction of knowing that the mere terror of +his name had effected this, and had put to flight the allied enemies, +whose force nearly doubled that before which they fled. That they were +flying back to Europe he believed, and for Europe he steered in pursuit +on the 13th, having disembarked the troops at Antigua, and taking with +him the SPARTIATE, seventy-four; the only addition to the squadron with +which he was pursuing so superior a force. Five days afterwards the +AMAZON brought intelligence that she had spoke a schooner who had +seen them on the evening of the 15th, steering to the north; and by +computation, eighty-seven leagues off. Nelson's diary at this time +denotes his great anxiety and his perpetual and all-observing vigilance. +"June 21. Midnight, nearly calm, saw three planks, which I think came +from the French fleet. Very miserable, which is very foolish." On the +17th of July he came in sight of Cape St. Vincent, and steered for +Gibraltar. "June 18th," his diary says, "Cape Spartel in sight, but no +French fleet, nor any information about them. How sorrowful this makes +me! but I cannot help myself." The next day he anchored at Gibraltar; +and on the 20th, says he, "I went on shore for the first time since June +16, 1803; and from having my foot out of the VICTORY two years, wanting +ten days." + +Here he communicated with his old friend Collingwood; who, having been +detached with a squadron, when the disappearance of the combined fleets, +and of Nelson in their pursuit, was known in England, had taken his +station off Cadiz. He thought that Ireland was the enemy's ultimate +object; that they would now liberate the Ferrol squadron, which was +blocked up by Sir Robert Calder, call for the Rochefort ships, and then +appear off Ushant with 33 or 34 sail; there to be joined: by the +Brest fleet. With this great force he supposed they would make for +Ireland--the real mark and bent of all their operations; and their +flight to the West Indies, he thought, had been merely undertaken +to take off Nelson's force, which was the great impediment to their +undertaking. + +Collingwood was gifted with great political penetration. As yet, +however, all was conjecture concerning the enemy; and Nelson, having +victualled and watered at Tetuan, stood for Ceuta on the 24th, still +without information of their course. Next day intelligence arrived that +the CURIEUX brig had seen them on the 19th, standing to the northward. +He proceeded off Cape St. Vincent, rather cruising for intelligence than +knowing whither to betake himself; and here a case occurred that more +than any other event in real history resembles those whimsical proofs of +sagacity which Voltaire, in his Zadig, has borrowed from the Orientals. +One of our frigates spoke an American, who, a little to the westward +of the Azores, had fallen in with an armed vessel, appearing to be a +dismasted privateer, deserted by her crew, which had been run on board +by another ship, and had been set fire to; but the fire had gone out. A +log-book and a few seamen's jackets were found in the cabin; and these +were brought to Nelson. The log-book closed with these words: "Two large +vessels in the W.N.W.:" and this led him to conclude that the vessel had +been an English privateer, cruising off the Western Islands. But there +was in this book a scrap of dirty paper, filled with figures. Nelson, +immediately upon seeing it, observed that the figures were written by a +Frenchman; and after studying this for a while, said, "I can explain +the whole. The jackets are of French manufacture, and prove that the +privateer was in possession of the enemy. She had been chased and taken +by the two ships that were seen in the W.N.W. The prizemaster, going on +board in a hurry, forgot to take with him his reckoning: there is none +in the log-book; and the dirty paper contains her work for the number of +days since the privateer last left Corvo; with an unaccounted-for run, +which I take to have been the chase, in his endeavour to find out her +situation by back reckonings. By some mismanagement, I conclude she was +run on board of by one of the enemy's ships, and dismasted. Not liking +delay (for I am satisfied that those two ships were the advanced ones +of the French squadron), and fancying we were close at their heels, +they set fire to the vessel, and abandoned her in a hurry. If this +explanation be correct, I infer from it that they are gone more to the +northward; and more to the northward I will look for them." This course +accordingly he held, but still without success. Still persevering, and +still disappointed, he returned near enough to Cadiz to ascertain that +they were not there; traversed the Bay of Biscay; and then, as a last +hope, stood over for the north-west coast of Ireland against adverse +winds, till, on the evening of the 12th of August, he learned that they +had not been heard of there. Frustrated thus in all his hopes, after +a pursuit, to which, for its extent, rapidity, and perseverance, no +parallel can be produced, he judged it best to reinforce the Channel +fleet with his squadron, lest the enemy, as Collingwood apprehended, +should bear down upon Brest with their whole collected force. On the +15th he joined Admiral Cornwallis off Ushant. No news had yet been +obtained of the enemy; and on the same evening he received orders to +proceed, with the VICTORY and SUPERB, to Portsmouth. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +1805 + +Sir Robert Calder falls in with the combined Fleets--They form a +Junction with the Ferrol Squadron, and get into Cadiz--Nelson is +reappointed to the Command--Battle of Trafalgar--Victory, and Death of +Nelson. + + +At Portsmouth, Nelson at length found news of the combined fleet. Sir +Robert Calder, who had been sent out to intercept their return, +had fallen in with them on the 22nd of July, sixty leagues off Cape +Finisterre. Their force consisted of twenty sail of the line, three +fifty-gun ships, five frigates, and two brigs: his, of fifteen +line-of-battle ships, two frigates, a cutter, and a lugger. After an +action of four hours he had captured an eighty-four and a seventy-four, +and then thought it necessary to bring-to the squadron, for the purpose +of securing their prizes. The hostile fleets remained in sight of each +other till the 26th, when the enemy bore away. The capture of two ships +from so superior a force would have been considered as no inconsiderable +victory, a few years earlier; but Nelson had introduced a new era in our +naval history; and the nation felt respecting this action as he had felt +on a somewhat similar occasion. They regretted that Nelson, with his +eleven ships, had not been in Sir Robert Calder's place; and their +disappointment was generally and loudly expressed. + +Frustrated as his own hopes had been, Nelson had yet the high +satisfaction of knowing that his judgment had never been more +conspicuously approved, and that he had rendered essential service to +his country, by driving the enemy from those Islands where they expected +there could be no force capable of opposing them. The West India +merchants in London, as men whose interests were more immediately +benefited, appointed a deputation to express their thanks for his great +and judicious exertions. It was now his intention to rest awhile from +his labours, and recruit himself, after all his fatigues and cares, in +the society of those whom he loved. All his stores were brought up from +the VICTORY; and he found in his house at Merton the enjoyment which he +had anticipated. Many days had not elapsed before Captain Blackwood, on +his way to London with despatches, called on him at five in the morning. +Nelson, who was already dressed, exclaimed, the moment he saw him: "I am +sure you bring me news of the French and Spanish fleets! I think I shall +yet have to beat them!" They had refitted at Vigo, after the indecisive +action with Sir Robert Calder; then proceeded to Ferrol, brought out the +squadron from thence, and with it entered Cadiz in safety. "Depend on +it, Blackwood:" he repeatedly said, "I shall yet give M. Villeneuve +a drubbing." But when Blackwood had left him, he wanted resolution to +declare his wishes to Lady Hamilton and his sisters, and endeavoured to +drive away the thought. He had done enough, he said: "Let the man trudge +it who has lost his budget!" His countenance belied his lips; and as +he was pacing one of the walks in the garden, which he used to call the +quarter-deck, Lady Hamilton came up to him, and told him she saw he was +uneasy. He smiled, and said: "No, he was as happy as possible; he was +surrounded by his family, his health was better since he had been an +shore, and he would not give sixpence to call the king his uncle." She +replied, that she did not believe him, that she knew that he was longing +to get at the combined fleets, that he considered them as his own +property, that he would be miserable if any man but himself did the +business; and that he ought to have them, as the price and reward of +his two years' long watching, and his hard chase. "Nelson," said she, +"however we may lament your absence, offer your services; they will +be accepted, and you will gain a quiet heart by it: you will have a +glorious victory, and then you may return here, and be happy." He looked +at her with tears in his eyes: "Brave Emma! Good Emma! If there were +more Emmas there would be more Nelsons." + +His services were as willingly accepted as they were offered; and Lord +Barham, giving him the list of the navy, desired him to choose his own +officers. "Choose yourself, my lord," was his reply: "the same spirit +actuates the whole profession: you cannot choose wrong." Lord Barham +then desired him to say what ships, and how many, he would wish, in +addition to the fleet which he was going to command, and said they +should follow him as soon as each was ready. No appointment was ever +more in unison with the feelings and judgment of the whole nation. They, +like Lady Hamilton, thought that the destruction of the combined fleets +ought properly to be Nelson's work; that he who had been + + "Half around the sea-girt ball, + The hunter of the recreant Gaul," + +ought to reap the spoils of the chase which he had watched so long, and +so perseveringly pursued. + +Unremitting exertions were made to equip the ships which he had chosen, +and especially to refit the VICTORY, which was once more to bear his +flag. Before he left London he called at his upholsterer's, where the +coffin which Captain Hallowell had given him was deposited; and desired +that its history might be engraven upon the lid, saying that it was +highly probable he might want it on his return. He seemed, indeed, +to have been impressed with an expectation that he should fall in +the battle. In a letter to his brother, written immediately after his +return, he had said: "We must not talk of Sir Robert Calder's battle--I +might not have done so much with my small force. If I had fallen in with +them, you might probably have been a lord before I wished; for I know +they meant to make a dead set at the VICTORY." Nelson had once +regarded the prospect of death with gloomy satisfaction: it was when +he anticipated the upbraidings of his wife, and the displeasure of his +venerable father. The state of his feelings now was expressed in his +private journal in these words: "Friday night (Sept. 13), at half-past +ten, I drove from dear, dear Merton; where I left all which I hold dear +in this world, to go and serve my king and country. May the great GOD, +whom I adore, enable me to fulfil the expectations of my country! and if +it is His good pleasure that I should return, my thanks will never +cease being offered up to the throne of His mercy. If it is His good +providence to cut short my days upon earth, I bow with the greatest +submission; relying that he will protect those so dear to me whom I may +leave behind! His will be done. Amen! Amen! Amen!" + +Early on the following morning he reached Portsmouth; and having +despatched his business on shore, endeavoured to elude the populace +by taking a by-way to the beach; but a crowd collected in his train, +pressing forward to obtain a sight of his face: many were in tears, and +many knelt down before him and blessed him as he passed. England has +had many heroes; but never one who so entirely possessed the love of his +fellow-countrymen as Nelson. All men knew that his heart was as humane +as it was fearless; that there was not in his nature the slightest alloy +of selfishness or cupidity; but that with perfect and entire devotion he +served his country with all his heart, and with all his soul, and +with all his strength; and, therefore, they loved him as truly and as +fervently as he loved England. They pressed upon the parapet to gaze +after him when his barge pushed off, and he was returning their cheers +by waving his hat. The sentinels, who endeavoured to prevent them +from trespassing upon this ground, were wedged among the crowd; and an +officer who, not very prudently upon such an occasion, ordered them to +drive the people down with their bayonets, was compelled speedily to +retreat; for the people would not be debarred from gazing till the last +moment upon the hero--the darling hero of England! + +He arrived off Cadiz on the 29th of September--his birthday. Fearing +that if the enemy knew his force they might be deterred from venturing +to sea, he kept out of sight of land, desired Collingwood to fire no +salute and hoist no colours, and wrote to Gibraltar to request that +the force of the fleet might not be inserted there in the GAZETTE. His +reception in the Mediterranean fleet was as gratifying as the farewell +of his countrymen at Portsmouth: the officers who came on board to +welcome him forgot his rank as commander in their joy at seeing him +again. On the day of his arrival, Villeneuve received orders to put to +sea the first opportunity. Villeneuve, however, hesitated when he heard +that Nelson had resumed the command. He called a council of war; and +their determination was, that it would not be expedient to leave Cadiz, +unless they had reason to believe themselves stronger by one-third than +the British force. In the public measures of this country secrecy +is seldom practicable, and seldomer attempted: here, however, by the +precautions of Nelson and the wise measures of the Admiralty, the enemy +were for once kept in ignorance; for as the ships appointed to reinforce +the Mediterranean fleet were despatched singly, each as soon as it was +ready, their collected number was not stated in the newspapers, and +their arrival was not known to the enemy. But the enemy knew that +Admiral Louis, with six sail, had been detached for stores and water to +Gibraltar. Accident also contributed to make the French admiral doubt +whether Nelson himself had actually taken the command. An American, +lately arrived from England, maintained that it was impossible, for he +had seen him only a few days before in London, and at that time there +was no rumour of his going again to sea. + +The station which Nelson had chosen was some fifty or sixty miles to the +west of Cadiz, near Cape St. Marys. At this distance, he hoped to decoy +the enemy out while he guarded against the danger of being caught with a +westerly wind near Cadiz and driven within the Straits. The blockade of +the port was rigorously enforced, in hopes that the combined fleet might +be forced to sea by want. The Danish vessels, therefore, which were +carrying provisions from the French ports in the bay, under the name +of Danish property, to all the little ports from Ayamonte to Algeziras, +from whence they were conveyed in coasting boats to Cadiz, were seized. +Without this proper exertion of power, the blockade would have been +rendered nugatory by the advantage thus taken of the neutral flag. The +supplies from France were thus effectually cut off. There was now every +indication that the enemy would speedily venture out: officers and men +were in the highest spirits at the prospects of giving them a decisive +blow; such, indeed, as would put an end to all further contest upon the +seas. Theatrical amusements were performed every evening in most of +the ships; and God save the King was the hymn with which the sports +concluded. "I verily believe," said Nelson (writing on the 6th of +October), "that the country will soon be put to some expense on my +account; either a monument, or a new pension and honours; for I have not +the smallest doubt but that a very few days, almost hours, will put us +in battle. The success no man can ensure; but for the fighting them, if +they can be got at, I pledge myself. The sooner the better: I don't like +to have these things upon my mind." + +At this time he was not without some cause of anxiety: he was in want +of frigates, and the eyes of the fleet, as he always called them; to +the want of which the enemy before were indebted for their escape, and +Buonaparte for his arrival in Egypt. He had only twenty-three ships; +others were on the way, but they might come too late; and though Nelson +never doubted of victory, mere victory was not what he looked to; he +wanted to annihilate the enemy's fleet. The Carthagena squadron might +effect a junction with this fleet on the one side; and on the other it +was to be expected that a similar attempt would be made by the French +from Brest; in either case a formidable contingency to be apprehended +by the blockading force. The Rochefort squadron did push out, and had +nearly caught the AGAMEMNON and L'AIMABLE in their way to reinforce the +British admiral. Yet Nelson at this time weakened his own fleet. He had +the unpleasant task to perform of sending home Sir Robert Calder, whose +conduct was to be made the subject of a court-martial, in consequence +of the general dissatisfaction which had been felt and expressed at his +imperfect victory. Sir Robert Calder and Sir John Orde, Nelson believed +to be the only two enemies whom he had ever had in his profession; and +from that sensitive delicacy which distinguished him, this made him the +more scrupulously anxious to show every possible mark of respect and +kindness to Sir Robert. He wished to detain him till after the expected +action, when the services which he might perform, and the triumphant joy +which would be excited, would leave nothing to be apprehended from +an inquiry into the previous engagement. Sir Robert, however, whose +situation was very painful, did not choose to delay a trial from the +result of which he confidently expected a complete justification; +and Nelson, instead of sending him home in a frigate, insisted on his +returning in his own ninety-gun ship--ill as such a ship could at that +time be spared. Nothing could be more honourable than the feeling by +which Nelson was influenced; but, at such a crisis, it ought not to have +been indulged. + +On the 9th Nelson sent Collingwood what he called, in his diary, the +Nelson-touch. "I send you," said he, "my plan of attack, as far as a man +dare venture to guess at the very uncertain position the enemy may +be found in; but it is to place you perfectly at ease respecting my +intentions, and to give full scope to your judgment for carrying them +into effect. We can, my dear Coll, have no little jealousies. We have +only one great object in view, that of annihilating our enemies, and +getting a glorious peace for our country. No man has more confidence in +another than I have in you; and no man will render your services more +justice than your very old friend Nelson and Bronte." The order of +sailing was to be the order of battle: the fleet in two lines, with +an advanced squadron of eight of the fastest-sailing two-deckers. The +second in command, having the entire direction of his line, was to break +through the enemy, about the twelfth ship from their rear: he would lead +through the centre, and the advanced squadron was to cut off three or +four ahead of the centre. This plan was to be adapted to the strength +of the enemy, so that they should always be one-fourth superior to those +whom they cut off. Nelson said, "That his admirals and captains, knowing +his precise object to be that of a close and decisive action, would +supply any deficiency of signals, and act accordingly. In case signals +cannot be seen or clearly understood, no captain can do wrong if he +places his ship alongside that of an enemy." One of the last orders +of this admirable man was, that the name and family of every officer, +seaman, and marine, who might be killed or wounded in action, should be, +as soon as possible, returned to him, in order to be transmitted to +the chairman of the Patriotic Fund, that the case might be taken into +consideration for the benefit of the sufferer or his family. + +About half-past nine in the morning of the 19th, the MARS, being the +nearest to the fleet of the ships which formed the line of communication +with the frigates inshore, repeated the signal that the enemy were +coming out of port. The wind was at this time very light, with partial +breezes, mostly from the S.S.W. Nelson ordered the signal to be made +for a chase in the south-east quarter. About two, the repeating ships +announced that the enemy were at sea. All night the British fleet +continued under all sail, steering to the south-east. At daybreak they +were in the entrance of the Straits, but the enemy were not in sight. +About seven one of the frigates made signal that the enemy were bearing +north. Upon this the VICTORY hove to; and shortly afterwards Nelson made +sail again to the northward. In the afternoon-the wind blew fresh from +the south-west, and the English began to fear that the foe might be +forced to return to port. A little before sunset, however, Blackwood, +in the EURYALUS, telegraphed that they appeared determined to go to the +westward, "And that," said the admiral in his diary, "they shall not do, +if it is in the power of Nelson and Bronte to prevent them." Nelson had +signified to Blackwood that he depended upon him to keep sight of the +enemy. They were observed so well that all their motions were made known +to him; and as they wore twice, he inferred that they were aiming to +keep the port of Cadiz open, and would retreat there as soon as they saw +the British fleet; for this reason he was very careful not to approach +near enough to be seen by them during the night. At daybreak the +combined fleets were distinctly seen from the VICTORY's deck, formed in +a close line of battle ahead, on the starboard tack, about twelve +miles to leeward, and standing to the south. Our fleet consisted of +twenty-seven sail of the line and four frigates; theirs of thirty-three +and seven large frigates. Their superiority was greater in size and +weight of metal than in numbers. They had four thousand troops on board; +and the best riflemen who could be procured, many of them Tyrolese, were +dispersed through the ships. Little did the Tyrolese, and little did the +Spaniards, at that day, imagine what horrors the wicked tyrant whom they +served was preparing for their country. + +Soon after daylight Nelson came upon deck. The 21st of October was a +festival in his family, because on that day his uncle, Captain Suckling, +in the DREADNOUGHT, with two other line-of-battle ships, had beaten off +a French squadron of four sail of the line and three frigates. Nelson, +with that sort of superstition from which few persons are entirely +exempt, had more than once expressed his persuasion that this was to +be the day of his battle also; and he was well pleased at seeing his +prediction about to be verified. The wind was now from the west, light +breezes, with a long heavy swell. Signal was made to bear down upon +the enemy in two lines; and the fleet set all sail. Collingwood, in the +ROYAL SOVEREIGN, led the leeline of thirteen ships; the VICTORY led +the weather line of fourteen. Having seen that all was as it should be, +Nelson retired to his cabin, and wrote the following prayer:-- + + +"May the great GOD whom I worship, grant to my country, and for the +benefit of Europe in general, a great and glorious victory, and may no +misconduct in any one tarnish it; and may humanity after victory be the +predominant feature in the British fleet! For myself individually, I +commit my life to Him that made me; and may His blessing alight on my +endeavours for serving my country faithfully! To Him I resign myself, +and the just cause which is entrusted to me to defend. Amen! Amen! +Amen!" + + +Having thus discharged his devotional duties, he annexed, in the same +diary, the following remarkable writing:-- + +OCTOBER 21, 1805.--. THEN IN SIGHT OF THE COMBINED FLEETS OF FRANCE +AND SPAIN, DISTANT ABOUT TEN MILES. + +"Whereas the eminent services of Emma Hamilton, widow of the Right Hon. +Sir W. Hamilton, have been of the very greatest service to my king and +country, to my knowledge, without ever receiving any reward from either +our king or country. + +1. That she obtained the King of Spain's letter, in 1796, to his +brother, the King of Naples, acquainting him of his intention to declare +war against England from which letter the ministry sent out orders to +the then Sir John Jervis to strike a stroke, if opportunity offered, +against either the arsenals of Spain or her fleets. That neither of +these was done is not the fault of Lady Hamilton; the opportunity might +have been offered. + +2. The British fleet under my command could never have returned the +second time to Egypt, had not Lady Hamilton's influence with the Queen +of Naples caused letters to be wrote to the governor of Syracuse that he +was to encourage the fleet's being supplied with everything, should they +put into any port in Sicily. We put into Syracuse, and received every +supply; went to Egypt and destroyed the French fleet. + +"Could I have rewarded these services, I would not now call upon +my country; but as that has not been in my power, I leave Emma Lady +Hamilton therefore a legacy to my king and country, that they will give +her an ample provision to maintain her rank in life. + +"I also leave to the beneficence of my country my adopted daughter, +Horatia Nelson Thompson; and I desire she will use in future the name of +Nelson only. + +"These are the only favours I ask of my king and country, at this +moment, when I am going to fight their battle. May God bless my king +and country, and all those I hold dear! My relations it is needless to +mention; they will of course be amply provided for. + +"NELSON AND BRONTE. + +"WITNESS, ( HENRY BLACKWOOD. + ( T.M.HARDY." + + +The child of whom this writing Speaks was believed to be his daughter, +and so, indeed, he called her the last time he pronounced her name. She +was then about five years old, living at Merton, under Lady Hamilton's +care. The last minutes which Nelson passed at Merton were employed +in praying over this child, as she lay sleeping. A portrait of Lady +Hamilton hung in his cabin; and no Catholic ever beheld the picture of +his patron saint with devouter reverence. The undisguised and romantic +passion with which he regarded it amounted almost to superstition; and +when the portrait was now taken down in clearing for action, he desired +the men who removed it to "take care of his guardian angel." In this +manner he frequently spoke of it, as if he believed there were a virtue +in the image. He wore a miniature of her, also, next his heart. + +Blackwood went on board the VICTORY about six. He found him in good +spirits, but very calm; not in that exhilaration which he had felt upon +entering into battle at Aboukir and Copenhagen: he knew that his own +life would be particularly aimed at, and seems to have looked for death +with almost as sure an expectation as for victory. His whole attention +was fixed upon the enemy. They tacked to the northward, and formed their +line on the larboard tack; thus bringing the shoals of Trafalgar and St. +Pedro under the lee of the British, and keeping the port of Cadiz open +for themselves. This was judiciously done; and Nelson, aware of all the +advantages which it gave them made signal to prepare to anchor. + +Villeneuve was a skilful seaman: worthy of serving a better master, +and a better cause. His plan of defence was as well conceived, and as +original, as the plan of attack. He formed the fleet in a double line; +every alternate ship being about a cable's length to windward of her +second ahead and astern. Nelson, certain of a triumphant issue to the +day, asked Blackwood what he should consider as a victory. That officer +answered, that, considering the handsome way in which battle was offered +by the enemy, their apparent determination for a fair trial of strength, +and the situation of the land, he thought it would be a glorious result +if fourteen were captured. He replied: "I shall not be satisfied with +less than twenty." Soon afterwards he asked him if he did not think +there was a signal wanting. Captain Blackwood made answer, that he +thought the whole fleet seemed very clearly to understand what they were +about. These words were scarcely spoken before that signal was made, +which will be remembered as long as the language, or even the memory, of +England shall endure; Nelson's last signal:--"ENGLAND EXPECTS EVERY MAN +TO DO HIS DUTY!" It was received throughout the fleet with a shout of +answering acclamation, made sublime by the spirit which it breathed, and +the feeling which it expressed. "Now," said Lord Nelson, "I can do no +more. We must trust to the great Disposer of all events, and the justice +of our cause. I thank God for this great opportunity of doing my duty." + +He wore that day, as usual, his admiral's frock-coat, bearing on the +left breast four stars, of the different orders with which he was +invested. Ornaments which rendered him so conspicuous a mark for the +enemy were beheld with ominous apprehensions by his officers. It was +known that there were riflemen on board the French ships, and it could +not be doubted but that his life would be particularly aimed at. They +communicated their fears to each other; and the surgeon, Mr. Beatty, +spoke to the chaplain Dr. Scott, and to Mr. Scott the public secretary, +desiring that some person would entreat him to change his dress, +or cover the stars; but they knew that such a request would highly +displease him. "In honour I gained them," he had said when such a thing +had been hinted to him formerly, "and in honour I will die with them." +Mr. Beatty, however, would not have been deterred by any fear of +exciting his displeasure from speaking to him himself upon a subject in +which the weal of England, as well as the life of Nelson, was concerned; +but he was ordered from the deck before he could find an opportunity. +This was a point upon which Nelson's officers knew that it was hopeless +to remonstrate or reason with him; but both Blackwood, and his own +captain, Hardy, represented to him how advantageous to the fleet it +would be for him to keep out of action as long as possible; and he +consented at last to let the LEVIATHAN and the TEMERAIRE, which were +sailing abreast of the VICTORY, he ordered to pass ahead. Yet even here +the last infirmity of this noble mind was indulged, for these ships +could not pass ahead if the VICTORY continued to carry all her sail; +and so far was Nelson from shortening sail, that it was evident he took +pleasure in pressing on, and rendering it impossible for them to obey +his own orders. A long swell was setting into the bay of Cadiz: our +ships, crowding all sail, moved majestically before it, with light winds +from the south-west. The sun shone on the sails of the enemy; and their +well-formed line, with their numerous three-deckers, made an appearance +which any other assailants would have thought formidable; but the +British sailors only admired the beauty and the splendour of the +spectacle; and in full confidence of winning what they saw, remarked to +each other what a fine sight yonder ships would make at Spithead! + +The French admiral, from the BUCENTAURE, beheld the new manner in which +his enemy was advancing--Nelson and Collingwood each leading his line; +and pointing them out; to his officers, he is said to have exclaimed +that such conduct could not fail to be successful. Yet Villeneuve had +made his own dispositions with the utmost skill and the fleets under his +command waited for the attack with perfect coolness. Ten minutes before +twelve they opened their fire. Eight or nine of the ships immediately +ahead of the VICTORY, and across her bows, fired single guns at her, +to ascertain whether she was yet within their range. As soon as Nelson +perceived that their shot passed over him, he desired Blackwood and +Captain Prowse, of the SIRIUS, to repair to their respective frigates; +and, on their way, to tell all the captains of the line-of-battle ships +that he depended on their exertions; and that if, by the prescribed mode +of attack, they found it impracticable to get into action immediately, +they might adopt whatever they thought best, provided it led them +quickly and closely alongside an enemy. As they were standing on the +front of the poop, Blackwood took him by the hand, saying, he hoped soon +to return and find him in possession of twenty prizes. He replied, "God +bless you, Blackwood; I shall never see you again." + +Nelson's column was steered about two points more to the north than +Collingwood's, in order to cut off the enemy's escape into Cadiz: the +lee line, therefore, was first engaged. "See," cried Nelson, pointing to +the ROYAL SOVEREIGN, as she steered right for the centre of the enemy's +line, cut through it astern of the SANTA ANNA three-decker, and engaged +her at the muzzle of her guns on the starboard side--"see how that +noble fellow, Collingwood, carries his ship into action!" Collingwood, +delighted at being first in the heat of the fire, and knowing the +feelings of his commander and old friend, turned to his captain, and +exclaimed: "Rotherham, what would Nelson give to be here?" Both +these brave officers, perhaps, at this moment, thought of Nelson with +gratitude, for a circumstance which had occurred on the preceding day. +Admiral Collingwood, with some of the captains, having gone on board +the VICTORY to receive instructions, Nelson inquired of him where his +captain was and was told, in reply, that they were not upon good terms +with each other. "Terms!" said Nelson,--"good terms with each other!" +Immediately he sent a boat for Captain Rotherham; led him, as soon as he +arrived, to Collingwood; and saying, "Look; yonder are the enemy!" bade +them shake hands like Englishmen. + +The enemy continued to fire a gun at a time at the VICTORY, till they +saw that a shot had passed through her main-top-gallant sail; then they +opened their broadsides, aiming chiefly at her rigging, in the hope of +disabling her before she could close with them. Nelson, as usual, had +hoisted several flags, lest one should be shot away. The enemy showed no +colours till late in the action, when they began to feel the necessity +of having them to strike. For this reason, the SANTISSIMA TRINIDAD, +Nelson's old acquaintance, as he used to call her, was distinguishable +only by her four decks; and to the bow of this opponent he ordered the +VICTORY to be steered. Meantime an incessant raking fire was kept up +upon the VICTORY. The admiral's secretary was one of the first who fell; +he was killed by a cannon-shot while conversing with Hardy. Captain +Adair of the marines, with the help of a sailor, endeavoured to remove +the body from Nelson's sight, who had a great regard for Mr. Scott; but +he anxiously asked: "Is that poor Scott that's gone?" and being informed +that was indeed so, exclaimed: "Poor fellow!" Presently, a double-headed +shot struck a party of marines who were drawn up on the poop, and killed +eight of them; upon which Nelson immediately desired Captain Adair to +disperse his men round the ship, that they might not suffer so much from +being together. A few minutes afterwards a shot struck the four-brace +bits on the quarter-deck, and passed between Nelson and Hardy, a +splinter from the bit tearing off Hardy's buckle, and bruising his foot. +Both stopped, and looked anxiously at each other, each supposed the +other to be wounded. Nelson then smiled, and said, "This is too warm +work, Hardy, to last long." + +The VICTORY had not yet returned a single gun: fifty of her men had +been by this time killed or wounded, and her main-top-mast, with all her +studding-sails and her booms, shot away. Nelson declared, that, in all +his battles, he had seen nothing which surpassed the cool courage of his +crew on this occasion. At four minutes after twelve she opened her fire +from both sides of her deck. It was not possible to break the enemy's +line without running on board one of their ships: Hardy informed him of +this, and asked him which he would prefer. Nelson replied: "Take your +choice, Hardy, it does not signify much." The master was ordered to put +the helm to port, and the VICTORY ran on board the REDOUTABLE, just as +her tiller ropes were shot away. The French ship received her with a +broadside; then instantly let down her lower-deck ports, for fear of +being bearded through them, and never afterwards fired a great gun +during the action. Her tops, like those of all the enemy's ships, were +filled with riflemen. Nelson never placed musketry in his tops; he had a +strong dislike to the practice; not merely because it endangers setting +fire to the sails, but also because it is a murderous sort of warfare, +by which individuals may suffer, and a commander now and then be picked +off; but which never can decide the fate of a general engagement. + +Captain Harvey, in the TEMERAIRE, fell on board the REDOUTABLE on the +other side. Another enemy was in like manner on board the TEMERAIRE; +so that these four ships formed as compact a tier as if they had been +moored together, their heads lying all the same way. The lieutenants of +the VICTORY, seeing this, depressed their guns of the middle and lower +decks, and fired with a diminished charge, lest the shot should pass +through, and injure the TEMERAIRE. And because there was danger that +the REDOUBTABLE might take fire from the lower-deck guns, the muzzles of +which touched her side when they were run out, the fireman of each +gun stood ready with a bucket of water; which, as soon as the gun was +discharged, he dashed into the hole made by the shot. An incessant fire +was kept up from the VICTORY from both sides; her larboard guns playing +upon the BUCENTAURE and the huge SANTISSIMA TRINIDAD. + +It had been part of Nelson's prayer that the British fleet might be +distinguished by humanity in the victory which he expected. Setting +an example himself, he twice gave orders to cease firing upon the +REDOUTABLE, supposing that she had struck, because her great guns were +silent; for as she carried no flag, there were no means of instantly +ascertaining the fact. From this ship, which he had thus twice spared, +he received his death. A ball fired from her mizzen-top, which, in the +then situation of the two vessels, was not more than fifteen yards from +that part of the deck where he was standing, struck the epaulette on his +left shoulder, about a quarter after one, just in the heat of action. +He fell upon his face, on the spot which was covered with his poor +secretary's blood. Hardy, who was a few steps from him, turning round, +saw three men raising him up.--"They have done for me at last, Hardy," +said he.--"I hope not," cried Hardy.--"Yes!" he replied, "my back-bone +is shot through." Yet even now, not for a moment losing his presence of +mind, he observed, as they were carrying him down the ladder, that +the tiller ropes, which had been shot away, were not yet replaced, and +ordered that new ones should be rove immediately. Then, that he might +not be seen by the crew, he took out his handkerchief, and covered his +face and his stars. Had he but concealed these badges of honour from the +enemy, England, perhaps, would not have had cause to receive with +sorrow the news of the battle of Trafalgar. The cockpit was crowded with +wounded and dying men, over whose bodies he was with some difficulty +conveyed, and laid upon a pallet in the midshipmen's berth. It was soon +perceived, upon examination, that the wound was mortal. This, however, +was concealed from all except Captain Hardy, the chaplain, and the +medical attendants. He himself being certain, from the sensation in his +back, and the gush of blood he felt momently within his breast, that no +human care could avail him, insisted that the surgeon should leave him, +and attend to those to whom he might be useful; "For," said he, "you can +do nothing for me." All that could be done was to fan him with paper, +and frequently to give him lemonade to alleviate his intense thirst. +He was in great pain, and expressed much anxiety for the event of the +action, which now began to declare itself. As often as a ship struck, +the crew of the VICTORY hurrahed; and at every hurrah a visible +expression of joy gleamed in the eyes, and marked the countenance of the +dying hero. But he became impatient to see Captain Hardy; and as that +officer, though often sent for, could not leave the deck, Nelson feared +that some fatal cause prevented him, and repeatedly cried, "Will no one +bring Hardy to me? He must be killed! He is surely dead!" An hour and +ten minutes elapsed from the time when Nelson received his wound before +Hardy could come to him. They shook hands in silence, Hardy in vain +struggling to repress the feelings of that most painful and yet +sublimest moment. "Well, Hardy," said Nelson, "how goes the day with +us?"--"Very well," replied Hardy; "ten ships have struck, but five +of the van have tacked, and show an intention to bear down upon the +VICTORY, I have called two or three of our fresh ships round, and have +no doubt of giving them a drubbing."--"I hope," said Nelson, "none of +our ships have struck?" Hardy answered, "There was no fear of that." +Then, and not till then, Nelson spoke of himself. "I am a dead man, +Hardy," said he: "I am going fast: it will be all over with me soon. +Come nearer to me. Let my dear Lady Hamilton have my hair, and all other +things belonging to me." Hardy observed that he hoped Mr. Beatty +could yet hold out some prospect of life. "Oh, no!" he replied, "it is +impossible. My back is shot through. Beatty will tell you so." Captain +Hardy then, once more, shook hands with him; and, with a heart almost +bursting, hastened upon deck. + +By this time all feeling below the breast was gone; and Nelson, having +made the surgeon ascertain this, said to him: "You know I am gone, I +know it. I feel something rising in my breast,"--putting his hand on +his left side,--"which tells me so." And upon Beatty's inquiring whether +his pain was very great, he replied, "So great, that he wished he was +dead. Yet," said he, in a lower voice, "one would like to live a +little longer too!" And after a few minutes, in the same under tone, +he added--"What would become of poor Lady Hamilton, if she knew my +situation!" Next to his country she occupied his thoughts. Captain +Hardy, some fifty minutes after he had left the cockpit, returned; and, +again taking the hand of his dying friend and commander, congratulated +him on having gained a complete victory. How many of the enemy were +taken he did not know, as it was impossible to perceive them distinctly; +but fourteen or fifteen at least. "That's well," cried Nelson, "but I +bargained for twenty." And then, in a stronger voice, he said: "Anchor, +Hardy; anchor." Hardy, upon this, hinted that Admiral Collingwood would +take upon himself the direction of affairs. "Not while I live, Hardy," +said the dying Nelson, ineffectually endeavouring to raise himself from +the bed: "Do you anchor." His previous order for preparing to anchor had +shown how clearly he foresaw the necessity of this. Presently, calling +Hardy back, he said to him in a low voice, "Don't throw me overboard:" +and he desired that he might be buried by his parents, unless it should +please the king to order otherwise. Then reverting to private feelings: +"Take care of my dear Lady Hamilton, Hardy take care of poor Lady +Hamilton. Kiss me, Hardy," said he. Hardy knelt down and kissed his +cheek; and Nelson: said, "Now I am satisfied. Thank God I have done my +duty." Hardy stood over him in silence for a moment or two, then knelt +again and kissed his forehead. "Who is that?" said Nelson; and being +informed, he replied, "God bless you, Hardy." And Hardy then left him +--for ever. + +Nelson now desired to be turned upon his right side, and said, "I wish +I had not left the deck; for I shall soon be gone." Death was, indeed, +rapidly approaching. He said to the chaplain, "Doctor, I have NOT been +a GREAT sinner;" and after a short pause, "Remember that I leave +Lady Hamilton and my daughter Horatia as a legacy to my country." His +articulation now became difficult; but he was distinctly heard to say, +"Thank God I have done my duty." These words he repeatedly pronounced; +and they were the last words which he uttered. He expired at thirty +minutes after four--three hours and a quarter after he had received his +wound. + +Within a quarter of an hour after Nelson was wounded, above fifty of +the VICTORY's men fell by the enemy's musketry. They, however, on their +part, were not idle; and it was not long before there were only two +Frenchmen left alive in the mizzen-top of the REDOUTABLE. One of them +was the man who had given the fatal wound: he did not live to boast of +what he had done. An old quarter-master had seen him fire; and easily +recognised him, because he wore a glazed cocked hat and a white frock. +This quarter-master and two midshipmen, Mr. Collingwood and Mr. Pollard, +were the only persons left in the VICTORY's poop; the two midshipmen +kept firing at the top, and he supplied them with cartridges. One of the +Frenchmen, attempting to make his escape down the rigging, was shot by +Mr. Pollard, and fell on the poop. But the old quarter-master, as he +cried out, "That's he, that's he," and pointed at the other who was +coming forward to fire again, received a shot in his mouth, and fell +dead. Both the midshipmen then fired at the same time, and the fellow +dropped in the top. When they took possession of the prize, they went +into the mizzen-top, and found him dead, with one ball through his head, +and another through his breast. + +The REDOUTABLE struck within twenty minutes after the fatal shot had +been fired from her. During that time she had been twice on fire in her +fore-chains and in her forecastle. The French, as they had done in +other battles, made use in this, of fire-balls and other combustibles; +implements of destruction which other nations, from a sense of honour +and humanity, have laid aside; which add to the sufferings of the +wounded, without determining the issue of the combat: which none but the +cruel would employ, and which never can be successful against the brave. +Once they succeeded in setting fire, from the REDOUTABLE, to some ropes +and canvas on the VICTORY's booms. The cry ran through the ship, and +reached the cockpit; but even this dreadful cry produced no confusion: +the men displayed that perfect self-possession in danger by which +English seamen are characterised; they extinguished the flames on board +their own ship, and then hastened to extinguish them in the enemy, by +throwing buckets of water from the gangway. When the REDOUTABLE had +struck, it was not practicable to board her from the VICTORY; for, +though the two ships touched, the upper works of both fell in so much, +that there was a great space between their gangways; and she could not +be boarded from the lower or middle decks because her ports were down. +Some of our men went to Lieutenant Quilliam, and offered to swim under +her bows, and get up there; but it was thought unfit to hazard brave +lives in this manner. + +What our men would have done from gallantry, some of the crew of +the SANTISSIMA TRINIDAD did to save themselves. Unable to stand the +tremendous fire of the VICTORY, whose larboard guns played against this +great four-decker, and not knowing how else to escape them, nor where +else to betake themselves for protection, many of them leaped overboard +and swam to the VICTORY; and were actually helped up her sides by the +English during the action. The Spaniards began the battle with less +vivacity than their unworthy allies, but they continued it with greater +firmness. The ARGONAUTA and BAHAMA were defended till they had each lost +about four hundred men; the SAN JUAN NEPOMUCENO lost three hundred +and fifty. Often as the superiority of British courage has been proved +against France upon the seas, it was never more conspicuous than in this +decisive conflict. Five of our ships were engaged muzzle to muzzle with +five of the French. In all five the Frenchmen lowered their lower-deck +ports, and deserted their guns; while our men continued deliberately to +load and fire till they had made the victory secure. + +Once, amidst his sufferings, Nelson had expressed a wish that he were +dead; but immediately the spirit subdued the pains of death, and +he wished to live a little longer, doubtless that he might hear the +completion of the victory which he had seen so gloriously begun. That +consolation, that joy, that triumph, was afforded him. He lived to know +that the victory was decisive; and the last guns which were fired at +the flying enemy were heard a minute or two before he expired. The ships +which were thus flying were four of the enemy's van, all French, under +Rear-Admiral Dumanoir. They had borne no part in the action; and now, +when they were seeking safety in flight, they fired not only into the +VICTORY and ROYAL SOVEREIGN as they passed, but poured their broadsides +into the Spanish captured ships; and they were seen to back their +topsails for the purpose of firing with more precision. The indignation +of the Spaniards at this detestable cruelty from their allies, for +whom they had fought so bravely, and so profusely bled, may well be +conceived. It was such that when, two days after the action, seven of +the ships which had escaped into Cadiz came out in hopes of re-taking +some of the disabled prizes, the prisoners in the ARGONAUTA, in a body, +offered their services to the British prize-master, to man the guns +against any of the French ships, saying, that if a Spanish ship came +alongside, they would quietly go below; but they requested that they +might be allowed to fight the French in resentment for the murderous +usage which they had suffered at their hands. Such was their +earnestness, and such the implicit confidence which could be placed +in Spanish honour, that the offer was accepted and they were actually +stationed at the lower-deck guns. Dumanoir and his squadron were not +more fortunate than the fleet from whose destruction they fled. They +fell in with Sir Richard Strachan, who was cruising for the Rochefort +squadron, and were all taken. In the better days of France, if such +a crime could then have been committed, it would have received an +exemplary punishment from the French government. Under Buonaparte it was +sure of impunity, and perhaps might be thought deserving of reward. But +if the Spanish court had been independent, it would have become us to +have delivered Dumanoir and his captains up to Spain, that they might +have been brought to trial, and hanged in sight of the remains of the +Spanish fleet. + +The total British loss in the battle of Trafalgar amounted to 1587. +Twenty of the enemy struck; but it was not possible to anchor the fleet, +as Nelson had enjoined. A gale came on from the S.W., some of the prizes +went down, some went on shore; one effected its escape into Cadiz; +others were destroyed; four only were saved, and those by the greatest +exertions. The wounded Spaniards were sent ashore, an assurance being +given that they should not serve till regularly exchanged; and the +Spaniards, with a generous feeling, which would not perhaps have been +found in any other people, offered the use of their hospitals for our +wounded, pledging the honour of Spain that they should be carefully +attended there. When the storm, after the action, drove some of the +prizes upon the coast, they declared that the English who were thus +thrown into their hands should not be considered as prisoners of war; +and the Spanish soldiers gave up their own beds to their shipwrecked +enemies. The Spanish vice-admiral, Alva, died of his wounds. Villeneuve +was sent to England, and permitted to return to France. The French +Government say that he destroyed himself on the way to Paris, dreading +the consequences of a court-martial; but there is every reason to +believe that the tyrant, who never acknowledged the loss of the battle +of Trafalgar, added Villeneuve to the numerous victims of his murderous +policy. + +It is almost superfluous to add, that all the honours which a grateful +country could bestow were heaped upon the memory of Nelson. His brother +was made an earl, with a grant of L6000 a year. L10,000 were voted +to each of his sisters; and L100,000 for the purchase of an estate. A +public funeral was decreed, and a public monument. Statues and monuments +also were voted by most of our principal cities. The leaden coffin in +which he was brought home was cut in pieces, which were distributed as +relics of Saint Nelson,--so the gunner of the VICTORY called them; +and when, at his internment, his flag was about to be lowered into the +grave, the sailors who assisted at the ceremony with one accord rent it +in pieces, that each might preserve a fragment while he lived. + +The death of Nelson was felt in England as something more than a public +calamity; men started at the intelligence, and turned pale, as if they +had heard of the loss of a dear friend. An object of our admiration and +affection, of our pride and of our hopes, was suddenly taken from us; +and it seemed as if we had never, till then, known how deeply we +loved and reverenced him. What the country had lost in its great naval +hero--the greatest of our own, and of all former times--was scarcely +taken into the account of grief. So perfectly, indeed, had he performed +his part, that the maritime war, after the battle of Trafalgar, was +considered at an end: the fleets of the enemy were not merely defeated +but destroyed; new navies must be built, and a new race of seamen reared +for them, before the possibility of their invading our shores could +again be contemplated. It was not, therefore, from any selfish +reflection upon the magnitude of our loss that we mourned for him: the +general sorrow was of a higher character. The people of England grieved +that funeral ceremonies, and public monuments, and posthumous rewards, +were all which they could now bestow upon him, whom the king, the +legislature, and the nation would have alike delighted to honour; whom +every tongue would have blessed; whose presence in every village through +which he might have passed would have wakened the church bells, have +given schoolboys a holiday, have drawn children from their sports to +gaze upon him, and "old men from the chimney corner" to look upon Nelson +ere they died. The victory of Trafalgar was celebrated, indeed, with the +usual forms of rejoicing, but they were without joy; for such already +was the glory of the British navy, through Nelson's surpassing genius, +that it scarcely seemed to receive any addition from the most signal +victory that ever was achieved upon the seas: and the destruction of +this mighty fleet, by which all the maritime schemes of France were +totally frustrated, hardly appeared to add to our security or strength; +for, while Nelson was living, to watch the combined squadrons of the +enemy, we felt ourselves as secure as now, when they were no longer in +existence. + +There was reason to suppose, from the appearances upon opening the body, +that in the course of nature he might have attained, like his father, to +a good old age. Yet he cannot be said to have fallen prematurely whose +work was done; nor ought he to be lamented who died so full of honours, +at the height of human fame. The most triumphant death is that of the +martyr; the most awful that of the martyred patriot; the most splendid +that of the hero in the hour of victory: and if the chariot and horses +of fire had been vouchsafed for Nelson's translation, he could scarcely +have departed in a brighter blaze of glory. He has left us, not indeed +his mantle of inspiration, but a name and an example which are at this +hour inspiring thousands of the youth of England: a name which is our +pride, and an example which will continue to be our shield and our +strength. Thus it is that the spirits of the great and the wise continue +to live and to act after them; verifying, in this sense, the language of +the old mythologist:-- + + +[The book ends with two lines of ancient Greek by the poet Hesiod. Their +meaning is approximately that of the final lines above.] + + +[In this text, to keep the character set to the minimum 'vanilla ASCII': +italics have been converted to capitals, accents etc. have been omitted, +and the British 'Pound' currency symbol has been written as 'L'. Where +angles are given in degrees, minutes and seconds; the abbreviations d, m, +s have been used.] + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Life of Horatio Lord Nelson, by Robert Southey + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIFE OF HORATIO LORD NELSON *** + +***** This file should be named 947.txt or 947.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/9/4/947/ + +Produced by John Hill and David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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