Admiral Horatio Nelson

“ These were supported by some gun-boats, purposely fitted for the occasion; and which, in case of attack, depended for their own protection on the interior line of ships under the command of Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson. With a view to enforce a strict attention throughout all the inferior branches of the service, the rear-admiral was accustomed to be rowed, in his barge, through these guard-boats, after they had been duly stationed for the night. Thus officers and men were kept constantly in a state of alertness ”

“ The brave and enterprising British Admiral Nelson has obtained a most signal and decisive victory. My heart would fain give wings to the courier who is the bearer of these propitious tidings, to facilitate the earliest acknowledgments of our gratitude. So extensive is this victory in all it's relative circumstances, that were it not that the world has been accustomed to see prodigies of glory atchieved by the English on the seas, I should almost question the reality of the event. It has produced, among us, a general spirit of enthusiasm. ”

“ Should these offers be rejected; or the French ships make their escape, notwithstanding my vigilance; I declare, that I will not enter, or join, any capitulation, which the general may hereafter be forced to enter into, with the inhabitants of Malta; much less will I intercede for the forgiveness of those who have betrayed their duty to their country. I beg leave to assure you, this is the determination of a British admiral; and I have the honour to be, gentlemen, your most obedient humble servant,
"Horatio Nelson." ”

“ Sir John Jervis, in his letter to the Admiralty, on this occasion, dated the 5th of July 1797, gives the handsomest and the highest possible encomium to Rear-Admiral Nelson.
"The rear-admiral," says he, "who is always present in the most arduous enterprises, with the assistance of some other barges, boarded and carried two of the enemy's gun-boats, and a barge-launch belonging to some of their ships of war, with the commandant of the flotilla. Rear-Admiral Nelson's actions speak for themselves; any praise of mine would fall very short of his merit!" ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 ”

“ Lord Nelson cannot but observe, with the highest satisfaction which can fill the breast of a British admiral, that—with the exception of the glaring misconduct of the officers of the Tygress and Cracker gun-brigs, and the charges alledged against the lieutenant of the Terror bomb—-out of eighteen thousand men, of which the fleet is composed, not a complaint has been made of any officer or man in it ”

“ I shall be happy if you will honour me, at any time, with your commands, here or elsewhere; being, with the highest respect, your most obedient servant,
"Nelson."
A letter from Earl Spencer had likewise reached Naples, at this period, with the official intelligence of Admiral Nelson's elevation to the peerage; an elevation which, it is certain, the Hero of the Nile by no means considered as excessive, any more than his particular friends, and even the country in general. ”

“ Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson has the greatest satisfaction in sending to the captains, officers, and men, under his command, that were employed in the late attempt on the enemy's flotilla off Boulogne, an extract of a letter which he has received from the First Lord of the Admiralty; not only approving of their zeal and persevering courage, but bestowing the highest praise on them. The vice-admiral begs to assure them, that the enemy will not have long reason to boast of their security; for he trusts, ere long, to assist them in person, in a way which will compleatly annihilate the whole of them. ”

“ He might not be sufficiently what Captain Nelson called a man of business, to admire the agreed co-operation with the Austrian army, though as ready as any man to encounter the fleet of the enemy at sea: when, therefore, that co-operation became necessary, Captain Nelson's known habits of soldiering, immediately directed the admiral's attention to the Brigadier; who had, accordingly, a not altogether unpleasant command of the squadron at Vado Bay, consisting of thirteen sail of frigates and sloops. ”

“ The ships he had were well equipped, and his confidence in all the officers and men was precisely the same as they themselves felt in their adored commander—he believed them to be absolutely invincible. The ships which accompanied his lordship in this memorable pursuit, were—the Victory of a hundred and ten guns, Vice-Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson, Rear-Admiral Murray, and Captain Hardy ”

“ 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 ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 ”

“ 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. ”

“ With the best temper, and great good sense, he cannot fail being pleasing to every one."
What a pity it is, that any impediment should have ever prevailed against the royal duke's taking an active command!
Some time after Captain Nelson had joined Lord Hood, in the West Indies, the admiral having received several contradictory accounts of the number of the enemy's ships at the Havannah, and being consequently unable to rely on such varying reports, was desirous of sending, for the requisite information, one on whom he well knew he might safely depend. ”

“ It has been said, that Lord Nelson, who was in hourly expectation of being reinforced by seven ships of the line from England, and impatient to encounter the enemy, purposely detached Rear-Admiral Louis, with that number of ships, in the most public manner, by way of encouraging them to risk an action with his apparently so diminished force; and, that this stratagem actually induced Admiral Villeneuve immediately to sail from Cadiz. That the expected reinforcement had arrived, and Admiral Louis had been thus detached to Tetuan, for fresh provisions and water, is most certain ”

“ The French fleet came out on the 5th, but went in again the next morning.
Yesterday, a Rear-Admiral, and seven sail of ships, including frigates, put their nose outside the harbour. If they go on playing this game, some day we shall lay salt upon their tails; and so end the campaign of, my dearest Emma, your most faithful and affectionate
————
I am glad to hear that you are going to take my dear Horatia, to educate her. She must turn out an angel, if she minds what you say to her; and Eliza and Ann will never forget your goodness. ”

“ 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 ”

“ Such were the exertions of the officers and men, and such were the facilities, in other respects, which they now enjoyed, that the whole squadron were in a condition to put to sea by the 25th.
In the mean time, Admiral Nelson had addressed a letter to the Earl of St. Vincent, on the 20th instant, stating what he had done since his last, and his future intentions. "Yesterday," says he, "I arrived here; where I can learn no more than conjecture, that the French are gone to the eastward. Every moment, I have to regret the frigates having left me ”

“ That they were extricated, by a daring resolution and determined valour, in Captain Troubridge and Captain Hood, which would have done honour even to Rear-Admiral Nelson himself, is as certain, as that no want of courage prevented, in the smallest degree, the success of the enterprise. There can be no such possible imputation. By bravery, alone, it was wholly unaccomplishable ”

“ The Turk, who is by no means a fool, on the contrary, has more natural sense than the other; is our brother; and, I am sure, there is not a thing that we could desire him to do, which he would not instantly comply with. I make use of the word we," adds his lordship; "because Sir William and Lady Hamilton have more merit in gaining the affection and implicit confidence of Cadir Bey, and his officers, than I have."
On the 12th, Lord Nelson writes to Rear-Admiral Duckworth—"The Russian admiral has told me, his ships cannot keep the sea in winter; and I see no desire to go to sea in summer." ”

“ Can we wonder, that such men should be invincible!
On the 13th of June, Lord Nelson received permission for his return to England; and immediately thanked the Lords of the Admiralty, in an answer addressed to Mr. Nepean, for the very flattering and handsome manner in which their lordships had expressed their acquiescence with his request of the 17th of May. Having received, at the same time, a commission from his majesty, to invest his friend Rear-Admiral Graves with the military order of the Bath, his lordship performed that ceremony, on board the St George, next day, in the following manner. ”

“ 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 ”

“ In short, though his lordship execrated all appearances of cowardice, he compassionated every species of distress.
Lord Nelson, in a letter, dated the beginning of this month, addressed to Admiral then Commodore Duckworth, thus regrets the difficulty which he experiences, in consequence of having lost his right arm, with regard to writing—"I thank you, most truly, for your several very interesting letters, and beg that I may be favoured with your correspondence whenever opportunity offers. You will, I am sure, make allowance for a left-handed man ”