Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
 |
Lord Nelson |
Vice-Admiral
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, Duke of Bronte,
KB,
RN (
29 September 1758 â€"
21 October 1805) was an
English admiral famous for his participation in the
Napoleonic Wars, most notably in the
Battle of Trafalgar, where he lost his life. He became the greatest naval hero in the history of the United Kingdom, eclipsing
Admiral Robert Blake in fame. He is one of the most famous naval commanders in world history. His biography by the poet
Robert Southey appeared in 1813, while the wars were still being fought. His love affair with Emma,
Lady Hamilton, the wife of the British
Ambassador to
Naples, is also well-known, and he is honoured by the
London landmark
Nelson's Column, which stands in
Trafalgar Square.
Early life
Horatio Nelson was born on
29 September 1758 in a rectory in
Burnham Thorpe,
Norfolk, the sixth of eleven children of
The Revd Edmund Nelson and
Catherine Nelson. His mother, who died when he was nine, was a grandniece of Sir
Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, the
de facto first
prime minister of the British Parliament.
Nelson learned to sail on
Barton Broad on the
Norfolk Broads. He was briefly educated at
Paston Grammar School,
North Walsham, and
Norwich School, and by the time he was twelve he had enrolled in the
Royal Navy. His naval career began on
1 January 1771 when he reported to the
third-rate Raisonnable as an
ordinary seaman and
coxswain. Nelson's maternal uncle, Captain
Maurice Suckling, commanded the vessel. Shortly after reporting aboard, Nelson was appointed a
midshipman and began officer training. Ironically, Nelson found that he suffered from chronic
seasickness, a complaint that dogged him for the rest of his life.
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Captain Horatio Nelson, painted by John Francis Rigaud in 1781, with Fort San Juan - the scene of his most notable achievement to date - in the background. |
Suckling became Comptroller of the Navy in 1775 and used his position to help Nelson's rapid advance. By 1777 Nelson had risen to the rank of
lieutenant and was assigned to the
West Indies. During his service as lieutenant he saw action on the British side in the
American Revolutionary War. By the time he was 20, in June 1779, he was made post. The 28-gun frigate
Hinchinbroke, newly captured from the French, was his first command as
post-captain.
In 1780 he was involved in an
action against the Spanish fortress of San Juan in
Nicaragua. Though the expedition was ultimately a major debacle, none of the blame was attributed to Nelson, who was praised for his efforts. He fell seriously ill, probably contracting
malaria, and returned to England for more than a year to recover. He eventually returned to active duty and was assigned to
Albemarle, in which he continued his efforts against the American rebels until the official end of the war in 1783.
Command
In 1784 Nelson was given command of the frigate
Boreas, and assigned to enforce the
Navigation Act in the vicinity of
Antigua. This was during the denouement of the American Revolutionary War, and enforcement of the Act was problematic - now-foreign American vessels were no longer allowed to trade with British colonies in the
Caribbean Sea, an unpopular rule with both the colonies and the Americans. After seizing four American vessels off
Nevis, Nelson was sued by the captains of the ships for illegal seizure. As the merchants of Nevis supported them, Nelson was in peril of imprisonment and had to remain sequestered on
Boreas for eight months. It took that long for the courts to deny the captains their claims, but in the interim Nelson met Fanny Nesbit, a widow native to Nevis. Nelson and Fanny were married on
11 March 1787 at the end of his tour of duty in the Caribbean.
Nelson lacked a command for a few years after 1789. He lived on half pay during this time (a reasonably common occurrence in the peacetime Royal Navy). Then, as the
French Revolutionary government began aggressive moves beyond
France's borders, Nelson was recalled to service. Given command of the 64-gun
Agamemnon in 1793, he soon started a long series of battles and engagements that would seal his place in history.
He was first assigned to the Mediterranean, based out of the
Kingdom of Naples. In 1794 he was wounded in the face by stones and debris thrown up by a close cannon shot during a joint operation at
Calvi,
Corsica. As a result, Nelson lost the sight in his right eye and half of his right eyebrow. Despite popular legend, there is no evidence that Nelson ever wore an eye patch, though he was known to wear an eyeshade to protect his remaining eye.
In 1796 the position of commander-in-chief of the fleet in the Mediterranean passed to Sir
John Jervis, who appointed Nelson to be
commodore and to exercise independent command over the ships blockading the French coast.
Agamemnon, often described as Nelson's favourite ship, was by now worn out and was sent back to England for repairs. Nelson was appointed to the 74-gun
HMS Captain.
Admiralty
1797 was a full year for Nelson. On
14 February he was largely responsible for the British victory at the
Battle of Cape St. Vincent. In the aftermath, Nelson was
knighted as a member of the
Order of the Bath (hence the postnominal initials "KB"). In April of the same year he was promoted to
Rear Admiral of the Blue, the tenth highest rank in the Royal Navy. Promotion to admiral at this time was not based on merit but solely on seniority and the availability of positions to fill. Able captains such as Nelson were appointed
commodore temporarily, a position which had the same pay and responsibilities as an admiral. Later in the year, while commanding
Theseus during an unsuccessful expedition to conquer
Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Nelson was shot in the right arm with a musketball, fracturing his
humerus bone in multiple places. Since medical science of the day counseled amputation for almost all serious limb wounds (to prevent death by gangrene), Nelson lost almost his entire right arm and was unfit for duty until mid-December. He referred to the stub as "my fin."
This was not his only reverse. In December 1796, on leaving
Elba for
Gibraltar, Nelson transferred his flag to the
frigate Minerve (of French construction, commanded by Captain Cockburn). A Spanish frigate,
Santa Sabina, was captured during the passage and Lieutenant Hardy was put in charge of the captured vessel. The following morning, two Spanish ships of the line and one frigate appeared. Nelson decided to flee, leaving
Santa Sabina to be recovered by the Spanish and Hardy was captured. The Spanish captain who was on board
Minerve was later exchanged for Hardy in Gibraltar.
In 1798 Nelson was once again responsible for a great victory over the French. The
Battle of the Nile (also known as the Battle of Aboukir Bay) took place on
1 August 1798. The battle effectively ended Napoleon's ambition to take the war to the British in
India. The forces
Napoleon had brought to
Egypt were stranded. Napoleon attempted to march north along the
Mediterranean coast but his army was defeated at the
Siege of Acre by Captain Sir
Sidney Smith. Napoleon then left his army and sailed back to France, evading detection by British ships.
For the spectacular victory of the Nile, Nelson was granted the title of Baron Nelson of the Nile. (Nelson felt cheated that he was not awarded a more prestigious title;
Sir John Jervis had been made Earl of St. Vincent for his part in the battle of St. Vincent, but the British Government insisted that an officer who was not the commander-in-chief could not be raised to any peerage higher than a barony). Nelson felt throughout his life that his accomplishments were not fully rewarded by the British government, a fact he ascribed to his humble birth and lack of political connections as compared to Sir John Jervis or
The Duke of Wellington).
Not content to rest on his laurels, Nelson then rescued the Neapolitan royal family from a French invasion in December. During this time he fell in love with
Emma Hamilton - the young wife of the elderly British ambassador to
Naples. Emma became Nelson's mistress, returning to England to live openly with him, and eventually they had a daughter, Horatia.
In 1799 Nelson was promoted to
Rear Admiral of the Red, the eighth highest rank in the Royal Navy. He was then assigned to the new
second-rate Foudroyant. In July he aided
Admiral Ushakov with the reconquest of
Naples and was made Duke of
Bronte by the Neapolitan king. Personal problems and some upper-level disappointment at his professional conduct caused him to be recalled to England, but public knowledge of his affair with Lady Hamilton eventually induced the Admiralty to send him back to sea, if only to get him away from her.
Some have suggested that a head wound Nelson received at Aboukir Bay was partially responsible for his personal conduct and for the way he managed the Neapolitan campaign. He was accused of allowing the monarchists to kill prisoners contrary to the laws of war. Perhaps Nelson's zeal was due simultaneously to his English hatred of
Jacobins and his status as a Neapolitan royalist (as the Duke of
Bronte). The Neapolitan campaign is now considered something of a disgrace to his name.
On
1 January 1801 Nelson was promoted to
Vice Admiral of the Blue (the seventh highest rank). Within a few months he took part in the
Battle of Copenhagen (
2 April 1801) which was fought in order to break up the armed neutrality of
Denmark,
Sweden, and
Russia. During the action, Nelson was ordered to cease battle by his commander, Sir
Hyde Parker, who believed that the Danish fire was too strong. In a famous incident, however, Nelson claimed he could not see the signal flags conveying the order, pointedly raising his telescope to his blind eye. His action was approved in retrospect and in May he became commander-in-chief in the
Baltic Sea. He was awarded the title of Viscount Nelson by the British crown.
Meanwhile, Napoleon was massing forces to invade England. Nelson was placed in charge of defending the
English Channel in order to thwart any such invasion. However, on
22 October 1801 an armistice was signed between the British and the French, and Nelson - in poor health again - retired to England where he stayed with his friends,
Sir William and Lady Hamilton. The three embarked on a tour of England and Wales, culminating in a stay in
Birmingham. They visited
Matthew Boulton on his sick bed at
Soho House and toured his
Soho Manufactory.
The Battle of Trafalgar - death and burial
The
Peace of Amiens was not to last long and Nelson soon returned to duty. He was appointed commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean. Assigned to
HMS Victory in May 1803, Nelson joined the blockade of
Toulon, France. He would not set foot on dry land again for more than two years.
Nelson was promoted to
Vice Admiral of the White (the sixth highest rank) while still at sea, on
23 April 1804. The French fleet slipped out of Toulon in early 1805 and headed for the West Indies. (See
battle of Cape Finisterre (1805) for a summary of this campaign.) A fierce chase failed to turn them up and Nelson's health forced him to retire to
Merton in England.
Within two months Nelson returned to sea. On
13 September 1805 he was called upon to oppose the French and Spanish fleets which had managed to join up and take refuge in the harbour of
Cádiz,
Spain.
On
21 October 1805 Nelson engaged in his final battle, the
Battle of Trafalgar. Napoleon Bonaparte had been massing forces once again for an invasion of the British Isles, but he decided that his navy was not adequate to secure the Channel for the invasion barges. Thus, Napoleon had started moving his troops for a campaign elsewhere in Europe. On 19 October the French and Spanish fleet set sail from Cádiz, probably because
Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, the French commander, had learned that he was to be replaced. Nelson, with twenty-seven ships, engaged the thirty-three opposing ships.
Nelson's last dispatch, written on the 21 October, read:
At daylight saw the Enemy's Combined Fleet from East to E.S.E.; bore away; made the signal for Order of Sailing, and to Prepare for Battle; the Enemy with their heads to the Southward: at seven the Enemy wearing in succession. 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 who made me, and may his blessing light upon 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.
As the two fleets moved towards engagement, Nelson ran up a thirty-one flag signal to the rest of the fleet, spelling out the famous phrase "
England expects that every man will do his duty". The original signal that Nelson wished to make to the fleet was
England confides that every man will do his duty (meaning 'is confident that they will'). The signal officer asked Nelson if he could substitute the word 'expects' for 'confides' as 'expects' was included in the code devised by
Sir Home Popham, whereas 'confides' would have to be spelled out letter by letter. Nelson agreed, and the signal was run up
Victory's
mizzenmast.
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Detail from an 1805 poster commemorating the Battle of Trafalgar. |
After crippling the French flagship
Bucentaure,
Victory moved on to the
Redoutable. The two ships became entangled, at which point snipers in the fighting tops of
Redoutable were able to pour fire down onto the deck of
Victory. Nelson was one of those hit: a bullet entered his shoulder, pierced his lung, and came to rest at the base of his spine. Nelson retained consciousness for four hours, but died soon after the battle ended with a British victory.(See
Nelson's last words.)
Victory was towed after the battle to
Gibraltar, with Nelson's body preserved in a barrel of
brandy. Legend has it that, ironically, it was French brandy that had been captured during the battle. (See
Tapping the Admiral). Upon the arrival of his body in
London, Nelson was given a
state funeral (one of only five non-royal Britons to receive the honour - others include
Arthur Wellesley and
Churchill) and entombment in
St. Paul's Cathedral. He was laid to rest in a wooden coffin made from the mast of
L'Orient which had been salvaged after the
Battle of the Nile, within a
sarcophagus originally carved for
Cardinal Wolsey (when Wolsey fell from favour, it was confiscated by
Henry VIII and was still in the royal collections in 1805).
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The bullet that killed Nelson. |
Nelson was noted for his considerable ability to inspire and bring out the best in his men, to the point that it gained a name: "The Nelson Touch". Famous even while alive, after his death he was lionised like almost no other military figure in British history (his only peers are the
Duke of Marlborough and Nelson's contemporary, the
Duke of Wellington). Most military historians believe Nelson's ability to inspire officers of the highest rank and seamen of the lowest was central to his many victories, as was his unequaled ability to both strategically plan his campaigns and tactically shift his forces in the midst of battle. Certainly, he ranks as one of the greatest field commanders in military history. Many consider him to have been the greatest warrior of the seas.
It must also be said that his "Nelson touch" also worked with non-seamen; he was beloved in England by virtually everyone. (The only people not affected by him were those offended by his affair with Lady Hamilton). Now as then, he is a popular hero, included in the top 10 of the
100 Greatest Britons poll sponsored by the
BBC and voted for by the public, and commemorated in the extensive
Trafalgar 200 celebrations in 2005, including the
International Fleet Review. Even today phrases such as "
England expects" and
"nelson" (meaning "111") remain closely associated with English sporting teams.
Monuments to Nelson
The monumental
Nelson's Column and the surrounding
Trafalgar Square are notable locations in
London to this day, and Nelson was buried in
St. Paul's Cathedral. The first large monument to Nelson was a 43.5 m tall pillar on
Glasgow Green erected less than year after his death in 1806.
Nelson's Monument was later constructed atop
Calton Hill in
Edinburgh. The first monument funded by popular subscription, sculpted by
Richard Westmacott, was erected in Birmingham in 1809. Westmacott also sculpted memorials in
Liverpool and
Barbados. A columnar Monument in
Great Yarmouth to Nelson was started before his death but only completed in 1819. This is sometimes known as the "
Britannia Monument" as it is topped by that martial female rather than a statue of Nelson; a statue of Nelson can however be found in the grounds of
Norwich Cathedral alongside the other Napoleonic hero, the
Duke of Wellington, near the school he attended.
There is a Grade II*
listed statue by
Richard Westmacott in the
Bull Ring, Birmingham.
There is also a memorial to Nelson on the banks of the
Menai Straits in
North Wales. This memorial stands at an out-of-the-way site on the shore below Plas Llanfair, in
Llanfairpwll on the
Anglesey shore. It was created by Admiral Lord Clarence Paget, who lived in the mansion and who was an enthusiastic amateur sculptor.
In
Montreal (where Nelson had reportedly fallen in love with a young French-Canadian woman), there is a monument to Nelson (erected in 1809) in
Place Jacques-Cartier, which was a marketplace at the time. It has carved scenes from Nelson's career around the base and the statue on top was claimed to be the oldest public statue of Nelson in the world. (It was removed for several years due to excessive weathering but has been replaced after restoration).
There is also the
Nelson memorial in
Swarland,
Northumberland which was raised as a private memorial of Nelson by his friend and sometime agent, Alexander Davison.
Nelson's Pillar, a monument to Nelson in
Dublin was destroyed by a bomb planted by former
IRA men in 1966. The city of
Nelson, New Zealand bears his name as well as
Nelson Island on the
Sunshine Coast, British Columbia, Canada.
One of the most unusual monuments was constructed on Salisbury Plain, within cannon shot of Stonehenge, on land then owned by the Marquess of Queensbury. The monument consists of a series of clumps of trees in otherwise arable farmland. Known as the "Nile Clumps" they have been arranged to represent the positioning of French and British ships at the
Battle of the Nile, considered as Nelson's greatest tactical victory. Some clumps still survive, and work is underway to replant some of those that have "sunk". They stand on land owned by the
National Trust, forming part of the
Stonehenge Historic Landscape estate.
Nelson and the Royal Navy
Victory is still kept on active commission in honour of Nelson — it is the flagship of the
Second Sea Lord, and is the oldest commissioned ship of the Royal Navy. She can be found in Number 2 Dry Dock of the
Royal Navy Museum at the
Portsmouth Naval Base, in
Portsmouth,
England.
Two Royal Navy battleships have been named
HMS Nelson in his honour. The Royal Navy celebrates Nelson every
21 October by holding Trafalgar Day dinners and toasting
"The Immortal Memory" of Nelson.
The bullet that killed Nelson is permanently on display in the Grand Vestibule of
Windsor Castle. The uniform that he wore during the battle, with the fatal bullet hole still visible, can be seen at the
National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. A lock of Nelson's hair was given to the
Imperial Japanese Navy from the
Royal Navy after the
Russo-Japanese War to commemorate the victory at the
Battle of Tsushima. It is still on display at
Kyouiku Sankoukan, a public museum maintained by the
Japan Self-Defense Forces.
Nelson had no legitimate children; his daughter, Horatia, by Lady Hamilton (who died in poverty when their daughter was 13), subsequently married the Rev. Philip Ward and died in 1881. She and Rev. Ward had nine children: Horatio Nelson (born
8 December 1822); Eleanor Philippa (born April 1824); Marmaduke Philip Smyth (born
27 May 1825); John James Stephen (
13 February 1827â€"
1829); Nelson (born
8 May 1828); William George (born
8 April 1830); Edmund (
10 July,
1832â€"
1833); Horatio (born
24 November,
1833), Philip (born May 1834) and Caroline (born January 1836).
Because Lord Nelson had no legitimate heirs, the Viscountcy and 1798 Barony of Nelson (both "of the Nile and of Burnham Thorpe in the County of Norfolk") became extinct upon his death. However, the 1801 Barony of Nelson ("of the Nile and of Hilborough in the County of Norfolk") passed by a special remainder to Lord Nelson's brother,
The Reverend William Nelson. William was also created
Earl Nelson in recognition of his brother's services, which title is still extant.
Although Nelson's exploits are often claimed to have provided inspiration for fictional characters such as
Jack Aubrey,
Horatio Hornblower and
Honor Harrington, a close reading of the books does not bear this out. It is more likely Nelson's fame makes him the only Naval figure of the time whom reviewers recall. Nelson appears, unnamed but recognizable, in
Susan Sontag's novel
The Volcano Lover: A Romance, which centers on
Lady Hamilton's affair with him.Nelson himself appears as a ghost, in Amber Benson's and Christopher Golden's
Ghosts of Albion. Barry Unsworth's
Losing Nelson centers on the Nelson's actions in Naples in 1799.
Nelson's final words (as related by
Victory's Surgeon
William Beatty, based on the accounts of those who were with Nelson when he died) were "Thank God I have done my duty." According to Beatty, he repeated these words several times until he became unable to speak.
In his dying hours, Nelson was also attended by his chaplain, Alexander Scott; his steward, Chevalier; and the
purser, Walter Burke. Their accounts have been available to Nelson's modern biographers. In those accounts, Nelson's last words were "Drink, drink. Fan, fan. Rub, rub." This was a request to alleviate his symptoms of thirst, heat, and the pains of his wounds. (Pocock, Horatio Nelson, 1987, p.331.)
It is a common misconception that Nelson's last words were, "Kiss me, Hardy", spoken to the captain of HMS
Victory,
Thomas Hardy. Nelson did, in fact, say these words to Hardy a short time before his death, but they were not his last words as Hardy was not present at his death, having been called back on deck. Some have speculated that Nelson actually said "Kismet, Hardy", but this is impossible, since the word
kismet did not enter the English language until much later.
According to a
legend, naval
rum rather than brandy was used to preserve his body in a barrel until it was returned to England. It is claimed that his crew had drunk half of the rum from the barrel by the time they reached London; the crew were supposed to have sucked out the rum using thin straws. However, this legend is false as it is clearly documented that Nelson's body was preserved in brandy. Also the crew had great respect for Nelson, and his body was guarded night and day by a marine. Nevertheless, this legend has given rise to the slang term "tapping the Admiral", meaning illicit drinking, and may be related to the nickname given to Naval rum rations later, "Nelson's Blood" (although this may possibly be a deliberate echo of the
Communion ritual).
Nelson's titles, as inscribed on his coffin, were
Lord Horatio Nelson, Viscount and Baron Nelson, of the Nile and of Burnham Thorpe in the County of Norfolk, Baron Nelson of the Nile and of Hillborough in the said County, Knight of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Vice Admiral of the White Squadron of the Fleet, Commander in Chief of his Majesty's Ships and Vessels in the Mediterranean, Duke of Bronte in Sicily, Knight Grand Cross of the Sicilian Order of St Ferdinand and of Merit, Member of the Ottoman Order of the Crescent, Knight Grand Commander of the Order of St. Joachim. He was a Colonel of the Marines. He was voted a Freeman of Bath, Salisbury, Exeter, Plymouth, Monmouth, Sandwich, Oxford, Hereford, and Worcester.
The University of Oxford, in full Congregation, bestowed the honorary degree of Doctor of Civil Law upon Nelson in 1802.''
*
*
*
*
Colin White, 'Nelson's Letters' etc.
*Michener, James, A. 1989.
Caribbean. Secker & Warburg. London. ISBN 0-436-27971-1 (Especially Chap. VIII. "A Wedding on Nevis", pp. 289-318). Some of it is fictionalised, "...but everything said about Nelson and his frantic search for a wealthy life is based on fact."
*Pocock, Tom 1987,
Horatio Nelson. The Bodley Head. London. ISBN 0-370-31124-8
*Lambert, Andrew
Nelson - Britannia's God of War. Faber and Faber. London. ISBN 0-571-21222-0 Good new general biography; particularly helpful final two chapters on reactions to Nelson after his death, down to the current day.
*Sugden, John
Nelson - A Dream of Glory. Jonathan Cape. London. ISBN 0-224-06097-X Outstanding and extremely thorough account of Nelson's life as far as the battle of St. Vincent.
National Geographic magazine for October, 2005, has an article covering the Battle of Trafalgar, in recognition of its 200th anniversary.
*
Nelson Chronology World History Database*
'The Death of Nelson' (1806) by
Benjamin West*http://www.aboutnelson.co.uk/
*
The Nelson Society*
The Marine Society*
Life onboard HMS Victory: an educational resource*
Tapping the Admiral from
World Wide Words.
*
Free ebook of Horatio Nelson at
Project Gutenberg*
The Death of Lord Nelson, 1807, by William Beatty from
Project Gutenberg (also available in print from
LuLu.com)
*
A Tribute to Nelson's Navy*
An essay on Nelson in The Oxonian Review of Books
