9: Chapter IX
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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 Cádiz 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 Cádiz 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 Cádiz, 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 Cádiz, 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 Cádiz 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 Cádiz, 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 Cádiz 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, Horatio Nelson
Thomson; 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 Cádiz 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, be 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
Cádiz: 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 Cádiz: 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 Redoubtable, 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 Redoubtable 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 Redoubtable, 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 Redoubtable. 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 quartermaster, 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 Redoubtable 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 Redoubtable, 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 Redoubtable 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 Cádiz 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 Cádiz; 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 £6000 a year.£10,000 were voted to each of his sisters; and £100,000
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:—
[Southey closes with two lines
122,123 of Hesiod's Works and Days. They are being omitted here.]
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