Horatio Nelson

Early Life

Horatio Nelson was born on 29^th September 1758 in the rectory at Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk. He was the sixth of eleven children.

He joined the Navy when he was 12 years old, and his first ship posting was on the Raisonnable as an Ordinary Seaman and Coxswain.  Shortly after, Nelson became midshipman and commenced his officer training.  He also discovered a lifelong affliction by seasickness.

Nelson’s maternal uncle, Maurice Suckling, was commander of the Raisonnable, and in 1775 he became Controller of the Navy, using this potion to advance Nelson’s Naval career.  After six years in the Navy, Nelson became Lieutenant, and was posted to the West Indies, where he met his future wife, Frances Nisbet. They were married on 11^th March 1787.

In June 1779, Nelson was made post-captain, and his first command in this rank came on the captured 28-gun French frigate Hinchinbroke.

Battles

Britain entered the French Revolutionary Wars in 1793, and Nelson was given command of the Agamemnon, which had 64 guns. This period saw the beginning of his rise to fame and his place in history.

His first assignment at this time was in Naples, and in 1794, he was wounded in the face when stones and debris were thrown into the air by a close cannon shot in a joint operation in Corsica. This caused him to lose the sight of his right eye, and part of his eyebrow.

Agamemnon was sent back to the UK for repairs in 1796, and Nelson was appointed Commodore and given independent command over ships blockading the French coast.

On 14^th February 1797, Nelson played a major part in the British victory at the Battle of Cape St Vincent.  He disobeyed orders in order to prevent Spanish ships from escaping, and then led parties who boarded the two enemy ships in succession, something not normally carried out by high ranking officers.  After this he was knighted as Order of the Bath (with KB after his name), and in April he was promoted to Rear Admiral of the Blue, which is the ninth highest rank in the Royal Navy. Later in that same year, when commanding the Theseus in an unsuccessful attempt to conquer Santa Cruz de Tenerife, he was shot in the right arm with a musketball, causing a severe fracture of the humerus.  The only treatment for this was amputation, in order to prevent gangrene, so as well as losing his sight in the right eye, Nelson had now lost his right arm.

In 1798, there was another victory against the French, this time it was the Battle of the Nile, which took place on 1^st August. This ended Napoleon’s idea of taking the war to the British in India, as his troops were now stranded in Egypt.  Napoleon later escaped back to France, leaving his soldiers behind.

In December of 1798, Nelson met Emma Hamilton, the wife of the British ambassador.  She returned to Britain with him and they had a daughter, Horatia, in 1801.

In 1800, Nelson and his wife moved to Ipswich and he became High Steward of Ipswich, though not the town’s MP.

In January 1801, Nelson was promoted to Vice Admiral of the Blue, the sixth highest Naval rank, and in April of that year he took part in the Battle of Copenhagen, which was fought in order to break up the armed neutrality of Denmark, Sweden and Russia. During the battle, he raised his telescope to his blind eye in order to ignore a signal to retreat.  The battle had a successful outcome for the British.

Napoleon had started to mass his forces for an attack against Britain, and Nelson was put in charge of defending the English Channel. However, on 22^nd October, an armistice was signed between Britain and France and Nelson returned to England.

The peace between Britain and France did not last long, and in May 1803, Nelson was assigned to HMS Victory. He later was promoted to Vice Admiral of the White (fifth highest rank) in 1804.

Nelson’s last battle was on 21^st October 1805.  Nelson had 27 ships, the opponents had 33. As the two fleets approached each other, Nelson raised a 31 flag signal to the rest of the fleet, which spelt out “England expects that every man will do his duty”.  The French ship Bucentaure was crippled by the British, who then moved on to the Redoutable. The ships became entangled, and the French snipers were easily able to fire onto the British ship. A bullet hit Nelson from about fifty feet, entering his left shoulder, piercing his lung and travelling as far as the base of his spine. Britain’s naval hero died after the British won the Battle of Trafalgar.  His body was preserved in a barrel of brandy, and on return was given a state funeral on 9^th January 1806 (one of only a very few non-Royal Britons to receive a state funeral) and entombment in St Paul’s.

Monuments

There are many monuments to Nelson across the world:

Nelson’s Column and Trafalgar Square in London; a pillar on Glasgow Green; Nelson’s Monument on Calton Hill in Edinburgh; memorials in Birmingham, Liverpool and Barbados sculpted by Richard Westmacott; statue in Norwich Cathedral grounds; Castle Green, Hereford; banks of Menai Straits; Swarland, Northumberland; Nelson in New Zealand; Nelson Island, British Columbia; Montreal and finally on Nevis where Nelson met and married his wife, there are Nelson’s Spring and Nelson’s Lookout.

Some have suggested that 21^st October also be made a Bank Holiday to remember the Battle of Trafalgar.

The men and women who will feature in this series of articles have all helped to shape our country and its history, making important scientific discoveries, inventing the devices we all take for granted today, keeping our shores free of invading forces and making Britain Great.  All British schoolchildren should learn the important people from our past, and what they achieved.