"MY LORD,
"A desire from his majesty called me here yesterday, to concert with General Mack and General Acton the commencement of the war. Thirty thousand of—Mack says—"La plus belle d'armie d'Europe," was drawn out, for me to see; and, as far as my judgment goes in these matters, I agree, that a finer army cannot be. In the evening, we had a council; and it was settled, that four thousand infantry, and six hundred cavalry, should take possession of Leghorn. The infantry—(having stopped Captain Troubridge's squadron for Corfu)—I shall embark in the Vanguard, Culloden, Minotaur, two Portuguese ships, (if I can get them ready, not that I see they have any wants) and the Alliance storeship. A Neapolitan ship brings the cavalry, in a convoy, after us. The king's order for the destination was to be given to me; and, when at sea, I was to give it to the general commanding the troops: who was to be totally ignorant, that Leghorn was the object, and not Malta; which, as a secret, was communicated to him. His majesty approved of this plan, and Mack was to march—I repeat it with pleasure—"with thirty thousand of the finest troops in Europe," on Saturday, the 17th, to Rome; and keep advancing, trusting to the support of the emperor. Every hour, the French are increasing their Italian army, and two new generals are arrived at Rome. Thus I went to bed last night; and, at six this morning, came to take leave of their majesties. I found them in great distress. The courier who left London on the 4th, has not brought any assurance of support from the emperor. M. Turget is evasive; and wishes, he says, the French to be the aggressors. It is aggression, if this court knows—all the world knows—that the French are collecting an army to over-run Naples; in a week, destroy the monarchy; plunder, and make it a republic. As this is fully known; surely, it is an aggression of the most serious nature. The emperor's troops have not yet been in the habits of retaking kingdoms; and it is easier to destroy, than restore. I ventured to tell their majesties, directly, that one of the following things must happen to the King, and he had his choice—"Either advance, trusting to God for his blessing on a just cause, to die with l'epée a la main; or remain quiet, and be kicked out of your kingdom." The king replied, that he would go on, and trust in God; and desired me to stay till noon, to consult with Mack on this new face of affairs.
"November 15. I came from the king after dinner; and their majesties both told me, that things stood precisely as they did before the receipt of the dispatches from London and Vienna. There was, evidently, a great disappointment at not getting money from England. That they want, is certain; nor do the ministers, I believe, know how to get it. Their paper money is at forty per cent. discount. I long ago told the queen, I did not think Mr. Pitt would go to parliament, and ask money of the country, in the present moment; that, if England saw every exertion made, in this country, to save themselves, John Bull was never backward in supporting his friends in distress. Good God, my lord, can the emperor submit to this!
"November 18. Last evening, Lady Hamilton received a letter from the queen, full of the idea that money was indispensable: and desired her ladyship to shew it to me; and, that I would say what I saw. That I can do, very soon. I see the finest country in the world, full of resources; yet, without enough to supply the public wants: all are plundering, who can get at public money or stores. In my own line, I can speak. A Neapolitan ship of the line would cost more than ten English ships fitting out. Five sail of the line must ruin the country. Every thing else is, I have no doubt, going on in the same system of thieving: I could give your lordship so many instances of the greatest mal-conduct of persons in office, and of those very people being rewarded. If money could be placed in the public chest at this moment, I believe it would be well used: for the sad thing in this country is, that although much is raised, yet very little reaches the public chest. I will give you a fact—When the order of Jesuits was suppressed in this country and Sicily, they possessed very large estates: although these, with every other part of their property, were seized by the crown; yet, to this moment, not one farthing has reached the public chest. On the contrary, some years, the pretended expence of management was more than the produce. Taxes have been sold for sums of money; which, now, are five times more than when sold. This, it is true, was done by viceroys, to please their distant masters. But, I am tiring your patience. In short, their majesties look to us for every succour; and, without it, they are undone.
"I have wrote to the Turkish and Russian admirals, and shall take care to keep on the very best footing with all the allied powers.
"Believe me, your lordship's most obedient and obliged servant,
"Nelson."
At this Neapolitan review, a curious circumstance is said to have occurred. By some mistake of General Mack's, in directing the operations of a feigned fight, it so happened that his own troops were completely surrounded by those of the enemy; when Lord Nelson, vexed at the unfortunate and inauspicious blunder, immediately exclaimed, to his surrounding friends—"This fellow does not understand his business!"
It having been agreed, in a council held at the camp of St. Germaine's, as suggested in the foregoing letter, to take possession of Leghorn, not a moment was lost, by Lord Nelson, in preparing for that expedition. The King and Queen of Naples, affected by the very indifferent state of his lordship's health, and fearing that the exertion might prove too much for their chief protector, wished him to remain at Naples. When the queen, accordingly, through the medium of Lady Hamilton, advised him to send the troops; he instantly directed her to inform her majesty, that it was his custom, in order to succeed, not to say—"Go!" but—"Let us go!"
Such was the dispatch used on this occasion, that all the troops were embarked, and his lordship sailed from the Bay of Naples, on the 22d instant. The Vanguard, Culloden, Minotaur, and Alliance, were the only British ships, on board of which were about two thousand seven hundred soldiers; and, in the Portuguese Principe Real, Albuquerque, and St. Sebastian, two thousand four hundred. In all, five thousand, one hundred and twenty-three. As it blew a strong gale all that night, and the following day, none but the British kept company with the Vanguard, which arrived in Leghorn Road on the 28th.
The ministers of their Majesties of Great Britain and of the Two Sicilies, the Honourable William Windham and the Duke Di Sangro, immediately going on board the Vanguard, and being of opinion that a summons in the name of Admiral Lord Nelson, as well as that of the Neapolitan General Naselli, would be proper, the following was instantly prepared.
"We, the commanders of the troops of the King of the Two Sicilies, and of the squadron of his Britannic Majesty, now before Leghorn, demand of the Governor of Leghorn the free and instant admission of his Sicilian Majesty's troops into the town and fortress of Leghorn, and every thing thereunto depending. If you refuse, we have power to enforce our just demand; which will, undoubtedly, instantly be done.
"Naselli, General.
"Nelson, Rear-Admiral."
Captain Troubridge, accompanied by the two ministers, went on shore with this summons: and he returned, at eight in the evening, with a capitulation signed; in consequence of which the troops were immediately landed, and possession taken of the town and fortress of Leghorn.
On the following day, the Portuguese squadron also arrived, and landed the remainder of the troops. In the mean time, the Neapolitan general refused to seize the French vessels at Leghorn, under pretence that the King of Naples was not at war with France; and the Neapolitan minister, the Duke Di Sangro, was likewise weak enough to maintain the same opinion. The vexation which these impolitic scrupulosities occasioned in the superior mind of our decided hero, is difficult to be described. He saw the destructive tendency of such mental imbecility, and trembled for the fate of a country which was condemned to be thus served. His lordship's feelings will be best conceived, by his own account of what passed in his anxious bosom on the occasion, thus addressed to Mr. Windham.
Vanguard, 30th Nov. 1798.