The Life of the Right Honourable Horatio Lord Viscount Nelson, Volume 1

by James Harrison

"SIR,

With the highest pleasure, I received your esteemed favour, proceeding from your generous and well-disposed mind; since, on my part, I conceive, no laurel is due to him who only fulfils what humanity dictates: and I have done no more, in behalf of the wounded men, as well as others who disembarked; and whom, after all warfare has ceased, I ought to consider as brothers.

"If, in the state to which the uncertain fate of war has led you, it were in my power, or could any thing that this island produces afford the least comfort or aid to you, it would yield me the truest satisfaction: and, I hope, you will admit of a couple of large flasks of Canary wine; which, I believe, is none of the worst that this island produces.

"A personal intercourse will give me great pleasure, when circumstances permit it, with a person so deserving, and of such distinguished qualifications as you so feelingly indicate. Meantime, I pray God to preserve you in his holy keeping; and am, Sir, your most obedient servant,

"Don Antonio Gutierrez.

"P.S. I have received, and highly esteem, the cask of beer, and cheese, which you have done me the favour to send me."

"Rear-Admiral Nelson."

On the 27th of July, there was a solemn Te Deum sung by the Spaniards, in the parochial church of Santa Cruz: that day being the festival of St. Christopher, the tutelary patron of the island; on which an annual thanksgiving is celebrated, as being the identical day when that island was first conquered, three hundred and one years prior to this period.

Such are the chief particulars of the Spanish account, as supplied by Sir John Talbot Dillon's most respectable translation; and which places in a very amiable point of view the characters of the respective commanders.

On comparing the various accounts of this unfortunate expedition, there are certainly some incongruities. In the numerous biographical memoirs of Lord Nelson, either abridged or amplified from that in the Naval Chronicle, it is stated that the rear-admiral "received his wound soon after the detachment had landed." In these, too, it is added that, "while they were pressing on with the usual ardour of British seamen, the shock caused him to fall to the ground; where, for some minutes, he was left to himself, till Lieutenant Nesbit, missing him, had the presence of mind to return: when, after some search in the dark, he at length found his brave father-in-law weltering in his blood on the ground, with his arm shattered, and himself apparently lifeless. Lieutenant Nesbit, having immediately applied his neck-handkerchief as a tourniquet to the rear-admiral's arm, carried him on his back to the beach; where, with the assistance of some sailors, he conveyed him into one of the boats, and put off to the Theseus, under a tremendous, though happily ill-directed, fire from the enemy's batteries. The day after the rear-admiral lost his arm," concludes the Naval Chronicle account, "he wrote to Lady Nelson; and, in narrating the foregoing transaction, says—"I know it will add much to your pleasure, on finding that your son Josiah, under God's providence, was instrumental in saving my life."

On the other hand, it seems remarkable that the Spanish relation of this catastrophe positively pronounces him "to have lost his right arm when in his boat, and before landing."

This, too, corresponds with the following short description of that unhappy business; which, without any essential alteration as to facts in it's transit, most assuredly proceeded from the ever to be revered hero's own faithful lips.

The circumstance of so few boats hitting the mole with the rear-admiral, who had appointed it as the general place of landing, after having been baffled in his first design, proved fatal to the enterprise. By landing in the surf, they lost their scaling implements; and Captain Troubridge was not prepared instantly to storm the citadel, before the approach of the Spanish troops, which could only have been carried by a sudden coup de main. Rear-Admiral Nelson had only one foot out of the boat, and was in the act of landing on the mole, under a most tremendous fire from the batteries, when his arm was shot nearly off; and he fell back in the boat. At that awful moment, he recollected the injunction of his deceased uncle, on receiving the sword which he had thus been compelled to drop; and, groping at the bottom, speedily recovered it, and firmly grasped it in his remaining hand. He called to his brave companions in arms, who had already landed to storm the mole, and directed them to force the gate of the citadel; a task which, with all their exertion, they found it impossible to accomplish, though they succeeded in spiking several of the guns. At this juncture, Lieutenant Nesbit very humanely took the handkerchief from his neck, and tied it round the shattered arm of his father-in-law, a little above where it had been shot. The boat, in the mean time, was hastening to return on board the Theseus, amidst a most dreadful discharge from the batteries. It soon approached where the Fox cutter had just been sunk by a shot under water; and the unhappy men with which it had been charged, consisting of one hundred and eighty persons, were in the act of struggling for their lives. This was a scene of distress too dreadful to be passed, by their humane commander, without at least endeavouring to lessen the extent of the calamity. As many as possible of these poor fellows were instantly taken into the boat; an office of humanity in which the rear-admiral himself eagerly assisted, with his sole arm, smarting as he then was under the agony occasioned by the recent separation of the other. The corporeal anguish which he now felt, however, was mitigated by the solace he received in thus rescuing a few of his brave fellows from impending destruction; but, alas! the mental horror which he suffered, at beholding some of the noblest of the human race compelled to be forcibly rejected, and abandoned to their wretched fate, through dread of sinking his own overcharged boat, admitted of no alleviation, and inflicted pangs on his heroic heart, to describe which the powers of language are incapable of yielding any adequate expression. Every possible exertion was used to reach the Theseus, with a faint hope of the boat's returning in time to save a few more of these unhappy victims; and, a chair being called for, to accommodate the rear-admiral in getting on board, so impatient was he for the boat's return, that he desired to have only a single rope thrown over the side, which he instantly twisted round his left arm, and was thus hauled up into the ship. It appears, on referring to the account of the drowned, in the list of killed and wounded, &c. that eighty-three only were saved; so that ninety-seven men, including officers, from the different ships, thus miserably perished!

The rear-admiral, on getting aboard the Theseus, immediately suffered the amputation of his arm; but, some mistake having occurred, in taking up one of the arteries, which is described as having been united with a nerve, by an ingenious French surgeon, he long felt the most excruciating tortures.

The Earl of St. Vincent, in his dispatches to government relative to this expedition, dated on board the Ville de Paris, off Cadiz, August 16, 1797, observes that, though the enterprise had not succeeded, his majesty's arms had acquired a very great degree of lustre. "Nothing," says his lordship, "from my pen, can add to the eulogy the rear-admiral gives of the gallantry of the officers and men employed under him. I have greatly to lament," continues the noble earl, "the heavy loss which the country has sustained in the severe wound of Rear-Admiral Nelson, and the death of Captain Richard Bowen, Lieutenant Gibson, and the other brave officers and men who fell in this vigorous and persevering assault. The moment the rear-admiral joins, it is my intention to send the Seahorse to England with him, the wound Captain Freemantle has received in his arm also requiring change of climate; and I hope, that both of them will live to render important services to their king and country."

Accordingly, after receiving the kindest condolences from the Earl of St. Vincent, and sending into Cadiz the dispatches of the worthy governor of Santa Cruz, he immediately sailed for England.

This affair of Teneriffe, however unfortunate, being the first expedition against a place, the whole of which was undertaken and planned by himself, has been thought worthy of very particular attention. That the plan was not defective in wisdom, the reader has had an opportunity of sufficiently judging, by a perusal of the various preliminary documents actually issued on the occasion. The undertaking could only be expected to prove with certainty successful, by a secret and rapid coup de main, which should suddenly have obtained possession, in the first place, of the fort on the north-east side of the bay; and, in the second, of the heights by which it was commanded. The primary of these objects was wholly frustrated by the non-arrival of the boats at the place of destination under cover of the night; for, at the dawning of day, the Spaniards having discovered both the forces and their intention, were induced to lose as little time as possible in previously occupying the heights above the fort. Thus, by the delay of the boats, in the first instance, and by waiting, in the second, to consult with the rear-admiral, instead of at once pushing forward to secure this essential post, the business was completely reduced to a merely forlorn hope; and had better, from that moment, have been entirely abandoned. The exalted mind of the rear-admiral, however, though it felt, there is good reason to believe, the full force of this opinion, being conscious of having received instructions, from his commander in chief, to make a vigorous and spirited attack, and convinced that such attack had not been yet made, could by no means have satisfied itself, had he not at least endeavoured, whatever the risque might prove, to execute, with every effort, the utmost intention of his orders. With a promptness which never failed him, he now directed the troops to be embarked from the shore; having resolved on vigorously attacking the town, and even the citadel itself. This design, however, he ingeniously contrived to cover, by remaining apparently inactive on the 23d, as if he had entirely abandoned his intentions against the place: and, on the 24th, by approaching and anchoring to the northward of the town, and making every apparent disposition for assailing the heights, he drew the notice of the Spaniards entirely to that quarter; who, consequently, left less invulnerable the objects of his real attention. The design of this meditated assault was certainly desperate; and so conscious did he feel of it's danger, though nothing could deter him from the attempt, that he has been frequently heard to declare the sensation he experienced, on going over the ship's side, to enter his boat, on the 24th at night, was a full conviction that he should never return. There was, indeed, a hope of success, but it was a faint one, and the evil genius of the expedition again interposed to defeat it. The boats did not keep together, as instructed; they did not all land, as directed, on the mole: and, in consequence, they were stove, by running ashore through a raging surf; the ammunition in the men's pouches got wet; and the scaling ladders were either lost, or forgotten in the confusion of the scene. Even those who landed with Captain Troubridge, and whose valour instantly got entire possession of the town, lost the only chance there seems to have remained for successfully storming the citadel, by waiting so long in expectation of the rear-admiral, who had been fatally prevented from landing, and other aids and augmentations, that the Spanish troops gained time to collect, and approach them, from the vicinity, in such force as nothing but the matchless address and intrepidity of British officers, and British men, could possibly have braved and surmounted. 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; it might, possibly, have been effected, but even that is by no means certain, if they had not been deprived of the chief hero's most fertile mental resources, ever rising with the exigency, which his fatal wound had effectually prevented—and which no other man must be censured for not possessing; because, perhaps, no other man ever did possess them in so eminent a degree. Besides, justice demands a due acknowledgment, that those who may rank among the greatest of men, having others at hand whom they consider as still greater than themselves, are to be excused for not hastily relying on their own judgment; though delay should, as it generally does in the operations of war, prove ultimately dangerous. The same persons, left under the necessity of acting for themselves, might be inspired with more confidence in their own ability, and proceed very differently in their operations.

In lamenting that the several trials were not instantly made, which have been suggested as remaining at all practicable, during the critical periods alluded to, due regard must be paid to the opinions of those who had better opportunities of judging from intervening circumstances. Not, indeed, that it is by any means unusual for the most exalted characters to discover, themselves, after the event, opportunities which might have been seized, and which they have for ever lost, of performing some peculiarly brilliant achievement. This is no disgrace. Of much regret, it may often constitute a subject; of just reproach, never.

By indulging these reflections, there is no other object in contemplation, than that of assisting to afford an accurate view of the ability which was exerted in this unfortunate enterprise; and thus demonstrating, by a new example, the force of the old observation—that success is not always acquirable, even where it is most merited.

About the middle of September 1797, Sir Horatio Nelson having arrived safely in London, had apartments engaged in Bond Street; where he was attended by Dr. Moseley, the late celebrated Surgeon Cruikshanks, and other gentlemen of the faculty.

It appears that, in consequence of a nerve having been improperly included in one of the ligatures employed for securing a bleeding artery, at the time of the operation—which ligature, according to the customary practice of the French surgeons, was of silk instead of waxed thread—a constant irritation, and perpetual discharge, were kept up; and, the ends of the ligature, hanging out of the wound, being daily pulled, in order to effect their separation, occasioned the severest agony to the heroic sufferer, who had scarcely any intermission of pain, either by night or day. His excellent spirits, however, never deserted him: and, in fact, he had not felt the slightest degree of fever on the occasion; a very unusual circumstance, after the loss of a limb.

His deserved popularity had already acquired such a height, that the nation might be said to participate in his sufferings; and he received the most consoling civilities from the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Clarence, and other illustrious and noble characters. Friends flocked around him. His worthy relatives hastened to attend and console him, from the country; and Mr. Bolton, in particular, was his constant companion.

Besides the order of the Bath, and the gold medal, which he had received from his sovereign, in consequence of his important share in the victory of the 14th of February, he had also been presented with the freedom of the city of London in a gold box; and, in the month of October 1797, it was generously resolved, by his majesty, to recompence his services, and ameliorate his sufferings, by granting him a pension of one thousand pounds a year.

The indispensable custom of presenting a memorial to the sovereign, before any such grant can be issued, stating the nature of the services for which it is intended, gave rise to the following very singular recapitulation.

"To the King's Most Excellent Majesty.

"The Memorial of Sir Horatio Nelson, K.B. and a Rear-Admiral in
Your Majesty's Fleet,

"Sheweth—

"That, during the present war, your memorialist has been in four actions with the fleets of the enemy: viz. on the 13th and 14th of March 1795; on the 13th of July 1795; and, on the 14th of February 1797. In three actions in boats, employed in cutting out of harbours; in destroying vessels; and, in taking three towns. Your memorialist has also served on shore, with the army, four months; and commanded the batteries at the sieges of Bastia and Calvi. That, during the war, he has assisted at the capture of seven sail of the line, six frigates, four corvettes, and eleven privateers of different sizes; and taken and destroyed near fifty sail of merchant vessels: and, your memorialist has actually been engaged against the enemy upwards of one hundred and twenty times. In which service, your memorialist has lost his right eye and arm, and been severely wounded and bruised in his body; all of which services, and wounds, your memorialist most humbly submits to your majesty's most gracious consideration.

"Horatio Nelson."

The pension thus granted proved highly acceptable: but his wound continued to torment him with unabated violence, till about the latter end of November; when, having one night experienced the unusual refreshment of a sound and lasting sleep, he was, on awaking, astonished to find, that his wound felt nearly free from pain. Impatient to have it examined, he sent for his surgeon; and, to their mutual surprise, the silk instantly came away, at a single touch, without the smallest difficulty. From this hour, the wound began to heal; and, with all that characteristic piety of disposition, and that sincere gratitude to Providence for signal deliverances, which he never failed to profess, he gave the late Reverend Mr. Greville, of St. George's, Hanover Square, the following form of thanksgiving, to be read at that church during the time of divine service—

"An officer desires to return thanks to Almighty God, for his perfect recovery from a severe wound; and, also, for the many mercies bestowed on him."

"December 8th 1797; for next Sunday."

The original of the above thanksgiving, in his own hand-writing, is still carefully preserved by the present Reverend Mr. Greville, son and successor of the venerable clergyman to whom it was delivered by Sir Horatio Nelson.

On the 13th of December, having been pronounced fit for service, by his surgeons, he made his appearance at court; and his majesty received him in the most gracious and tender manner: expressing, with peculiar marks of sensibility, his excessive sorrow for the loss which Sir Horatio had suffered, and the regret which he felt at beholding him in a state of health apparently so far reduced as to deprive the country of his future services. The brave admiral, however, immediately replied to his sovereign, with the most respectful but dignified tone of expression, in the following energetic and affectionate speech—"May it please your majesty, I can never think that a loss, which the performance of my duty has occasioned; and, while I have a foot to stand on, I will combat for my king and country!"

His majesty appeared deeply affected by this manly and loyal answer; and, in consequence, on the 19th, only six days after, Sir Horatio Nelson received orders to hoist his flag on board the Vanguard, and again proceed to the Mediterranean, as soon as that ship could be properly equipped for the voyage.

Not having been before in England since he lost, at Calvi, the sight of his right eye, it was about this period that he went, accompanied by Mr. Bolton, to receive a year's pay, as smart-money; that being the customary allowance, in the navy, on losing an eye or a limb: but could not obtain payment, for want of the formality of a certificate from the faculty, to testify that the sight was actually extinguished. Vexed, for a moment, at what he considered as a superfluous and almost impertinent requisition, it's loss being sufficiently notorious, though by no means apparent, he not only immediately procured the desired certificate; but, from whimsical pleasantry, humorously requested, and actually obtained, at the same time, a certificate from his surgeons of the loss of his arm, which was sufficiently obvious: asserting—with much propriety, in his particular instance, at least—that one might just as well be doubted as the other. On going, afterwards, to receive the sum, which was the annual pay of a captain only, that being his rank when he sustained the loss, the clerk observed that he thought it had been more. "Oh, no!" jocosely replied the hero, "this is only for an eye: in a few days, I shall come for an arm; and, in a little time longer, God knows, most probably, for a leg!"

Accordingly, he soon after went again to the office, accompanied by the same gentleman as before; and, with perfect good-humour, exhibited the supererogatory certification of the loss of his arm.

In January 1798, Sir Horatio Nelson having presented to the city of Norwich the sword of the Spanish admiral, delivered to him on the memorable 14th of February 1797, an ingenious device, executed by Mr. Windham of that city, was erected in the council-chamber of the town-hall, to commemorate this event, and the consequent gift, which has been thus described—To the ring of an anchor, is suspended a yard and sail, supposed to be torn in action: on which is inscribed—"The Sword of the Spanish Admiral, Don Xavier Winthuysen, who died of the wounds he received in an engagement with the British fleet, under the command of Admiral Earl St. Vincent, 13th of February 1797, which ended in the most brilliant victory ever obtained by this country over the enemy at sea; wherein the heroic valour, and cool determined courage, of Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson, K.B. had ample scope for their display. He, being a native of Norfolk, has honoured the city, by presenting this sword, surrendered to him in that action." From the flukes of the anchor, the sword is suspended. Underneath, is the coat of arms of Sir Horatio Nelson, which was given to him by the king. The crest is the stern of a man of war; the supporters, are a sailor bearing a British lion, trampling on the Spanish colours. The motto is—"Faith and works."

Sir Horatio appears to have spent his preceding Christmas, and commencement of the present year, with his venerable father, and the esteemed husband of his amiable younger sister, Mrs. Matcham, at Bath; where, also, he might be desirous to recruit his health and vigour for his approaching voyage. Certain it is, that he quitted Bond Street in December, and was at Bath the beginning of February.

It was not till the 1st of April 1798, that the convoy which he had in charge for Lisbon was completely ready; and, though he sailed with it, on that day, from Spithead, the wind, at the back of the Isle of Wight, coming to the westward, he was constrained to return to St. Helen's.

After waiting till the 9th, he proceeded to Lisbon with the convoy; and, on the 29th of April, joined the Earl of St. Vincent, off Cadiz.

Not a moment was lost by these great men, in proceeding to co-operate for the glory of their country. The crisis was peculiarly portentous. Bonaparte, baffled in his views of invading England, or even Ireland—-after the last and most serious disaffection, recently extinguished, in the mutiny of the home fleet, produced an almost general unanimity of the country—had been engaged in preparing an expedition, on a scale of imposing grandeur, for some object which was endeavoured to be carefully concealed, till it should be manifested by it's tremendous effects. The armament destined for this grand secret expedition, which was collecting at Toulon, under Bonaparte, consisted of thirteen ships of the line, and seven forty-gun frigates, with twenty-four smaller vessels of war, and nearly two hundred transports; the latter filled with troops, horses, artillery, provisions, and military stores. In this fleet, it was said, were also to embark artists and scientific men of every description, with ancient and modern linguists, and all sorts of useful and curious instruments and machinery, calculated to promote knowledge, and extend improvement, in the intended country which they were about thus to seize and newly colonize.

It was immediately agreed, by the Earl of St. St. Vincent, and Sir Horatio Nelson, that the latter should the next morning sail, with the Vanguard, Orion, and Alexander, of seventy-four guns each, the Emerald and Terpsichore frigates, and La Bonne Citoyenne sloop of war, to watch the motions of this formidable French armament. The Earl of St. Vincent was at no loss to know who was the senior officer under his command, and what was the customary etiquette; but he knew, at the same time, that he had, as commander in chief, a discretionary power; and carrying, in his own bosom, a dread responsibility to his country, he had not an instant to hesitate on whom it was his duty to depend. To the noble earl's magnanimity, therefore, is the country to be eternally considered as indebted for affording our favourite hero the opportunity of demonstrating his unequalled powers. By other commanders, as he formerly most feelingly remarked, he had been always praised, but never promoted; he was now promoted by his commander, and praised by all the world, while his commander generously declared that no praise could do justice to his actions. The confidence of the fleet, and of the nation too, were with the Earl of St. Vincent; and, though a few mean and malignant characters, envious of superior merit, Mould occasionally suggest their base insinuations, that Sir Horatio Nelson might not be equal to the management of a large fleet, the commander in chief, one of the first naval tacticians any country ever produced, had early seen who had the readiest and clearest conceptions of his own numerous plans, and well knew that Nelson's genius would keep full pace with any augmentation of command which it was possible he should ever obtain.

Sir Horatio, with the squadron abovementioned, sailed from Gibraltar on the 9th of May; and, on the 17th, having captured a small corvette, which came out of Toulon the preceding night, gained some little intelligence respecting the fleet, but none to be relied on as to their destination. His letter to the Earl of St. Vincent, mentioning this circumstance, concludes with these words—"You may rely, my lord, that I shall act as occasion may offer, to the best of my abilities, in following up your ideas, for the honour of his majesty's crown, and the advantage of our country." A sufficient proof of the concurrence of sentiment in these two heroic commanders, which led to so glorious a result.

On the 22d, being in the Gulph of Lyons, at two in the morning, a most violent squall of wind took the Vanguard, which carried away all the topmasts; and, at last, the foremast. The other ships also experienced, though in a less degree, the ill effects of this severe gale. To add to the disaster, the line of battle ships lost sight of their three frigates on this eventful day; which proved to be that on which the French armament had, at length, taken it's departure from Toulon, and was then actually passing within a few leagues of the unconscious sufferers employed to watch it's motions.

The little squadron now bore up for Sardinia; the Alexander taking the Vanguard in tow, and the Orion looking out ahead for a pilot to conduct them into St. Pierre's Road. This anchorage they happily reached on the 24th; and expected to have met with that friendly reception which their distresses demanded, from a power professing neutrality. The governor of St. Pierre, however, had received orders from the French, not to admit any British ship; but no dread of hostilities could prevent the brave admiral from resolutely anchoring in the road.

In a letter, written this very day, dated on board the Vanguard, St. Peter's Island. Sardinia, May 24, 1798, and addressed to Lady Nelson, he thus describes the effect produced on his mind by the dangers just escaped.

"MY DEAREST FANNY,

"I ought not to call what has happened to the Vanguard, by the cold name of accident: I believe, firmly, it was the Almighty's goodness, to check my consummate vanity. I hope it has made me a better officer, as I feel it has made me a better man. I kiss, with all humility, the rod. Figure to yourself, on Sunday evening, at sun-set, a vain man, walking in his cabin, with a squadron around him, who looked up to their chief, to lead them to glory; and in whom their chief placed the firmest reliance, that the proudest ships, of equal numbers, belonging to France, would have bowed their flags; and, with a very rich prize lying by him—Figure to yourself, on Monday morning, when the sun rose, this proud, conceited man, his ship dismasted, his fleet dispersed, and himself in such distress that the meanest frigate out of France would have been an unwelcome guest. But it has pleased Almighty God to bring us into a safe port; where, although refused the rights of humanity, yet the Vanguard will, in two days, get to sea again as an English man of war."

This is the letter of a truly Christian hero, as well as of a most affectionate and tender husband. It will not be hastily believed, by the reflecting part of mankind, that he who possessed so high a sense of all the relative duties as the immortal Nelson, had not afterwards good reasons for being separated from the wife whom he could once consent thus to address. What those reasons were, the reader will, probably, in the sequel, be enabled to form a tolerably correct judgment.

Notwithstanding the unfavourable reception encountered at St. Peter's Island, as hinted in the above letter, the resources of British seamen, which are seldom known to fail, enabled them soon to surmount most of their difficulties. Captain Berry, with the very able assistance which he received from Sir James Saumarez and Captain Ball, contrived to equip the Vanguard with a jury foremast, jury main and mizen topmasts, and to fish the bowsprit, which was sprung in many places; and, on the fourth day after anchoring in St. Pierre's Road, they again put to sea, with top-gallant yards across.

In the mean time, Sir Horatio Nelson had addressed a letter to the Viceroy of Sardinia, dated on board his Britannic majesty's ship, the Vanguard, at anchor off the Island of St. Peter, 26th May 1798; in which he remonstrated, with becoming dignity, but not without considerate kindness, against the conduct he was experiencing.