What were his sensations, at this juncture, it would be difficult exactly to ascertain; but his consolation is known, and it was worthy of his exalted mind—"They have not done me justice," said he, writing to his eldest sister, Mrs. Bolton, "in the affair of Calvi; but, never mind, I'll have a Gazette of my own."
On another occasion, soon after, he remarked that he had then been more than a hundred days actually engaged, at sea and on shore, against the enemy, since the commencement of the war; that he had the comfort to be ever applauded by the commander in chief, but never to be rewarded: and, what he considered as more mortifying than all the rest, for services in which he was slightly wounded, others had been extravagantly praised, who were very snug in bed all the time, far distant from the scene of action.
In October 1794, Lord Hood returned to England; when the command of the
Mediterranean fleet devolved on the present Lord Hotham, with whom
Captain Nelson continued to serve with equally distinguished ability
wherever opportunities occurred.
At the latter end of December, and beginning of January 1795, they were cruizing off Toulon for about three weeks: during fifteen days of which, in such a series of bad weather as he had scarcely ever experienced, they were almost constantly under storm stay-sails. They saw, while on this cruise, three French frigates; and had no doubt that, as one of them was a crippled ship, the Agamemnon, which sailed better than any ship in the fleet, and was the nearest to them by a couple of leagues, might have taken one or two of them. A line of battle ship, however, never chasing on such occasions, and the admiral's anxiety to keep the fleet together preventing him from making the signal for the frigates to chase them till too late in the day, they unfortunately effected their escape.
On the 10th of January, they arrived, from this unsuccessful cruise, in the Gulph of St. Fiorenzo; where, a few days after, in a very heavy sea, the Berwick, of seventy-four guns, Captain Smith, which was preparing to join the fleet, not having the rigging set up, lost all it's masts, and was rendered a complete wreck. The superiority of the Toulon fleet, at that time, rendered this a very serious misfortune, and it led to one which proved still greater.
The French, in fact, had sixteen ships of the line, besides the Sans Culotte of a hundred and twenty guns, with twelve frigates and five corvettes, then in the harbour; and thirty Marseilles ships were also fitting out as transports, generally supposed to be intended for the conveyance of troops on an expedition against our newly-acquired kingdom of Corsica.
Admiral Hotham, in the mean time, was desirous of getting again to sea, for the purpose of covering the convoy and expected reinforcements from England; and this he was obliged to effect without waiting longer for the Berwick. He had, in truth, at this period, much to contend with. His fleet was only half manned; Italy was calling him to her defence; and Corsica perpetually demanding the reinforcements and convoy hourly expected.
The French, well aware how inadequate, in numbers and in strength, Admiral Hotham must necessarily be for the accomplishment of all these objects in the face of such superior force, came out with positive orders to seek and to destroy the British Mediterranean fleet. This being effected, which their presumption left them no doubt would soon happen, their troops were to be landed, and the kingdom of Corsica retaken.
On the 8th of March, Admiral Hotham being in Leghorn Road, received an express from Genoa, that the French fleet, consisting of fifteen sail of the line and three frigates, was seen on the 6th instant off the Isle of Marguerite. This intelligence corresponding with a signal made from the Moselle, then in the offing, for a fleet in the north-west quarter, he immediately caused the squadron to be unmoored; and, at day-break the following morning, put to sea, in pursuit of the enemy.
The Moselle having brought intelligence that the fleet seen was steering to the southward, Admiral Hotham shaped his course for Corsica, lest their destination should be against that island; dispatching the Tarleton brig to St. Fiorenzo, with orders for the Berwick to join him off Cape Corse. He had, however, the misfortune to learn, by the return of the brig, the same night, that the Berwick had, two days before, been captured by the enemy's fleet.