"While Captain Collingwood so nobly stepped in to his assistance, as already mentioned. Captain Ralph Willet Miller, the commodore's captain, was enabled to replenish his lockers with shot, and prepare for a renewal of the fight. No sooner, therefore, had the Excellent passed on, than the gallant commodore renewed the battle.
"The three-decker with which he was before engaged having fallen aboard her second, that ship, of eighty-four guns, became now the commodore's opponent. To her, therefore, he directed a vigorous fire; nor was it feebly returned, as the loss on board the Captain evinced, nearly twenty men being killed and wounded in a very few minutes. It was now that the various damages already sustained by that ship, through the long and arduous conflict which she had maintained, appearing to render a continuance of the contest in the usual way precarious, or perhaps impossible, that Commodore Nelson, unable to bear the idea of parting with an enemy of whom he had so thoroughly assured himself, instantly resolved on a bold and decisive measure; and determined, whatever might be the event, to attempt his opponent sword in hand. The boarders were accordingly summoned, and orders given to lay his ship, the Captain, on board the enemy.
"Fortune favours the brave! nor, on this occasion, was she unmindful of her favourite. Captain Miller so judiciously directed the course of the Captain, that she was laid aboard the starboard quarter of the Spanish eighty-four; her spritsail-yard passing over the enemy's poop, and hooking in her mizen shrouds: and, the word to board being given, the officers and seamen, destined for this duty, headed by Lieutenant Berry, together with the detachment of the sixty-ninth regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Pearson, then doing duty as marines on board the Captain, passed with rapidity on board the enemy's ship; and, in a short time, the San Nicolas was in the possession of her intrepid assailants. The commodore's impatience would not permit him to remain an inactive spectator of this event. He knew, that the attempt was hazardous; and his presence, he thought, might contribute to it's success. He, therefore, accompanied the party in this attack: passing, from the fore-chains of his own ship, into the enemy's quarter gallery; and, thence, through the cabin, to the quarter-deck, where he arrived in time to receive the sword of the dying commander, who was mortally wounded by the boarders. For a few minutes after the officers had submitted, the crew below were firing their lower-deck guns: this irregularity, however, was soon corrected, and measures taken for the security of the conquest. But this labour was no sooner atchieved, than he found himself engaged in another, still more arduous. The stern of the three-decker, his former opponent, was directly amidships on the weather-beam of the San Nicolas; and, from her poop and galleries, the enemy sorely annoyed, with musketry, the British who had boarded the San Nicolas. The commodore was not long in resolving on the conduct to be adopted on this momentous occasion. The two alternatives that presented themselves to his unshaken mind, were to quit the prize, or instantly board the three-decker. Confident of the bravery of his seamen, he determined on the latter. Directing, therefore, an additional number of men to be sent from the Captain on board the San Nicolas, the undaunted Commodore headed, himself, the assailants in this new attack; vehemently exclaiming—"Westminster Abbey! or, glorious victory!"
"Success, in a few minutes, and with little loss, crowned the enterprise. Such, indeed, was the panic occasioned by his preceding conduct, that the British no sooner appeared on the quarter-deck of their new opponent, than the commandant advanced; and, asking for the British commanding officer, dropped on one knee, and presented to him his sword; mentioning, at the same time, as an excuse for the Spanish admiral's not appearing, that he was dangerously wounded. For a moment, Commodore Nelson could scarcely persuade himself of this second instance of good fortune: he, therefore, ordered the Spanish commandant, who had the rank of a brigadier, to assemble the officers on the quarter-deck, and direct steps to be instantly taken for communicating to the crew the surrender of the ship. All the officers immediately appeared; and the commodore had the surrender of the San Josef duly confirmed, by each of them delivering to him his sword.
"William Fearney, one of the commodore's bargemen, had attended close by his side throughout this perilous adventure. To him the commodore gave in charge the swords of the Spanish officers, as he received them; and the jolly tar, as they were delivered to him, tucked these honourable trophies under his arm, with all the sang-froid imaginable. It was at this moment, also, that a British sailor, who had long fought under the commodore, came up, in the fullness of his heart; and, excusing the liberty he was taking, asked to shake him by the hand, to congratulate him on seeing him safe on the quarter-deck of a Spanish three decker.
"This new conquest had scarcely submitted, and the commodore returned on board the San Nicolas, when the latter ship was discovered to be on fire in two places. At the first moment, appearances were alarming; but presence of mind, and resources, were not wanting to the British officers in this emergency. The firemen were immediately ordered from the Captain; and, proper means being taken, the fires were soon got under.
"A signal was now made, by the Captain, for boats to assist in separating her from her two prizes: and, as the Captain was incapable of farther service till refitted, Commodore Nelson hoisted his broad pendant, for the moment, on board La Minerve frigate; and, in the evening, shifted it to the Irresistible of seventy-four guns, Captain Martin.
"Four of the enemy's ships were now in possession of the British squadron—two of three decks, the Salvador del Mondo, and the San Josef, of a hundred and twelve guns each; one of eighty-four, the San Nicolas; and the San Ysidro, of seventy-four guns—and the van of the British line still continued to press hard the Santissima Trinidada, and others, in the rear of the enemy's flying fleet.
"The close of the day, before the four prizes were secured, undoubtedly saved the Spanish admiral's flag from falling into the hands of the victors. The Santissima Trinidada, in which he carried it, had been so much the object of attention, that the ship was a perfect wreck when the action ceased. Many, indeed, aver that she actually struck both her flag and ensign; hoisting a white flag, as a signal of submission: but, as she continued her course, and afterwards hoisted a Spanish jack, others doubt this circumstance. It is, however, an indisputable truth, that her fire had been silent for some time before this event is reported to have occurred. It was a defensive combat, entirely, on their parts, after Commodore Nelson obliged them to haul their wind on the larboard tack.
"The loss of the enemy, in this engagement, must have been very considerable. The fire of the British squadron was, throughout the action, superior, in the proportion of five or six to one; and, if we were to judge from the number of killed and wounded found on board the prizes, their casualties, must greatly exceed the numbers that have been usually computed. Almost all their wounded, that had lost limbs, died for want of assistance; and many others, who were wounded in other parts, were found dead in the holds.