| 1st. Div. red. | 2d. Div. | 3d. Div. blue. |
| white with red stripe. | ||
| Vanguard. | Orion. | Culloden. |
| Minotaur. | Goliath. | Theseus. |
| Leander. | Majestic. | Alexander. |
| Audacious. | Bellerophon. | Swiftsure. |
| Defence. | ||
| Zealous. |
Gen. Mem.
Vanguard, at sea, 8th June 1798.
As the wind may probably blow along shore when it is deemed necessary to anchor and engage the enemy at their anchorage, it is recommended to each line-of-battle ship of the squadron to prepare to anchor with the sheet-cable in abaft and springs, &c.—Vide Signal 54, and Instructions thereon, page 56, &c. Article 37 of the Instructions.
Horatio Nelson.
To the respective Captains, &c.
Mem. P.S.—To be inserted in pencil in the Signal-Book, at No. 182. Being to windward of the enemy, to denote that I mean to attack the enemy's line from the rear towards the van, as far as thirteen ships, or whatever number of the British ships of the line may be present, that each ship may know his opponent in the enemy's line.
No. 183. I mean to press hard with the whole force on the enemy's rear.
The proceedings of Sir Horatio Nelson's squadron are now brought down to the moment when their united, ardent, and anxious wishes were to be realized. The disappointments they had met with during their hitherto fruitless pursuit,—the state of anxiety, of alternate hope and despair, in which they had been kept, had raised their feelings of emulation to a pitch far beyond description; this was soon to be manifested by the endeavours of each to close with the enemy.
Never could there have been selected a set of officers better calculated for such a service; Nelson was fortunate in commanding them, and they in being commanded by him. It is true, indeed, that his particular favourite, Captain Troubridge, was intended for his second-in-command, instead of Sir James Saumarez; and the latter would no doubt have been sent home, according to the orders he had received: but, with the chance of such an engagement as that which they anticipated, the well-tried captain of the Orion and his highly disciplined crew could not be spared; and, although Nelson carefully concealed his feelings towards Saumarez, they were but too manifest by the chary manner in which he expressed himself on this and on former occasions.