Admiral Nelson.—The loss of his eye and his arm.—Struggle between
Nelson’s barge and the armed launch.—Sykes the coxswain.—Nelson’s
thanksgiving for his recovery.—His coolness in danger.—Battle of
Copenhagen.—Hewson the seaman.—Battle of the Nile.—Nelson’s prayer
before the battle of Trafalgar.—His signals on board the Victory.—
His wound.—His death.
“Tell us what you can of Admiral Nelson, uncle.”
“Admiral Nelson, boys, was old England’s right hand. A very thunderbolt
in war, and devoted, as much as a seaman could be, to his country’s
cause. Life is but a short cruise—the best bower anchor may be tripped,
the main-sheet rent, and the main-mast go by the board with the best of
us, without leaving us time to write up our log. As every man has his
faults, I suppose he had his; however, it is not my business to speak of
them, but only to tell you how fearlessly and successfully he stood
forward in defence of his country, and in defiance of his enemies.”
“He was sadly wounded, was he not, for his picture is always drawn with
one arm?”
“He lost the sight of one eye at the siege of Calvi, by a shot driving
the sand and gravel into it, and he lost his arm by a shot in an
expedition against Teneriffe; but the most dangerous of his daring
exploits were, boarding the battery at San Bartolomeo, boarding the San
Joseph, the boat action in the bay of Cadiz, and the famous battles of
the Nile and Trafalgar. Of these, perhaps, the boat action during the
blockade of Cadiz was the most severe. While making an attempt against
the Spanish gun-boats, he was attacked by D. Miguel Tregayen in an armed
launch, carrying twenty-six men; fearful odds against his ten bargemen,
captain, and coxswain. Eighteen Spaniards were killed, the rest wounded,
and the launch captured.”
“The Spaniards were more than two to one, and yet he beat them!”
“He did; but it was a hard and desperate struggle, hand to hand and
blade to blade. Twice did John Sykes, the coxswain, save Nelson’s life,
by parrying off blows that would have destroyed him, and once did he
interpose his head to receive the blow of a Spanish sabre; but he would
willingly have died for his admiral.”
“Was poor Sykes killed, or was he only wounded?”
“Wounded badly, but not killed.”
“That’s right, for he was a faithful fellow. It would have been a sad
pity if he had been killed.”
“When Nelson’s health was established after the loss of his arm, he sent
to the minister of St. George’s, Hanover-square, the following desire to
offer up his thanksgiving:—‘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.’”
“He was humble enough, then, to be thankful to God.”
“He was; and continued so in the midst of all his successes. I will give
you an instance of his coolness in the hour of danger. The late
Lieutenant-general the Hon. Sir William Stewart, as lieutenant-colonel
of the rifle-brigade, embarked to do duty in the fleet which was led by
Sir Hyde Parker and Nelson, to the attack of Copenhagen in 1801. ‘I
was,’ says he, ‘with Lord Nelson when he wrote the note to the Crown
Prince of Denmark, proposing terms of arrangement.’ A cannonball struck
off the head of the boy who was crossing the cabin with the light to
seal it. ‘Bring another candle,’ said his lordship. I observed, that I
thought it might very well be sent as it was, for it would not be
expected that the usual forms could be observed at such a moment. ‘That
is the very thing that I should wish to avoid, Colonel,’ replied he,
‘for if the least appearance of precipitation were perceptible in the
manner of sending this note, it might spoil all.’ Another candle being
now brought, his lordship sealed the letter, carefully enclosed in an
envelope, with a seal bearing his coat-of-arms and coronet, and
delivered it to the officer in waiting to receive it. It is said that
the moment was a critical one, and that Lord Nelson’s note decided the
event.”
“Why, the next ball to that which took off the boy’s head might have
killed Nelson, and yet he seems to have felt no fear at all.”
“A brave man may feel fear, but it will not keep him from the discharge
of what he looks upon as his duty.”
“What did Nelson do at the battle of Copenhagen?”
“I will tell you of the battle of Copenhagen, in few words. It was in
the year 1801 that a British fleet, under Admiral Sir Hyde Parker and
Vice-admiral Lord Nelson, sailed into the Baltic to attack the northern
Powers before they joined their fleets to those of France and Holland.
The Danes had made great preparation. They had six sail-of-the-line,
eleven floating batteries, and small craft without number, chained to
one another, and to the ground. These were all under the protection of
the Crown batteries, which mounted more than four score guns, besides
the fortifications of the Island of Amack. But the British admirals were
all undaunted.”
“Nothing would daunt Admiral Nelson. He was always ready, if what is
said of him is true, to fight with the enemies of his country.”
“Nelson, who might have taken for his motto,
‘In battle’s front the foremost place I claim,
The first in danger, as the first in fame!’
led on the attack, with twelve ships of the line, besides frigates and
fire-ships. There was plenty to do, and no hanging back on the part of
British sailors. For four hours there was as hard fighting as any one
could desire, thundering away on both sides, crashing and smashing, till
the whole Danish fleet, with the exception of a few schooners and bomb-
vessels, were sunk, burnt, or taken. Had not a negotiation taken place,
most likely the Danish capital would have been destroyed. I will give
you an anecdote of Admiral Nelson and a common seaman, that few people
know of. It was told me by Hewson’s master.”
“Who was Hewson?”
“Listen, and you shall hear.”
“A seaman of the name of Hewson, who had served under Lord Nelson, was
working as a caster in a manufactory at Birmingham when Nelson visited
the place. Among other manufactories, the admiral paid a visit to that
where Hewson was at work as a brassfounder; and though no employment
disfigures a workman more with smoke and dust than the process of
casting, the quick eye of Nelson recognized in the caster an old
associate. ‘What, Hewson, my lad!’ said he, ‘are you here?’ Hewson laid
hold of the hair that hung over his forehead, and making an awkward bow,
replied, ‘Yes, your honour.’ ‘Why, how comes this about! You and I are
old acquaintances; you were with me in the Captain when I boarded the
San Joseph, were you not?’ Hewson again laid hold of his hair, and
bowing, replied, ‘Yes, your honour.’ ‘I remember you well,’ said Nelson:
‘you were one of the cleverest fellows about the vessel! If anything was
to be done Hewson was the lad to do it. Why, what do you do here,
working like a negro? Take this,’ throwing him money, ‘and wash the dust
down your throat.’ Hewson withdrew to a neighbouring ale-house, boasting
of the character the admiral had given him. Month after month passed
away, but Hewson returned not—his shop-tools were abandoned, and no one
could account for his absence. At length a stripling, in a sailor’s
jacket, entered the manufactory and said, ‘He was come to settle his
father’s affairs.’ This was no other than Hewson’s son, from whose
account it appeared, that when Hewson, somewhat elevated with liquor,
but more with the praise the admiral had bestowed on him, quitted
Birmingham, he walked his way down to Portsmouth, entered once more on
board Lord Nelson’s ship, and fell with him in the battle of Trafalgar.”
“Poor Hewson!”
“In the battle of the Nile Nelson took nine French ships of the line,
and burnt two; but Trafalgar was his grand fight. Collingwood, in the
Royal Sovereign, led the lee-line of fourteen ships. Nelson, in the
Victory, was at the head of the weather-line, consisting of fourteen
ships. Besides these there were four frigates.”
“How many ships were there against them?”
“The ships of France and Spain opposed to the British were in number
thirty-three, with seven large frigates. The odds were great against the
English, but the superior tactics, and well-known bravery of Nelson,
clothed him with power, and more than made up the difference. I speak,
boys, of Nelson as a man, well knowing that the God of battle can alone
give success to a mortal arm. Nelson knew this well, and, when
everything was prepared for the engagement, he retired into his cabin
alone and wrote down the following prayer.
“‘May the great God, whom I worship, grant to my country, and for the
benefit of Europe in general, a great and glorious victory, and may no
misconduct in any one tarnish it, and may humanity after victory, be the
predominant feature in the British fleet! For myself, individually, I
commit my life to Him that made me; and may his blessing alight on my
endeavours for serving my country faithfully! To him I resign myself,
and the just cause which is entrusted to me to defend. Amen! Amen!
Amen!’”
“What a solemn prayer! It seems almost as if he thought he should be
sure to be killed.”
“He wore on the day of the battle his admiral’s frock coat, and on his
left breast, over his heart, boys, four stars of the orders of honour,
which had been conferred upon him. Those around thought it was dangerous
to wear his stars, lest he should be too plainly seen by the enemy, but
they were afraid to tell him so, because he had said, ‘In honour I
gained them, and in honour I will die with them.’”
“O dear! he should not have worn his stars.”
“The effect produced by the signal given by Lord Nelson, ‘England
expects every man to do his duty!’ was wonderful; it ran from ship to
ship, from man to man, from heart to heart, like a train of gunpowder.
Officers and men seemed animated with one spirit, and that was a
determination to win the day, or at least never to surrender to the
enemy.”
“There must be something terrible in preparing for such a fight.”
“There is, boys, but it wears off by degrees. The captains commanded on
their quarter-decks; the boatswains in the forecastle; the gunners
attended to the magazines, and the carpenters, with their shot-plugs,
put themselves in readiness with high-wrought energy; nor were the
seamen and marines a whit behind-hand in entering on their several
duties. The guns, the tackle, the round grape, and canister-shot, the
powder-boys, the captains of guns, with their priming-boxes, and the
officers with their drawn swords, cut an imposing appearance; and the
cockpit would have made a ruddy face turn pale.”
“What was there to be seen in the cockpit?”
“You forget that the wounded are all taken down into the cockpit. It
will hardly bear thinking about. But, in the cockpit were laid out ready
for use, wine, water, and surgeon’s instruments, with napkins and
basins, sponges, and bandages.”
“We don’t like the cockpit at all. How does a man feel when he is in
battle for the first time?”
“According to his disposition, I suppose, but I can only answer for
myself. In my first battle I felt a sense of great danger, an
expectation and fear of being killed suddenly; a difficulty in
breathing, and a shame of playing the coward. At Trafalgar the combined
fleets of France and Spain, under Villeneuve, the French admiral, a
brave and skilful man, were in the form of a crescent, and the two
British lines ran down upon them parallel to each other. As soon as the
British van was within gun-shot the enemy opened their fire. The Royal
Sovereign soon rounded-to under the stern of the Santa Anna, and Admiral
Nelson’s ship the Victory laid herself on board the Redoubtable. From
that moment the roaring of guns, the crash against the sides of the
ships, clouds of smoke, splintered yards, and falling masts, were the
order of the day.”
“What a dreadful scene! None but soldiers and sailors could bear it.”
“The death-warrant of the navy of France was signed and sealed by the
fight of Trafalgar; and afterwards Britannia was to rule the waves. In
the heat of the action a ball, fired from the mizen-top of the
Redoubtable, struck Admiral Nelson on the left shoulder, when he
instantly fell. ‘They have done for me at last, Hardy,’ said he, to his
captain.”
“Ah, poor Nelson! He should not have worn those glittering stars on his
breast. No wonder that he was killed.”
“Though mortally wounded, he gave some necessary directions concerning
the ship, and when carried below inquired earnestly how the battle went
on. When he knew that the victory had been gained—for twenty ships in
all struck to the British admiral—he expressed himself satisfied. ‘Now I
am satisfied,’ said he; ‘thank God, I have done my duty!’ Many times he
repeated this expression, and ‘Thank God, I have done my duty;’ and
‘Kiss me, Hardy,’ were among the last words that were uttered by his
lips. Thus, with a heart full of patriotism, died the bravest commander,
the most vigilant seaman, and the most ardent friend of his country,
that ever led on a British fleet to victory.”
“Poor Nelson!”
“Even amid the exultation of victory a grateful country mourned his
loss. A bountiful provision was made for his family; a public funeral
was awarded to his remains, and monuments in the principal cities of his
native land were erected to his memory. A sorrowing nation lamented over
his bier, and Britannia, indeed, felt that old England’s defender was
numbered with the dead.
‘Long as the hero’s thoughts could be exprest
His patriot soul upheld his country’s name;
And long as hostile virtue fires the breast
A grateful country shall prolong his fame.’”
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