of great importance, and served to command all the communication
between the northern and western French settlements. The siege
was begun with vigour, and promised an easy conquest; but General
Prideaux was killed in the trenches by the bursting of a mortar,
so that the whole command of the expedition devolved upon General
Johnson, who omitted nothing to push forward the vigorous
operations of his predecessor, to which also he added his own
popularity with the soldiers under him. A body of French troops,
who were sensible of the importance of this fort, attempted to
relieve it; but Johnson attacked them with intrepidity and success;
for in less than an hour their whole army was put to the rout.
The garrison soon after perceiving the fate of their countrymen,
surrendered prisoners of war.”
NICOPOLIS, BATTLE OF.--Between the Christian powers, under
Sigismund, King of Hungary, and the Turks. This battle, fought
A.D. 1396, is celebrated as the first fought between the Cross and
Crescent. The Christians triumphed; the Turks lost 20,000 in slain,
and 20,000 in wounded and prisoners.
NILE, BATTLE OF THE.--Fought, August 1st, 1798, between the fleets
of England and France. The French fleet arrived at Alexandria
August 1st, 1798, and Admiral Brueys, not being able to enter port,
which time and neglect had ruined, moored the ships in Aboukir
Bay, in a strong and compact line of battle; the headmost vessel,
according to his own account, being as close as possible to a shoal
on the north-west, and the rest of the fleet forming a kind of
curve along the line of deep water, so as not to be turned by any
means in the south-west.
The advantage of numbers, both in ships, guns, and men, was in
favour of the French. They had 13 ships of the line and 4 frigates,
carrying 1196 guns, and 11,230 men. The English had the same number
of ships of the line, and one 50 gun ship, carrying 1012 guns, and
8068 men. The English ships were all seventy-fours; the French had
three 80 gun ships, and one three-decker of 120.
During the whole pursuit it had been Nelson’s practice, whenever
circumstances would permit, to have his captains on board the
_Vanguard_, and explain to them his own ideas of the different and
best modes of attack, and such plans as he proposed to execute
on falling in with the enemy, whatever their situation might be.
There is no possible position, it is said, which he did not take
into consideration. His officers were thus fully acquainted with
his principles of tactics; and such was his confidence in their
abilities, that the only thing determined upon, in case they
should find the French at anchor, was for the ships to form as
most convenient for their mutual support, and to anchor by the
stern. “First gain your victory,” he said, “and then make the
best use of it you can.” The moment he perceived the position of
the French, that intuitive genius with which Nelson was endowed
displayed itself; and it instantly struck him that where there
was room for an enemy’s ship to swing there was room for one of
ours to anchor. The plan which he intended to pursue, therefore,
was to keep entirely on the outer side of the French line, and
station his ships, as far as he was able, one on the outer bow
and another on the outer quarter of each of the enemy’s. Captain
Berry, when he comprehended the scope of the design, exclaimed with
transport, “If we succeed, what will the world say?” “There is no
_if_ in the case,” replied the Admiral; “that we _shall_ succeed
is certain--who may live to tell the story is a very different
question.”
As the squadron advanced, they were assailed by a shower of shot
and shell from the batteries on the island, and the enemy opened
a steady fire from the starboard side of their whole line, within
half gunshot distance, full into the bows of our van ships. It was
received in silence; the men on board every ship were employed
aloft in furling sails, and below in tending the braces, and making
ready for anchoring;--a miserable sight for the French, who, with
all their skill and all their courage, and all their advantages of
number and situation, were upon that element on which, when the
hour of trial comes, a Frenchman has no hope. Admiral Brueys was
a brave and able man; yet the indelible character of his country
broke out in one of his letters, wherein he delivered it as his
private opinion that the English had missed him, because, not being
superior in force, they did not think it prudent to try their
strength with him. The moment was now come in which he was to be
undeceived.
A French brig was instructed to decoy the English. By manœuvring
so as to tempt them towards a shoal lying off the island of
Beguieres; but Nelson either knew the danger, or suspected some
deceit, and the lure was unsuccessful. Captain Foley led the way in
the _Goliath_, out-sailing the _Zealous_, which for some minutes
disputed this post of honour with him. He had long conceived that,
if the enemy were moored in line of battle in with the land, the
best plan of attack would be to lead between them and the shore,
because the French guns on that side were not likely to be manned,
nor even ready for action. Intending, therefore, to fix himself
on the inner bow of the _Guerrier_, he kept as near the edge of
the bank as the depth of water would admit; but his anchor hung,
and, having opened his fire, he drifted to the second ship, the
_Conquérant_, before it was cleared, then anchored by the stern,
inside of her, and in ten minutes shot away her masts. Hood, in the
_Zealous_, perceiving this, took the station which the _Goliath_
intended to have occupied, and totally disabled the _Guerrier_
in twelve minutes. The third ship which doubled the enemy’s van
was the _Orion_, Sir J. Saumarez; she passed to windward of the
_Zealous_, and opened her larboard guns as long as they bore on
the _Guerrier_; then passing inside the _Goliath_, sunk a frigate
which annoyed her, hauled toward the French line, and, anchoring
inside between the fifth and sixth ships from the _Guerrier_, took
her station on the larboard bow of the _Franklin_ and the quarter
of the _Peuple Souverain_, receiving and returning the fire of
both. The sun was now nearly down. The _Audacious_, Captain Gould,
pouring a heavy fire into the _Guerrier_ and the _Conquérant_,
fixed herself on the larboard bow of the latter, and when that ship
struck, passed on to the _Peuple Souverain_. The _Theseus_, Captain
Miller, followed, brought down the _Guerrier’s_ remaining main and
mizen masts, then anchored inside the _Spartiate_, the third in the
French line.
While these advanced ships doubled the French line, the _Vanguard_
was the first that anchored on the outer side of the enemy, within
half pistol shot of their third ship, the _Spartiate_. Nelson had
six colours flying in different parts of the rigging, lest they
should be shot away--that they should be struck, no British Admiral
considers as a possibility. He veered half a cable, and instantly
opened a tremendous fire, under cover of which the other four
ships of his division, the _Minotaur_, _Bellerophon_, _Defence_
and _Majestic_, sailed on ahead of the Admiral. In a few minutes
every man stationed at the first six guns in the fore part of the
_Vanguard’s_ deck was killed or wounded--these guns were three
times cleared. Captain Louis, in the _Minotaur_, anchored next
ahead, and took off the fire of the _Aquilon_, the fourth in the
enemy’s line. The _Bellerophon_, Captain Darby, passed ahead, and
dropped her stern anchor on the starboard bow of the _Orient_,
seventh in the line, Bruey’s own ship of one hundred and twenty
guns, whose difference in force was in proportion of more than
seven to three, and whose weight of ball, from the lower deck
alone, exceeded that from the whole broadside of the _Bellerophon_.
Captain Peyton, in the _Defence_, took his station ahead of the
_Minotaur_ and engaged the _Franklin_, the sixth in the line, by
which judicious movement the British line remained unbroken. The
_Majestic_, Captain Wescott, got entangled with the main rigging
of one of the French ships astern of the _Orient_, and suffered
dreadfully from that three-decker’s fire; but she swung clear, and
closely engaging the _Heureux_, the ninth ship in the starboard
bow, received also the fire of the _Tonnant_, which was the eighth
in the line. The other four ships of the British squadron, having
been detached previous to the discovery of the French, were at
a considerable distance when the action began. It commenced at
half-after six, about seven the night closed, and there was no
other light than that from the fire of the contending fleets.
Trowbridge, in the _Culloden_, then foremost of the remaining
ships, was two leagues astern. He came on sounding, as the others
had done. As he advanced, the increasing darkness increased the
difficulty of navigation, and suddenly, after having found eleven
fathoms’ water, before the lead could be hove again, he was fast
a-ground; nor could all his own exertions, joined to those of the
_Leander_ and _Mutiné_ brig, which came to his assistance, get
him off in time to bear a part in the action. His ship, however,
served as a beacon to the _Alexander_ and _Swiftsure_, which would
else, from the course they were holding, have gone considerably
further on the reef, and must inevitably have been lost. These
ships entered the bay and took their stations, in the darkness,
in a manner still spoken of with admiration by all who remember
it. Captain Hallowell, in the _Swiftsure_, as he was bearing down,
fell in with what seemed to be a strange sail. Nelson had directed
his ships to hoist four lights horizontally at the mizen peak as
soon as it became dark, and this vessel had no such distinction.
Hallowell, however, with great judgment, ordered his men not to
fire. “If she was an enemy,” he said, “she was in too disabled
a state to escape; but, from her sails being loose, and the way
in which her head was, it was probable she might be an English
ship.” It was the _Bellerophon_, overpowered by the huge _Orient_.
Her lights had gone overboard, nearly two hundred of her crew
were killed or wounded, all her masts and cables had been shot
away, and she was drifting out of the line towards the lee-side
of the bay. Her station at this important time was occupied by
the _Swiftsure_, which opened a steady fire on the quarter of the
_Franklin_ and the bows of the French Admiral. At the same instant
Captain Ball, with the _Alexander_, passed under his stern, and
anchored within sight on his larboard quarter, raking him, and
keeping a severe fire of musketry upon his decks. The last ship
which arrived to complete the destruction of the enemy was the
_Leander_. Captain Thompson, finding that nothing could be done
that night to get off the _Culloden_, advanced with the intention
of anchoring athwart-hawse of the _Orient_. The _Franklin_ was so
near her ahead, that there was not room for him to pass clear of
the two; he therefore took his station athwart-hawse of the latter,
in such a position as to rake both.
The two first ships of the French line had been dismasted within a
quarter of an hour after the commencement of the action; and the
others in that time suffered so severely, that victory was already
certain. The third, fourth and fifth were taken possession of at
half-past eight. Meantime Nelson received a severe wound on the
head from a piece of langridge shot. Captain Berry caught him in
his arms as he was falling. The great effusion of blood occasioned
an apprehension that the wound was mortal. Nelson himself thought
so; a large flap of the skin of the forehead cut from the bone, had
fallen over the eye; and, the other being blind, he was in total
darkness. When he was carried down, the surgeon, in the midst of
a scene scarcely to be conceived by those who have never seen a
cockpit in time of action, and the heroism which is displayed amid
its horrors--with a natural but pardonable eagerness, quitted the
poor fellow then under his hands, that he might instantly attend
the admiral. “No!” said Nelson, “I will take my turn with my brave
fellows.” Nor would he suffer his own wound to be examined, till
every man who had been previously wounded was properly attended to.
Fully believing that the wound was mortal, and that he was about to
die, as he had ever desired, in battle and in victory, he called
the chaplain, and desired him to deliver what he supposed to be his
dying remembrance to Lady Nelson; he then sent for Captain Louis
on board, from the _Minotaur_, that he might thank him personally
for the great assistance he had rendered to the _Vanguard_; and,
ever mindful of those who deserved to be his friends, appointed
Captain Hardy from the brig to the command of his own ship, Captain
Berry having to go home with the news of the victory. When the
surgeon came in due time to examine the wound (for it was in vain
to entreat him to let it be examined sooner), the most anxious
silence prevailed; and the joy of the wounded men, and of the
whole crew, when they heard that the hurt was superficial, gave
Nelson deeper pleasure than the unexpected assurance that his
life was in no danger. The surgeon requested, and, as far as he
could, ordered him to remain quiet; but Nelson could not rest. He
called for his secretary, Mr. Campbell, to write the despatches.
Campbell had himself been wounded, and was so affected at the
blind and suffering state of the Admiral that he was unable to
write. The chaplain was sent for; but before he came, Nelson,
with his characteristic eagerness, took the pen, and contrived to
trace a few words, marking his devout sense of the success which
had already been obtained. He was now left alone; when suddenly a
cry was heard on the deck that the _Orient_ was on fire. In the
confusion he found his way up, unassisted and unnoticed; and, to
the astonishment of every one, appeared on the quarter-deck, where
he immediately gave order that boats should be sent to the relief
of the enemy.
It was soon after nine that the fire on the _Orient_ broke out.
Brueys was dead; he had received three wounds, yet would not
leave his spot; a fourth cut him almost in two. He desired not
to be carried below, but to be left to die upon deck. The flames
soon mastered his ship. Her sides had just been painted, and
the oil-jars and paint-buckets were lying on the poop. By the
prodigious light of this conflagration, the situation of the
fleets could now be perceived, the colours of both being clearly
distinguishable. About ten o’clock the ship blew up, with a shock
which was felt to the very bottom of every vessel. Many of her
officers and men jumped overboard, some clinging to the spars and
pieces of wreck with which the sea was strewn; others swimming
to escape from the destruction which they momently dreaded. Some
were picked up by our boats; and some, even in the heat and fury
of the action, were dragged into the lower ports of the nearest
British ships by the British Sailors. The greater part of her
crew, however, stood the danger to the last, and continued to
fire from the lower deck. This tremendous explosion was followed
by a silence not less awful; the firing immediately ceased on
both sides; and the first sound which broke the silence was the
dash of her shattered masts and yards falling into the water
from the vast height to which they had been exploded. It is upon
record, that a battle between two armies was once broken off by an
earthquake:--such an event would be felt like a miracle: but no
incident in war produced by human means, has ever equalled the
sublimity of this coinstantaneous pause, and all its circumstances.
About seventy of the _Orient’s_ crew were saved by the English
boats. Among the many hundreds who perished were the Commodore,
Casa Bianca, and his son, a brave boy only ten years old. They were
seen floating on a shattered mast when the ship blew up. She had
money on board (the plunder of Malta) to the amount of six hundred
thousand pounds sterling. The masses of burning wreck which were
scattered by the explosion, excited for some moments apprehensions
in the English which they had never felt from any other danger. Two
large pieces fell into the main and foretops of the _Swiftsure_,
without injuring any person. A port-fire also fell into the
main-royal of the _Alexander_; the fire which it occasioned was
speedily extinguished. Captain Ball had provided, as far human
foresight could provide, against any such danger. All the shrouds
and sails of his ship, not absolutely necessary for its immediate
management, were thoroughly wetted, and so rolled up, that they
were as hard and as little inflammable as so many solid cylinders.
The firing recommenced with the ships to leeward of the centre, and
continued till about three. At daybreak the _Guillaume Tell_ and
the _Généreuse_, the two rear ships of the enemy, were the only
French ships of the line which had their colours flying: they cut
their cables in the forenoon, not having been engaged, and stood
out to sea, and two frigates with them. The _Zealous_ pursued; but,
as there was no other ship in a condition to support Captain Hood,
he was recalled. It was generally believed by the officers that,
if Nelson had not been wounded, not one of these ships could have
escaped; the four certainly could not, if the _Culloden_ had got
into action; and, if the frigates belonging to the squadron had
been present, not one of the enemy’s fleet would have left Aboukir
Bay. These four vessels, however, were all that escaped; and the
victory was the most complete and glorious in the annals of naval
history. “Victory,” said Nelson, “is not a name strong enough for
such a scene;” he called it a conquest. Of thirteen sail of the
line, nine were taken and two burnt; of the four frigates, one
was sunk; another the _Artemise_ was burnt in a villainous manner
by her captain, M. Estandlet, who having fired a broadside at the
_Theseus_, struck his colours, then set fire to the ship, and
escaped with most of his crew to shore. The British loss in killed
and wounded amounted to 895. Westcott was the only captain who
fell: 3105 of the French, including the wounded, were sent on shore
by cartel, and 5225 perished.
Thus ended this eventful battle, which exalted the name of Nelson
to a level at least with that of the celebrated conqueror, whose
surprising success at the head of the French armies had then begun
to draw the attention of the civilized world. The first words of
his despatches on this memorable occasion prove his gratitude
to that Providence which had protected him:--“_Almighty God has
blessed his Majesty’s arms._”
NISBET, BATTLE OF.--Fought, May 7th, 1602, between the English and
Scotch armies,--10,000 of the latter were left dead on the field
and in the pursuit.
NORTHALLERTON, BATTLE OF.--_Or the Standard._--A furious engagement
fought in Yorkshire, England, August 22nd, 1137, between the
Scottish and English armies. This battle received the latter name
from a high crucifix which was erected by the English on a waggon
and was carried along by the troops. (See _Standard, Battle of_)
NORTHAMPTON, BATTLE OF.--Fought between the Duke of York and Henry
VI of England. Henry was defeated, and made prisoner, after a
bloody fight, which took place July 19th, 1460.
NOIR, BATTLES OF.--First, fought, August 15th, 1799, between the
French army commanded by Joubert, and the Russians, under Suwarrow.
The French were defeated with immense slaughter,--10,000 being left
dead on the battlefield, among whom was their General, Joubert, and
several distinguished officers. A second battle was fought, January
8th, 1800, between the Austrian and French armies, when the latter
a second time were signally defeated.
NUMANTIA, SIEGE OF.--Celebrated in the life of Scipio Africanus.
He besieged the city with 60,000 men, the Numantines had only
4000 able to bear arms, but for 14 years it bravely withstood all
attempts, till at last it fell, and every soul preferred to perish
rather than fall into the hands of the Romans.
O.
ORLEANS.--_France._--Besieged by John Talbot, the Earl of
Salisbury, October 12th, 1428; relieved, and the siege raised by
the Maid of Orleans--Joan of Arc--from which circumstance she
received her name.
ORLEANS NEW.--The British made an attack on New Orleans, December,
1814; they were repulsed by the Americans, under General Jackson,
with great loss January, 7th, 1815. The American troops were
entrenched behind a large number of cotton bales, and the British
were obliged to advance in an open and exposed plain for more than
a mile, during which they were literally mowed down by the shot
from the cotton batteries. Some of the bravest Peninsular heroes
fell here and met a soldier’s grave.
ORTHES, BATTLE OF.--Fought, February 27th, 1814, between the
British and Spanish armies, on the one side, and the French on
the other. The Allies were commanded by Wellington--the French by
Soult. In this memorable engagement the Allies gained a complete
victory.
OSTROLENKA, BATTLE OF.--Between the Poles and Russians. It was one
of the most sanguinary and desperate battles fought between the
two countries, and took place May 26th, 1831. On both sides the
slaughter was immense, but the Poles remained masters of the field.
OTTERBURN, BATTLE OF.--Fought, July 31st, 1388. The following is a
graphic account of this engagement:--
“One of the Scotch inroads into England, in the time of Robert II,
led to the famous battle of Otterburn, or “Chevy Chase.” This was
considered, by the judges of fighting in those days, to have been
the best fought, and, for the numbers engaged, the most severe of
all the battles of that age. There was not a man, knight or squire,
that did not acquit himself gallantly, fighting hand to hand with
his enemy. It was about the time of Lammas, when the moor men were
busy with their hay harvest, that the Earl of Douglas rode into
England to drive a prey. The warders on the walls of Newcastle and
Durham saw, rising in all directions, thick columns of smoke. This
was the first intimation of the presence of the Scots. In their
return homeward they halted three days before Newcastle, where they
kept up an almost continual skirmish. The Earl of Douglas had a
long combat with Sir Henry Percy, and took his pennon. “Hotspur, I
will carry this pennon into Scotland,” said the Douglas, “and fix
it on the tower of my castle of Dalkeith, that it may be seen from
far.” “That shall you never, Earl of Douglas,” said Hotspur; “be
assured you shall never have this pennon to boast of.” “I will fix
your pennon before my tent,” said Douglas, “and shall see if you
will venture to take it away.”
The Scots resumed their march homeward. They encamped at Otterburn,
“upon the bent so brown,” and Douglas declared his resolution to
wait there for two or three days, and see if the Percy would come
to recover his pennon. On the evening of the second day the Scots
were supping, some, indeed, had gone to sleep, when a loud shout
of “Percy! Percy!” was heard, and the English were upon them. It
was a sweet moonlight evening in August, clear and bright, and the
breeze blew soft and fresh. The Scots, though somewhat taken by
surprise, rose to the fight cool and “siccar,” as at Bannockburn
itself. The lances crossed, and many on both sides went down at the
first shock. Douglas, shouting his war cry, ordered his banner to
advance. Percy, eager to encounter the Douglas, advanced his banner
also. The two banners met, and many valiant deeds of arms were done
around them. But the English were three to one, and the Scots were
beginning to be forced back.
Seeing this, the Earl of Douglas seized a battle-axe with both
hands and dashed into the midst of the enemy, his men following
close. He struck right and left, and cut a lane deep into the
battalion of the English. At last three spears were thrust against
him all at once. One struck him on the shoulder, one on the breast,
and the stroke glanced off his armour down into his groin; the
third struck him in the thigh. With these three strokes he was
borne to the earth, and as soon as he fell a battle-axe hewed deep
into his head. The English marched over him without knowing who he
was.