seventy-four, Captain R. W. Miller; and, before sunset, the signal was
made to prepare for action, and to keep, during the night, in close
order. At daybreak the enemy were in sight. The British force consisted
of two ships of one hundred guns, two of ninety-eight, two of ninety,
eight of seventy-four, and one sixty-four: fifteen of the line in all;
with four frigates, a sloop, and a cutter. The Spaniards had one
four-decker, of one hundred and thirty-six guns, six three-deckers of
one hundred and twelve, two eighty-fours, eighteen seventy-fours: in
all, twenty-seven ships of the line, with ten frigates and a brig.
Their admiral, Don Joseph de Cordova, had learnt from an American, on
the 5th, that the English had only nine ships, which was indeed the case
when his informer had seen them; for a reinforcement of five ships from
England, under Admiral Parker, had not then joined, and the _Culloden_
had parted company. Upon this information, the Spanish commander,
instead of going into Cadiz, as was his intention when he sailed from
Carthagena, determined to seek an enemy so inferior in force; and
relying, with fatal confidence, upon the American account, he suffered
his ships to remain too far dispersed, and in some disorder. When the
morning of the 14th broke and discovered the English fleet, a fog for
some time concealed their number. The look-out ship of the Spaniards,
fancying that her signal was disregarded, because so little notice
seemed to be taken of it, made another signal that the English force
consisted of forty sail of the line. The captain afterwards said he did
this to rouse the admiral; it had the effect of perplexing him, and
alarming the whole fleet. The absurdity of such an act shows what was
the state of the Spanish navy under that miserable government, by which
Spain was so long oppressed and degraded and finally betrayed. In
reality, the general incapacity of the naval officers was so well known,
that in a pasquinade, which about this time appeared at Madrid, wherein
the different orders of the state were advertised for sale, the greater
part of the sea-officers, with all their equipments, were offered as a
gift; and it was added that any person who would please to take them
should receive a handsome gratuity.
Before the enemy could form a regular order of battle, Sir John Jervis,
by carrying a press of sail, came up with them, passed through their
fleet, then tacked, and thus cut off nine of their ships from the main
body. These ships attempted to form on the larboard tack, either with a
design of passing through the British line, or to leeward of it, and
thus rejoining their friends. Only one of them succeeded in this
attempt, and that only because she was so covered with smoke that her
intention was not discovered till she had reached the rear: the others
were so warmly received that they put about, took to flight, and did not
appear again in the action till its close. The admiral was now able to
direct his attention to the enemy's main body, which was still superior
in number to his whole fleet, and more so in weight of metal. He made
signal to tack in succession. Nelson, whose station was in the rear of
the British line, perceived that the Spaniards were bearing up before
the wind, with an intention of forming their line, going large, and
joining their separated ships; or else, of getting off without an
engagement. To prevent either of these schemes, he disobeyed the signal
without a moment's hesitation, and ordered his ship to be wore. This at
once brought him into action with the _Santissima Trinidad_, one hundred
and thirty-six, the _San Joseph_, one hundred and twelve, the _Salvador
del Mundo_, one hundred and twelve, the _San Nicolas_, eighty, the _San
Isidro_, seventy-four, another seventy-four, and another first-rate.
Trowbridge, in the _Culloden_, immediately joined, and most nobly
supported him; and for nearly an hour did the _Culloden_ and _Captain_
maintain what Nelson called "this apparently, but not really, unequal
contest;"--such was the advantage of skill and discipline and the
confidence which brave men derive from them. The _Blenheim_ then passing
between them and the enemy, gave them a respite, and poured in her fire
upon the Spaniards. The _Salvador del Mundo_ and _San Isidro_ dropped
astern, and were fired into, in a masterly style, by the _Excellent_,
Captain Collingwood. The _San Isidro_ struck; and Nelson thought that
the _Salvador_ struck also. "But Collingwood," says he, "disdaining the
parade of taking possession of beaten enemies, most gallantly pushed up,
with every sail set, to save his old friend and messmate, who was, to
every appearance, in a critical situation;" for the _Captain_ was at
this time actually fired upon by three first-rates, by the _San
Nicolas_, and by a seventy-four, within about pistol-shot of that
vessel. The _Blenheim_ was ahead, the _Culloden_ crippled and astern.
Collingwood ranged up, and hauling up his main sail just astern passed
within ten feet of the _San Nicolas_, giving her a most tremendous fire,
then passing on for the _Santissima Trinidad_. The _San Nicolas_ luffing
up, the _San Joseph_ fell on board her, and Nelson resumed his station
abreast of them, and close alongside. The _Captain_ was now incapable of
farther service, either in the line or in chase: she had lost her
foretop-mast; not a sail, shroud, or rope was left, and her wheel was
shot away. Nelson, therefore, directed Captain Miller to put the helm
a-starboard, and, calling for the boarders, ordered them to board.
Captain Berry, who had lately been Nelson's first lieutenant, was the
first man who leaped into the enemy's mizen chains. Miller, when in the
very act of going, was ordered by Nelson to remain. Berry was supported
from the spritsail yard, which locked in the _San Nicolas's_ main
rigging. A soldier of the 69th broke the upper quarter-gallery window,
and jumped in, followed by the commodore himself, and by others as fast
as possible. The cabin doors were fastened, and the Spanish officers
fired their pistols at them through the window; the doors were soon
forced, and the Spanish brigadier fell while retreating to the
quarter-deck. Nelson pushed on, and found Berry in possession of the
poop, and the Spanish ensign hauling down. He passed on to the
forecastle, where he met two or three Spanish officers, and received
their swords. The English were now in full possession of every part of
the ship; and a fire of pistols and musketry opened upon them from the
admiral's stern gallery of the _San Joseph_. Nelson having placed
sentinels at the different ladders, and ordered Captain Miller to send
more men into the prize, gave orders for boarding that ship from the
_San Nicolas_. It was done in an instant, he himself leading the way,
and exclaiming--"Westminster Abbey, or victory!" Berry assisted him into
the main chains; and at that very moment a Spanish officer looked over
the quarter-deck rail and said they surrendered. It was not long before
he was on the quarter-deck, where the Spanish captain presented to him
his sword, and told him the admiral was below, dying of his wounds.
There, on the quarter-deck of an enemy's first-rate, he received the
swords of the officers, giving them, as they were delivered, one by one,
to William Fearney, one of his old "Agamemnons," who, with the utmost
coolness, put them under his arm. One of his sailors came up, and, with
an Englishman's feeling, took him by the hand, saying he might not soon
have such another place to do it in, and he was heartily glad to see him
there. Twenty-four of the _Captain's_ men were killed, and fifty-six
wounded; a fourth part of the loss sustained by the whole squadron
falling upon this ship. Nelson received only a few bruises.
The Spaniards had still eighteen or nineteen ships, which had suffered
little or no injury; that part of the fleet which had been separated
from the main body in the morning was now coming up, and Sir John Jervis
made signal to bring-to. His ships could not have formed without
abandoning those which they had captured, and running to leeward: the
_Captain_ was lying a perfect wreck on board her two prizes; and many of
the other vessels were so shattered in their masts and rigging as to be
wholly unmanageable. The Spanish admiral meantime, according to his
official account, being altogether undecided in his own opinion
respecting the state of the fleet, inquired of his captains whether it
was proper to renew the action: nine of them answered explicitly that it
was not; others replied that it was expedient to delay the business. The
_Pelayo_ and the _Principe Conquistador_ were the only ships that were
for fighting.
As soon as the action was discontinued Nelson went on board the
admiral's ship. Sir John Jervis received him on the quarter-deck, took
him in his arms, and said he could not sufficiently thank him. For this
victory the commander-in-chief was rewarded with the title of Earl St.
Vincent. In the official letter of Sir John Jervis Nelson was not
mentioned. It is said that the admiral had seen an instance of the ill
consequence of such selections, after Lord Howe's victory, and therefore
would not name any individual, thinking it proper to speak to the public
only in terms of general approbation. His private letter to the first
lord of the Admiralty was, with his consent, published for the first
time in a "Life of Nelson," by Mr. Harrison. Here it is said that
"Commodore Nelson, who was in the rear on the starboard tack, took the
lead on the larboard, and contributed very much to the fortune of
the day." It is also said that he boarded the two Spanish ships
successively; but the fact that Nelson wore without orders, and thus
planned as well as accomplished the victory, is not explicitly stated.
Perhaps it was thought proper to pass over this part of his conduct in
silence, as a splendid fault: but such an example is not dangerous.
The author of the work in which this letter was first made public,
protests against those over-zealous friends "who would make the
action rather appear as Nelson's battle than that of the illustrious
commander-in-chief, who derives from it so deservedly his title. No
man," he says, "ever less needed, or less desired, to strip a single
leaf from the honoured wreath of any other hero, with the vain hope of
augmenting his own, than the immortal Nelson; no man ever more merited
the whole of that which a generous nation unanimously presented to Sir
J. Jervis, than the Earl St. Vincent." Certainly Earl St. Vincent well
deserved the reward which he received: but it is not detracting from his
merit to say that Nelson is as fully entitled to as much fame from this
action as the commander-in-chief; not because the brunt of the action
fell upon him; not because he was engaged with all the four ships which
were taken, and took two of them, it may almost be said, with his own
hand; but because the decisive movement which enabled him to perform all
this, and by which the action became a victory, was executed in neglect
of orders, and upon his own judgment, and at his peril. Earl St. Vincent
deserved his earldom; but it is not to the honour of those by whom
titles were distributed in those days that Nelson never obtained the
rank of earl for either of those victories which he lived to enjoy,
though the one was the most complete and glorious in the annals of naval
history, and the other the most important in its consequences of any
which was achieved during the whole war.
Before the news of the action reached England, Nelson was advanced to
the rank of rear-admiral, and now his gallantry was rewarded by the
Order of the Bath. The sword of the Spanish rear-admiral, presented to
Nelson when he boarded his ship, and which Sir John Jervis insisted on
his keeping, he presented to the mayor and corporation of Norwich,
saying that he knew no place where it could give him or his family more
pleasure to have it kept than in the capital city of the county where he
was born. The freedom of that city was voted to him on that occasion.
But of all the numerous congratulations which he received, none could
have affected him more deeply than that which came to him from his
venerable father. "I thank my God," said that excellent man, "with all
the power of a grateful soul, for the mercies He has most graciously
bestowed on me in preserving you. Not only my few acquaintances here,
but the people in general, met me at every corner with such handsome
words that I was obliged to retire from the public eye. The height of
glory to which your professional judgment, united with a proper degree
of bravery, guarded by Providence, has raised you, few sons, my dear
child, attain to, and fewer fathers live to see. Tears of joy have
involuntarily trickled down my furrowed cheeks. Who could stand the
force of such general congratulations? The name and services of Nelson
have sounded throughout this city of Bath from the common ballad singer
to the public theatre." The good old man concluded by telling him that
the field of glory in which he had so long been conspicuous was still
open, and by giving him his blessing.
THE STORY OF SANTA CRUZ.
BY ROBERT SOUTHEY.
About the middle of the year 1797 Nelson hoisted his flag as
rear-admiral of the blue on board the _Theseus_. This ship had taken
part in the mutiny in England, and being just arrived from home, some
danger was apprehended from the temper of the men. This was one reason
why Nelson was removed to her. He had not been on board many weeks
before a paper, signed in the name of all the ship's company, was
dropped on the quarter-deck, containing these words: "Success attend
Admiral Nelson! God bless Captain Miller! We thank them for the officers
they have placed over us. We are happy and comfortable, and will shed
every drop of blood in our veins to support them; and the name of the
_Theseus_ shall be immortalised as high as her captain's."
While Nelson was in the _Theseus_, he was employed in the command of the
inner squadron at the blockade of Cadiz. During this service the most
perilous action occurred in which he was ever engaged. Making a night
attack upon the Spanish gun-boats, his barge was attacked by an armed
launch, under their commander, Don Miguel Tregoyen, carrying twenty-six
men. Nelson had with him only his ten barge-men, Captain Freemantle, and
his coxswain, John Sykes, an old and faithful follower, who twice saved
the life of his admiral by parrying the blows that were aimed at him,
and, at last, actually interposed his own head to receive the blow of a
Spanish sabre, which he could not by any other means avert;--thus
dearly was Nelson beloved. Notwithstanding the great disproportion of
numbers, eighteen of the enemy were killed, all the rest wounded, and
their launch taken.
Twelve days after this _rencontre_, Nelson sailed at the head of an
expedition against Teneriffe. In this disastrous expedition, which took
place in July 1797, Nelson was much embarrassed by difficulties of wind
and tide, but though foiled in his plans still felt it a point of honour
to make some attempt to capture the town. Perfectly aware how desperate
a service this was likely to prove, before he left the _Theseus_, he
called Lieutenant Nisbet into the cabin that he might assist in
arranging and burning his mother's letters. Perceiving that the young
man was armed he earnestly begged him to remain behind. "Should we both
fall, Josiah," said he, "what would become of your poor mother? The care
of the _Theseus_ falls to you; stay, therefore, and take charge of her."
Nisbet replied, "Sir, the ship must take care of itself; I will go with
you to-night, if I never go again."
He met his captains at supper on board the _Seahorse_; Captain
Freemantle, whose wife, whom he had lately married in the Mediterranean,
presided at table. At eleven o'clock the boats, containing between six
and seven hundred men, with a hundred and eighty on board the _Fox_
cutter, and from seventy to eighty in a boat which had been taken the
day before, proceeded in six divisions toward the town, conducted by all
the captains of the squadron, except Freemantle and Bowen, who attended
with Nelson to regulate and lead the way to the attack. They were to
land on the mole, and thence hasten, as fast as possible, into the great
square; then form and proceed as should be found expedient. They were
not discovered till about half-past one o'clock, when, being within half
gun-shot of the landing place, Nelson directed the boats to cast off
from each other, give a huzza, and push for the shore. But the Spaniards
were excellently well prepared; the alarm bells answered the huzza, and
a fire of thirty or forty pieces of cannon, with musketry from one end
of the town to the other, opened upon the invaders. Nothing, however,
could check the intrepidity with which they advanced. The night was
exceedingly dark; most of the boats missed the mole and went on shore
through a raging surf, which stove all to the left of it. The admiral,
Freemantle, Thompson, Bowen, and four or five other boats found the
mole; they stormed it instantly and carried it, though it was defended,
as they imagined, by four or five hundred men. Its guns, which were
six-and-twenty pounders, were spiked; but such a heavy fire of musketry
and grape was kept up from the citadel and the houses at the head of the
mole, that nearly all the assailants were killed or wounded. In the act
of stepping out of the boat Nelson received a shot through the right
elbow, and fell; but, as he fell, he caught the sword, which he had just
drawn, in his left hand, determined never to part with it while he
lived, for it had belonged to his uncle, Captain Suckling, and he valued
it like a relic. Nisbet, who was close to him, placed him at the bottom
of the boat, and laid his hat over the shattered arm, lest the sight of
the blood, which gushed out in great abundance, should increase his
faintness. He then examined the wound; and taking some silk
handkerchiefs from his neck, bound them round tight above the lacerated
vessels. Had it not been for this presence of mind in his step-son,
Nelson must have perished. One of his barge-men, by name Lovel, tore his
shirt into shreds, and made a sling with them for the broken limb. They
then collected five other seamen, by whose assistance they succeeded, at
length, in getting the boat afloat; for it had grounded with the falling
tide. Nisbet took one of the oars, and ordered the steersman to go close
under the guns of the battery, that they might be safe from its
tremendous fire. They pushed on for the _Theseus_. When they came
alongside, Nelson peremptorily refused all assistance in getting on
board. A single rope was thrown over the side, which he twisted round
his left hand, saying, "Let me alone: I have yet my legs left, and one
arm. Tell the surgeon to make haste and get his instruments. I know I
must lose my right arm; so the sooner it is off the better."
The total loss of the English, in killed, wounded, and drowned, amounted
to two hundred and fifty. Nelson made no mention of his own wound in his
official despatches; but in a private letter to Lord St. Vincent--the
first which he wrote with his left hand--he shows himself to have been
deeply affected by the failure of this enterprise. "I am become," he
said, "a burthen to my friends, and useless to my country; but by my
last letter you will perceive my anxiety for the promotion of my
son-in-law, Josiah Nisbet. When I leave your command, I become dead to
the world:--'I go hence, and am no more seen.' If from poor Bowen's loss
you think it proper to oblige me, I rest confident you will do it. The
boy is under obligations to me; but he repaid me, by bringing me from
the mole of Santa Cruz. I hope you will be able to give me a frigate to
convey the remains of my carcass to England." "A left-handed admiral,"
he said subsequently, "will never again be considered as useful;
therefore, the sooner I get to a very humble cottage the better, and
make room for a sounder man to serve the state."
Not having been in England till now, since he lost his eye, he went to
receive a year's pay, as smart money; but could not obtain payment,
because he had neglected to bring a certificate from a surgeon that the
sight was actually destroyed. A little irritated that this form should
be insisted upon; because, though the fact was not apparent, he thought
it was sufficiently notorious, he procured a certificate, at the same
time, for the loss of his arm; saying, they might just as well doubt one
as the other. This put him in good humour with himself, and with the
clerk who had offended him. On his return to the office, the clerk,
finding it was only the annual pay of a captain, observed he thought it
had been more. "Oh!" replied Nelson, "this is only for an eye. In a few
days I shall come for an arm; and in a little time longer, God knows,
most probably for a leg." Accordingly, he soon afterwards went; and with
perfect good humour exhibited the certificate of the loss of his arm.
THE STORY OF THE BATTLE OF THE NILE.
BY ROBERT SOUTHEY.
Early in the year 1798 Sir Horatio Nelson hoisted his flag on board the
_Vanguard_, and was ordered to rejoin Earl St. Vincent.
Immediately on his rejoining the fleet, he was despatched to the
Mediterranean, with a small squadron, in order to ascertain, if
possible, the object of the great expedition which at that time was
fitting out, under Bonaparte, at Toulon. The defeat of this armament,
whatever might be its destination, was deemed by the British government
an object paramount to every other; and Earl St. Vincent was directed,
if he thought it necessary to take his whole force into the
Mediterranean, to relinquish, for that purpose, the blockade of the
Spanish fleet, as a thing of inferior moment; but, if he should deem a
detachment sufficient, "I think it almost unnecessary," said the first
lord of the Admiralty, in his secret instructions, "to suggest to you
the propriety of putting it under Sir Horatio Nelson." It is to the
honour of Earl St. Vincent that he had already made the same choice.
The armament at Toulon consisted of thirteen ships of the line, seven
forty-gun frigates, with twenty-four smaller vessels of war, and nearly
two hundred transports. Nelson sailed from Gibraltar on May 9th, with
the _Vanguard_, _Orion_, and _Alexander_, seventy-fours; the _Caroline_,
_Flora_, _Emerald_, and _Terpsichore_ frigates; and the _Bonne
Citoyenne_ sloop of war, to watch this formidable armament. On the 19th,
when they were in the Gulf of Lyons, a gale came on from the
north-west. It moderated so much on the 20th, as to enable them to get
their top-gallant masts and yards aloft. After dark, it again began to
blow strong; but the ships had been prepared for a gale, and therefore
Nelson's mind was easy. Shortly after midnight, however, his main-top
mast went over the side, and the mizen-top mast soon afterward. The
night was so tempestuous, that it was impossible for any signal either
to be seen or heard; and Nelson determined, as soon as it should be
daybreak, to wear, and scud before the gale: but, at half-past three the
foremast went in three pieces, and the bowsprit was found to be sprung
in three places.
When day broke, they succeeded in wearing the ship with a remnant of the
spritsail: this was hardly to have been expected. The _Vanguard_ was at
that time twenty-five leagues south of the islands of Hieres, with her
head lying to the north-east, and if she had not wore, the ship must
have drifted to Corsica. Captain Ball, in the _Alexander_, took her in
tow, to carry her into the Sardinian harbour of St. Pietro. Here, by the
exertions of Sir James Saumarez, Captain Ball, and Captain Berry, the
_Vanguard_ was refitted in four days; months would have been employed in
refitting her in England.