Nelson, Horatio

Horatio (1758-1805), an English naval commander famous in the Napoleonic wars. He was born at Norfolk, England, September 29, 1758. He entered the English navy at the early age of twelve. While still a lad he saw service in the Arctic seas, in the waters of Central America, and in the West Indies. Upon the outbreak of hostilities with the French Republic in 1792 he was assigned to the command of a battleship in the Mediterranean, where he had the ill fortune to lose one of his eyes in a naval engagement. In 1797 he took part in an action off Cape St. Vincent. A few months later he lost an arm during an attack on Santa Cruz in the Island of Teneriffe. In 1798 he was sent with a fleet to prevent the departure of Napoleon's armament from Toulon. The French gave him the slip, however, and proceeded to Alexandria. Nelson overtook the French fleet in the Bay of Aboukir and captured or destroyed all but two ships. Napoleon's campaign in Egypt was seriously crippled by the want of means of communication with France.

In 1801, Denmark having been induced by Napoleon to join a secret alliance against England, the English fleet under Sir Hyde Parker was dispatched to attack Copenhagen. Nelson held a subordinate command. April 2, 1801, he entered the harbor of Copenhagen, destroyed the Danish fleet, and silenced the batteries on the shore, gaining a decisive victory. During the conflict a petty office called his attention to the fact that the commander-in-chief was signaling him to stop firing. Placing his field glass to his blind eye, he remarked coolly, "I really cannot see the signal." The idea of a man's not being able to see a signal to stop fighting took mightily with the English people. He returned home a hero.

In 1805 he was appointed to the command of the British fleet in the Mediterranean. The French fleet got away in March and sailed for the West Indies. Nelson followed. He was given the slip again, but gave chase pluckily back to the coast of Spain. October 21st he overtook the combined French and Spanish fleet off Cape Trafalgar. He gave battle at once, practically annihilating the enemy. This victory was a serious blow to Napoleon. He had established an army of 200,000 troops at Boulogne for the invasion of England, a project now rendered utterly impracticable.

Nelson fell during the engagement. His remains were taken home and interred with honor in St. Paul's Cathedral. One of the finest open places in London was named Trafalgar Square in commemoration of the great victory. In the center of the square rise a massive granite column 145 feet in height. It is a copy of one of the Corinthian columns of the Temple of Mars, the avenging god of war, at Rome. The column is crowned with a statue of Nelson, seventeen feet in height. The pedestal is adorned with reliefs cast with the metal of the French cannon captured at Aboukir. One relief commemorates Aboukir, another Copenhagen, a third Trafalgar, the fourth St. Vincent. Nelson's last words, "England expects every man to do his duty," appear in letters of bronze.

Nelson's services to his country were so great and his bravery and ability as a commander so unquestioned that the reader is inclined to draw the veil of silence over serious faults in his private life. The standard account of his life was written by the poet Southey.

See Trafalgar