Chapter IV: Part 4

In another letter to this much honoured and honourable officer, written at Chatham towards the end of the same month, he congratulates him on having obtained his appointment, which was that of Lieutenant-Governor of Greenwich Hospital; from which, he hopes, his friend will derive every comfort: and tells him, that he need not hurry himself about the charts, as he shall certainly see him before he sails.

It was not, in fact, till about the middle of May, that the Agamemnon, in company with the Robust of seventy-four guns, Captain the Honourable George Keith Elphinstone, proceeded to it's station in the Mediterranean, under the command of Lord Hood; who followed, a few days after, with the rest of his fleet, from Plymouth, on the 22d of that month.

About the beginning of June, he went with six sail of the line to Cadiz, where they took in water. They also took in some wine: for he tells his worthy old friend, Captain Locker, that he has got him a cask of, he hopes, good sherry; which he shall take an early opportunity of sending home, and begs him to accept as a proof of his remembrance. He observes, that they have done nothing; and, that the same prospect appears before them: for, the French would not come out, and they had no means of getting at them in Toulon. Lord Hood was to be joined, off Barcelona, by twenty-one Spanish ships of the line: "but," adds he, "if they are no better manned than those at Cadiz, much service cannot be expected of them; though, as to ships, I never saw finer men of war."

It was on the occasion above alluded to, when Captain Nelson put into Cadiz to water, that he exclaimed, at the moment of first beholding the Spanish fleet--"These ships are, certainly, the finest in the world: thank God, the Spaniards cannot build men!"

Early in August, Lord Hood went with the fleet to remonstrate with the Genoese respecting their supply of corn to the French, and bringing back French property under neutral papers: a practice which Captain Nelson, who was then off Toulon, justly observed, rendered the station there a mere farce, if such trade should continue to be allowed.

On the 20th of this month, writing to Captain Locker, he observes that the Agamemnon sails well, and is healthy; but, that he wants to get into port for refreshment. He says that, by all the accounts, the district of Provence would gladly become a separate republic under the protection of England; and, that the people of Marseilles declared they would willingly destroy Toulon to accomplish this measure.

There seems, at the time of his thus writing, to have been a positive proposal to this effect then under the consideration of the commander in chief: for, on the 23d of August, only three days after, did Admiral Lord Hood publish his celebrated preliminary declaration to the inhabitants of Toulon, as well as his proclamation to the inhabitants of the towns and provinces in the south of France, which ended in his taking a provisional possession of Toulon, with all the ships of war in the harbour, &c. on the 28th of the same month.

Captain Nelson, however, was not present during the period of this negociation, or the subsequent taking possession of Toulon; having been previously charged with dispatches from Lord Hood, dated off Toulon, the 17th of August 1793, and addressed to Sir William Hamilton, Knight of the Bath, his Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of Naples.

It should seem that he had, also, some intermediate orders to execute; for, on his passage to Naples, he met with Lord Hugh Conway, at sea, who had left Toulon in the possession of Lord Hood, and sent Sir William Hamilton a letter to that effect, dated the 31st of the same month.

There was, evidently, more to be transacted at the court of Naples, than a mere delivery of these dispatches from Lord Hood, or Captain Nelson would scarcely have been selected for the business. He went, no doubt, with confidential communications from the commander in chief to the British minister plenipotentiary, and objects of discretional discussion for mutual consideration, which were not possible to be transacted in writing, and consequently required the talents and address judiciously employed on the occasion. Lord Hood was no stranger to the superlative ability which he possessed for negotiation; and how much more rarely that quality is to be found in British naval officers, than the natural bravery which seems common to all, or even the great nautical skill which may justly be boasted by most of them.

It was not till the 11th of September, that Captain Nelson arrived, in the Agamemnon, at Naples; and so effectually did he accomplish the objects of his mission, that Sir William Hamilton, who immediately communicated the intelligence of Toulon's being in possession of Lord Hood to General Acton, procured two thousand of his Sicilian majesty's best troops to be embarked, the 16th, on board two line of battle ships, two frigates, two corvettes, and one Neapolitan transport vessel.

The next day, September 17, Sir William Hamilton sent intelligence of the above particulars to England, which appeared in the London Gazette, dated Whitehall, October 12, 1793: where it is added, that a Spanish frigate, returning to Toulon, had likewise taken some Neapolitan troops on board; that three more battalions were that night to embark at Gaeta, on board of two Neapolitan frigates, two brigantines, and nine large polacres; that, in a week or ten days, the Neapolitan government were to send off to Toulon the remaining ships, and two thousand more men, with thirty-two pieces of regimental artillery, and plenty of provisions; and that, should the wind remain as it then was, these succours might reach Toulon in five days, or sooner.

In the mean time, Captain Nelson had been introduced to the King and Queen of Naples, from whom he met with a most cordial and gracious reception: nor must his singular previous introduction, by Sir William, to Lady Hamilton, be passed over, without particular notice; on the result of which, so much of the felicity of this exalted hero's future life seems evidently to have in a superlative degree depended.

On Sir William Hamilton's returning home, after having first beheld Captain Nelson, he told his lady that he was about to introduce a little man to her acquaintance, who could not boast of being very handsome: "but," added Sir William, "this man, who is an English naval officer, Captain Nelson, will become the greatest man that ever England produced. I know it, from the few words of conversation I have already had with him. I pronounce, that he will one day astonish the world. I have never entertained any officer at my house, but I am determined to bring him here. Let him be put in the room prepared for Prince Augustus."

Captain Nelson was, accordingly, introduced to her ladyship; and resided with Sir William Hamilton during his short stay at Naples: and thus commenced that fervid friendship between the parties, which continued to glow, with apparently increasing ardour, to the last moment of their respective existences whom it has been Lady Hamilton's severe lot to survive.

The introductory compliment which had been paid by Sir William Hamilton, to Captain Nelson's transcendent abilities, was not ill requited by one of the latter's first salutations of the worthy envoy--"Sir William," said he, in consequence of the dispatch made use of in obtaining the Neapolitan troops, "you are a man after my own heart: you do business in my own way! I am, now, only a captain; but I will, if I live, be at the top of the tree."

These reciprocal good opinions of each other, which form the basis of all substantial friendships, could not fail to unite such excellent and enlightened minds in a sincere amity. It can never appear wonderful, then, that Lady Hamilton, herself a person of very considerable talents, and possessing a warm and affectionate heart, naturally attached to splendid abilities, should be forcibly struck with the pleasing manners, extreme goodness and generosity of mind, and evident proofs of comprehensive intellect, which she continually witnessed in the new friend of her intelligent husband, during the few days of his continuance at Naples.

The frank and friendly attentions of her ladyship, at the same time, it must necessarily be supposed, made no slight impression on the susceptible bosom of Captain Nelson; who was charmed with the characteristic sweetness of disposition which she so fascinatingly displayed for the promotion of his ease and comforts.

The imperious calls of professional duty soon separated the hero from his affectionate friends; but they parted not without mutual assurances of losing no opportunity which might occur of corresponding with or seeing each other.

It appears, from Lord Hood's dispatches to the Admiralty, that the first division of the Neapolitan troops disembarked at Toulon on the 28th of September, under the command of Brigadier General Pignatelli; and that they were a very fine body of men, in perfect health, and well appointed. The second division of Neapolitans, consisting of two thousand men, arrived on the 5th of October; and the last two thousand were to leave Naples on that very day. His Sicilian majesty, Lord Hood added, had manifested the greatest readiness and zeal in fulfilling the treaty; and confided his ships and troops solely to his lordship's discretion, as that sovereign had made known to him in writing under his own hand.

Such was the success of Captain Nelson's services at Naples, where the king and queen treated him with no less attention and regard than Sir William Hamilton and his lady, and witnessed his departure with similar regrets.

The Neapolitan troops thus obtained, greatly signalized themselves, on several occasions, while at Toulon: but Captain Nelson, almost immediately on his arrival, received orders to join a squadron under Commodore Linzee; who had been detached by Lord Hood, at the request of General Paoli, to protect Corsica. He could, therefore, scarcely be said to have at all participated in the occurrences which took place at Toulon, farther than in thus procuring military aids.

Captain Nelson, indeed, appears to have had little concern with this unfortunate business: not the less so, perhaps, on that very account. Notwithstanding all the blood and treasure which this expedition cost Great Britain, on Toulon's being evacuated the 19th of December following, Lord Hood was only able to carry away three ships of the line and five frigates; after burning there nine ships of the line, and one at Leghorn.

About the period of these transactions, Captain Nelson was with Commodore Linzee, at Tunis, negotiating for a French convoy under an eighty-gun ship and a corvette. The English, however, he observed, never yet succeeded in a negotiation against the French. "We have not," says he, in a letter to Captain Locker, dated off Sardinia, December 1, 1793, "contradicted our practice at Tunis, for the Monsieurs have completely upset us with the bey; and, had we latterly attempted to take them, I am certain he would have declared against us, and done our trade some damage."

In this letter he also mentions, that Lord Hood has, in a very handsome letter, ordered him from Commodore Linzee's command, to take the command of a squadron of frigates off Corsica and the adjoining shore of Italy, to look out for some French frigates which were in St. Fiorenzo in Corsica. With these frigates, it seems, Captain Nelson had, joined with one or two others, what he calls "a little brush," in the preceding October. He observes that, if they are active, they may do our trade some mischief: "but," adds he, "to say the truth, I believe that they are more inclined to be passive; at least, they had much of that inclination when I saw them."

At this time, he does not appear to have thought Toulon in much danger; and, at all events, was persuaded that the French fleet and arsenal might be destroyed. Some of the ships, he remarked, were the finest he ever beheld. The Commerce de Marseilles, in particular, he says, had seventeen ports on each deck, and our Victory looked nothing to it.

Their friend, Sir Charles Pole, he observes, is gone to the West Indies, which was a thing that officer dreaded: had himself been at Toulon, he would have been a candidate for this service; for, he thought our sea war was over in the Mediterranean. He admits, however, that the Agamemnon has had it's share of service; having had the anchor down but thirty-four times since sailing from the Nore, and then only to get water or provisions. He says that, having then upwards of one hundred of his ship's company absent, they are not much better than a fifty gun ship. To another friend, however, he jocosely observed, on this occasion, that those he had were chiefly Norfolk men, and he always reckoned them as good as two others.

In the warmth of gratitude, he asserts that Lord Hood is a very good friend to him; and is, certainly, the best officer he ever saw: every thing from him being so clear, that it is impossible to misunderstand him.

All this day, the 1st of December, he observes, he has been in sight of the French squadron; which, he hears, has been joined by a frigate from Calvi. He misses, however, the frigate which had received most of his fire; and adds, that there are not wanting those who declare that they beheld it sink.

With these frigates, on the coast of Corsica, Captain Nelson may be said to have commenced his career as commander of a squadron; and such was his activity, skill, and bravery, that they were perpetually engaged against the enemy. It would be difficult, perhaps impossible, to trace every single transaction which occurred during the time which he held this command. His services were, occasionally, exerted at land as well as sea; and such was his dexterity in getting out guns, erecting batteries, and assisting the reduction of fortresses, that much of our success in gaining possession of that island was generally ascribed to his ability.

On the 10th of February 1794, the tower and garrison of Mortella surrendered; and the strong redoubt and batteries of the Convention were taken by storm on the 17th, after a severe cannonading of two days. The enemy abandoned, that same night, the tower of Forneli, and two considerable sea-batteries dependent on it.

On the 19th, they retreated from St. Fiorenzo to Bastia; having previously sunk one of their frigates, and burnt another in the gulph: and the town, forts, and port of St. Fiorenzo, were taken possession of, the same day, by his majesty's land and sea forces. The frigate which had been sunk was afterwards weighed, and taken into our service under the name of the St. Fiorenzo.

At the siege of Bastia, whither the enemy were followed, and which commenced the beginning of April, Captain Nelson bore a most conspicuous share; exerting himself with a vigour, alacrity, and judgment, which obtained universal admiration. It has been said, and re-echoed, that ample testimony was, on this occasion, given to his skill and unremitting exertions; but, it may safely be asserted, he never thought so.

Lord Hood, it is true, makes respectful mention of his services; it would be extremely wonderful if he did not, when it is considered that he was the principal naval officer actively employed there, and yet served, with the most indefatigable perseverance, nearly two months on land. What follows, however, is all that appears in his lordship's dispatches relative to Captain Nelson, which few will think too much--"Captain Nelson, of his majesty's ship Agamemnon, who had the command and direction of the seamen, in landing the guns, mortars, and stores, and Captain Hunt, who commanded at the batteries, very ably assisted by Captain Buller and Captain Serecold, and the Lieutenants Gore, Hotham, Stiles, Andrews, and Brisbane, have an equal claim to, my gratitude; as the seamen, under their management, worked the guns with great judgment and alacrity. Never was a higher spirit, or greater perseverance exhibited; and I am happy to say, that no other contention was at any time known, than who should be most forward and indefatigable for promoting his majesty's service; for, although the difficulties they had to struggle with were many and various, the perfect harmony and good humour that universally prevailed throughout the siege overcame them all."

This, certainly, is no singular praise of Captain Nelson; who, it is well known, greatly signalized himself on the occasion.

In the very next paragraph of the same Gazette, Lord Hood says--"I cannot but express, in the strongest terms, the meritorious conduct of Captain Duncan and Lieutenant Alexander Duncan, of the Royal Artillery, and Lieutenant De Butts, of the Royal Engineers: but my obligation is particularly great to Captain Duncan, as more zeal, ability, and judgment, was never shewn by any officer than were displayed by him; and I take the liberty of mentioning him as an officer highly entitled to his majesty's notice."

Such superior praise and recommendation of a military officer, however deserving, by the naval commander in chief, could not be very pleasing to Captain Nelson; who felt conscious of having merited at least equal attention, by ably performing more than could be in any way considered as his actual duty.

The slight sketch modestly given of this affair, by himself, in a letter to Captain Locker, will afford some idea of it's importance. It is dated, at Bastia, May 30, 1794, on board the Agamemnon: and states, that he has just got on board, after eight weeks service on shore; where, he trusts, he has acquitted himself in a manner his friends will be pleased with. The more he saw of this place, the more he was astonished at it's being given up: but, the truth was, that the different parties were afraid to trust each other; the surrender could be justified on no other ground.

The frigates formerly mentioned had now, most of them, fallen into his hands; for he mentions that he has then on board the Agamemnon two captains, twenty-four other officers, and three hundred seamen, of the ships he fell in with the preceding October. The officers abused the crews; the people, their officers: all joined against their commodore, for not coming down to the British ships after they were crippled. Not that Captain Nelson had any idea they could have taken his ships; but, he admitted that they certainly behaved shamefully ill. The Fortunée was burned, the Minerve and Le Fleche taken: the Melpomene got to Calvi; and would, he trusted, fall into his hands.

He adds, that they are now taking on board shot, powder, &c. for Calvi; which, though very strongly situated, he thinks will soon fall. Agamemnon is then to go to Gibraltar, for something like a refitment, having been without the slightest repair, in hull or rigging, sixteen months. He describes Bastia as most pleasantly situated; containing fourteen thousand inhabitants, and being capable of holding twenty thousand. A few hours, he says, will carr parties to Italy: and observes that, if the Corsicans knew their own interest, they would be happy with us; but, that they cannot bear dependance.

This opinion of Captain Nelson's, respecting the disposition of the Corsicans, is a fresh proof of his acute discernment, and was abundantly confirmed by the event.

It having been agreed, by the two commanders in chief, Lord Hood and Lieutenant-General the Honourable Charles Stuart, that the utmost dispatch was necessary, in order to enable the troops selected for the siege of Calvi to begin their operations before the commencement of the unhealthy season, every effort was used to forward the necessary preparations; and so effectual were the exertions of the different departments, that the regiments embarked at Bastia in the course of a very few days. Captain Nelson, accordingly, who had been detached on the 9th of June, by Lord Hood, from the fleet off Mortella Bay, to take the charge of these embarkations, in his lordship's absence, agreed that they should proceed to Port Agra, where a landing was effected on the 19th of the same month; and, on that very day, the army encamped, in a strong position, on the Serra del Cappucine, a ridge of mountains three miles distant from the town of Calvi.

From many of the out-posts, and particularly from those which the friendly Corsicans were ordered to occupy, it was distinctly discoverable that the town of Calvi was strong in point of situation, well fortified, and amply supplied with heavy artillery. The exterior defences, on which the enemy had bestowed a considerable labour, consisted in the bomb-proof Stone Star Fort Mozello, mounting ten pieces of ordnance, with a battery of six guns on it's right, flanked by a small entrenchment. In the rear of this line, which covered the town to the westward, was placed, on a rocky hill to the east, a battery of three guns. Considerably advanced on the plain to the south-west, the Fort Mollinochesco, on a steep rock, commanded the communication between Calvi and the province of Balagori; supported by two frigates, moored in the bay, for the purpose of raking the intermediate country. The principal difficulties, however, in approaching the enemy's works, did not so much arise from the strength of the defences, as from the height of the mountains and rugged rocky surface of the country it was necessary to penetrate; and so considerable were these obstacles, against the usual mode of attack, that it was judged expedient to adopt rapid and forward movements, instead of regular approaches.

In conformity to this plan of proceeding, the seamen and soldiers were laboriously employed in making roads; dragging guns to the tops of the mountains; and collecting military stores, for the purpose of erecting two mortar and four separate gun batteries, on the same night. One of these was intended against the Mollinochesco; the second, to be constructed on rocks, to cover the principal one, of six guns; which, by a sudden march, and the exertions of the whole army, was to be erected within seven hundred and fifty yards of the Mozello.

Owing to some mistake, the proposed battery against the Mollinochesco was built and opened two days earlier than the time appointed. Observing, however, that though this fort was considerably damaged, it seemed evidently the intention of the enemy to repair rather than evacuate it, on the evening of the 6th of July, the Royal Irish regiment was ordered to move towards their left, exposing the men to the fire of their artillery. At sun set, and during the greatest part of the night, this diversion was seconded by a feigned attack of the Corsicans: which so effectually deceived the enemy, that they withdrew a considerable piquet from the spot where the principal battery was to be constructed, in order to support the Mollinochesco; and, directing the whole of their fire to that point, enabled the troops to complete their work.

This important position established, the enemy was compelled to evacuate the Mollinochesco, and to withdraw the shipping under the protection of the town.

A heavy firing immediately commenced on both sides; which continued, with little intermission, till the 18th of that month: when, observing that their batteries were considerably damaged, and a breach appearing practicable on the west side of the Mozello, a disposition was made for a general attack on the outworks, under cover of two batteries ordered to be erected that night; which would, from their position, in the event of a check, appear the principal object of the movement.

By the greatest exertions, this battery was completely constructed, without discovery, within three hundred yards of the Mozello, an hour before day-break: a signal gun was then fired from it, for the troops to advance. Covered, in their approach, by two field pieces, they proceeded, with a cool and steady confidence, and unloaded arms, towards the enemy; forced their way through a smart fire of musquetry; and, regardless of live shells thrown into the trench, or the additional defence of pikes, stormed the Mozello: while the Royal Irish regiment, with two pieces of cannon, equally regardless of opposition, carried the enemy's battery on the left, and forced their trenches, without firing a shot.

The possession of these very important posts, which the troops maintained under the heaviest fire of shells, shot, and grape, induced an offer to consider such terms as the garrison of Calvi might incline to propose.

An unfavourable answer, however, being returned, the navy and army once more united their efforts; and, in nine days, completed batteries of thirteen guns, four mortars, and three howitzers, within six hundred yards of the town. These opened with so well directed a fire, that the enemy were unable to remain at their guns; and, in eighteen hours, sent proposals, which terminated in a capitulation, and the expulsion of the French from Corsica, on the 10th of August, after a siege of fifty-one days.

The above account of the reduction of Calvi is extracted from the dispatches of the military commander in chief, and affords a very good idea of the siege.

Lord Hood, who arrived off Calvi on the 27th of June, where he continued during the siege, in his dispatches to the Admiralty, writes--"The Journal I here transmit from Captain Nelson, who had the command of the seamen, will shew the daily occurrences of the siege; and whose zeal and exertion I cannot sufficiently express--or, of that of Captain Hallowell--who took it by turns to command in the advanced battery, twenty-four hours at a time: and, I flatter myself, they, as well as the other officers and seamen, will have full justice done them by the general; it is, therefore, unnecessary for me to say more on the subject."

What Lieutenant General Stuart did say, respecting Captain Nelson's wonderful exertions and consummate skill, on this occasion, however, instead of doing him fuller justice, was sufficiently moderate, and very concise--"The assistance and co-operation of Captain Nelson, the activity of Captain Hallowell, and the exertions of the navy, have greatly contributed to the success of these movements."

Can any person of the smallest discernment, for a moment suppose, that a mind like that of the heroic Nelson, could feel satisfied by such indiscriminate and cold approbation as is here expressed? The slightest glance even of his own modest Journal of the siege, must have convinced every one, had it been given, as he might expect, to the public, of the prodigious fatigue and perseverance, at least, which this great man underwent, if it had not demonstrated the astonishing skill and bravery which he is so well known to have there most eminently displayed.

An intelligent Corsican, now in England, Mr. Casalonga, perfectly remembers the general estimation in which Captain Nelson was held throughout the island, for the various prodigies of valour performed there during the year 1794; particularly, at the siege of the tower of Mortella, and the towns of Bastia and Calvi. Respecting this last place, he observes, an official report was sent to the municipality of Ajaccio, where himself was a member, that during the siege, which was very obstinate and dangerous, the place being deemed impregnable, Captain Nelson ran to every direction; and, in spite of a tremendous fire kept up by the enemy, he erected his battery in such a position as to throw shot on the besieged; who, perceiving their works destroyed, and public and private buildings demolished, were soon panic struck, and sued for capitulation.

Thus, while Captain Nelson was only considered, at home, as making one among the many brave officers employed in this service, his distinguished merits were so attractive in the eyes of foreigners, on the spot, that they ascribed nearly the whole success to his transcendent abilities.

Nothing can be more certain, than that his services were supereminently beneficial; and, that the period was not yet arrived for their being duly acknowledged.

Though not a word appears, in the official returns of the wounded at the siege of Calvi, to intimate the fact; though not a single syllable of regret is expressed, in the dispatches of either commander in chief; it was at this very siege, that the hero had the misfortune to be entirely deprived of the sight of his right eye. The calamitous accident was occasioned by a shot from one of the enemy's batteries striking the ground near the battery which he commanded; and driving, with prodigious violence, some minute particles of sand, or small gravel, into that tender organ.

Even this shocking event, with all it's attendant anguish, was incapable of forcing him from his post. With a ribbon tied over his inflamed eye, he persisted in directing the batteries, till the last fortress of Corsica had submitted to his sovereign's arms.

Surely, if the total loss of sight in one eye, which himself is said never to have considered as a wound, did not entitle his name to be placed in the list of wounded officers, which seems somewhat doubtful, the gallantry of remaining at his post would never have escaped Lord Hood, as it seems to have done the Honourable Lieutenant General Stuart, had he been present on the occasion.

On the 8th of August, two days before the capitulation was signed, Lord Hood, who had received the thanks of both houses of parliament, for his very gallant conduct in the expedition against Corsica, voted on Friday, the 20th of June 1794; when, also, the like thanks were voted to all the officers, sailors, and soldiers, engaged in that expedition; sent a letter to Captain Nelson, dated on board the Victory, off Calvi, in which he inclosed the above resolutions: observing that, having received his majesty's commands, to communicate to the respective officers, seamen, marines, and soldiers, who had been employed in the different operations which had been successfully carried on against the enemy in Corsica, a resolution of the two houses of parliament; he desires that he will make known, to all in the Agamemnon, and such other officers and seamen as are with him, and were employed at Bastia, the sense that is entertained of their spirited and meritorious conduct.

This, too, which is merely an official letter, has been magnified, by those who clearly know nothing about the matter, into an additional honour conferred on Captain Nelson, and said to have been highly flattering to his feelings.

How his feelings were in reality affected at this period, the reader will presently have an opportunity of knowing from much better authority.

In the mean time, Lord Hood sent duplicates of his former dispatches to the Admiralty, dated on board the Victory, off Calvi, August 9, 1794. He herewith transmits a continuation of Captain Nelson's Journal, from the 28th of July, to the 8th of August: also, the copy of a letter which he had received from Captain Nelson, highly creditable to Lieutenant Harrison, a transport agent; as well as to Mr. William Harrington, master of the Willington, and the transports men; who were all anxiously eager to serve on shore, or on board his majesty's ships, mentions having taken possession of the Melpomene and Mignonne frigates: the former, one of the finest ever built in France, carrying forty guns; the other, only thirty-two. Captain Cunningham, charged with these dispatches, who had been three months cruizing off Calvi, with infinite diligence, and perseverance, under many difficulties, is recommended as an officer of great merit, and highly deserving any favour that can be shewn him.

Without wishing to detract from the merits of Captain Cunningham, it may certainly be contended that he had not, during the time mentioned, surpassed Captain Nelson, who receives no such decided praise, nor any positive recommendation whatever.

These observations are drawn from the face of the public dispatches, compared with a knowledge of the services and character of Captain Nelson, as they were at that time manifesting themselves to all who knew him.

His conspicuous merits, it should seem, were growing too conspicuous; the power of his rising splendour, it might begin to be feared, would too powerfully eclipse that which was getting into the wane; and, therefore, though praise could not be entirely denied, it was by no means to be lavishly bestowed. This is ever the cold and cautious sentiment of mean and mercenary minds: it sometimes creeps into the bosoms of even the liberal and the brave. In the former, it begets a fixed principle of action; from the latter, it is generally soon expelled by a little dispassionate reflection. It is like the last struggle of age, contending against a conviction of the superior vigour of youth: which, by a good parent, is often unwillingly relinquished, in even corporeal considerations; scarcely ever, willingly, in those of intellect.

Without meaning to hazard any particular application of these ideas, there is good reason to think that he began now to be an object of considerable attraction. His power, though still abundantly too confined for his ability, had been in some degree extended; and his services were, in consequence, so numerous and great, that he well merited recommendation to an enlarged sphere of action.

That he thought himself slighted, is beyond a possibility of doubt: smarting with the total loss of sight in one eye, and almost exhausted by fatigue, he felt conscious of deserving applause more ardent than any which he had yet obtained. He was, probably, not pleased to find that his journal of the siege of Calvi did not appear, as perhaps it ought to have done, in the Gazette; nor even the letter in commendation of his voluntary coadjutors, which he had sent to Lord Hood. His lordship, however, it is but just to remark, could by no means be considered as accountable for these omissions, as he certainly transmitted both these documents to government.

What were his sensations, at this juncture, it would be difficult exactly to ascertain; but his consolation is known, and it was worthy of his exalted mind--"They have not done me justice," said he, writing to his eldest sister, Mrs. Bolton, "in the affair of Calvi; but, never mind, I'll have a Gazette of my own."

On another occasion, soon after, he remarked that he had then been more than a hundred days actually engaged, at sea and on shore, against the enemy, since the commencement of the war; that he had the comfort to be ever applauded by the commander in chief, but never to be rewarded: and, what he considered as more mortifying than all the rest, for services in which he was slightly wounded, others had been extravagantly praised, who were very snug in bed all the time, far distant from the scene of action.

In October 1794, Lord Hood returned to England; when the command of the Mediterranean fleet devolved on the present Lord Hotham, with whom Captain Nelson continued to serve with equally distinguished ability wherever opportunities occurred.

At the latter end of December, and beginning of January 1795, they were cruizing off Toulon for about three weeks: during fifteen days of which, in such a series of bad weather as he had scarcely ever experienced, they were almost constantly under storm stay-sails. They saw, while on this cruise, three French frigates; and had no doubt that, as one of them was a crippled ship, the Agamemnon, which sailed better than any ship in the fleet, and was the nearest to them by a couple of leagues, might have taken one or two of them. A line of battle ship, however, never chasing on such occasions, and the admiral's anxiety to keep the fleet together preventing him from making the signal for the frigates to chase them till too late in the day, they unfortunately effected their escape.

On the 10th of January, they arrived, from this unsuccessful cruise, in the Gulph of St. Fiorenzo; where, a few days after, in a very heavy sea, the Berwick, of seventy-four guns, Captain Smith, which was preparing to join the fleet, not having the rigging set up, lost all it's masts, and was rendered a complete wreck. The superiority of the Toulon fleet, at that time, rendered this a very serious misfortune, and it led to one which proved still greater.

The French, in fact, had sixteen ships of the line, besides the Sans Culotte of a hundred and twenty guns, with twelve frigates and five corvettes, then in the harbour; and thirty Marseilles ships were also fitting out as transports, generally supposed to be intended for the conveyance of troops on an expedition against our newly-acquired kingdom of Corsica.

Admiral Hotham, in the mean time, was desirous of getting again to sea, for the purpose of covering the convoy and expected reinforcements from England; and this he was obliged to effect without waiting longer for the Berwick. He had, in truth, at this period, much to contend with. His fleet was only half manned; Italy was calling him to her defence; and Corsica perpetually demanding the reinforcements and convoy hourly expected.

The French, well aware how inadequate, in numbers and in strength, Admiral Hotham must necessarily be for the accomplishment of all these objects in the face of such superior force, came out with positive orders to seek and to destroy the British Mediterranean fleet. This being effected, which their presumption left them no doubt would soon happen, their troops were to be landed, and the kingdom of Corsica retaken.

On the 8th of March, Admiral Hotham being in Leghorn Road, received an express from Genoa, that the French fleet, consisting of fifteen sail of the line and three frigates, was seen on the 6th instant off the Isle of Marguerite. This intelligence corresponding with a signal made from the Moselle, then in the offing, for a fleet in the north-west quarter, he immediately caused the squadron to be unmoored; and, at day-break the following morning, put to sea, in pursuit of the enemy.

The Moselle having brought intelligence that the fleet seen was steering to the southward, Admiral Hotham shaped his course for Corsica, lest their destination should be against that island; dispatching the Tarleton brig to St. Fiorenzo, with orders for the Berwick to join him off Cape Corse. He had, however, the misfortune to learn, by the return of the brig, the same night, that the Berwick had, two days before, been captured by the enemy's fleet.

Though the French ships were seen daily by the advanced frigates, the two squadrons did not get sight of each other till the 12th, when the enemy was discovered to windward.

Next morning, observing them still in that direction, without any apparent intention of coming down, the signal was made for a general chace. The weather being squally, and blowing very fresh, the Ca-Ira of eighty guns, formerly the Couronne, was discovered to be without it's topmasts; which afforded Captain Freemantle, of the Inconstant frigate, who was far advanced in the chace, an opportunity of shewing a good proof of British enterprise, by attacking, raking, and harassing that ship, till the coming up of Captain Nelson, in the Agamemnon, by whom it was soon so completely cut up, as to be incapable of getting away: his brave fellows, all the time, who appear to have been miraculously preserved, working the ship about the enemy's stern and quarters, with as much exactness as if going into Spithead. Though the Ca-Ira had thirteen hundred men on board, and Captain Nelson only three hundred at quarters, including himself--for this is his own account and mode of reckoning--he had, after an action of two hours, in which a hundred and ten of the enemy were killed and wounded, not one of his Agamemnons slain, and no more than seven wounded. The Sans Culotte, however, of a hundred and twenty guns, at length coming up, and the British heavy ships being still distant, Admiral Hotham called him off; making the signal for the squadron to form on the larboard line of bearing, in which order they remained during the night.

In the morning of the 14th, the Ca-Ira was discovered in tow of the Censeur of seventy-four guns, so far separated from their own squadron as to afford a probable chance of cutting them off. The opportunity was not lost; and, all sail being made to effect that purpose, the enemy were reduced to the alternative of abandoning those ships, or coming to battle. Our advanced ships were so closely supported in their attack on the Ca-Ira and Censeur, that they were effectually cut off from any assistance; and the conflict ended by the enemy's yielding them up: satisfied, after all their boasts, by firing on the British line, as they passed with a light air of wind, and evidently happy that our van ships had suffered too much for the squadron to follow them with any prospect of success.

The grand object of their vaunted armament, however, was completely frustrated by this encounter. It could not, Captain Nelson observed, be denominated a battle, as the enemy would not afford any opportunity of closing with them; if they had, from the zeal and gallantry endeavoured to be shewn by each individual captain, there was not the smallest doubt that a glorious victory would have ensued.

The French ships had been all fitted with forges; and fired, continually, from some of their guns, hot shot and shells. The diabolical practice of having furnaces in their cockpits, however, was found too dangerous to be long persisted in.

Several of the French ships were crippled, and some of them went off towed by frigates, or without bowsprits, &c. The Sans Culotte got to Genoa, and others to Vado Bay. The British squadron, with the prizes, which were greatly shattered and very leaky, proceeded to St. Fiorenzo: where it remained till the 22d; and then sailed for Leghorn, to join the Blenheim and Bombay Castle, that it might again go in pursuit of some of the French ships.

Captain Nelson obtained, on this occasion, the highest approbation of our own fleet, and the handsomest and most liberal testimony from that of the enemy.

The fleet having been refitted at Leghorn, and obtained another seventy-four gun ship from the King of Naples, they proceeded to the westward, for reinforcements, about the 10th of May; and afterwards went to Minorca, where they remained some time waiting for a convoy's arrival from Gibraltar.

Having returned to St. Fiorenzo the latter end of June, Captain Nelson was dispatched, on the 4th of July, with the Agamemnon, Meleager, Ariadne, Moselle, and the Mutine cutter, to co-operate with the Austrian general in the recovery of Genoa.

The second day, however, he fell in with the French fleet, which Admiral Hotham had supposed at Toulon, and was chased back to St. Fiorenzo. It appears evident, from all their movements, that they did not know our fleet was in port. The chace continued twenty-four hours; and, owing to the freshness of the winds in these seas, he was occasionally hard pressed; but they being, as he said, neither seamen nor officers, gave him many advantages.

On the 7th, in the morning, Admiral Hotham was much surprised to learn that the above squadron was seen in the offing, pursued into port by the enemy's fleet. Immediately on their appearance, he made every preparation to put to sea after them; having the mortification, in the mean time, to behold Captain Nelson, with his little squadron, for nearly seven hours, almost wholly in their possession. The shore, and his knowledge of it, proved his greatest friends on this occasion.

Though most of the British ships were in the midst of watering and refitting, by very great exertions, the whole fleet got under weigh that night; but a calm, and swell, prevented their going out till the morning.

It was not till day-break, on the 13th of July 1795, that they were discovered by the fleet. At eight o'clock, Admiral Hotham, finding that they had no other view than that of endeavouring to get off, made the signal for a general chace. The baffling winds, and vexatious calms, which render every naval operation in this country doubtful, soon afterwards taking place, a few only of our van ships could come up with the enemy's rear about noon. These they so warmly attacked, that one of the sternmost ships, the Alcide of seventy-four guns, had struck in the course of an hour. The rest of their fleet, favoured by a shift of wind, that placed them to windward, had got so far into Frejus Bay, while the greater part of our's was becalmed in the offing, that it became impossible for anything farther to be effected.

Had the wind lasted twenty minutes longer, the six flyers, as they were called, would have been alongside as many of the enemy. Captain Nelson had every hope of getting the Agamemnon, one of these flyers, alongside an eighty-gun ship, with a flag or broad pendant flying; but the west wind dying away, and the east coming, gave them the advantage, and enabled them to reach their own shore, from which they were not three leagues distant.

Rear-Admiral Mann, who had shifted his flag to the Victory on this occasion, commanded the six ships thus distinguished by their superiority of sailing: he proved himself, Captain Nelson observed, a good man, in every sense of the word.

The disappointment of our brave countrymen, on this day, must have been prodigiously great. In the morning, there had been a hope of taking the whole of the French fleet; and, even latterly, no bad prospect of securing six sail of the line. Instead of which, they had only taken a single ship, the Alcide; and that, such was the fortune of this luckless day, took fire about half an hour after it had struck, and before being taken into possession--said to be occasioned by a box of combustibles in the fore-top--and the whole ship was soon in a blaze. Several boats, from our fleet, were instantly dispatched to rescue as many as possible of the unhappy crew from the devouring flames; and, by great exertion, three hundred were saved: the remainder, consisting of about four hundred, had the melancholy fate of being blown up with the ship.

The Agamemnon, with it's usual good fortune, had none killed in this action, and only one wounded. It received, however, several shot under water, which kept the hands pretty well employed at the pumps: but this, Captain Nelson insisted, must have happened by accident, as he was very certain they only fired high.

The six ships engaged were the Victory, Admiral Mann, and Captain Reeve; Agamemnon, Nelson; Defence, Wells; Culloden, Troubridge; Cumberland, Rowley; and Blenheim, Bazeley.

After anchoring for a few hours at St. Fiorenzo, with the fleet, Captain Nelson was again dispatched, in the Agamemnon, with orders to sail as before directed, when he had been chased back. Accordingly, with a light squadron under his command, consisting of the Inconstant, Meleager, Southampton, Tartar, Ariadne, and Speedy, he proceeded to co-operate with the Austrian General De Vins: and, being informed by the general, that a convoy of provisions and ammunition was arrived at Alassio, a place in the possession of the French army, he proceeded thither on the 25th of August; where, within an hour, he took nine vessels, burnt a tenth, and drove another on shore. Some of the enemy's cavalry fired on the boats when boarding the vessels near shore, but not a single man was killed or wounded. The French had two thousand horse and foot soldiers in the town, which prevented his landing and destroying their magazines of provisions and ammunition.

Captain Freemantle of the Inconstant, was sent, in the mean time, with the Tartar, to Languelia, a town on the west side of the Bay of Alassio; where, Captain Nelson observes, in his dispatches to Admiral Hotham, published October 3,1795, in the London Gazette, that commander executed his orders in a most officer-like manner. "I am indebted," he concludes, "to every officer in the squadron, for their activity: but, most particularly so, to Lieutenant George Andrews, first-lieutenant of the Agamemnon; who, by his spirited and officer-like conduct, saved the French corvette from going on shore."

The vessels taken were--a French corvette of ten guns, four swivels, and eighty-seven men; a French gun-boat of one brass gun, four swivels, and forty-nine men; a French galley of one brass gun, four swivels, and thirty men; a like galley, with twenty-nine men; a French brig, in ballast, burden a hundred tons; a French bark, burden seventy tons, laden with powder and shells; a French brig, burden a hundred tons, laden with wine; a galley, burden fifty tons, in ballast; and a tartane, burden thirty-five tons, laden with wine: those destroyed--a bark, laden with powder, drove on shore; and a ditto, laden with provisions, burnt.

Though this enterprise called for no particular exertion of great ability, it was executed with very complete success; and the result was both advantageous to the captors and their allies, and distressful to the common enemy.

Admiral Hotham, in his dispatches to government, inclosing the account of this business which he had received from Captain Nelson, handsomely remarks that "his officer-like conduct upon this, and indeed upon every occasion, where his services are called forth, reflects on him the highest credit."

Admiral Hotham was a very brave and highly respectable commander; and, being also a worthy man, he did whatever was in his power to serve Captain Nelson, whose superior ability he would, probably, have himself readily acknowledged on any occasion. He might not be sufficiently what Captain Nelson called a man of business, to admire the agreed co-operation with the Austrian army, though as ready as any man to encounter the fleet of the enemy at sea: when, therefore, that co-operation became necessary, Captain Nelson's known habits of soldiering, immediately directed the admiral's attention to the Brigadier; who had, accordingly, a not altogether unpleasant command of the squadron at Vado Bay, consisting of thirteen sail of frigates and sloops. This little fleet, however, with the exception of the above expedition, did very little important business, not a single frigate being allowed to chase out of sight.

It was about this period, that Captain Nelson had the satisfaction of learning that he had, on the 6th of June preceding, in consequence of the then promotion of flag-officers, been appointed one of the Colonels of Marines.

He had, it seems, been in some expectation of this promotion, but little imagined that it had already taken place: for, writing to Captain Locker on the 18th of June, off Minorca, he observes that great changes had taken place in the fleet, and that more were on the eve of doing so. "Perhaps," adds he, "the Admiralty may commission me for some ship here: if so, provided they give me the marines, I shall feel myself bound to take her, much as I object to serving another winter campaign without a little rest."

His health, indeed, had been considerably impaired before Lord Hood quitted the station; but as he had, after the reduction of Corsica, less occasion for much continued exertion, it was now, on the whole, rather increased than diminished; and this timely promotion appears to have operated as a powerful cordial restorative.

With the Austrian General De Vins, at Vado Bay, on the coast of Genoa, he continued to co-operate during the whole time that Admiral Hotham retained the command; who quitted it in November 1795, and was succeeded by Sir John Jervis; the present Earl of St. Vincent.

This change seems to have been a very fortunate circumstance for Captain Nelson; and, perhaps, on the whole, little less so for Sir John Jervis. The new commander in chief was much too shrewd and discerning a character not to see the full value of such an officer as Captain Nelson. Himself a man of the highest bravery, and of the first professional knowledge, he could not fail to recognize, in every act, the vigorous intellect, and undaunted valour, which Captain Nelson possessed. It was no slight shade of an uncertain tint, but a plain and decided distinction of character clearly perceptible at a single glance. Bravery and skill abound, and will, it is hoped, always abound, in the British navy; and great, indeed, must be the merits of any one who shines with superior lustre in a constellation of such general brilliancy. Sir John had, under his command, many able officers; but he immediately perceived that Captain Nelson was a star of the first magnitude, and nobly resolved to remove every intervening cloud which might prevent his appearing in full splendour.

The great importance, not only to both these exalted naval characters, but to their country, which has been so much benefitted by their respective and united services, must prevent the necessity of any apology for reverting to the very origin of their acquaintance with each other: a communication which the author of these memoirs has the honour of being enabled to give, on no less authority than that of the Earl of St. Vincent himself.