Part 8 (2/2)

Baffled thus, he bore up for Malta, andbeen dispersed in a gale, had put back to Toulon Froreat number of saddles and muskets had been eypt was their destination That they should have put hiave hientleale: we have buffeted them for one-and-twenty months, and not carried away a spar” He, however, who had so often braved these gales, was now, though not mastered by them, vexatiously thwarted and impeded; and on February 27th he was coliari From the 21st of January the fleet had reht or day He anchored here that he ht not be driven to leeward As soon as the weatherabout against contrary winds, another gale drove him to anchor in the Gulf of Palma on the 8th of March This he made his rendezvous: he knew that the French troops still re to lead them into a belief that he was stationed upon the Spanish coast, he made his appearance off Barcelona with that intent About the end of the an to fear that the plan of the expedition was abandoned; and sailing once more towards his old station off Toulon on the 4th of April, he met the PHOEBE, with news that Villeneuve had put to sea on the last of March, with eleven shi+ps of the line, seven frigates, and two brigs

When last seen they were steering towards the coast of Africa Nelson first covered the channel between Sardinia and Barbary, so as to satisfy hiypt which Gantheaume had taken before him, when he attempted to carry reinforcements thither Certain of this, he bore up on the 7th for Palermo, lest the French should pass to the north of Corsica, and he despatched cruisers in all directions On the 11th he felt assured that they were not gone down the Mediterranean; and sending off frigates to Gibraltar, to Lisbon, and to Admiral Cornwallis, who coet to the ard, beating against westerly winds After five days a neutral gave intelligence that the French had been seen off Cape de Gatte on the 7th It was soon after ascertained that they had passed the Straits of Gibraltar on the day following; and Nelson, knowing that they ht already be half way to Ireland or to Jaleam of coilance had rendered it impossible for theht days after this certain intelligence had been obtained, he described his state of ood fortune, et a fair wind, or even a side-wind Dead foul!--Dead foul! Butthere is no certain account of the eneo near to kill me; but as these are times for exertion, I must not be cast dohatever I may feel” In spite of every exertion which could be made by all the zeal and all the skill of British seaht of Gibraltar till the 30th of April; and the as then so adverse that it was impossible to pass the Gut He anchored in Mazari Bay, on the Barbary shore; obtained supplies from Tetuan; and when, on the 5th, a breeze fro to hear of the enemy from Sir John Orde, who co is heard of them,” said he to the Admiralty, ”I shall probably think the rumours which have been spread are true, that their object is the West Indies; and, in that case, I think it my duty to follow them--or to the Antipodes, should I believe that to be their destination” At the time when this resolution was taken, the physician of the fleet had ordered hiland before the hot ly, when Donald Cauese service, the sas to Earl St Vincent of the movements of that fleet froave ti of his country He went on board the VICTORY, and coe that the combined Spanish and French fleets were bound for the West Indies Hitherto all things had favoured the eneain strong southerly and westerly gales, they had wind to their wish from the NE, and had done in nine days what he was a wholethe Spaniards at Carthagena were not in a fit state of equipment to join him, dared not wait, but hastened on to Cadiz Sir John Orde necessarily retired at his approach Admiral Gravina, with six Spanish shi+ps of the line and two French, come out to him, and they sailed without a moment's loss of time They had about three thousand French troops on board, and fifteen hundred Spanish: six hundred were under orders, expecting them at Martinique, and one thousand at Guadaloupe

General Lauriston cohteen sail of the line, six forty-four gun frigates, one of twenty-six guns, three corvettes, and a brig They were joined afterwards by t French line-of-battle shi+ps, and one forty-four

Nelson pursued theates ”Take you a Frenchman apiece,” said he to his captains, ”and leave me the Spaniards: when I haul down my colours, I expect you to do the same, and not till then”

The enemy had five-and-thirty days' start; but he calculated that he should gain eight or ten days upon them by his exertions May 15th he made Madeira, and on June 4th reached Barbadoes, whither he had sent despatches before him; and where he found Admiral Cochrane, with two shi+ps, part of our squadron in those seas being at Jamaica He found here also accounts that the combined fleets had been seen fro to the southward, and that Tobago and Trinidad were their objects This Nelson doubted; but he was alone in his opinion, and yielded it with these foreboding words: ”If your intelligence proves false, you lose me the French fleet” Sir W Myers offered to embark here with 2000 troops; they were taken on board, and the next o Here accident confirence which had, whether froo, in the general alar whether this fleet was friend or foe, sent out a schooner to reconnoitre, and acquaint hinal which he had chosen happened to be the very one which had been appointed by Col shi+pley of the engineers to signify that the enemy were at Trinidad; and as this was at the close of the day, there was no opportunity of discovering thewas met with about the same time, the lish and assist the French in anyhis countrymen, affirmed that he had been boarded off Granada a few days before by the French, ere standing towards the Bocas of Trinidad This fresh intelligence removed all doubts The shi+ps were cleared for action before daylight, and Nelson entered the Bay of Paria on the 7th, hoping and expecting to make the mouths of the Orinoco as famous in the annals of the British navy as those of the Nile Not an enemy was there; and it was discovered that accident and artifice had combined to lead him so far to leeward, that there could have been little hope of fetching to ard of Granada for any other fleet Nelson, however, with skill and exertions never exceeded, and almost unexampled, bore for that island

Advicescaptured the Diamond Rock, were then at Martinique on the fourth, and were expected to sail that night for the attack of Granada On the 9th Nelson arrived off that island; and there learned that they had passed to leeward of Antigua the preceding day, and had taken a homeward-bound convoy Had it not been for false information, upon which Nelson had acted reluctantly, and in opposition to his own judgment, he would have been off Port Royal just as they were leaving; it, and the battle would have been fought on the spot where Rodney defeated De Grasse This he remembered in his vexation; but he had saved the colonies, and above 200 shi+ps laden for Europe, which would else have fallen into the ene that the ht the allied enemies, whose force nearly doubled that before which they fled That they were flying back to Europe he believed, and for Europe he steered in pursuit on the 13th, having dise with him the SPARTIATE, seventy-four; the only addition to the squadron hich he was pursuing so superior a force Five days afterwards the AMAZON brought intelligence that she had spoke a schooner who had seen the to the north; and by coues off Nelson's diary at this tireat anxiety and his perpetual and all-observing vigilance

”June 21 Midnight, nearly calm, saw three planks, which I think came from the French fleet Very miserable, which is very foolish” On the 17th of July he caht of Cape St Vincent, and steered for Gibraltar ”June 18th,” his diary says, ”Cape Spartel in sight, but no French fleet, nor any information about them How sorrowful this makes me! but I cannot help myself” The next day he anchored at Gibraltar; and on the 20th, says he, ”I went on shore for the first titen days”

Here he co been detached with a squadron, when the disappearance of the combined fleets, and of Nelson in their pursuit, was known in England, had taken his station off Cadiz He thought that Ireland was the enemy's ultimate object; that they would now liberate the Ferrol squadron, which was blocked up by Sir Robert Calder, call for the Rochefort shi+ps, and then appear off Ushant with 33 or 34 sail; there to be joined: by the Brest fleet With this great force he supposed they would make for Ireland--the real ht to the West Indies, he thought, had been reat iifted with great political penetration As yet, however, all was conjecture concerning the ene victualled and watered at Tetuan, stood for Ceuta on the 24th, still without inforence arrived that the CURIEUX brig had seen the to the northward

He proceeded off Cape St Vincent, rather cruising for intelligence than knohither to betake himself; and here a case occurred that more than any other event in real history reseacity which Voltaire, in his Zadig, has borrowed froates spoke an American, who, a little to the ard of the Azores, had fallen in with an ar to be a dismasted privateer, deserted by her crehich had been run on board by another shi+p, and had been set fire to; but the fire had gone out A log-book and a few seaht to Nelson The log-book closed with these words: ”Two large vessels in the WNW:” and this led hilish privateer, cruising off the Western Islands But there was in this book a scrap of dirty paper, filled with figures Nelson, iures ritten by a French this for a while, said, ”I can explain the whole The jackets are of French manufacture, and prove that the privateer was in possession of the enemy She had been chased and taken by the two shi+ps that were seen in the WNW The prizeot to take with hi-book; and the dirty paper contains her work for the number of days since the privateer last left Corvo; with an unaccounted-for run, which I take to have been the chase, in his endeavour to find out her situation by back reckonings By soement, I conclude she was run on board of by one of the ene delay (for I am satisfied that those two shi+ps were the advanced ones of the French squadron), and fancying ere close at their heels, they set fire to the vessel, and abandoned her in a hurry If this explanation be correct, I infer froone more to the northward; and more to the northward I will look for thely he held, but still without success Still persevering, and still disappointed, he returned near enough to Cadiz to ascertain that they were not there; traversed the Bay of Biscay; and then, as a last hope, stood over for the north-west coast of Ireland against adverse winds, till, on the evening of the 12th of August, he learned that they had not been heard of there Frustrated thus in all his hopes, after a pursuit, to which, for its extent, rapidity, and perseverance, no parallel can be produced, he judged it best to reinforce the Channel fleet with his squadron, lest the enewood apprehended, should bear down upon Brest with their whole collected force On the 15th he joined Admiral Cornwallis off Ushant No news had yet been obtained of the ene he received orders to proceed, with the VICTORY and SUPERB, to Portsmouth

CHAPTER IX

1805

Sir Robert Calder falls in with the combined Fleets--They foret into Cadiz--Nelson is reappointed to the Coar--Victory, and Death of Nelson

At Portsth found news of the combined fleet Sir Robert Calder, who had been sent out to intercept their return, had fallen in with theues off Cape Finisterre Their force consisted of twenty sail of the line, three fifty-gun shi+ps, five frigates, and two brigs: his, of fifteen line-of-battle shi+ps, two frigates, a cutter, and a lugger After an action of four hours he had captured an eighty-four and a seventy-four, and then thought it necessary to bring-to the squadron, for the purpose of securing their prizes The hostile fleets reht of each other till the 26th, when the enemy bore away The capture of two shi+ps from so superior a force would have been considered as no inconsiderable victory, a few years earlier; but Nelson had introduced a new era in our naval history; and the nation felt respecting this action as he had felt on a soretted that Nelson, with his eleven shi+ps, had not been in Sir Robert Calder's place; and their disappointenerally and loudly expressed

Frustrated as his own hopes had been, Nelson had yet the high satisfaction of knowing that his judgment had never been more conspicuously approved, and that he had rendered essential service to his country, by driving the enemy from those Islands where they expected there could be no force capable of opposing them The West India merchants in London, as men whose interests were more immediately benefited, appointed a deputation to express their thanks for his great and judicious exertions It was now his intention to rest awhile froues and cares, in the society of those whoht up from the VICTORY; and he found in his house at Merton the enjoyment which he had anticipated Many days had not elapsed before Captain Blackwood, on his way to London with despatches, called on hi

Nelson, as already dressed, exclai me news of the French and Spanish fleets! I think I shall yet have to beat theo, after the indecisive action with Sir Robert Calder; then proceeded to Ferrol, brought out the squadron from thence, and with it entered Cadiz in safety ”Depend on it, Blackwood:” he repeatedly said, ”I shall yet give M Villeneuve a drubbing” But when Blackwood had left him, he wanted resolution to declare his wishes to Lady Hamilton and his sisters, and endeavoured to drive away the thought He had done enough, he said: ”Let the et!” His countenance belied his lips; and as he was pacing one of the walks in the garden, which he used to call the quarter-deck, Lady Hamilton came up to him, and told him she saas uneasy He smiled, and said: ”No, he was as happy as possible; he was surrounded by his family, his health was better since he had been an shore, and he would not give sixpence to call the king his uncle” She replied, that she did not believe hiet at the combined fleets, that he considered them as his own property, that he would be miserable if any ht to have the, and his hard chase ”Nelson,” said she, ”however we may lament your absence, offer your services; they will be accepted, and you will gain a quiet heart by it: you will have a glorious victory, and then you may return here, and be happy” He looked at her with tears in his eyes: ”Brave Emma! Good Emma! If there were more Emmas there would be ly accepted as they were offered; and Lord Barha him the list of the navy, desired him to choose his own officers ”Choose yourself, my lord,” was his reply: ”the same spirit actuates the whole profession: you cannot choose wrong” Lord Barham then desired him to say what shi+ps, and how oing to command, and said they should follow him as soon as each was ready No appointht that the destruction of the coht properly to be Nelson's work; that he who had been

”Half around the sea-girt ball, The hunter of the recreant Gaul,”

ought to reap the spoils of the chase which he had watched so long, and so perseveringly pursued

Unre exertions were made to equip the shi+ps which he had chosen, and especially to refit the VICTORY, which was onceBefore he left London he called at his upholsterer's, where the coffin which Captain Hallowell had given hiraven upon the lid, saying that it was highly probable he ht want it on his return He seemed, indeed, to have been impressed with an expectation that he should fall in the battle In a letter to his brother, written immediately after his return, he had said: ”We ht not have done so much with ht probably have been a lord before I wished; for I know they arded the prospect of death with gloos of his wife, and the displeasure of his venerable father The state of his feelings noas expressed in his private journal in these words: ”Friday night (Sept 13), at half-past ten, I drove from dear, dear Merton; where I left all which I hold dear in this world, to go and serve reat God, whom I adore, enable me to fulfil the expectations of ood pleasure that I should return,offered up to the throne of His ood providence to cut short reatest sub that he will protect those so dear to me whom I may leave behind! His will be done A he reached Ports despatched his business on shore, endeavoured to elude the populace by taking a by-way to the beach; but a crowd collected in his train, pressing forward to obtain a sight of his face: many were in tears, and land has had many heroes; but never one who so entirely possessed the love of his fellow-countrymen as Nelson All men knew that his heart was as humane as it was fearless; that there was not in his nature the slightest alloy of selfishness or cupidity; but that with perfect and entire devotion he served his country with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his strength; and, therefore, they loved hiland They pressed upon the parapet to gaze after hi their cheers by waving his hat The sentinels, who endeavoured to prevent the the crowd; and an officer who, not very prudently upon such an occasion, ordered them to drive the people doith their bayonets, was compelled speedily to retreat; for the people would not be debarred fro hero of England!

He arrived off Cadiz on the 29th of Septe that if the ene to sea, he kept out of sight of land, desired Collingwood to fire no salute and hoist no colours, and wrote to Gibraltar to request that the force of the fleet ht not be inserted there in the GAZETTE His reception in the Mediterranean fleet was as gratifying as the farewell of his countrymen at Portsot his rank as coain On the day of his arrival, Villeneuve received orders to put to sea the first opportunity Villeneuve, however, hesitated when he heard that Nelson had resumed the command He called a council of war; and their determination was, that it would not be expedient to leave Cadiz, unless they had reason to believe theer by one-third than the British force In the public measures of this country secrecy is seldom practicable, and seldomer attempted: here, however, by the precautions of Nelson and the wise norance; for as the shi+ps appointed to reinforce the Mediterranean fleet were despatched singly, each as soon as it was ready, their collected number was not stated in the newspapers, and their arrival was not known to the enemy But the enemy knew that Admiral Louis, with six sail, had been detached for stores and water to Gibraltar Accident also contributed to make the French admiral doubt whether Nelson himself had actually taken the coland, maintained that it was impossible, for he had seen him only a few days before in London, and at that tiain to sea

The station which Nelson had chosen was some fifty or sixty miles to the west of Cadiz, near Cape St Marys At this distance, he hoped to decoy the eneht with a westerly wind near Cadiz and driven within the Straits The blockade of the port was rigorously enforced, in hopes that the coht be forced to sea by want The Danish vessels, therefore, which were carrying provisions from the French ports in the bay, under the name of Danish property, to all the little ports froeziras, fro boats to Cadiz, were seized

Without this proper exertion of power, the blockade would have been rendered nugatory by the advantage thus taken of the neutral flag The supplies from France were thus effectually cut off There was now every indication that the enemy would speedily venture out: officers andthem a decisive blow; such, indeed, as would put an end to all further contest upon the seas Theatrical a inwas the hymn hich the sports concluded ”I verily believe,” said Nelson (writing on the 6th of October), ”that the country will soon be put to some expense on my account; either a monument, or a new pension and honours; for I have not the smallest doubt but that a very few days, almost hours, will put us in battle The success no ot at, I pledge myself The sooner the better: I don't like to have these things upon my mind”

At this time he was not without soates, and the eyes of the fleet, as he always called them; to the want of which the enemy before were indebted for their escape, and Buonaparte for his arrival in Egypt He had only twenty-three shi+ps; others were on the way, but they h Nelson never doubted of victory, mere victory was not what he looked to; he wanted to annihilate the eneht effect a junction with this fleet on the one side; and on the other it was to be expected that a similar attempt would be made by the French froency to be apprehended by the blockading force The Rochefort squadron did push out, and had nearly caught the AGAMEMNON and L'AIMABLE in their way to reinforce the British admiral Yet Nelson at this time weakened his own fleet He had the unpleasant task to perfor home Sir Robert Calder, whose conduct was to be eneral dissatisfaction which had been felt and expressed at his imperfect victory Sir Robert Calder and Sir John Orde, Nelson believed to be the only two enemies whom he had ever had in his profession; and frouished him, this made him the more scrupulously anxious to show every possible mark of respect and kindness to Sir Robert He wished to detain him till after the expected action, when the services which he ht perform, and the triu to be apprehended froement Sir Robert, however, whose situation was very painful, did not choose to delay a trial from the result of which he confidently expected a co hi in his own ninety-gun shi+p--ill as such a shi+p could at that ti could beby which Nelson was influenced; but, at such a crisis, it ought not to have been indulged

On the 9th Nelson sent Collinghat he called, in his diary, the Nelson-touch ”I send you,” said he, ”uess at the very uncertain position the enemy may be found in; but it is to place you perfectly at ease respectingthem into effect We can, reat object in view, that of annihilating our enelorious peace for our country No man has more confidence in another than I have in you; and no man will render your services more justice than your very old friend Nelson and Bronte” The order of sailing was to be the order of battle: the fleet in two lines, with an advanced squadron of eight of the fastest-sailing two-deckers The second in co the entire direction of his line, was to break through the enemy, about the twelfth shi+p froh the centre, and the advanced squadron was to cut off three or four ahead of the centre This plan was to be adapted to the strength of the enemy, so that they should always be one-fourth superior to those whom they cut off Nelson said, ”That his ad his precise object to be that of a close and decisive action, would supply any deficiency of signals, and act accordingly In case signals cannot be seen or clearly understood, no captain can do wrong if he places his shi+p alongside that of an enemy” One of the last orders of this admirable man was, that the naht be killed or wounded in action, should be, as soon as possible, returned to him, in order to be transmitted to the chairht be taken into consideration for the benefit of the sufferer or his fa of the 19th, the MARS, being the nearest to the fleet of the shi+ps which forates inshore, repeated the signal that the eneht, with partial breezes, nal to be made for a chase in the south-east quarter About two, the repeating shi+ps announced that the eneht the British fleet continued under all sail, steering to the south-east At daybreak they were in the entrance of the Straits, but the eneatesnorth Upon this the VICTORY hove to; and shortly afterwards Nelson ain to the northward In the afternoon-the wind blew fresh froan to fear that the foe ht be forced to return to port A little before sunset, however, Blackwood, in the EURYALUS, telegraphed that they appeared detero to the ard, ”And that,” said the admiral in his diary, ”they shall not do, if it is in the power of Nelson and Bronte to prevent thenified to Blackwood that he depended upon hiht of the enemy They were observed so well that all their motions were made known to hi to keep the port of Cadiz open, and would retreat there as soon as they saw the British fleet; for this reason he was very careful not to approach near enough to be seen by theht At daybreak the combined fleets were distinctly seen from the VICTORY's deck, formed in a close line of battle ahead, on the starboard tack, about twelveto the south Our fleet consisted of twenty-seven sail of the line and four frigates; theirs of thirty-three and seven large frigates Their superiority was greater in size and weight of metal than in numbers They had four thousand troops on board; and the best riflemen who could be procured, h the shi+ps Little did the Tyrolese, and little did the Spaniards, at that day, iine what horrors the wicked tyrant who for their country

Soon after daylight Nelson came upon deck The 21st of October was a festival in his fa, in the DREADNOUGHT, with two other line-of-battle shi+ps, had beaten off a French squadron of four sail of the line and three frigates Nelson, with that sort of superstition from which few persons are entirely exempt, had more than once expressed his persuasion that this was to be the day of his battle also; and he ell pleased at seeing his prediction about to be verified The as now fronal was made to bear down upon the enewood, in the ROYAL SOVEREIGN, led the leeline of thirteen shi+ps; the VICTORY led the weather line of fourteen Having seen that all was as it should be, Nelson retired to his cabin, and wrote the following prayer:--