Memoirs of the professional life of the Right Honourable Horatio, lord viscount Nelson ...

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MEMOIRS

OF THE

prVfessionjl life

Chap. I. From His Birth, 1758, To The Year 1790

Juvenile years of Lord Nelson. — He enters into the naval service. — Voyage to the West Indies. — His skill in pilotage.— Accompanies Captain Lutwidge in the voyage of discovery towards the North Pole.— Anecdote of his intrepidity.— Goes to the East Indies. — Appointed acting Lieutenant of the Worcester. — Receives his commission as Lieutenant of the Lowestoffe.— Proceeds to Jamaica. — Removed to the Bristol. — Appointed to the command of the Badger brig.— Obtains post-rank.— Assists at the reduction of Fort Juan.— Returns to England on account of ill health. — Sails with a convoy for Newfoundland. — Proceeds to the West Indies. — Visits France. — Appointed to the command of the Leeward Island station.— His conduct with regard to the Americans. — His marriage. — ^Returns to England.-His retirement atBurnham.

&INCE the foundation of England's maritime greatness, never has any name blazed forth with such glory in her annals as the immortal name of Nelson, and never, perhaps, has any nation produced an individual more justly entitled to renown. Whether we consider his ardent and dis-

B interested patriotism, his undaunted intrepidity, his promptitude both in decision and execution, his patient perseverance, his extraordinary modesty, unaffected piety and unparalleled achievements, or the qualities of his heart, generous, tender, affectionate, and benevolent, we are at a loss for terms sufficiently strong to. express our admiration of a character so truly dignified and distinguished. When we farther reflect that his great soul had to struggle against complicated evils to which nature or chance had subjected him, that though clogged with a body oppressed, emaciated, exhausted with sickness, suffering and fatigue, his mind soared above all the inconveniencies of mortality, and seemed animated with new energies, in proportion as his dangers and his difficulties increased, we shall almost be tempted to look upon him as something more than human. Educated in the school of hardy enterprize, no perils could appal, no disappointments could discourage him in the prosecution of his purposes. Influenced by no motive, save the welfare of his country, and the desire of glory, he rose by regular gradations, as his sphere of action became more enlarged, from achievement to achievement, the last invariably eclipsing the former, till he at length filled the whole earth with his fame, and raised the influence and the reputation of Britain to a height before unprecedented.

Butj alas ! the idol of his country is no more ! He has closed his career of glory by a work which will place his name so high on the tablet of immortality, that succeeding patriots can only gaze with enthusiasm, scarcely hoping to reach the envied elevation ; while a nation's tears, to the latest period of time, will drop upon the page of history that records the fall of the hero. " Wept, lov'd> and honor'd,'' he fell in the arms of Victory, who was twining fresh laurels round the brows of her favorite son, bequeathing to his country his glory, and to the world the brilliant example of his transcendent virtues. To trace a faithful picture of his actions and exploits in his progress towards the attainment of that glory, and to exhibit an accurate delineation of those virtues, is the object of the following pages.

Horatio was the fourth son of the venerable Edmund Nelson, rector of Burnham Thorpe, in the county of Norfolk, by Miss Catherine Suckling, daughter of the Rev. Dr. Suckling, prebendary of Westminster. His father's family had been long resident at Hilborough, in the same county, of which living the Nelsons have, for a considerable period, been the patrons. His mother was the grand-daughter of the late Sir Charles Turner, of Warham, who married the sister of Sir Robert Walpole, and was of course related to the noble families of Walpole, Choimondeley, and Townshend. Her ancestors have been seated at Woodton, in Norfolk, nearly three centuries.

The parsonage-house of the rectory of Burnham, is rendered illustrious as the birth-place of Horatio Nelson. He came into the world on the 29th of September, 1758. The first rudiments of education were instilled into his aspiring mind at the High School of Norwich, whence he was afterwards removed to North Walsham. At this early period of life he imbibed from his father and his preceptors such principles of religion, honor, and morality, as were indelibly impressed on his mind, and laid the foundation of that spirit of unaffected piety, which has so eminently distinguished him, in all the perilous and trying situations to which he was afterwards subjected.

In the tender years of infancy, he, doubtless, exhibited to the eye of his observant parent many traits indicative of the daring hardihood which formed such a conspicuous feature of his character. Of these few are on record ; the following anecdote has, however, been preserved : Being on a visit when quite a child, at his grand-mother's at Hilborough, he, one day, went out a bird'snesting, with a companion of about his own age. The hour of dinner arrived, but Horatio never made his appearance. The old lady^ became alarmed, and dispatched messengers different ways in quest of him. The young ramblers were, at length, discovered under a hedge, counting over the spoils of the day. His grand-mother began to scold him for being absent without permission, and concluded with saying, " I wonder f€ar did not drive you home." — *' Madam, (replied Horatio, innocently,) I never saw fear.''

Our young hero was not allowed sufficient time to receive a finished education ; but what he wanted in learning was, in the sequel, amply compensate edby natural good sense and talents, aided by early experience and deep reflection. In 1770, being then twelve years of age, he was taken from the school, at North Walsham, by his uncle, Captain Maurice Suckhng, * who received him on board his own ship, she Raisonable, of 64} guns. An altercation, relative to the Falkland Islands, just then portended hostilities with Spain ; but the misunderstanding being soon adjusted, the Rai-

* Captain Suckling commanded the Dreadnought, in the West Indies, in the month of October, 1757, when, in company with Captain Forrest, of the Augusta, and Captain Langdon, of the Edinburgh, they attacked, near Cape Francois, seven French ships, three of which were of the liae. In this encounter the Dreadnought had 59 men killed and wounded. Tn April, 1775, Captain Suckling succeeded Sir Hugh Palliser as Comptroller of the Navy, and, in 1778, was elected Member of Parliament for Portsmouth, He died in the month of July^ the same year.

sonnable was paid off. With such an excellent guide as his uncle, he would undoubtedly have made a rapid progress in the path of honour ; but as circumstances prevented him from enjoying the benefit of his instructions, Captain Suckling placed him on board a West-India ship, under the care of Mr. John Rathbone, who had served under him in the Dreadnought. After having made one voyage, he was received by his uncle, in July 1772, on board the Triumph, then lying at Chatham.

By his voyage to the West Indies Horatio had gained a considerable practical knowledge of seamanship, but Captain Suckling discovered with great concern that he had conceived a strong aversion to the Ptoyal Navy. His firmness, added to his thorough knowledge of the human heart, enabled him to employ the means of combating v;ith success this unreasonable antipathy of his inexperienced nephew ; and though it required much time and trouble to reconcile him to the duty of a king's ship, and to subdue his prejudices, yet they at length yielded to the influence of good example, and to the principles which his worthy father had early instilled into his mind. The ambition of becoming a thorough-bred seaman, which the young Horatio in an eminent degree possessed, was the instrument by which Captain Suckling attempted and effected this revolution.

He held out as a reward to the aspiring mariner, that if he attended with diligence to his duty, he should be permitted to go in the cutter and decked long-boat, attached to the ship of the commanding officer at Chatham. This operated on the mind of his nephew as he wished, and the consequence was, that young Nelson became an excellent pilot for vessels of that class which sailed from Chatham to the Tower of London, or down the Swin Channel to the North Foreland. Each subsequent trial of navigating difficult passages inspired him with a sense of his own ability, and created that confidence in himself which is the essential characteristic of a fearless and undaunted mind.

Early in the year 1773, two vessels were fitted out by government for a voyage of discovery towards the north pole. Its object was to ascertain how far it was possible to sail in that direction, to decide for ever the long- agitated question concerning the practicability of a north-east passage into the Pacific Ocean, aiid to make such astronomical observations as might prove of service to navigation. The Race-horse and Carcase bomb-ketches were fitted out expressly for this expedition ; the command of the former was given to Captain Phipps, (afterwards Lord Mulgrave) and the latter to Captain (now admiral Lutwidge.) — A voyage in which so much was to be seen and learned, excited the ardent curiosity and enterprising genius of young Nelson, and filled him with an irresistible desire to make one of the party. The dangers they were likely to encounter only served to stimulate his ambition ; and though instruction had been issued, that no boys should be received on board, yet he was so earnest in his solicitations to be appointed coxswain to Captain Lutwidge, that this officer, struck with the undaunted resolution he manifested to be employed in such an arduous undertaking, received him in that capacity, and thus laid the foundation of a friendship which continued without abatement through every subsequent period of life. ^

The ships sailed on the 2nd of June, and during the voyage our youthful coxswain conducted himself in such a manner as to obtain the particular notice of Captain Phipps, who formed a high ©pinion of his character. Abundant occasions presented themselves for the young navigator to

* One other exception of the same kind was made in tlie person of Philip D'Auvergne, now duke of Bouillon and rear-admiral of the redj who, though under the prescribed age, was permitted to accompany the expedition. The engravings which illustrate the account of the voyage, published by Captain Phipps, were all taken from original sketches made on the spot by Mr. D'Auvernge, who was also charged with the Meteorological Registers.

LORD NELSON. 2o

display those eminent qualities of intrepidity and perseverance with which he was gifted. On the 3 1st of July the two vessels were in a most perilous situation off the Seven Islands, a cluster situated to the north of Spitzbergen, in latitude 80 deg. 14 minutes* Here they suddenly found themselves fast amidst immense fields of ice, and our youthful mariner might justly have apphed to himself and his companions, the beautiful apostrophe of the Poet of the Seasons : —

• Miserable they !

Who here entangled in the gathering ice, Take their last look of the descending sun ; While full of death and fierce with ten-fold frost. The long, long night, incumbent o'er their heads Falls horrible. Such was the Briton's fate, * As with first prow, (what have not Britons dar'd !) ■ He for the passage sought, attempted since ^

So much in vain, and seeming to be shut By jealous nature with eternal bars.

In this dilemma the ship's companies endeavor^ cd to cut a passage to the westward by sawing through pieces of ice, some of which were twelv*; jfeet thick, but with so little success, that their utmost efforts, for a whole day, could not move the vessels more than two hundred yards. In this dreadful state they remained nearly five days,

* Sir Hugh Willoughby, sent by Queea Elizabeth t© discover aN. E. passage.

G

MS PROFESSIONAL LIFE OF

during which Horatio, whose mind glowed with increased energy at the sight of danger, obtained, after repeated sohcitations, the command of a four-oared cutter, with twelve men, for the purpose of exploring channels and beraking the ice. On the 13th of August, a brisk wind springing up at N. N. E. effected their deliverance from this precarious situation, and Captain Phipps, finding it impracticable to penetrate farther northward, returned to the harbor of Smeerenberg, on the coast of Spitzbergen, a region of which it may be with justice asserted, that

Here Winter holds his unrejoicing court ; And through his airy hall the loud misrule Of driving tempests is for ever heard : Here the grim tyrant meditates his wrath ; Here arms his winds with all-subduing frosts. Moulds his fierce hail, aud treasures up his snows !

The cool intrepidity possessed by our young mariner, even amid scenes so dreadful and foreboding, is evinced by the following anecdote. — During one of the nights, which in those high latitudes are generally clear, young Nelson, notwithstanding the extreme bitterness of the cold, was missing from the ship. Immediate search was made after him, but in vain, and every one gave him up for lost. As the rays of the rismg sun illumed the horizon, he was, however, discovered by his astonished messmates, at a considerable distance on the ice, armed with a single musket, in anxious pursuit of a prodigious bear. The lock being injured, the piece would not go off, and he had pursued the shaggy animal in the hope of tiring him, and being at length able to effect his purpose with the butt-end. Being reprimanded on his return, by Captain Lutwidge, for quitting the ship without permission, and asked, m a severe tone, what motive could induce him to at* tempt such a rash undertaking ; the young hero, with great simplicity replied : *^ I wished. Sir, to get the skin for my father T' We are at a loss which to admire most, the matchless courage of the youth, or his ardent desire to afford pleasure to his worthy parent.

Captain Phipps having reached, in the prosecution of his voyage, the latitude of 81 degrees, 36 minutes, north latitude, and between that and the latitude of 79 degrees, traversed 17 degrees and a half of longitude, returned to England, where the ships were paid off in the month of October, 3773. Mr. Nelson now longed to explore the torrid as he had already done the frigid zone, and accordingly exerted his interest to obtain an appointment in one of the ships of the squadron then equipping for the East-Indies. Nothing less than such a distant voyage was capable of satisfying the ardor of his mind, and his thirst of nautical knowledge. He obtained a birth in the Seac2 horse, of 20 guns, under the gallant Captain Farmer.* In this ship he was stationed to watch in the fore-top, and was afterwards placed on the quarter-deck. During the period of his ser-

■* This brave officer, in 1779, commanded the Quebec, of 52 guns, in which ship, on the 6th of October, he engaged, off Ushant, the French frigate. La Surveillante, of 40 guns. The action began at ten in the morning, and continued with the greatest obstinacy for three hours and a half. Both vessels were totally dismasted, and on board of each other. Unfortunately the Quebec, by firing through her sails which were lying over the side, took fire, and the ship was soon in flames, which, in spite of every effort, it was found impossible to extinguish. Captain Farmer was severely wounded, and though frequently solicited to leave his ship, he remained fixed in his resolution of sharing the fate of his bold companions. The Quebec continued to burn with unremitting fury till six in the evening, when she blew up with her colors ^ing ; her brave commander, with most of his officers and crew, perished. The Kambler cutter was at the same time engaged at some distance with a French cutter, in company with La Surveillante. The Frenchman at length set all his sails, and bore away, and the Kambler's rigging and sails were so much damaged, that it would have been in vain to pursue. At this moment her commander. Lieutenant George, discovered that the Quebec was on fire, but being to leeward, with little wind, and a great swell, he was unable to render any other assistance than by sending his boat, which brought off two mi dshipmen and fourteen seamen ; and thirteen more of the c rew were providentially rescued from destructioa by a Russian vessel that chanced to pass the wreck.

vice in the Sea-horse, he visited almost every part of the Indian seas between Bengal and Bussorah ; but his continued ill-health at length induced Sir Edward Hughes, who always treated him with the utmost kindness, to send him to England in the Dolphin. That ship w^as paid off at Woolwich, in September, 1776? and on tlie 26th of the same month Sir James Douglas, then commanding at Portsmouth, gave him an order to act as lieutenant of the Worcester, of 64 guns, Captain Mark Robinson,* who was under sailing

* Captain Kobinson was a gentleman of the most distinguished merit in his profession. He was born in 1722, and at the age of fourteen entered into the naval service of his countr3^. He was actively engaged in most of the combats under the command of Sir Peter Warren and Lord Hawke. As commander of the Falcon, his conduct and bravery were highly conspicuous at the reduction of Guadaloupe^ where his ship sunk under him. He was afterwards appointed to the command of the Towey, on the coast of America, where he had the satisfaction of saving Charlestown from the effect of an alarming conflagration, a service for which the "merchants of South Carolina expressed their gratitude by a public vote of thanks, dated January 14th, 1771, and a valuable piece of plate. He was then promoted to the Worcester, and in Admiral Keppel's action, in 1178, he led the rear-division of the fleet. Being transferred to the Shrewsbury, he led the British fleet five times into action jn that ship. In the last of these engagements, off the Chesapeake on the 5th September, 1781, under Admiral Graves *he Shrewsbury suffered more severely than any other ship

50 PROFESSIONAL LIFE OP

orders for Gibraltar, with a convoy. In the same kind of service he was engaged till April the following year, and during the greatest part of that interval in uncommonly boisterous weather. A strict attention to his professional duties, added to seven years practice, had rendered Mr. Nelson such a complete seaman, that though he had not attained his nineteenth year, yet Captain Robinson placed the greatest confidence in his skill and prudence, and was frequently heard to say, that he felt as easy at night when it was Nelson's watch, as when the oldest officer on board had charge of the ship. Thus we have in this illustrious character a striking example, that to learn to command it is first necessary to obej^, and that in order to obtain distinction in any profession, something more than a superficial knowledge is absolutely requisite.

Having passed his examination for the rank of lieutenant, on the 8th of April, 1777, Mr. Nelson, the following day, received a commission as second of the Lowestofle, of 32 guns, Captain William Locker,'^ with whom he proceeded to

in the fleet. On this occasion Captain Robinson himself, received a severe wound in the hip, and lost a leg. Alter this misfortune he was put on the list of superannuated rear-admirals, and died at his house in Bath, the 23d of Js^ovember, 1799.

* In 1792, on the prospect of a war with Spain, Captain 6

Jamaica. A circumstance soon afterwards occurred in wJiich he gave a striking indication of that intrepid spirit which no danger could ever subdue or appal. In a strong gale of wind and a heavy sea, the Lowestoffe came up with an American letter of marque, which struck to the British frigate. Captain Locker ordered the first lieutenant to board her; but this, owing to the tremendous sea, he was unable to accomplish. *' Have I then no officer who can board the prize ?" exclaimed Captain Locker on his return. The master immediately ran to the gangway, with the intention of jumping into the boat, when he was suddenly stopped by Lieutenant Nelson, with these words : " It is my turn now ; if I come back, it will be yours." It is unnecessary to add, that his attempt was crowned with success.

Finding that his station in the Lowestoffe was not sufficiently active for his restless mind, he solicited an appointment to the command of a schooner, tender to the frigate. In this small vessel he eagerly embraced every opportunity of rendering himself a complete pilot for all the in-

Locker was raised to the rank of commodore, and hoisted hiS broad pendant on board the Sandwich, of 90 guns, as commander in chief at the Nore. On the 16th of Februar^^, 1793, he was appointed lieutenant-governor of Greenwich Hospital, where he died on the 26th of December, 1800,

5# PROFESSIONAL LIFE O?

tricate passages among the islands called Keys, situate to the northward of St. Domingo.

In 1772, soon after the arrival of Sir Peter Parker on the Jamaica station, he appointed Lieutenant Nelson third of the Bristol, his flag-ship. He soon became by rotation the first, and it was in this vessel that he concluded his services as a lieutenant. On the 8th of December the same year he was appointed commander of the Badger brig, and received orders to protect the Mosquito shore and the Bay of Honduras against the depredations of American privateers. Of this duty he acquitted himself so much to the satisfaction of the settlers, that they unanimously voted him their thanks, and expressed deep regret on his quitting that station. While he commanded the Badger, he was lying at Montego Bay, Jamaica, where he was joined by his majesty *s ship Glasgow, which soon after her arrival accidentally took fire ; and it was owing principally to the unceasing exertions and presence of mind of Captain Nelson, that the vessel and her whole crew were rescued from imminent destruction.

Captain Nelson was made post on the 1 1th of June, 1779. He had been nine years in the service, and had made himself not only an able officer but likewise a most skilful pilot, which from the first had been the object of his constant ambition. Endowed by nature with unconimon quickness of perception, and a ready fund of resource,' he was far from suffering talents of such value to be bestowed in vain.

The first ship to which Captain Nelson was appointed, after his promotion, was the Hincbinr brooke. It was soon after this event that the arrival of Count D'Estaing at St. Domingo, with a numerous fleet and army, led to the expectation of an immediate attack on Jamaica. At this critical conjuncture, the command of the batteries at Port Royal, which, being the key to the naval force of Kingston, and to the seat of government at Spanish Town, was considered the most important post in Jamaica, was entrusted to Captain Nelson.

In January, 1780, an expedition having been planned for the reduction of Fort Juan, on the river St. John, in the gulph of Mexico, the command of the naval department was given to Captain Nelson, while Major Poison superintended the military. In this arduous service he displayed his usual zeal and energy ; quitting his ship, he directed the transporting of the troops one hundred miles up a river, which none but Spaniards had ever navigated since the time of the buccaneers. Major Poison bore ample testimony of the exertions and intrepidity of his gallant colleague, who, after storming one of the

D enemy's out-posts, situated on an island in the river, constructed batteries, and fought the Spaniards with their own guns. To his conduct and excellent dispositions the subsequent reduction of Fort Juan was principally to be ascribed.

The excessive fatigue necessarily attendant on an expedition of such a nature, and in such a climate, greatly impaired the health of Captain Nelson, who was soon afterwards appointed to the Janus, of 44 guns, on the Jamaica station, and took his passage in the Victor sloop to join his ship. Notwithstanding the medical assistance he received, and the kind attention of Sir Peter Parker, his health continued rapidly declining, so that he was under the necessity of returning to England in the Lion, commanded by the Honorable William Cornwallis ; and it was not till after a residence of eleven weeks at Bath, that he recovered the use of his limbs.

Of a disposition too active to remain long unemployed, no sooner was Captain Nelson's health in some measure re-established, than he accepted the command of the Albemarle, in August, I7B1, and his delicate constitution had to undergo another severe trial, from his being stationed, during the whole of the ensuing winter, in the North Seas. In April, the year following, he sailed with a convoy, under the command of Captkin Pringle, for Newfoundland and Quebec. During a cruize off Boston, he was chased by three ships of the line and the Iris frigate. As they were all better sailers than the Albemarle, and were gaining upon him very fast, he had no other chance of escape, than, trusting to Providence and his own experience in pilotage, to run his ship among the shoals of St. George's Bank. The line of battle ships, alarmed for their own safety, quitted the pursuit, but the frigate still persevered in the chase, and had approached within little more than gun-shot, when Captain Nelson ordered the main-top-sail of bis little frigate to be laid to the mast, that he might be prepared for battle, on which the enemy, declining the engagement, immediately tacked, and stood to rejoin her consorts.

In October, 17S2, Captain Nelson sailed from- Quebec with a convoy for New York, where he joined the fleet under the command of Sir Samuel (now Lord) Hood. With that officer he proceeded to the West Indies, where he continued actively employed until the conclusion of the peace. Captain Nelson was soon afterwards ordered to England, and on his way attended his Royal Highness, Prince William Henry, on his visit to the Havannah. On his arrival at Portsmouth, the Albemarle was paid off, and in the autumn of 1783, Captain Nelson visited France D 2

30 PROFESSIOIN AL LIFE OF

for the benefit of his health. In that country he remained till the spring of the following year, when he was appointed to the command of the Boreas, of 28 guns, and ordered to the West- Indies.

On the Leeward-Island station a new scene was now opened to the officers of the British navy. The Americans, who, as colonists, enjoyed almost the whole of the trade from America to the West-India islands, forgot, on the conclusion of peace, that they were then to be considered as having no more privileges in this commerce than foreigners. Their claims were, however, favored by all the West Indians to whose interest they tended, and particularly by the governors and custom-house officers, who asserted, that, by the Navigation Act, the Americans had a right to trade. Captain Nelson, with that penetration and solidity of judgment, which he manifested on every occasion, considered the subject in a very different point of view, and determined that nothing should dismay him while enforcing the maritime^laws of his country. He, accordingly, intimated with firmness to the governors and officers of the customs, as well as to the Americans, what he imagined to be his duty, and a few days afterwards seized several America.t^ vessels, found in the act of carrying on a trade which ke looked upon as ilhcit. This proceeding drew

I

Mpon him the hatred of all parties, who persecuted him with such inveteracy, that he could not venture with safety to leave his ship. Consciousness of the rectitude of his conduct supported his great mind under these trying circumstances, and he had likewise the satisfaction to find, that, on an investigation of his proceedings, they were approved by government.

Towards the close of 17S6, Captain Nelson was joined on his station by Prince William Henry, in the Pegasus frigate. His conduct, as commanding-officer, gained him the esteem of his royal highness, and their friendship increased with advancing years. In March, 1787, Captain Nelson married Mrs. Frances Herbert Nesbit, widow of Dr. Nesbit, of the island of Nevis, daughter of Wilh am Herbert, Esq. senior judge, and niece to Mr. Herbert, president of that island. Prince William Henry gave away the bride. In the mouth of June following. Captain Nelson sailed for England, and on the 30th of November the Boreas frigate was paid off at Sheerness.

Our hero now retired to enjoy the comforts of domestic happiness, at the parsonage-house of Burnham, which his father gave up to him as a place of residence ; and here he passed the interval of peace in rural occupations and in solitude. From the age of twelve years he had been incessantly engaged in a continued succesion of events arising out of his professional duties, in a complication of perils and emergencies. He now, for the first time, had leisure to strengthen by reflection the experience he had obtained, to combine the various ideas which a quick yet souri^ observation had collected, and to improve and i'jicrease that knowledge of himself and of mankind, which is so essential to those who are called upon by their country to command with firmness, and tcr obey without a murmur.