Oliver Warner - Nelsons Battles

PEN & SWORD MILITARY CLASSICS

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NELSONS
BATTLES

Oliver Warner

First published in 1965 by B.T. Batsford Ltd
Published in 2003, in this format, by
PEN & SWORD MILITARY CLASSICS
an imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Limited
47 Church Street
Barnsley
S. Yorkshire
S70 2AS

Oliver Warner, 1965, 2003

ISBN 0 85052 941 7

The publishers have made every effort to trace the author, his estate and
his agent without success and they would be interested to hear from
anyone who is able to provide them with this information.

A CIP record for this book is
available from the British Library

Printed in England by
CPI UK

Naval or military genius invariably consists of a blend of attributes. The foundation must always be experience, which will result in thought. There is the capacity to learn, from mistakes even more than from successes. With time, comes that serene confidence which is unshaken even by disaster. But the most elusive quality is the particular way in which a commander communicates his personality, as well as his confidence, to those he leads. It may be done in many differing ways, even by fear.

Nelson, so one of his contemporaries was fond of saying, was the man to love. He attracted people by trusting them, so that when it came to a crisis, they always seemed at least to do their best, often excelling themselves on his behalf.

Nelsons capacity was tested in every type of warfare at sea, and his record on land, in Nicaragua and Corsica, was far from negligible. At the battle of St Vincent he showed what was perhaps the highest of all forms of courage in a subordinate officera willingness to act on his own initiative, and this in the middle of a formally conducted fleet action directed by a martinet. His triumph at the Nile was the result of impetuous surprise attack on an enemy embayed. Copenhagen, where once again Nelson rightly disobeyed, was a rare instance of success against an opponent with the resources of a dockyard and a city at his back. Trafalgar, like St Vincent, was a purely fleet action, a type of operation for which Nelson had been trained. No amount of sophisticated analysis can rob it of its thrill.

In the narrative which follows, every aspect of Nelsons genius is examined. So many sided was his personality that it is scarcely surprising that the details of his career have continued to enthral posterity. He lived a dedicated life, and to his country this was nothing but an advantage.

O. W.

Figure 2 is reproduced by gracious permission of Her Majesty The Queen.

The Author and Publishers wish to thank the following for permission to reproduce illustrations: the Board of Admiralty for fig. 43; Bibliothque Nationale, Paris, for fig. 3; the Trustees of the British Museum for figs. 25, 45 and 56; Miss Grethe Buhl for fig. 33; Commander the Hon. John Fremantle for figs. 1 and 36; M. Guilleman for fig. 37; Lloyds for fig. 47; Muse de la Marine, Paris, for figs. 4, 5, 51 and 52; Muse de Versailles for fig. 6; the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, for figs. 714, 1721, 2832, 34, 35, 39, 44, 46, 55 and 58; the Parker Gallery for figs. 26, 27, 49, 50, 53 and 54; Radio Times Hulton Picture Library for figs. 16 and 38; the Royal United Service Institution for fig. 40; J. Russell and Sons for fig. 48; Service Historique de la Marine, Paris, for figs. 41 and 42; Edwin Smith for fig. 57; and the Victory Museum, Portsmouth for figs. 22 and 23 from the Maurice Suckling Ward Collection.

Nelson

King George III as a young man

Napoleon

Ganteaume

Captain Dupetit-Thouars

M. Poussielgue

Ships company in 1799

Nelsons ships in the Bay of Naples

Capture of the Guillaume Tell by the Foudroyant, Lion and Penelope

The Pharos at Alexandria under the French flag

Admiral Brueys

Sir James Saumarez

Captain Alexander Ball

Captain Thomas Troubridge