#horatio nelson
1 August 1798
The Battle of the Nile began on this day in history, 1 August 1798. The battle, also known as the Battle of Aboukir Bay, saw the British Royal Navy under Horatio Nelson prevail over the Navy of the French Republic in a battle that concluded on 3 August. The battle was the climax of a naval campaign that had ranged across the Mediterranean during the previous three months, as a large French convoy sailed from Toulon to Alexandria carrying an expeditionary force under then General Napoleon Bonaparte. The British victory at the Battle of the Nile effectively put an end to Napoleon’s invasion of the Middle East and made Nelson a war hero in the British Empire.
24 July 1797
Upon hearing reports that Spanish treasure conveys frequently stopped at the port city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands, in July 1797, Admiral John Jervis dispatched a small squadron under recently promoted Rear Admiral Horatio Nelson with the aim of seizing Santa Cruz by means of an amphibious attack. When the expedition arrived in the vicinity of Santa Cruz on 17 July, it numbered 400 guns and nearly 4,000 men.
After the initial landing plans failed on 23 July, Nelson Nelson called his captains on board Theseus and explained how he himself would lead the next move ahead of a boat group followed by five more boats. On the night of 24 July 1797, Nelson led what they hoped would be a surprise amphibious landing. However, the Spanish lookout sounded the alarm when the British troops drew close to land, and the disembarking soldiers were met by a heavy barrage of cannon fire. British forces led by Captain Bowen rushed the battery covering the harbour, captured it and spiked its guns. They began to pursue the fleeing Spanish into the town, but were swept by a hail of grapeshot. Bowen, his first lieutenant and several of his men were killed, while Nelson, who was just landing from his boat, was hit in the right arm.
Nelson was bleeding copiously and his stepson, Lieutenant Nisbet, cut a piece of his own neck handkerchief and tied it tightly around Nelson’s arm to stop the bleeding. The admiral refused to use the frigate Seahorse that was stationed close by, to be taken back to his flagship, as it would imply that Captain Fremantle would have to hoist a flag of distress and thereby demoralise the crews. Instead, the sailors of his boat rowed hard back to the Theseus. The surgeon had been warned of the contingency and got his instruments ready. Nelson was cited as saying, as he pointed to his right arm “Doctor, I want to get rid of this useless piece of flesh here”. Nelson’s operation was quick and aseptic. The limb was thrown over board, despite the admiral’s wish to keep it.
In the end, having sustained heavy losses, Nelson was forced to withdraw from Tenerife and sail back to England with a demoralised force.
people will say they know their gay history but won’t even mention the battle of trafalgar…….sad
Reblogging for the original tag
Nelson’s first Day in the Navy (detail ) - Arthur David McCormick (1860-1943) Lerland.
The first command
In 1793 Nelson was given command of the vessel HMS Agamemnon during the war against revolutionary France. Again under the orders of Admiral Hood, he was sent to the Mediterranean where he took part in the siege of Toulon. The positive outcome of this operation contributed to increase the already high popularity that Horatio Nelson enjoyed at home, during a mission to Naples, in September 1793, he met Emma Lyon, wife of the British Ambassador to the court. Bourbon Sir William Hamilton, with whom he subsequently formed an intense sentimental relationship.
HMS Agamemnon, lying off Greenwich (detail) - by George Chambers the younger (1803-1840).
Agamemnon was a Royal Navy 64-gun, Ardent-class, two-deck third-class vessel launched in 1777. After Nelson’s command, the ship was involved in the famous 1797 mutinies of Spithead and Nore.