Nelson – Norfolk and England’s Hero

Lord Horatio Nelson, Vice-Admiral of the Fleet is one of our countries enduring heroes and he had many associations with Great Yarmouth during his short life, and today the town still marks his time in history with the Nelson Monument, to be found at the South Denes end of the Seafront and the new Norfolk Nelson Museum on the South Quay.

The Monument was started in 1817 and pre-dates the London monument that was begun in 1840. (For more information please see the Monument’s own entry)

Nelson – The Early Years
Horatio Nelson was born on 29th September in 1758 close to Great Yarmouth at Burnham Thorpe. He was the sixth child and the fifth son of the Reverend Edmund Nelson, rector of Burnham Thorpe.

As a Norfolk lad the sea was always close by and at the age of eleven he persuaded his father to allow him to serve at sea under his uncle Captain Maurice Suckling - who arranged a long sea voyage to the West Indies on a merchant vessel so that Horatio might gain some valuable seamanship skills.

Nelson’s first ship was under his uncle’s command and was the HMS Raisonable, a former French ship captured and put to use by the English. When his uncle changed command Nelson moved with him to the HMS Triumph.

Over the next few years Nelson had command of a number of ships; he was sent to the East Indies on the Seahorse where he caught a tropical fever and was invalided back home, but soon recovered and set sail again for the West Indies.

In 1777 the young midshipman was promoted to lieutenant and in 1779 he was again promoted this time to post-captain and transferred to the flagship of the then Commander-in-Chief.

In 1781 he was on the HMS Albemarle on convoy duty off the Norfolk coast, and he also took part in an attack in Central America on Spanish positions, and again he took ill and was returned to England.

When Nelson recovered he took part in a number of engagements and even served for a short time in North America, before returning to the West Indies where he was to marry the young widow Frances Nesbit on the island of Nevis in 1787.

Semi-Retirement in Burnham Thorpe
Whilst serving in the West Indies Nelson was embroiled in the world of politics. The former American Colonies had declared and won independence from Britain and Nelson was ordered to prevent trade between the West Indies and America and suffered the consequences for his actions.

He was therefore sent home on half-pay and was unable to secure another posting on a new ship. Nelson stayed here for five long years whilst pestering the Admiralty for a new commission.

The Return – The Napoleonic Threat – and Emma Hamilton
In 1793 Nelson was called back to service for his country as war and upheaval erupted across the continent when Napoleon Bonaparte began his mischief.
Nelson was given the command of the 64-gun Agamemnon, a powerful warship and the largest ship Nelson had commanded at this time, and was sent to Naples to ask, the then independent state, for their help against the French.

The then British Ambassador was Sir William Hamilton and Nelson met and began friendship with the ambassador and his wife Emma.

Corsica and the Famous Right Eye
Whilst in the Mediterranean Nelson was ordered to attack and capture the French-held island of Corsica to establish an English stronghold in the area.

Nelson was leading an attack, when a French cannonball landed nearby causing fragments to hit him in the right eye robbing him of his sight. This would have devastated a normal man, but Nelson vowed to stay in the service and not to let it affect his career or life.

Indeed it was only the next year that Nelson was involved in an engagement off the port of Toulon when he attacked and captured the warship Ca Ira, this action caught the eye of the new Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean fleet Admiral Sir John Jervis.

He too was a man of action and promoted Nelson to the rank of commodore and gave him a new vessel the seventy-four gun, HMS Captain to command.

Napoleons New Allies and Fame

At this time Spain had decided to ally them-selves with Napoleon and threw the weight of their mighty fleet against England and it was here that Nelson made a typically audacious attack against this new enemy!

Admiral Jervis’ fleet of fifteen ships had came across the Spanish fleet comprising of twenty-seven ships heading towards the French port of Brest ready to join the French fleet anchored there.

Jervis knew that he was outnumbered and decided to split the Spanish fleet by sailing into the gap between the Spanish ships and attacking the leading squadron.

Nelson who was at the rear of the English line saw that this manoeuvre would not succeed as the Spanish would be able to regroup in time and taking Captain out of the English battle formation sailed straight across the bows of approaching Spanish ships.

The Spanish gunners saw the Captain and opened fire on it inflicting severe damage but not before Nelson rammed into the Spanish ship San Nicolas, and led a boarding party onto it and succeeded in capturing it after a fierce fight.

While this was happening another Spanish vessel, the San Josef, saw what was happening and opened fire on the captured San Nicolas, but in the smoke and confusion of battler the San Josef came too close and Nelson swarmed over this new ship with his boarding party!

The ferocity of Nelson’s men was so great that the Spanish captain quickly surrendered his vessel too!

This “Nelsonian” exploit found favour not only with the British public who proclaimed Nelson a national hero but also with the Admiralty who promoted Nelson to Rear Admiral and with the King who gave him a knighthood.

Tenerife and the Loss of Nelson’s Right Arm
In 1797 Nelson was involved in an attack on a Spanish treasure ship that was moored in the harbour of Santa Cruz on the island of Tenerife, and against orders Nelson decided to land onshore with his men.

Whilst leading his men a Spanish round exploded nearby and the grapeshot hit Nelson and caused massive injuries to his right arm that resulted in amputation.

Nelson was returned home to be nursed by Fanny his wife and even though he regained his health he thought that his career was now finally over.

But in March 1798 he was recalled back to active service and again reassigned back to the Mediterranean to counter Napoleon’s naval activities.

The Battle of the Nile
Napoleon had built a large armada in the Med with which he was going to attack Egypt and create a stronghold against the British.

In the summer of 1798 this great fleet was reported to have put to sea and was the subject of a frantic hunt by Nelson and the rest of the British navy, for many weeks it remained elusive.

However on August 1st Nelson found the French fleet anchored close to the shore in the Bay of Aboukir near Alexandria in Egypt. Nelson ordered his fleet to attack and sent the HMS Goliath under the command of Captain Foley and some other ships to sail in between the shore and the line of French ships whilst he commanded the rest of the fleet to attack from the seaward side.

This enabled the English fleet to set up a withering cross-fire that began to devastate the French ships one by one until at last only four French ships managed to escape, leaving Napoleons army stranded in Egypt unable to escape the British armies.

As a result of this engagement Nelson was made a lord and received even more public acclaim as a national hero.

The Battle of Copenhagen
In an attempt to prevent Napoleon trading with other countries a blockade of the French ports was established which had unfortunate consequences for Britain.

Denmark, Prussia, Russia and Sweden formed an alliance against Britain to keep trade routes open, and this meant that we were know effectively at war with France, Holland and Spain as well.

After peace negotiations had failed, in 1801, Nelson was sent to attack the Danish fleet anchored off Copenhagen with twelve ships, three of which ran aground at the start of the battle.

The remaining ships were engaged in a terrific and prolonged gun battle, which was so ferocious that the British commander, Admiral Parker, feared so much for the safety of Nelson and his ships, that he sent a flag message to Nelson to withdraw to safety.

Nelson however decided to disobey his commander and famously placed his telescope to his damaged eye and say, “I really do not see the signal!” and continued on with the fight until the Danes decided that enough was enough and sent a flag of truce.

Nelson gallantly sent back a message saying that the brave Danes were brothers and were not the enemies of Britain.

The Final Years and the Battle of Trafalgar
After this peace was made with the alliance but not with France and in 1803 conflict erupted again and Nelson now appointed Commander in Chief of the fleet headed towards the Mediterranean in his new warship the HMS Victory.

The Victory was one of the major warships in the English fleet with over one hundred guns mounted in its three decks, and had a crew of over 850 men. Villeneuve

The French fleet was anchored at the port of Toulon under the command of Admiral Villeneuve, and Nelson spent over two fruitless years waiting to catch the French at sea.

Finally they made a break out to sea to meet with their Spanish allies and form a great armada with which they would attack the English fleet as a prelude to the invasion of England.

Villeneuve was however the only one to make a break out to the high seas and run to Spain where they took shelter in the port of Cadiz, and again were blockaded by the English.

Nelson finally returned home to England whist preparations were made for the battle with the French.

Nelson only spent three weeks on leave when he was recalled to sea again on the Victory and waited for the French to make for sea, which they were in great hurry to do, but on Napoleons orders Villeuneuve finally left the safety of Cadiz.

On October the 21st 1805 the French and Spanish fleet comprising of thirty-five ships hove into view off Cape Trafalgar.

The Last Great Battle
Nelson had made a great battle plan for his fleet which consisted of twenty-even ships, they were drawn up in two great columns which were to bear down on and sail through the enemy lines firing broadsides from both sides of each English vessel causing s much damage as they could.

At the start of the engagement Nelson had his famous signal hoisted that declared, “England expects every man will do his duty” and with that battle was joined.

As the English ships approached they came under heavy fire and many ships, including the Victory were hit by cannon balls causing severe damage.

The Victory headed between two French ships the Bucentaure and the Redoubtable with all of its guns blazing and inflicted havoc on both ships blasting them from stem to stern.

As the Victory passed by the Bucentaure they crashed into each other and as masts and rigging rained down they became locked together and each ship rained point-blank cannon and musket shots into each other.

It was then that Nelson who was on the deck of the Victory exhorting his men to give their all was struck by a musket-ball fired by a French marksman high in the rigging of the Redoubtable.

Mortal Wounds and an Immortal Legend
The musket ball fired from up high struck Nelson on his left-hand shoulder and sped downwards through his body inflicting fatal injuries.

Nelson fell to the deck and was surrounded by his officers and men who carried him below decks to the cockpit in the lower decks of the ship were the ships surgeons treated wounded men.

The musket-ball had caused immense damage and there was nothing that the surgeons could do for him, but he lingered on whilst outside the battle raged with terrible ferocity that can scarcely be imagined.

The English ships pounded the Bucentaure and the Redoubtable into pieces and after three long hours the French finally surrendered at three o’clock in the afternoon of the battle.

Captain Hardy managed to tell his commander that the French had been routed without a single loss from the English fleet, with this wonderful news ringing in his ears that Nelson declared “Thank God – I have done my duty” and then passed away surrounded by his loyal officers and friends.

A Final Victory and a Hero’s Return
It was with a bitter joy that the people of England heard of this triumph but only achieved at the loss of their great hero.

Nelson was brought home to England, and although he had requested that he be buried at his birthplace of Burnham Thorpe it was decided that this great national legend was to be granted the honour of a state funeral at St Paul’s Cathedral.

Great preparations were made and a special funeral car was built, carved to represent the HMS Victory and draped with black velvet.

(One of these hangings can be found at ht e maritime Museum for East Anglia and it has the word “Trafalgar” emblazoned across it in gold letters)

At the great funeral hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets and six admirals carried Nelson’s coffin into the cathedral.

Thus ended the spectacular life of a Norfolk man, a life that has endured the passing centuries and has entered the name Admiral Horatio Nelson into the pantheon of British heroes.

Coming Soon
ENTERPRISED
"Write for
YOUR Business!"