Nelson, Horatio Nelson, Viscount, Duke of Bronte in Sicily

b. 1758; d. 1805

British vice-admiral, fifth son of Rev. Edmund Nelson, Rector of Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk, and of Catherine, daughter of Dr Suckling, Prebendary of Westminster. Nelson went to sea on 1 January 1771 as midshipman on board the Raisonnable commanded by his uncle, Captain Maurice Suckling. During his early years he saw service in the West Indies, the Arctic, and the East Indies, being invalided home from the last named station in 1776. Soon after his return to England he was appointed to the Worcester and on 9 April 1777 passed the examination for lieutenant. Through the influence of Captain Suckling, now comptroller of the navy, Nelson was appointed to the frigate Lowestoft, under Captain William Locker, in which he returned to the West Indies. Coming under the notice of the commander-in-chief, Admiral Sir Peter Parker, he was transferred to the flagship Bristol of which he soon became first lieutenant. On 8 December 1778 he was given command of the brig Badger, and the following June reached post rank at the age of 20 as captain of the Hinchinbroke, a renamed French prize.

Nelson had his first experience of active service ashore in 1780 when he led an expedition against St Juans, Lake Nicaragua. The climate undermined his health and he was invalided back to England in the Lion, under Captain Hon. William Cornwallis, to whose care and attention he owed his life. After nearly a year's convalescence, in August 1781 he was given command of the frigate Albemarle in which, after a period of duty in the North Sea and the Atlantic, he returned to the West Indies. An uneventful commission concluded with an unsuccessful attempt to recapture Turks Island, Bahamas, from the French. The Albemarle paid off in July 1783 and after a brief spell on half pay Nelson took command of the frigate Boreas and returned to the West Indies where his attempts to suppress illicit trading earned him much unpopularity. In March 1787 he married Frances Nesbit, a widow and niece of the president of the island of Nevis, the Duke of Clarence, later William IV, being best man. Returning to England in 1788 Nelson spent the next five years on half pay mainly in Norfolk.

When in January 1793 war with France again threatened, he was given command of the Agamemnon in which he sailed for the Mediterranean with a fleet under Admiral Lord Hood. Operations were confined to convoy protection, interception of privateers, and minor brushes with enemy frigates. On 12 July 1794, during an attempt to reduce the French garrison at Calvi, Nelson lost the sight of his right eye.

Nelson had been a post captain for almost 17 years before he took part in a fleet action. His ship formed part of a fleet of 15 sail of the line under Admiral Hotham when a superior French fleet was encountered off Genoa on 13 March 1795. The action though indecisive gave Nelson an opportunity to show the qualities for which he later became famous. In June 1796 he moved from the Agamemnon to the Captain and in August he hoisted his broad pennant as acting commodore. After detached service in the frigate Minerve, he rejoined his ship then with the main fleet under Admiral Jervis off Cape St Vincent. In the subsequent action off this promontory between the British and Spanish fleets on 14 February 1797, in which Jervis gained a victory from which he was to take his title, Nelson by his initiative and independent action made a major contribution to the success of the battle.

In April 1797 he was promoted to rear-admiral of the Blue at the age of 39; three months later he lost his right arm in an unsuccessful expedition to capture a Spanish treasure ship at Tenerife. As soon as he had recovered from his wound, Nelson was ordered to hoist his flag in the Vanguard, in which he rejoined Jervis's fleet off the Spanish coast. He was promptly despatched with orders to 'take, sink, burn or destroy' the ships of a French expedition assembling at Toulon and Genoa for an unknown destination. On 7 June 1798 his force of three ships was joined by ten more to form the finest squadron of '74s' (ships with 74 guns) ever assembled. But the French force eluded him and it was not until 1 August that Nelson located the enemy at anchor in Abukir Bay, by which time the troops had landed in Egypt. In a brilliant night action Nelson captured or burnt 15 out of the 19 French ships, the French commander-in-chief, Brueys, being lost when his flagship L'Orient blew up. For his services Nelson was created a baron, and the following year the King of Naples made him duke of Bronte. Meanwhile Nelson had made the acquaintance of the British ambassador at the court of Naples and his wife, Emma, with whom he later fell in love and who bore him a daughter, Horatia.

In November 1800 ill health obliged Nelson to return to England. On 1 January 1801 he was promoted to vice-admiral and appointed second-in-command to Admiral Sir Hyde Parker whose fleet was under orders to sail for the Baltic. Nelson flew his flag in the St George, later transferring to the lighter draught Elephant from which on 2 April he conducted the battle of Copenhagen, when the 12 ships under his command destroyed a superior Danish fleet lying at anchor under the guns of the city. During the height of the battle Parker hoisted a signal to Nelson to break off action, and the famous incident tool place in which Nelson, putting his telescope to his blind eye, professed not to see it. For his part in this action Nelson was created a viscount, and after the recall of Parker became commander-in-chief of the Baltic fleet for a short while. He returned to England on 1 July, and three weeks later was appointed to the command of the anti-invasion flotillas assembled to repulse Napoleon's threatened attack. On 10 April 1802 he struck his flag and went on half pay, remaining so until hostilities with France were renewed the following year.

On 18 May 1803 he was directed to hoist his flag in the Victory at Portsmouth on his appointment as commander-in-chief, Mediterranean. For over a year Nelson's fleet kept distant watch on the French fleet under Admiral Villeneuve lying in Toulon. Then on 30 March 1805 after an earlier but unsuccessful sortie, Villeneuve finally put to sea and, eluding Nelson, made junction with a Spanish fleet of Cadiz and headed for the West Indies. On learning of the enemy's escape Nelson set off in pursuit, but failing to find his quarry in the West Indies, returned to Gibraltar and thence to England, which he reached on 18 August. On 14 September, news of the whereabouts of Villeneuve's fleet having been received, he re-embarked in the Victory and rejoined his fleet, which under Vice-Admiral Collingwood was watching over the combined French and Spanish fleet now in Cadiz. On 18 October Villeneuve decided to put to sea and run for the Straits of Gibraltar, but Nelson was waiting for him. On 21 October the famous Battle of Trafalgar took place in which Nelson with a fleet of 27 ships defeated Villeneuve's fleet of 33 ships, no less than 18 of which were taken. It was just before the start of the action that Nelson made his famous signal to his fleet 'England expects that every man will do his duty'. Nelson was mortally wounded during the battle but lived long enough to know that victory had been achieved. His body was brought back to England and he was accorded a state funeral, being buried in the crypt of St Paul's cathedral on 9 January 1806. He was accorded a posthumous earldom. Nelson's claim to fame lies in his brilliant achievements as a naval commander, but he will always be remembered for his personal courage, diplomatic skill, audacity, tenacity, and for the loyalty and affection which he inspired in those service under him and whose interests were his constant concern.

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