Page:Royal Naval Biography Marshall v1p1.djvu/232

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

202

ADMIRALS OF THE WHITE.

Lord Northesk was promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral, April 23, 1804, and, with his flag in the Britannia, continued to serve in the arduous blockade of Brest, till August in the following year; when he was detached with a squadron, under the orders of Sir Robert Calder, to reinforce Vice-Admiral Collingwood off Cadiz.

In the glorious and decisive battle of Trafalgar^[1], his Lord-

↑ The French Admiral Villeneuve, with twenty-seven sail of the line, arrived at Cadiz from Ferrol, Aug. 21, 1805; the small force under Vice-Admiral Collingwood at that station being incapable of offering him any molestation. Intelligence of this movement having been immediately transmitted to England, the, command of a fleet able to cope with the united navies of France and Spain was offered to Viscount Nelson, and unhesitatingly accepted. His Lordship accordingly hoisted his flag on board the Victory, and sailed from Portsmouth on the 15th September. Having formed a junction with Vice-Admiral Collingwood, and stationed a line of frigates to convey intelligence of the enemy’s motions, his Lordship cruized off Cape St. Mary, waiting till the combined fleets should venture out. To provoke his adversary to this resolution, Lord Nelson, who daily expected a reinforcement from England, detached several ships of the line, under Rear-Admiral Louis, upon a particular service, in so open a manner that the enemy became almost immediately acquainted with it, and resolved to attack him in the supposed reduced state of his fleet. Besides the numerical advantages which Admiral Villeneuve believed himself possessed of, his resolution is said to have been decided by personal motives; his conduct in the West India excursion [ See Vice-Admiral Sir Pulteney Malcolm. ] had been contemptuously glanced at in the official paper of his government; and Buonaparte had sarcastically and impatiently spoken of him; he was upbraided by the Spaniards, for not having better supported them in the action off Cape Finisterre [ See Vice-Admiral Charles Stirling. ]; and it was understood that another Admiral was on the road from Paris, to supersede him in the command. A victory, therefore, was the only thing that could redeem his character; and he was conscious that a defeat could add but little to his actual state of humiliation. Influenced by these motives, the French commander, on the 19th October, left Cadiz with the combined fleets, amounting to thirty-three sail of the line, of which eighteen were French and fifteen Spanish, and steered towards the Gut of Gibraltar. They were immediately followed by the British fleet consisting of twenty-seven ships of the line, which came up with them on the 21st, off Cape Trafalgar, near the southern point of Andalusia. Lord Nelson had previously laid a plan of attack, which was a master-piece of naval skill, and assured him of success. The enemy on his approach

[page_202-1] The French Admiral Villeneuve, with twenty-seven sail of the line, arrived at Cadiz from Ferrol, Aug. 21, 1805; the small force under Vice-Admiral Collingwood at that station being incapable of offering him any molestation. Intelligence of this movement having been immediately transmitted to England, the, command of a fleet able to cope with the united navies of France and Spain was offered to Viscount Nelson, and unhesitatingly accepted. His Lordship accordingly hoisted his flag on board the Victory, and sailed from Portsmouth on the 15th September. Having formed a junction with Vice-Admiral Collingwood, and stationed a line of frigates to convey intelligence of the enemy’s motions, his Lordship cruized off Cape St. Mary, waiting till the combined fleets should venture out. To provoke his adversary to this resolution, Lord Nelson, who daily expected a reinforcement from England, detached several ships of the line, under Rear-Admiral Louis, upon a particular service, in so open a manner that the enemy became almost immediately acquainted with it, and resolved to attack him in the supposed reduced state of his fleet. Besides the numerical advantages which Admiral Villeneuve believed himself possessed of, his resolution is said to have been decided by personal motives; his conduct in the West India excursion [ See Vice-Admiral Sir Pulteney Malcolm. ] had been contemptuously glanced at in the official paper of his government; and Buonaparte had sarcastically and impatiently spoken of him; he was upbraided by the Spaniards, for not having better supported them in the action off Cape Finisterre [ See Vice-Admiral Charles Stirling. ]; and it was understood that another Admiral was on the road from Paris, to supersede him in the command. A victory, therefore, was the only thing that could redeem his character; and he was conscious that a defeat could add but little to his actual state of humiliation. Influenced by these motives, the French commander, on the 19th October, left Cadiz with the combined fleets, amounting to thirty-three sail of the line, of which eighteen were French and fifteen Spanish, and steered towards the Gut of Gibraltar. They were immediately followed by the British fleet consisting of twenty-seven ships of the line, which came up with them on the 21st, off Cape Trafalgar, near the southern point of Andalusia. Lord Nelson had previously laid a plan of attack, which was a master-piece of naval skill, and assured him of success. The enemy on his approach

[1]