Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/228

220 NELSON ground near where he stood. His name was not mentioned in the "Gazette," however, and he keenly felt the neglect. Afterward serving under Admiral Hotham, who had suc- ceeded Lord Hood, he distinguished himself in the engagement with the French fleet, which had come out from Toulon to give battle to the English, and hoarded the Qa Ira and the Censeur, the only two ships taken. About this time he was made colonel of marines, and, hoisting a commodore's pennant, pro- ceeded to the coast of Italy, blockaded Leg- horn, and superintended the evacuation of Cor- sica. In sailing with a convoy to Gibraltar, he saw the Spanish fleet at the mouth of the straits, and on Feb. 13, 1797, brought the intel- ligence to Admiral Sir John Jervis, then com- manding the Mediterranean squadron. By him he was appointed to the Theseus, 74, and par- ticipated in the battle of Cape St. Vincent on the morning of the 14th. In this battle Nel- son disobeyed the admiral's orders to tack in succession, and, seconded by Trowbridge in the Culloden and Oollingwood in the Excel- lent, bore down upon seven of the enemy's fleet, attacked the Santissima Trinidada, 136, passed on to the San Nicolas, 84, which he car- ried by boarding, and led his men on to the San Josef, 112, lying alongside, and compelled it to surrender. For his conduct Nelson, who had been created rear admiral before the ac- tion was known in England, was knighted and made a companion of the order of the bath. In April he was sent to bring away the troops from Porto Ferrajo, and shortly after commanded the inner squadron in the block- ade of Cadiz. On July 14 he was sent to attack Santa Cruz, Teneriffe, and carried the place, but, not being able to capture the cita- del, was forced to retire. In the attack his right arm was shattered by a grape shot, ma- king amputation necessary, and he returned to England, where honors were showered upon him. Congratulatory letters were addressed to him by the first lord of the admiralty and the duke of Clarence ; the freedom of the cit- ies of London and Bristol was conferred upon him ; he was made a knight of the bath, and received a pension of 1,000. In April, 1798, hoisting his flag in the Vanguard, 74, he re- joined Earl St. Vincent at Gibraltar, and on May 9 sailed from that place with a small squadron to ascertain the design of the vast armament fitting out at Toulon. On the 22d he encountered in the gulf of Lyons a sudden storm by which his ship was dismasted, and in the fog that followed he missed the French fleet, which had sailed for Egypt with Bona- parte and his army on board. Having received a reinforcement of ten ships of the line and one of 50 guns, he sailed for Alexandria, but failed to find the enemy. After obtaining sup- plies at Syracuse, he sailed again for Egypt, and on the morning of Aug. 1 descried the tri- color floating from the walls of Alexandria and the bay of Aboukir covered with ships. The fleets joined battle at 6 P. M., and, with an interruption of ten minutes, when the French flag ship L'Orient blew up, maintained it till daybreak. (See ABOUKIE.) Nelson declared victory a too feeble word for the result of this battle, and called it a conquest. Had he been provided with small craft, he could have de- stroyed in a few hours the store ships and transports in the harbor of Alexandria; and so deeply did he feel the want of these, that in a despatch to the admiralty he declared: " Were I to die this moment, want of frigates would be engraven on my heart." During the engagement Nelson received a severe though not dangerous wound on the head from a lang- ridge shot. The news of the battle of the Nile was received with boundless enthusiasm by the enemies of France, and congratulations and rewards without number were showered upon the victorious commander. He was created Baron Nelson of the Nile, with a pension of 2,000 to himself and his two immediate suc- cessors; received magnificent presents from the sultan, the king of Sardinia, the king of Naples, the emperor of Russia, and the East India company ; and the thanks of parliament and gold medals were voted to him and the captains engaged in the action. Seventeen days after the battle Nelson sailed for Naples, and was received with great demonstrations of joy both by the populace and the court. En- couraged by his victory, the Neapolitan gov- ernment broke openly with the directory, and sent an army under Gen. Mack against the French troops occupying the Papal States. But an incapable commander and cowardly soldiers were no match for the forces of France. The invading army was beaten back, Naples was entered in turn, the royal family compelled to flee, and the short-lived Parthenopean re- public established. The king and queen and their suite were conveyed by Nelson to Pa- lermo. The royalists, however, soon took the field under the lead of Cardinal Ruffo, and ad- vanced upon the city of Naples. The gar- risons of the castel Nuovo and the castel dell' 6vo, consisting of Neapolitan insurgents, ca- pitulated to the cardinal, June 23, 1799, on condition that they should be allowed to march out with all the honors of war, and that the persons in the forts and all prisoners taken by the king's troops should be unmolested or con- veyed to Toulon and there set at liberty. The part taken by Nelson in annulling this capitu- lation has been condemned as an ineffaceable blot upon his fame by Southey and nearly all his other biographers ; but the publication by Sir Harris Nicolas of the " Nelson Despatches " places his conduct in a much more favorable light. On the 24th Nelson arrived in the bay, and immediately ordered the flag of truce to be pulled down, on the ground that the action of the cardinal in granting a capitulation was not only unauthorized but in direct opposition to the commands of the king, whose orders were explicit not to treat with the rebels. On