Admiral Lord Nelson - the Man who Stopped Napoleon

by Read Listen Learn

Admiral Lord Nelson

“First gain the victory and then make the best use of it that you can” - Horatio Nelson

In the heart of London, close to the River Thames and the government offices, is Trafalgar Square; and, in the middle of it, there is a statue, fifty-two metres above the square. It is not of one of England’s many kings and queens. It is of Admiral Lord Nelson, Britain’s best-known naval hero. The square itself is named Trafalgar because of his greatest victory, the Battle of Trafalgar, in 1805.

Like so many great and famous people, Nelson was born at just the right time and place in history: in 1758 near the east coast of England, which sent many of its young men to sea. And numbers were growing, as British merchants travelled the world selling the factory products of the new Industrial Revolution.

Very many of them made a fortune and these newly rich men told the British government how important it was to keep sea routes safe from pirates and national enemies, like the French. It was also necessary to protect the merchants living in foreign ports and see that they were safe when they travelled on business. All of this meant a large and strong navy. And that is how the government spent its money.

Nelson, as a boy growing up in the late 1700s, dreamed of joining the Royal Navy. However, those were less democratic times and Nelson needed contacts to become a navy officer and then a little money to survive the badly-paid early years. Luckily, one of Nelson’s uncles was able to help him and, so, Nelson started his naval career on New Year’s Day, 1771. He was thirteen years old and started out on the ship commanded by his uncle and patron, Captain Suckling.

Nelson started at the bottom. He was an ordinary seaman but he had joined the navy just as war was becoming an almost permanent feature of English life. So, Nelson saw plenty of action, became known as a very good tactician and a popular leader of men against the French or Spanish enemy.

After a while, the Caribbean and American wars ended and there were a few years of peace when Nelson had health problems. However, the Napoleonic Wars with the French saw Nelson return to sea and command on active duty, especially around the Mediterranean. It was in one of his battles there that he lost his right arm.

In 1798, Napoleon sent an army to Egypt, trying to control all of the Mediterranean for France. The British sent Nelson. The French were in the Nile Delta near Cairo. Although he did not have as many ships and guns, Nelson attacked immediately – something the French had not expected. The French were in shallow water close to the shore to protect themselves from that side and only have one side to defend. But, one of Nelson’s captains found a small opening that allowed some English ships to attack from land. The French were not prepared for this and their ships were destroyed.

This was a defeat for Napoleon but it also meant that the large French army already in Egypt had no easy way to leave. Nelson’s attack had stopped Napoleon’s Egyptian adventure and destroyed a large French army. Napoleon, never a very kind man, left his soldiers and returned in comfort to France.

The Battle of the Nile is seen by many naval historians as Nelson’s best victory and, perhaps, his most important. It was certainly not his last victory as he went on to fight off the coast of Italy and also near to Denmark.

He had by this time also lost one eye, but this did not seem to stop the ladies being interested in him and, during his time along the Italian coast he became famously involved with Lady Hamilton, with whom he had a long affair. Of course, as they were both married (to others) this was quite a scandal but one the public enjoyed and it seemed to give this sea hero a human and romantic side.

The missing eye could also be useful in battle: the Battle of Copenhagen began quite badly for Nelson who was attacking the Danish capital and port. Seeing things go badly, his commanding officers sent a signal for him to stop the attack and come back. Nelson said, not very seriously, that he didn’t see the signal because of his blind eye. He continued the attack, and won – which is what his commander had secretly wanted him to do.

In 1805, the French were planning an invasion of England which would mean crossing the English Channel, the sea between France and Britain. To do this, while the Royal Navy controlled the Channel, meant certain death for thousands of French soldiers as their ships were sure to sink. There could be no invasion until the water around Britain was controlled by Napoleon’s ships.

Thirty-three French and Spanish ships were sent under the command of Admiral Villeneuve. Nelson sailed out to stop them at all costs. He found the enemy between Spain and England in a sea area called Trafalgar.

The battle was hard with ships crashing into each other and hand-to-hand fighting. In the end, victory went to the English. The Franco-Spanish ships, half-destroyed, stopped their advance and went back to their home port.

With this one, hard victory, Nelson had stopped the danger of invasion for England and made his country master of the seas. There followed more than a century when nobody challenged the Royal Navy anywhere in the world. It was this global naval power that made it possible for the British Empire to grow into the biggest in history.

And the price of this important victory? Nelson died in the terrible fighting, shot by a French sniper. His uniform, with a bullet hole and blood stains, is still in the Royal Maritime Museum at Greenwich. Nelson’s statue in Trafalgar Square has watched over London for nearly two hundred years now and survived the heavy bombing of the Second World War. It seems that Nelson lives on...