---
title: Improvement Era
description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930.
authors:
  - Southey
collections:
  - periodicals
tags:
  - magazine
  - improvement-era
periodical: Improvement Era
volume: 2
number: 9
published: 1899-07
publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations
publisher_place: Salt Lake City
language: en
type: magazine
reference: 'Southey, "Battle of Trafalgar," *Improvement Era* 2, no. 9 (July 1899): 659–671.'
source:
  url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera29unse
  transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers.
  identifier: improvementera29unse
start_page: 659
end_page: 671
rights:
  status: public-domain
  basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1899-07)
  source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera29unse
  publication_year: 1899
  note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1899, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright.
---

# Battle of Trafalgar

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—

                 BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR.
                                  BY SOUTHEY.

      [Our late war with Spain will leave upon record some very remarkable
accounts of great naval battles; but the first years of the century were
also remarkable for great naval battles, and the editors of this magazine
are    persuaded    that   the   interest   which   recent naval events   have
awakened in that       class of warfare, will make intensely interesting the
following description of the great naval battle of Trafalgar, which         is

here    published from Southey's Life of        Nelson.   To our young men
readers, aside     from the vivid description of one of the world's great
naval battles, and the heroism and humanity of Nelson, it will be interesting to observe the kindredness of spirit manifested in these brave
sons of the sea at the      commencement     of the century, and that same
spirit manifested by our own       seamen at the close of the century. Our
readers will be struck also with the        many    points of comparison that
exist between Nelson's battle at Trafalgar and Dewey's battle at Manila.
— Editors.]

       Nelson arrived off Cadiz on the 29th of September, 1805
his birthday. Fearing that if the enemy knew his force they might
be deterred from venturing to sea, he kept out of sight of land,
desired Collingwood to fire no salute and hoist no colors, and wrote to
Gibraltar to request that the force of the fleet might not be inserted
there in the Gazette.       His reception in the Mediterranean fleet was
as gratifying as the farewell of  his countrymen at Portsmouth:

the officers who came on board to welcome  him, forgot his rank as
commander in their joy at seeing him    again.  On the day of his
arrival, Villeneuve (commander of French fleet) received orders to
put to sea the first opportunity.            Villeneuve, however, hesitated

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660                      IMPROVEMENT ERA.

when he heard that Nelson had resumed the command. He called
a council of war, and their determination was that it would not be
expedient to leave Cadiz, unless they had reason to believe themselves stronger by one-third than the British forces.   In the public
measures of the country, secrecy is seldom practicable, and seldom
attempted: here, however, by the precautions of Nelson and the
wise measures of the Admiralty, the enemy were for once kept in
ignorance;  for, as the ships appointed to re-enforce the Mediter-

ranean fleet were dispatched singly, as soon as it was ready, their
collected    number was not stated   in the   newspapers, and their
arrival was not known to the enemy.
      On    the   9th of October, Nelson sent Collingwood what he
called, in his diary, the Nelson-touch.   "I send you," said he, "my
                          man dare venture to guess at the very
plan of attack, as far as a
uncertain position the enemy may be found in: but it is to place
you perfectly at ease respecting my intentions, and to give full
scope to your judgment for carrying them into effect.      We can,
my dear Coll, have no little jealousies.    We have only one great
object in view, that of annihilating our enemies, and     getting a
glorious peace for our country.     No man has more confidence in
another than I have in you;     and no man will render your service
more just than your very old friends, Nelson and Bronte."
     The order of sailing was to be the order of battle; the fleet
in two lines, with an advance squadron of eight of the fastest sailing two-deckers. The second in command having the entire direction of his line, was to break through the enemy, about the
twelfth ship from their rear; he would lead through the centre,
and the advance squadron was to cut off three or four ahead of
the centre.  This plan was to be adapted to the strength of the
enemy, so that they should always be one-fourth superior to those
whom they cut off.    Nelson said, "that his admirals and captains,
knowing this precise object to be that of a close and decisive
action, would supply any deficiency of signals, and act accordingly.
In case signals cannot be seen or clearly understood, no captain
can do wrong if he places his ship alongside that of the enemy."
One of the last orders of this admirable man was, that the name
and family of every officer, seaman and marine, who might be
killed or wounded in the action, should be, as soon as possible, re-

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—

                     BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR.                             661

turned to him, in order to be transmitted to the chairman of the
patriotic fund, that the case might be taken into consideration, for
the benefit of the sufferer or his family.
     On the 21st, at daybreak, the combined fleets were distinctly
seen from the Victory's decks, formed in a close line of battle ahead,
on the starboard tack, about twelve miles to lee-ward, and standing
to the south.    Our fleet consisted of twenty-seven sail of the line
and four large frigates;    theirs of twenty-three and seven large
frigates.    Their superiority  was greater in size and weight of
metal than in numbers.     They  had four thousand troops on board;
and the best riflemen who could be procured, many of them Tyrolese,
were dispersed through the ships.        Little did the Tyrolese, and
little did the Spaniards, at that day imagine what horrors the

wicked tyrant whom they served was preparing for their country.
      Soon after daylight Nelson came upon deck. The 21st of
October was a festival in his family, because on that day his uncle^
Captain Suckling, in the Dreadnaught, with two other line of battleships, had beaten off a French squadron of four sail of the line
and three frigates. Nelson, with that sort of superstition from
which few persons are entirely exempt, had more than once
expressed his persuasion that this was to be the day of his battle
also; and he was well pleased at seeing his prediction about to be
verified.  The wind was now from the west, light breezes, with a
long, heavy swell. Signal was made to bear down upon the enemy
in two lines, and the fleet set all sail.   Collingwood, in the Royal
Sovereign led the lee-line of thirteen ships; the Victory led the
weather-line of fourteen.     Having seen that all was as it should
be. Nelson retired to his cabin and wrote the following prayer:

    May the great God whom I worship, grant to ray country and for
the benefit of Europe in general, a great and glorious victory; and may
no misconduct in anyone tarnish it; and may humanity after victory be
the predominant feature in the British fleet!   For myself individually, I
commit my life to him that made me; and may his blessings alight on
my endeavors to serve my country faithfully! To Him I resign myself,
and the just cause which is entrusted to me to be defended. Amen,
amen, amen!

     Blackwood went on board the Victory about six. He found
him in good spirits, but very calm: not in that exhilaration which

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662                      IMPROVEMENT ERA.

he had felt upon entering the battle at Aboukir and Copenhagen.
He knew that his own life would be particularly aimed at, and
seems to have looked for death with almost as sure an expectation
as for victory. His whole attention was fixed upon the enemy.
They tacked to the northward, and formed their          line on   the larboard-tack; thus bringing the shoals of Trafalgar and St. Pedro
under the lee of the. British, and keeping the port of Cadiz open
for themselves.  This was judiciously done, and Nelson, aware of
all the advantages which it gave      them, made signal to prepare to
anchor.
      Villeneuve was a skillful seaman, worthy of serving a better
master and a better cause.     His plan of defense was as well conceived and as original as the plan of attack.       He formed the fleet
in a double line, every alternate ship being about a      cable's length
to windward of her second ahead and astern.           Nelson, certain of
a triumphant issue to the day, asked Blackwood what he should
consider as a victory.      That   officer   answered, that, considering
the handsome way in which battle was offered by the enemy, their
apparent determination for a fair trial of strength, and the situation
of the land, he thought it would be a glorious result if fourteen
were captured.    Nelson replied, **I shall not be satisfied with less
than twenty."    Soon afterwards he asked him if he did not think
there was a signal wanting. Captain Blackwood made answer that he
thought the whole fleet seemed very clearly to understand what they
were about. These words were'scarcely spoken before that signal
was made, which will be remembered as long as the language or
even the memory of England, shall endure:         —Nelson's   last signal:
      "England expects every man to do his duty!"
     It was received throughout the fleet with a shout of answer-

ing acclamation, made sublime by the spirit which it breathed and
the feeling which it expressed.      "Now," said Lord Nelson, "I can
do no more.   We must trust to the great Disposer of all events, and
the justice of our cause.    I thank    God for this great opportunity
of doing my duty."
     He wore that day, as usual, his admiral's frock coat, bearing
on the left breast four stars, of the diflFerent orders with which he
was invested. Ornaments which rendered him so conspicuous a
mark for the enemy were beheld with ominous apprehension by his

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^                  BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR.                        663

officers. It was known that there were riflemen on board the

French ships, and it could not be doubted but that his life would
be particularly aimed at. They communicated their fears to each
other; and the surgeon, Mr. Beatty, spoke to the chaplain. Dr.
Scott, and to Mr. Scott, the public secretary, desiring that some
person would entreat him to change his dress or cover the stars;
but they knew that such a request would highly displease him. "In
honor I gained them," he said, when such a thing had been hinted
to him formerly, "and in honor I will die with them."
        A long swell was settling into the Bay of Cadiz; our ships
crowding all     sail,   moved
                            majestically before it, with light winds
from the south-west.    The sun shone on the sails of the enemy;
and their well formed line with their numerous three-deckers, made
an appearance which any other assailants would have thought formidable; but the British sailors only admired the beauty and the
splendor of the spectacle; and, in full confidence of winning what
they saw, remarked to each other, 'what a fine sight yonder ships
                                          '

would made at Spithead!"
     The French admiral, from the Bucentaure, beheld the new
                                                  —
manner in which his enemy was advancing Nelson and Collingwood each leading his line; and, pointing them out to his officers,
he is said to have exclaimed, that such conduct could not          fail to

be successful.   Yet Villeneuve had made his own disposition with
the utmost skill, and the fleets under his command waited for the
attack with perfect coolness.
        Nelson's column    was steered about two points more to the
north than CoUingwood's, in order to cut off the enemjr's escape
into Cadiz; the lee-line, therefore, was first engaged.      "See!" cried
Nelson, pointing to the Royal Sovereign as she steered right for
the center of the enemy's line, cut through it astern of the Santa
Anna, three-decker, and engaged her at the muzzle of her guns on
the star-board side; "see how that noble fellow, Collingwood, carries his ship into action."      Collingwood, delighted at being the first
in the heat of the fire, and knowing the feelings of his commander
and old friend, turned to his captain and exclaimed, "Rotherham,
what would Nelson give to be here!"
        The enemy continued to fire a gun at a time at the        Victory,
till   they saw that a shot had passed through her main top gallant-

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664                      IMPROVEMENT ERA.

sail;   then they opened their broadsides, aiming       c-hiefly at her   rig-

ging in the hope of disabling her before she could close with them.
Nelson, as usual, had hoisted several flags, lest one should be shot
away.       The enemy showed no colors until late in the action, when
they began to feel the necessity of having them to strike. For
this reason the Santissima Trinidad, Nelson's old acquaintance, as
he used to call her, was distinguishable only by her four decks,
and to the bow of this opponent he ordered the Victory to be
steered.      Meantime an incessant raking fire was kept up upon the
Victory..     The Admiral's secretary Iwas one of the        first   who fell;
he was killed by a cannon shot while conversing with Hardy. Captain Adair of the marines, with the help of a sailor, endeavored to
remove the body from Nelson's sight, who had a great regard for
Mr.     Scott; but   he anxiously asked: "Is that poor Scott that's
gone?"      and being informed that     it   was indeed     so,    exclaimed,
"Poor fellow!"       Presently a double-headed shot struck a party of
marines, who were drawn up on the poop and killed eight of them,
upon which Nelson immediately desired Captain Adair to disperse
his men round the ship, that they might not suffer so much from
being together.    A few minutes afterwards a shot struck the
fore-brace bits on the quarter deck, and passed between Nelson
and Hardy, a splinter from the bit tearing off Hardy's buckle and
bruising his foot.   Both stopped and looked anxiously at each
other,    each supposing the other to be wounded.                 Nelson then
smiled and said, "This is too warm work. Hardy, to last long."
        The Victory had not yet returned a single gun; fifty of her
men had by this time been killed or wounded, and her main-top
mast, with all her studding sails and their booms, shot away.             Nelson declared, that in all his battles he had seen nothing which surpassed the cool courage of his crew on this occasion.              At four
minutes after twelve she opened her          fire   from both sides of her
deck.      It was impossible to break   the enemy's line without running on board one of her ships.    Hardy informed him of this and
asked him which he would prefer. Nelson replied: "Take your
choice, Hardy, it does not signify much."  The master was ordered
to put the helm to port, and the Victory ran on board the Redoubtable, just as her tiller-ropes were shot away.   The French ship
received her with a broadside; then instantly let down her lower-

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•             BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR.                          665

deck ports for fear of being boarded through them, and never
afterwards fired a great gun during the action.          Her tops,   like

those of all the enemy's ships, were filled with riflemen.        Nelson
never placed musketry in his tops; he had a strong dislike to the
practice, not merely because it endangers setting fire to the sails,
but also because it is a murderous sort of warfare, by which individuals      may suffer, and a commander now and then picked off,
though it never can decide the fate of a general engagement.
        Captain Harvey, in the Temeraire, fell on board the Redoubtable on the other side.    Another enemy was in like manner on board
the Temeraire so that these four ships formed as compact a tier
as if they had been  moored together, their heads lying all the
same way.   The lieutenants of the Victory seeing this, depressed
their guns of the middle and lower decks, and fired with a diminished charge, lest the shot would pass through and injure the
Temeraire.   And because there was danger that the Redoubtable
might take fire from the lower deck guns, the muzzles of which
touched her side when they were run out, the fireman of each gun
stood ready with a bucket of water, which, as soon as the gun was
discharged, he dashed into the hole made by the shot.          An incessant fire was kept up from the      Victory, from both sides; her larboard guns playing upon the Bueentaure and the huge Santissima
Trinidad.
     It had been part of Nelson's prayer that the British fleet

might be distinguished by humanity in the victory which he
expected.    Setting an example himself, he twice gave orders to
cease firing upon the Redoubtable, supposing that she had struck,
because her great guns were         silent; for as   she carried no flag,
there was no means of instantly ascertaining the fact.         From this
ship    which he had       thus twice   spared, he received his death.
A ball fired from her mizzen-top, which, in the then situation of the
two vessels, was not more than fifteen yards from that part of the
deck where he was standing, struck the epaulette on his left
shoulder, about quarter after one, just in the heat of action.        He
fell upon his     face on the spot which was covered with his poor
secretary's blood.     Hardy, who was a few steps from him, turning
round saw three men raising him up.         "They have done for me at
last.   Hardy!" said he.

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666                   IMPROVEMENT ERA.

      "I hope not!" cried Hardy.
      "Yes!" he replied, " my backbone is shot through."
      Yet even now, not for a moment losing his presence of mind,
he observed, as they were carrying him down the ladder, that the
tiller-ropes which had been shot away, were not yet replaced, and
ordered that new ones should be drove immediately; then, that he
might not be seen by the crew, he took out his hankerchief and
covered his face and his stars. Had he but concealed these badges
of honor from the enemy, England perhaps would not have had
cause to receive with sorrow the news of the battle of Trafalgar.
The cockpit was crowded with wounded and dying men, over whose
bodies he was with difficulty conveyed, and laid upon a pallet in
the midshipmen's birth.   It was soon perceived   upon examination,
that the wound was mortal.    This,   however, was concealed from
all except Captain Hardy, the chaplain and the medical attendants.

He himself being certain, from the sensation in his back and the
gush of blood he felt momently within his breast, that no human
care could avail him, insisted that the surgeon should leave him
and attend to those to whom he might be useful. "For," said he,
" you can do nothing for me."
     All that could be done was to fan him with paper and frequently give him lemonade, to alleviate his intense thirst. He was
in great pain and expressed much anxiety for the event of the
action, which now began to declare itself.      As often as a ship
struck the crew of the Victory hurrahed, and at every hurrah, a
visible expression of joy gleamed in the eye and marked the countenance of the dying hero. But he became impatient to see Captain Hardy; and as that officer, though often sent for, could not
leave the deck. Nelson feared some fatal cause prevented him, and
repeatedly cried, "Will no one bring Hardy to me? He must be
killed!  He is surely dead!"
      An hour and ten minutes elapsed from the time when Nelson
received his wound before Hardy could    come to him.   They shook
hands in silence. Hardy in vain struggling to suppress the feelings
of that most painful and yet sublimest moment.
      "Well, Hardy," said Nelson, "how goes the day with us?"
     "Very well," replied Hardy, "ten ships have struck, but five
of the van have tacked, and show an intention to bear down upon

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BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR.                       667

the Victory.   I   have called two or three of our fresh ships around,
and have no doubt of giving them a drubbing."
     "I hope," said Nelson, "none of our ships have struck?"
    Hardy answered, "there is no fear of that."
     Then, and not till then. Nelson spoke of himself.
     "I am a dead man. Hardy," said he, "I am going fast; it will
be all over with me soon.     Come nearer to me.    Let my dear Lady
Hamilton have my hair and all other things belonging to me."
     Hardy observed that he hoped Mr. Beatty could yet hold out
some prospect of life.
     "Oh no," he replied, "it is impossible; my back is shot through;
Beatty will tell you so."
     Captain Hardy then once more shook hands with him, and
with a heart almost bursting, hastened upon deck.
     By this time all feeling below the breast was gone, and Nelson, having  made the surgeon ascertain this, said to him, "you
know I am gone. I know it; I feel something rising in my breast,"
putting his hand on his left side, "which tells me so." And upon
Beatty's inquiry whether his pain was very great, he replied that
it was so great that he wished he was dead.       "Yet," said he in a
lower voice, "one would like to live a little longer, too." And after
a few minutes, in the same undertone, he added: "What would
become of poor Lady Hamilton if she knew of my situation?"
Next to his country she occupied his thoughts.
     Captain Hardy, some fifteen minutes after he left the cockpit,
returned, and again taking the hand of his dying friend and commander, congratulated him on having gained a complete victory.
How many of the enemy were taken, he did not know, as it was
impossible to perceive them distinctly, but fourteen or fifteen at
least.
     "That's well," cried Nelson, "but I bargained for twenty."
And then in a stronger voice, he said, "Anchor, Hardy, anchor."
Hardy, upon this, hinted that Admiral Collingwood would take
upon himself the direction of affair.
     "Not while I live. Hardy," said the dying Nelson, ineffectually
endeavoring to raise himself from the bed.       "Do you anchor."
His previous order for preparing to anchor had shown how clearly
he foresaw the necessity of this. Presently, calling Hardy back,

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668                    IMPROVEMENT ERA.

he said to him in a low voice, "Don't throw me overboard;" and he
desired that he might be buried by his parents unless it should
please the king to order otherwise.    Then reverting to private feeling: "Take care of   my dear Lady Hamilton, Hardy; take care of
poor Lady Hamilton,    —   kiss me. Hardy,"     said he.       Hardy knelt
down and kissed his cheek,    and Nelson said, "now I am           satisfied.

Thank God, I have done my duty."
      Hardy stood over him in silence for a moment or two, then
knelt again and kissed his forehead.
      "Who is that?" said Nelson," and being informed, he replied^
"God bless you. Hardy." And Hardy then left him forever.   —
     Nelson now desired to be turned upon his right side, and said^
"I wish I had not left the deck, for I shall soon be gone." Death
was indeed rapidly approaching.     He said to the chaplain, "Doctor,
I have not been a great sinner;" and after a short pause: "Remember that I leave Lady Hamilton and my daughter Horatia as a
legacy to my country."     His articulation now became difficult; but
he was distinctly heard to say, "thank God, I have done my duty!"^
These words he repeatedly pronounced, and they were the last
words which he uttered.      He expired at thirty minutes after four
—three hours and a quarter after he had received           his   wound.
      Within a quarter of an hour after Nelson was wounded, above
fifty of the   Victory's men fell by [the enemies' musketry.           They,
however, on their part were not idle; and        it   was not long before
there were only two Frenchmen left alive on the mizzen-top of the
Redoubtable. One of them was the man who had given the fatal
wound, he did not live to boast of what he had done. An old
quartermaster had seen him fire, and easily recognized him, because
he wore a glazed cocked hat and a white frock. This quartermaster and two midshipmen, Mr. Collingwood and Mr. Pollard,
were the only persons left in the Victory's poop; the two midshipmen kept firing at the top, and he supplied them cartridges. One
of the Frenchmen, attempting to make his escape down the rigging, was shot by Mr. Pollard    and   fell   on the poop.       But the old
quartermaster as he cried out, "that's he, that's he," and pointed
at the other, who was    coming forward to       fire   again, received a
shot in his  mouth and fell dead. Both of the midshipmen then
fired at the same time, and the fellow dropped in the top. When

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«                BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR.                           669

they took possession of the prize, they went into the mizzen-top
and found him dead, with one ball through his head and another
through his breast.
     The Redoubtable struck within twenty minutes after the fatal
fihot had been fired from her.    During that time she had been
              —
twice on fire, in her forechains and in her forcastle. The French,
as they had done in other battles, made use in this, of fire-balls
                         —
and other combustibles, implements of destruction which other
nations, from a sense of honor and humanity, have laid aside,
which add to the sufferings of the wounded, without determining
the issue of the combat; which none but the cruel would employ,
and which never can be successful against the brave. Once they
succeeded in setting fire, from the Redoubtable to some ropes and
canvass on the Victory's booms. The cry ran through the ship
and reached the cockpit, but even this dreadful cry produced no
confusion; the men displayed that perfect self-possession in danger by which English seamen are characterized; they extinguished
the flames on board their own ship, and then hastened to extinguish them in the enemy, by throwing buckets of water from the
gang-way.
       The Spaniards began the battle with    less vivacity than their
unworthy allies, but they continued it with greater firmness.
The Argonauta and Bahama were defended until they each lost
about four hundred men: the San Juan Nepomuceno lost three
hundred and fifty. Often as the superiority of British courage
has been proved against France upon the seas, it was never more
conspicuous than in this decisive conflict.   Five of our ships were
engaged, muzzle to muzzle, with five of the French.     In all five the
Frenchmen lowered      their lower-deck ports     and deserted their
guns; while our men continued deliberately to load and        fire, till

they had made the victory sure.
       Once, amid his sufferings, Nelson had expressed a wish that
he were dead; but immediately the spirit subdued the pains of
death, and he wished to live a little longer,    —
                                              doubtless that he
might hear the completion of the victory which he had seen so
gloriously begun.                    —           —
                  That consolation that joy that triumph, was
afforded him.     He lived to know that the victory was decisive;
and the last guns which were fired at the flying enemy were heard

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670                        IMPROVEMENT ERA.

a minute or two before he expired. The ships which were thus
flyingwere four of the enemy's van, all French, under Rear-
Admiral Dumanoir. They had borne no part in the action; and
now when they were seeking safety in flight, they fired not only
into the Victory     and Royal 'Sovereign as they passed, but poured
their broadsides into the Spanish captured ships;     and they were
seen to back their top-sail, for the purpose of firing with more
precision.  The indignation of the Spaniards at this detestable
cruelty from their     allies,   for whom they had fought so bravely,
and so profusely bled, may well       be conceived.   It   was such, that
when, two days after the action, seven of the ships which had
escaped into Cadiz came out, in hopes of retaking some of the disabled prizes, the prisoners in the Argonauta, in a body, offered
their service to the British prize master, to     man the guns against
any of the French ships, saying, that if a Spanish ship came along
side, they would quietly go below; but they requested that they

might be allowed to fight the French, in resentment for the murderous usage which they had suffered at their hands. Such was
their earnestness and such the implicit confidence         which could be
placed in Spanish honor, that the offer was accepted, and they
were actually stationed at the lower-deck guns.   Dumanoir and
his squadron were not more fortunate than the fleet from whose
destruction they fled: they fell in with Sir Richard Strachan, who^
was cruising for the Rochefort squadron, and were all taken.
     The total British loss in the battle of Trafalgar amounted to
one thousand five hundred and eighty-seven.         Twenty of the
enemy struck;    —unhappily  the  fleet did not anchor, as Nelson,
almost with his dying breath, had enjoined; a gale came on from
the south-west; some of the prizes went down, some on shore; one
effected its escape into Cadiz; others were destroyed; four only
were saved, and those by the greatest exertions. The wounded
Spaniards were sent ashore, an assurance being given that they
would not serve till regularly exchanged; and the Spaniards, with
a generous feeling, which would not, perhaps, have been found in
any other people, offered the use of their hospitals for our
wounded, pledging the honor of Spain that they should be carefully attended   there.    When the storm, after the action drove
some of the prizes upon the coast, they declared that the English.

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BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR.                                   671

who were thus thrown into their hands, should not be                 considered
as prisoners of war; and the Spanish soldiers gave up their own
beds to their shipwrecked enemies.          The Spanish Vice-Admiral,
Alva, died of his wounds.         Villeneuve was sent to England, and
permitted to return to France.        The French government say that
he destroyed himself on the way to Paris, dreading the consequences of a court martial.
       It is almost superfluous   to add, that    all   the honors which a
grateful country could bestow, were heaped upon the                  memory of
Nelson.       His brother was made an Earl, with a grant of six thousand pounds a year;     —ten thousand pounds were voted to each of
his sisters, and one hundred thousand pounds for the purchase of
an estate.       A public funeral was decreed, and a public monument.
Statues and monuments also were voted by most of our principal
cities.      The leaden coffin in which he was brought home was cut
in pieces, which were distributed as relics of Saint Nelson           —so the
gunner of the Victory called them; and when at his interment, his
flag       was about to be lowered into the grave, the          sailors       who
assisted at the ceremony, with one accord rent it in pieces, that
each might preserve a fragment while he lived.
      The death of Nelson was felt in England as something more
than a public calamity: men started at the intelligence and turned
pale, as if they had heard of the loss of a dear friend.  An object
of our  admiration  and affection, of  our pride and  of our hopes,
was suddenly taken from us: and it seemed as if we had never
till then known how deeply we loved and reverenced him.       What
the country had lost in its great naval hero       —the greatest of our
own and of all former times, was scarcely taken into the account
of grief.       So perfectly indeed had he performed his part, that the
maritime war, after the battle of Trafalgar, was considered at an
end   the fleets of the enemy were not merely defeated, but
       ;

destroyed;       new navies must be built and a new race             of    seamen
reared for them before the possibility of them invading our shores
could again be contemplated.         It   was   not,    therefore,    from any
selfish reflection upon the magnitude of        our loss that we mourned
for him: the general sorrow was of a higher character.                    The people of England grieved that funeral ceremonies, and public monuments, and posthumus rewards, were all which they could now
