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On this Day – Archive
On this day in July
1st July 1783 – Nelson on team building: ‘The disgust of the seamen to the Navy is all owing to the infernal plan of turning them over from ship to ship, so that men cannot be attached to their officers, or the officers care two-pence about them.’
2nd July 1796 – Nelson receives orders to prepare to blockade Leghorn and to prevent any attempt on Corsica by the French. To Sir Gilbert Elliot: ‘[I] have given orders to the Sardine and Vanneau to sail directly for Bastia . . . The way to Corsica, if our Fleet is at hand, is through Elba; for if they once set foot on that Island, it is not all our Fleet can stop their passage to Corsica’.
3rd July 1797 – To Jervis from Cadiz: ‘We will begin this night by ten o’clock; and I beg that all the launches of the Fleet may be with me by eight, with their carronades, and plenty of ammunition.’ Later, in the ‘Sketch of my Life’, he wrote: ‘It was during this period that my personal courage was more conspicuous than at any other part of my life’.
4th July 1787 – Jervis writes to Nelson: ‘Every service you are engaged in adds fresh lustre to the British arms, and to your character’.
5th July 1797 – Nelson again attacks Spanish gunboats at Cadiz with bomb vessels. To Jervis: ‘Your encouragement for those Lieutenants who may conspicuously exert themselves, cannot fail to have its good effect in serving our country’.
6th July 1796 – Nelson to Joseph Brame of HM Consul at Genoa as he begins a blockade of the port of Leghorn demanding the restoration of its legal government: ‘It will be credited, if my character is known, that this blockade will be attended to with a degree of rigour unexampled in the present war.’
7th July 1801 – Nelson congratulates a Mr Nelson in Plymouth on the birth of a grandson, saying, ‘I do not yet despair but that I may have fruit from my own loins.’
8th July 1803 – Nelson writes to Emma Hamilton, ‘I am for assisting Europe to the utmost of our power, but no treaties which England only keeps. I hope your next letter from Naples will give me news to alter my opinion of degenerate Europe; for I am sick at heart at the miserable cringing conduct of the great powers.’
9th July 1799 – A marine had struck and threatened to shoot an officer and was sentenced to death: 'Prepare everything for the execution of the Court Martial held on John Jolly; but when all the forms, except the last, are gone through, you will acquaint the prisoner, that, although there has been no circumstance to mitigate the severity of the law yet that I have reason to hope that the sparing of his life will have as beneficial an effect for the discipline of the service, as if he had suffered death. You will therefore respite the prisoner from the sentence of death'.
10th July 1796 – ‘The harmony and good understanding between the Army and Navy employed on this occasion [the capture of Port Ferrajo, Elba] will I trust be a further proof of what may be affected by the co-operation of the two services.’
11th July 1799 – Captain Foote to Dr Clarke on the capitulation of Naples: 'As I finally left Naples Bay on the 11th July, I was not a witness to the disgraceful scenes that passed, though I have been made acquainted with most of them by those who were. None of them suffered death on board the British ships, but Caracciolo was tried on board the Foudroyant, bearing Lord Nelson's Flag, by Neopolitan Officers.
12th July 1794 – ‘Reports we know, get about, and . . . it is best to say it myself – that I got a little hurt this morning; not much as you may judge by my writing.’ Nelson to his wife Fanny two days after the injury to his right eye at the siege of Calvi. 12 July 1794: Nelson wrote to his wife Fanny following the injury to his eye two days before at the seige of Calvi: ‘Reports we know, get about, and . . . is best to say it myself – that I got a little hurt this morning: not much as you may judge by my writing’.
13th July 1797 – To Jervis from Theseus off Cadiz having spotted the red flag of mutiny: 'When I saw the Red flag hoisted on board an Admiral's Ship in harbour two days past, I had no doubt in my own mind but a meeting was commencing. By night four red flags were up, and yesterday they amounted to seven. My officer asked [Mazzaredo] if their fleet was à la Nore. He said, "yes; that they would be paid their wages"...In Spain it will never end but in à revolution.
14th July 1797 – Orders from Admiral Sir John Jervis, Earl St Vincent, to Rear Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson: “You are to proceed with the utmost expedition off the island of Tenerife, and there make your disposition for taking possession of the town of Santa Cruz by a sudden and vigorous assault”.
15th July 1815 – Napoleon finally surrenders to Captain Frederick Maitland, in Basque Roads aboard Trafalgar veteran Bellerophon. He is sent into exile on St Helena where he dies on 5 May 1821.
16th July 1795 – Start of the Admiralty telegraph system to the Royal Dockyard at Chatham.
17th July 1797 – Nelson prepares for the attack of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, ‘Each ship to make as many iron ram-rods as possible, it being found that the wooden ones are very liable to break when used in a hurry.’
18th July 1796 – Nelson to Admiral Sir John Jervis, Earl St Vincent during the blockade off Leghorn (Livorno). “I have only now to beg, that whenever you think the enemy will face you on water, you will send for me; for my heart would break to be absent at such a glorious time.”
19th July 1799 – Lord Keith has ordered Nelson to Minorca, but he determines not to leave Naples: ‘I am fully aware of the act I have committed; but, sensible of my loyal intentions, I am prepared for my fate which may await my disobedience . . . I have done what I thought right; others may think differently; but it will be my consolation that I have gained a Kingdom, seated a faithful ally of His Majesty firmly on his throne, and restored happiness to thousands.’
20th July 1805 – Nelson notes in his journal, “I went on shore for the first time since 16th June 1803; and from having my foot out of the Victory, two years wanting ten days.”
21st July 1795 – Captain Cockburn (under Nelson's command), brought in the Nostra Signora di Belvidere. To Hotham: 'I have no doubt that her cargo is French property; the gold, silver, and jewels, which were found in the cabin, are on board Agamemnon, but things of much more consequence, I understand, are in the hold'.
22nd July 1797 – Nelson writes advice on the training of midshipmen, ‘In the first place, my lord, it is necessary that he should be made complete in his navigation; and if the peace continues French is absolutely necessary. Dancing is an accomplishment that probably a sea officer may require. You will see almost the necessity of it, when employed in foreign countries.’
23rd July 1805 – To Lord Barham, lamenting erroneous information receivied from St Lucia: 'The Fleet is complete, and the First Easterly Wind, I shall pass the Straits: it has almost broke my heart. But the name of General Brereton will never be forgot by this generation; but for him our Battle would have been fought on June 6th'.
24th July 1797 – Nelson writes to Earl St Vincent prior to the attack on Santa Cruz de Tenerife: ‘Tomorrow my head will probably be covered with laurel or Cyprus.’
25th July 1801 – England is gripped by fear of an invasion from France. Nelson to William Marsden on the defence of the Thames: “Whatever plans may be adopted the moment the enemy touch our coast, be it where it may, they are to be attacked by every man afloat and on shore: this must be perfectly understood. Never fear the event”.
26th July 1803 – To Hugh Elliot on hearing a rumour that Algiers has engaged in the war, but more concerned that the French will join the Spanish because his fleet is already split on two fronts: ‘I may have two fleets to fight, but if I have the ships’ the more the better’.
27th July 1797 – Nelson writes his first letter with his left hand to Jervis praising Josiah Nisbet for bringing him to Theseus: 'I am become a burthen to my friends, and useless to my country....When I leave your command, I become dead to the world: I go hence, and am so more seen. I hope you will be able to give me a frigate, to convey the remains of my carcass to England'.
28th July 1801 – To St Vincent on the fear of invasion: 'Everything, my dear Lord must have a beginning, and we are literally at the foundation of our fabric of defence. Should the Enemy approach our Coast near the Thames, our Dock-yards can man Flat-boats if they are kept in readiness; and this yard [Sheerness] has 100 men, who can man two Flats which are ordered to be fitted out'.
29th July 1795 – Nelson frets at the appointment of Admiral Hotham to commander-in-chief Mediterranean fleet: ‘Hotham has no head for such enterprise, perfectly satisfied that each month passes without any losses on our side. I almost, I assure you, wish myself an Admiral, with the command of a fleet. Probably when I grow older, I shall not feel all that alacrity and anxiety for the service which I do at present.’
30th July 1794 – Nelson records in his journal, on Calvi following an attempt to seek a truce: 'By dusk, 3 or 4 of their guns were totally disabled. During the night the enemy only fired three or four guns: we fired a gun every three minutes'.
31st July 1798 – On the eve the Battle of the Nile Nelson wrote, “Before this time tomorrow, I shall have gained a peerage, or Westminster Abbey”.
