Read Nelson: Britannia's God of War Online
Authors: Andrew Lambert
Nelson’s official request for relief galvanised the Admiralty, and a
week later the King may have been surprised to learn that St Vincent was now ‘very apprehensive, unless his lordship is immediately relieved, his life may be in danger’. It would be difficult to find a suitable flag officer, ‘considering the present critical situation in the affairs with the Northern Powers’.
109
The following day he settled on Nelson’s old friend Charles Pole. Already commissioned for an overseas command, Pole sailed on 7 June. Acknowledging a number of letters from Nelson, the Earl expressed his ‘deepest concern’ at his state of health:
To find a fit successor, your Lordship well knows, is no easy task, for I never saw the man in our Profession, excepting yourself and Troubridge, who possessed the magic art of infusing the same spirit into others which inspired his actions … Your Lordship’s whole conduct, from your first appointment to this hour, is the subject of our constant admiration; it does not become me to make comparisons. All agree there is but one Nelson; that he may long continue the pride of his country is [my] fervent wish.
110
Admiralty Secretary Nepean agreed: ‘I consider your indisposition to be a serious public misfortune in the present moment.’
111
Lord Hood understood the problem: ‘It is undoubtedly to be lamented that the Russian fleet at Revel was not attacked when evidently at your mercy. This I imagine to be the primary cause of your complaints.’
112
Official permission for return on health grounds was sent the same day.
113
Meanwhile, on 8 June a British government Official Proclamation lifted the embargo on Russian, Swedish and Danish shipping.
114
The government was anxious for the campaign to end; with a French invasion threatening, part of the Baltic fleet was moved to Cork even before Nelson came home. If any of the Baltic powers stepped out of line, they would be attacked without hesitation, but this looked increasingly unlikely.
115
The Danes were blatantly in breach of the armistice, equipping ships, reinforcing defences and parading French officers at the Crown Prince’s elbow. Nelson, who had not yet received his permission to leave, sent Captain Sutton to isolate Denmark from Norway, and considered going back to bombard Copenhagen.
116
Not that he was worried by the prospect of fighting any combination of Baltic navies: though large in numbers, they were in every other respect insignificant.
117
Nelson knew the best use of his time was to make the fleet efficient and keep it fully stored, ready to go anywhere. His fleet-management skills had convinced St Vincent that he could
command a major theatre in the future. The Earl rejoiced that Nelson’s labours had ‘finished so advantageously for your country and honourably to yourself’.
118
Permission to return home finally arrived on 13 June. The campaign was over, and Nelson was anxious there should be no inquiry into Parker’s conduct, which he characterised as ‘idleness’ rather than ‘criminality’.
119
On 17 June the convention was signed at St Petersburg, after further Russian attempts to revive the old nonsense about free ships and free goods. When St Helen’s countered by declaring that the King would not accept ‘a principle so injurious to His most valuable interests’, and was ‘determined to combat its establishment at every risk, and by the most persevering & vigorous exertions’, Count Panin gave way and signed.
120
Two days later Nelson hauled down his flag in Kioge Bay, boarded the brig
Kite
and sailed for England, reaching Yarmouth on 1 July. He did not leave without thanking his fleet and subordinates. The junior flag officers spoke for many. Deeply affected by Nelson’s approval, Totty promised to ‘trace the Path to Glory which Your Lordship has so long pursued, to the eminent advantage of your country and your own immortal honour’.
121
Poor Totty did not get much further along the path, dying within a year, victim of the unhealthy West Indies command.
Nelson’s last service in the Baltic was highly significant. He gathered the intelligence necessary to ensure the British could always come back. On 12 June he sent in ‘remarks made on the passages of the Belt and drawings of the same, which I request you will be pleased to lodge in the records of the Admiralty, that they may be referred to in case they are wanted’. The Board minuted: ‘Acquaint his Lordship that My Lords very much approve of his having employed the persons therein mentioned on this important service.’
122
Nelson’s work on the charts continued. On 21 June
Alecto
and
Amazon
rejoined the fleet after passing through the Great Belt.
Alecto
’
s
captain reported the passage ‘a very desirable one’.
123
Suitably impressed, Pole reported that no time would be lost, and no risk incurred, by coming home through the Belt, and he would be glad to make the attempt. He sent the sixty-four-gun
Polyphemus
and
Dart
‘to examine well the passage of the Belt’.
124
Four days later he reported to Nelson: ‘We found the passage of the Belt all that could be wished for large ships.’
125
It would be mid-July before Sweden and Denmark accepted the
Convention, dictated to them by London and St Petersburg, and until they did Pole remained with a squadron at Kioge, finally departing on 20 July. The fleet was given new instructions to pass the Belt, and after a slow but secure passage emerged into the Kattegat on 1 August. Pole’s final report stressed that the Belt was much better for big ships. The Admiralty was very pleased and ordered that the report be sent ‘to Mr Dalrymple [the new Hydrographer of the Navy] for his information’.
126
Britain had defeated a massive threat to her security, and re-emphasised the value of sea control as a decisive weapon of war. Without Nelson, this would not have happened: not only did he guarantee the victory, he also created a highly efficient combat-ready fleet out of a collection of hurriedly manned old ships, and gathered strategically significant intelligence for the Hydrographic Office. The Baltic command showed Nelson at full power, despite his protestations of ill health. For France, by contrast, the Baltic campaign was a major defeat, and Bonaparte was among the few men to mourn the mad Tsar, who had been a vital asset in his war with Britain. Had Paul been able to continue his aggressive programme, Russia would inevitably have been humiliated and Bonaparte would have seized the chance to push his power further east, without Britain being able to influence affairs. But now Bonaparte was forced to concede the need for peace with Britain, and Nelson’s next task would be to block his attempts to coerce her into unnecessary concessions. He landed at Yarmouth on 29 July, and lost no time setting out for London.
127
1
Spencer to St Vincent 28.11.1800; Morriss, R. ed.
The
Channel
Fleet
and
the
Blockade
of
Brest
1793–
1801
, Aldershot, Navy Records Society, 2001, p. 590.
2
Feldbaek, O.
Denmark
and
the
Armed
Neutrality:
1800
–
1801
is the definitive study of this issue. His
The
Battle
of
Copenhagen
1801
contains an excellent summary.
3
Le Donne, J.
The
Russian
Empire
and
the
World
1700
–
1917:
The
Geopolitics
of
Expansion
and
Containment
, pp. 54–64, 302
4
Ehrman,
Pitt
III
, p. 398; speech in House of Commons on 2.2.1801
5
Smith, E A.
Lord
Grey,
1764
–
1845
,
pp. 78–9
6
Coupland, ed.
The
War
Speeches
of
William
Pitt
the
Younger
, pp. 288–301. The appearance of this volume in 1915 only emphasises the extent to which that generation looked back to the French wars for inspiration.
7
Ehrman, J.
The
Younger
Pitt:
Vol.III
,
p. 411
8
Spencer to St Vincent 28.11.1800; Spencer IV pp. 273–4
9
St Vincent to Spencer 7.12.1800; Spencer IV pp. 274–5
10
Lord Whitworth (ex Amb.) to Spencer 18.12.1800; Spencer IV p. 275
11
Dundas to Spencer 3.1.1801 SP III pp. 287–8
12
Grenville to Carysfort 16.12.1800. Fortescue VI pp. 407–9
13
King’s speech 31.12.1800; St Vincent I p. 51
14
Dundas to Admiralty Secretary Evan Nepean 9.1.1801; ADM 1/4168
15
St Vincent was keen to get rid of old followers of Hood, including Donnett and Young, from the Channel fleet. Morriss pp. 567, 578–9
16
Admiralty to Nelson 9.1.1801; Add. 34,934 f19
17
Spencer to St Vincent 26.1.1801; Spencer IV p. 279
18
See Lyon, D.
Sailing
Navy
List
pp. 250–1 for the six vessels purchased.
19
Parker to Spencer 11.1.1801; Spencer IV pp. 275–7
20
Thesiger to Spencer 16.1.1801; Spencer IV pp. 278–9
21
Nelson to Spencer 17.1.1801; Nicolas IV pp. 274–5
22
Admiralty to Nelson 17 and 18.1.1801; Add. 34,934 f25 and 34,923 f25
23
St Vincent to Spencer 23.1.1801; Spencer IV p. 264
24
St Vincent to Nelson 26.1.1801; Croker Collection, NMM 10
25
Nelson to Emma 25.1.1801; Morrison II pp. 108–9. Pettigrew printed many of these letters in the 1840s, but this quote, and much of the other interesting matter, was edited out.
26
Nelson to Emma 26 and 28.1.1801; Morrison pp. 1909–10, and Nicolas IV p. 279.
27
Nelson to Emma 14.2.1801; Morrison II pp. 114–15
28
Nelson to Emma 19 and 22.2.1801; Morrison II pp. 118–21
29
ADM 3/144N
30
Lord Grenville to Admiralty 2.2.1801; FO13/1
31
Nelson to Admiralty 2.2.1801; Nicolas IV p. 282
32
St Vincent to Nepean 9.2. Spencer IV p. 265
33
The Nelson–Troubridge Correspondence in CRK/14 and
Naval
Miscellany
I
is critical to this process, and the inner history of the campaign.
34
St Vincent to Simcoe 22.2.1801; St Vincent Papers I p. 82. Dundas to Admiralty 23.2.1801 and Dundas to Duke of York (Secret) 23.2.1801; ADM 1/4168.
The
Cumloden
Papers.
35
Secretary of State to Admiralty 23.2.1801; ADM 1/4168
36
Admiralty to Nelson 26.2.1801; Add. 34,934 f. 32
37
Nelson to Emma 1, 4, 6 and 11.3.1801,; to Wife 4.3.1801; Morrison II pp. 123–9
38
St Vincent to Nelson 8.3.1801; St Vincent I p. 84
39
Nelson to Troubridge 7 and 10.3.1801; Laughton, J.K. ed.
The
Naval
Miscellany
I
, Navy Records Society 1901 pp. 415–18. St Vincent to Hyde Parker 11.3.1801; St Vincent I pp. 86–7
40
Nelson to Troubridge 11.3.1801;
Miscellany
I
p. 419
41
Nelson to Troubridge 7.3.1801;
Miscellany
I
pp. 414–15
42
Nelson to Troubridge 10 and 29.3.1801;
Miscellany
I
pp. 417–18 and 424–5
43
Order of Battle 10.4.1801; Add. 34,918 f.16.
44
Dundas to Admiralty (Secret) 14.3.1801; ADM 1/4186
45
Admiralty to Hyde Parker (Secret) 15.3.1801; Add.34,934 f. 38
46
Nelson to Troubridge 16.3.1801;
Miscellany
I pp. 420–1
47
Vansittart to Hawkesbury 14.3.1801; Add. 31,233 f. 11–9
48
Vansittart to Hawkesbury 19.3.1801; Add. 31,233 f. 34
49
Hyde Parker’s Journal 22.3.1801; ADM 50/65.
50
Cumloden
Papers
23.3.1801. Hyde-Parker to Admiralty 23.3.1801; ADM 1/ 4 39 and 48
51
Nelson to Hyde– Parker 24.3.1801; Nicolas IV pp. 2956
52
Hyde Parker to Nelson 24.3.17801; CRK/8
53
Cumloden
Papers
24.3.1801
54
Ibid. 26.3.1801
55
Domett to Nelson 26.3.1801; CRK/4
56
Nelson to Troubridge 29.3.1801;
Miscellany 1
pp. 424–5
57
Nelson to Emma 30.3.1801; Morrison II p. 132
58
Parker’s Journal 31.3. and 1.4.1801 ADM 50/65
59
Cumloden
Papers
31.3 and 1.4.1801
60
The key words in the Stewart quote are usually given as ‘jug’ and ‘bale’, but these make no sense. Allowances should be made for Nelson’s accent and the noise of battle. Nelson to Berry 9.3.1801; Nicolas IV p. 292
61
Minto letter of 19.5.1801; Minto III p. 219
62
Nelson to Davison 4.4.1801; Nicolas VII p. ccv
63
Hamond to Captain Andrew Hamond 5.4.1801; Hamond Papers, Duke University
64
She became HMS
Nassau
and captured another Danish battleship in 1808
65
The main focus of literature on this campaign has been the Slagt por Reden, the battle for the roadstead. This has diverted attention from the wider aims of the campaign, and the impact this terrifying demonstration of power had on European opinion.
66
Nelson to Emma 6.4.1801; Morrison II p. 135. Nelson to St Vincent 9.4.1801; Nicolas IV p. 341
67
Nelson to Admiralty 9.4.1801; Nicolas IV pp. 339–41. Nelson to Troubridge 9.3.1801;
Miscellany
I
p. 427
68
Nelson to Minto 9.4.1801; Nicolas IV p. 342
69
Balfour to Nelson 17.4.1801; CRK/2
70
St Vincent to Parker 5.4.1801; St Vincent I pp. 88–9
71
Parker to Admiralty 9.4.1801; ADM 1/ 4
72
Typically Bligh, who had fought like a lion, was so unsure of himself as to ask Nelson for a testimonial, which he was told was ‘perfectly unnecessary’. Nelson to St Vincent 14.4.1801; Nicolas IV p. 343
73
Hobart to Admiralty 16.4.1801 Secret; ADM1/4187. Admiralty to Parker 17.4.1801 Secret; Add.34,934 f. 43
74
Spencer to Nelson 19.4.1801; CRK/10
75
St Vincent to Lord Mayor 15.4.1801 to Parker, Nelson 17.4.1801; St Vincent I pp. 89–91
76
Davison to Nelson 4.4.1801; CRK/3
77
St Vincent to Nelson 25.4.1801; St Vincent I p. 93. Nelson to Maurice 15.4.1801; Nicolas IV p. 138
78
Admiralty to Nelson 21.4.1801; Add. 34,934 f. 57
79
St Vincent to Nelson 21.4.1801; St Vincent I pp. 92–3
80
St Vincent to King 21.4.11801; Aspinall,
George
III
1798–1801. p. 517
81
Parker to Admiralty 25.4.1801; ADM 1 /4 65. Parker to Nelson 23.4.1801; CRK/8
82
Nelson to Emma 20 and 23.4.1801; Morrison II pp. 139 and 142
83
Nelson to Davison 23.4.1801; Naish pp. 586–7. Nelson to Troubridge 23.4.1801;
Miscellany
I
p. 429
84
Nelson to Troubridge 28.4.1801;
Miscellany 1
pp. 431–2
85
Nelson to Davison 22.4.1801; Nicolas VII pp. ccvii–ix. Parker to Admiralty 30.4.1801; ADM 1/ 470. St Vincent to Nelson 1.5.1801; St Vincent I p. 94
86
Hyde Parker to Nelson 9.4.1801; CRK/8
87
St Vincent to Lord Hawkesbury (Foreign Secretary) 4.5.1801; St Vincent I PP. 94–5
88
Hobart to Admiralty 5.5.1801; ADM 1/4187. Admiralty to Nelson 6.5.1801 (Secret); Add. 34,918 f. 86
89
St Vincent to Duckworth (C.in.C. West Indies) 15.5.1801; St Vincent to Hawkesbury 21.5.1801; St Vincent 1 pp. 96–7
90
Nelson to Admiralty, Davison, St Vincent, Addington 5.5.1801; Nelson to Admiralty 7.5.1801; Nicolas IV pp. 352–9. Nelson to Troubridge 7.5.1801;
Miscellany
I
pp. 432–3.
Cumloden
Papers.
91
Nelson to Emma 5.5.1801; Morrison II p. 144
92
Nelson to Admiralty 5.5.1801; ADM 1/ 4 71 and 74
93
Nelson to Vansittart 12.5.1801; Nicolas IV p. 368
94
Nelson to St Vincent 16.5.1801; Nicolas IV p. 370.
Cumloden
Papers.
95
Garlike to Nelson 15.5.1801; FO 95/217
96
Nelson to St Vincent 16.5.1801; Nelson to Davison 12.5.1801; quote Nicolas IV pp. 370 and 373.