Nelson (169 page)

24. The Hon. Courtenay Boyle (1770–1844). The son of the 7th Earl of Cork, he apparently joined Nelson’s
Boreas
at the behest of Admiral Hood. Later Boyle became a trusted frigate captain under Nelson in the Mediterranean (1803–1805) and rose to flag rank. This portrait was painted about 1810.

25. George Andrews (1765–1810), the brother of Elizabeth Andrews, and another of the ‘young gentlemen’ of the
Boreas
. Subsequently, Andrews served with distinction on Nelson’s
Agamemnon
and rose to the rank of post-captain, but his career disintegrated amid ill-health, drink and bad luck. This portrait of a post-captain is thought to show Andrews before the darkness enveloped him.

26. Samuel, Viscount Hood (1724–1816), an irascible commander-in-chief, who gave Nelson crucial opportunities in the Mediterranean and moulded many of his ideas. Nelson complained that he was inadequately noticed in the admiral’s public dispatches, but generally saw only the best of Hood’s professional side. The portrait was painted by Reynolds.

27. Sir John Jervis, later Earl St. Vincent (1735–1823), an effective fleet commander who restored Nelson’s morale in 1795–96. Although he could be merciless on mutineers or the incompetent, Jervis indulged Nelson and many other industrious officers. An engraving of a portrait by T. Stuart, painted about five years before Jervis took Nelson under his command.

28. Sir Gilbert Elliot, Earl of Minto (1751–1814), viceroy of Corsica and governor-general of India, painted by G. Chinnery. A close associate and confidant of Nelson in the Mediterranean, he witnessed his part in the battle of Cape St. Vincent and wrote that ‘Commodore Nelson [was] a hero beyond Homer’s. It is impossible to give … a notion of his exploits.’

29. General Charles Stuart (1753-1801), by George Romney. A son of the Earl of Bute, Stuart joined the army in 1768 and rose to become a brilliant but difficult officer. Though he maintained good relations with Nelson during the siege of Calvi in 1794, he feuded with Hood, and drove Elliot to report that working with him was like being ‘locked up with a madman in a cell’.

30. Francis Drake (1764–1821), engraved from a portrait by William Beechey. As the British minister-plenipotentiary in Genoa, and representative to the Austrian allies on the Italian Riviera, Drake formed a remarkably close partnership with Nelson in 1795–96. His confidence in Nelson was unbounded, and he urged the allied governments to supply him with ships, troops and small boats to facilitate amphibious assaults on French positions ashore.

31. John Trevor, 3rd Viscount Hampden (1749–1824), by Thomas Lawrence. The son of the first viscount, Trevor was a career diplomat at the court of Sardinia-Piedmont in Turin, and served as ministerplenipotentiary from 1789. Supporting Nelson’s Riviera operations of 1795–96, he developed a great admiration for the ‘worthy and excellent officer’, urging his superiors to promote him, and regretting that he was not commander-in-chief of the British fleet.

32. Thomas Francis Fremantle (1765–1819), painted by Domenico Pellegrini in 1800, one of Nelson’s ablest colleagues and subordinates. Fremantle did not always agree with Nelson. Unlike Nelson, he was a critic of Hood and an admirer of Admiral Hyde Parker, but the two co-operated brilliantly in many of the major actions between 1794 and 1797 and became close friends.

33. Thomas Troubridge (1758–1807), from a portrait by Beechey. An outstanding no-holds-barred sea fighter, Troubridge became a great favourite of Sir John Jervis, who thought him ‘capable of commanding the fleet of England’. His partnership with Nelson, which led to the ill-fated Tenerife operation of 1797, dissolved in jealousies several years later. Troubridge served on the board of the Admiralty and became a rear admiral but was drowned off Madagascar.

34. Thomas Ramsay, sketched by Philip James de Loutherbourg in 1797. An able seaman from Berwick-on-Tweed, he became quartermaster’s mate, and followed Nelson from the
Agamemnon
to the
Captain
and
Theseus
. Ramsay boarded the
San Nicolas
and
San Josef
at Cape St. Vincent, but lost an arm off Cadiz and was invalided home with Nelson in 1797. Musters suggest a birth date as early as 1753, but de Loutherbourg recorded his age as thirty-six. This is the only portrait of a lower-deck
Agamemnon
made close to the time.