Part 18

"Four of the enemy's ships were now in possession of the British squadron--two of three decks, the Salvador del Mondo, and the San Josef, of a hundred and twelve guns each; one of eighty-four, the San Nicolas; and the San Ysidro, of seventy-four guns--and the van of the British line still continued to press hard the Santissima Trinidada, and others, in the rear of the enemy's flying fleet.

"The close of the day, before the four prizes were secured, undoubtedly saved the Spanish admiral's flag from falling into the hands of the victors. The Santissima Trinidada, in which he carried it, had been so much the object of attention, that the ship was a perfect wreck when the action ceased. Many, indeed, aver that she actually struck both her flag and ensign; hoisting a white flag, as a signal of submission: but, as she continued her course, and afterwards hoisted a Spanish jack, others doubt this circumstance. It is, however, an indisputable truth, that her fire had been silent for some time before this event is reported to have occurred. It was a defensive combat, entirely, on their parts, after Commodore Nelson obliged them to haul their wind on the larboard tack.

"The loss of the enemy, in this engagement, must have been very considerable. The fire of the British squadron was, throughout the action, superior, in the proportion of five or six to one; and, if we were to judge from the number of killed and wounded found on board the prizes, their casualties, must greatly exceed the numbers that have been usually computed. Almost all their wounded, that had lost limbs, died for want of assistance; and many others, who were wounded in other parts, were found dead in the holds.

"The loss of the British squadron, in killed and wounded, amounted to exactly three hundred: moderate, indeed, when compared with that of the enemy, and considering the duration of the action! But the expenditure of ammunition was beyond any recent example. The Culloden, it is said, expended one hundred and seventy barrels of powder; the Captain, one hundred and forty-six; and the Blenheim, one hundred and eighty: other ships expended in similar proportions. It is by no means unworthy of remark, however, that not a single British gun burst.

"The Captain fired more shot than are usually given to a ship of her rate, at her first equipment in England: and it was observed that, when shot or grape were wanting, on board this ship, for the carronades, the tars substituted, in their place, nine-pounds shot, seven of which were frequently discharged at one time; and this at so short a distance, that every shot of the seven must have had effect.

"I could wish to convey, in some adequate manner, the merits of the chief personages in this glorious engagement; but the praise of those who were most conspicuous will, after all, be best collected from this faithful narrative of their actions: to express it, is far above the power of my pen. I confess, the admiration with which I viewed their conduct, would not permit me to be silent; or to suppress the strong feelings excited in my mind, by all the glories of that memorable day--if it were not for a real despair of reaching the extraordinary merits of some, and for a sincere apprehension of doing injustice even to those whom I might name, as well as to those whom I might, from ignorance, omit. Certain it is, that while the admiral, and some distinguished actors in this scene, are covered with never-fading laurels--if others of the squadron had not the same important share in the transactions of the day, it was owing to circumstances not dependent on themselves, and to no want of ardour or personal exertion.

"If I may be permitted to hazard an opinion, the whole squadron have gained immortal honour; for the victory of the 14th of February stands, in all it's circumstances, first and unparalleled in naval history.

"The time mentioned in the narrative is taken from the minutes kept on board the Victory. Some difference occurs between them and those kept on board other ships; but I have thought proper to follow the former, conceiving them to be the most correct."

Such is the account of this glorious victory, as described by Colonel Drinkwater; who not only had the best possible view of the transactions in general, but was favoured with many particulars from some of the most intelligent officers who commanded or served on board the respective ships.

The official letter of the commander in chief, as addressed, on this occasion, by Sir John Jervis, to Evan Nepean, Esq. Secretary of the Admiralty, and published in the London Gazette, it has been frequently observed, was remarkable for not containing a single syllable of individual praise. This circumstance has been differently accounted for, by different persons, as they have been swayed by their prejudices, their partialities, or their imaginations; few, however, appear to have been very solicitous about the truth. Indeed, there are no inconsiderable number of writers, and of readers too, who would be rather mortified than pleased to discover any positive verity which might overthrow, or even oppose, their own preconceived notions, however unjust or erroneous.

That the omission to mention names was the result of design, and not of accident, in the public letter of the commander in chief, is certainly true; and the Earl of St. Vincent need never blush at avowing the motive by which he was laudably actuated to avoid mentioning the names of individuals. He had seen an instance of the fatal consequences of such selections, in the then recent example of Lord Howe; who, with the best intentions, had thus unfortunately excited the most cruel pangs in the bosoms of many brave commanders. He resolved, therefore, with the most humane and benevolent view, to speak only, to the public, in terms of general approbation.

Having had occasion to say so much respecting this public letter, it's omission might, by the malignant, be construed into a wish to prevent it's being sufficiently investigated. Truth, however, is always a gainer by minute enquiry: notwithstanding, therefore, the repetition which this letter necessarily contains of what has been already seen by the reader in Colonel Drinkwater's Narrative, it is here subjoined--

"Victory, off Lagos Bay, February 16, 1797.

"SIR,

"The hopes of falling in with the Spanish fleet, expressed in my letter to you of the 13th instant, were confirmed, that night, by our distinctly hearing the report of their signal-guns, and by intelligence received from Captain Foote, of his majesty's ship Niger, who had, with equal judgment and perseverance, kept company with them for several days, on my prescribed rendezvous; which, from the strong south-east winds, I had never been able to reach: and, that they were not more than three or four leagues from us. I anxiously waited the dawn of day; when, being on the starboard tack, Cape St. Vincent bearing east by north seven leagues, I had the satisfaction of seeing a number of ships, extending from south-west to south, the wind then at west by south. At forty minutes past ten, the weather being extremely hazy, La Bonne Citoyenne made the signal that the ships were of the line, twenty-five in number: his majesty's squadron, consisting of the fifteen ships of the line named in the margin, were happily formed, in the most complete order of sailing, in two lines. By carrying a press of sail, I was fortunate in getting in with the enemy's fleet at half past eleven o'clock, before it had time to connect and form a regular order of battle. Such a moment was not to be lost: and, confident in the skill, valour, and discipline, of the officers and men I had the happiness to command, and judging that the honour of his majesty's arms, and the circumstances of the war in these seas, required a considerable degree of enterprize, I felt myself justified in departing from the regular system; and, passing through their fleet, in a line formed with the utmost celerity, tacked, and thereby separated one-third from the main body. After a partial cannonade, which prevented their rejunction till the evening, and by the very great exertions of the ships which had the good fortune to arrive up with the enemy on the larboard tack, the ships named in the margin were captured, and the action ceased about five o'clock in the evening. I inclose the most correct list I have been able to obtain of the Spanish fleet opposed to me, amounting to twenty-seven sail of the line; and an account of the killed and wounded in his majesty's ships, as well as in those taken from the enemy. The moment the latter, almost totally dismasted, and his majesty's ships the Captain and Culloden, are in a state to put to sea, I shall avail myself of the first favourable winds to proceed off Cape St. Vincent, in my way to Lisbon. Captain Calder, whose able assistance has greatly contributed to the public service during my command, is the bearer of this; and will more particularly describe, to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, the movements of the squadron on the 14th, and the present state of it. I am, &c.

"J. Jervis."

"Evan Nepean, Esq."

This is, certainly, a very fair hasty sketch of the business; in which, though the names of particular commanders are not mentioned, for the reasons already stated, they are, perhaps, more than sufficiently hinted, to an eye of any discernment, by those of the ships described as having suffered most severely in the action.

Nor is this all. Sir John Jervis, in his private letter, of the same date, addressed to Lord Spencer, then First Lord of the Admiralty, as a guide for merited promotion, was by no means backward in naming those commanders who had been enabled most to distinguish themselves.

Of this important letter, which cannot fail to demonstrate that he did ample justice to individual gallantry and exertion, the author has been kindly honoured with an extract; which is now, for the first time, presented to the public, with the consent of the Earl of St. Vincent.

"The correct conduct of every officer and man in the squadron, on the 14th instant, made it improper to distinguish one more than another, in my public letter; because I am confident that, had those who were least in action been in the situation of the fortunate few, their behaviour would not have been less meritorious: yet, to your lordship, it becomes me to state, that Captain Troubridge, in the Culloden, led the squadron through the enemy in a masterly stile, and tacked the instant the signal flew; and was gallantly supported by the Blenheim, Prince George, Orion, Irresistible, and Colossus. The latter had her fore and fore-topsail yards wounded, and they unfortunately broke in the slings in stays; which threw her out, and impeded the tacking of the Victory.

"Commodore Nelson, who was in the rear on the starboard tack, took the lead on the larboard, and contributed very much to the fortune of the day; as did Captain Collingwood: and, in the close, the San Josef and San Nicolas having fallen foul of each other, the Captain laid them on board; and Captain Berry, who served as a volunteer, entered at the head of the boarders, and Commodore Nelson followed immediately, and took possession of them both. The crippled state of these ships, and the Captain, entangled as they were, and that part of the enemy's fleet which had been kept off in the morning--as described in the public letter--joining at the instant, it became necessary to collect the squadron, to resist an attempt to wrest these ships, the Salvador del Mundo, and San Ysidro, from us, which occasioned the discontinuance of the action."

It is evident from this letter, and it's consequences, that the merits of Commodore Nelson were now duly appreciated. The handsome acknowledgment, by the commander in chief, that he had contributed much to the fortune of the day, was a very sufficient hint that he ought to participate in the honours and advantages which it might be expected to produce. Sir John Jervis, accordingly, became the Earl of St. Vincent; and Commodore Nelson, Sir Horatio Nelson, K.B.

In the mean time, so enraptured was Sir John Jervis, with the skill and bravery which he had witnessed in the gallant commodore, that he literally clasped him in his arms, when he came on board the Victory, after the action--dirtied and disfigured as he was, with great part of his hat shot away--and pressed to his own valiant bosom one of the most heroic hearts that ever inhabited a human breast.

This undoubted fact is given on no less authority than that of Thomas Bolton, Esq. who received it from the honourable lips of his immortal brother-in-law.

A week after the action, on his way to Lisbon, the commodore wrote a letter to Captain Locker, dated on board the Irresistible, Lagos Bay, February 21, 1797; in which, observing that he had been too unwell to write by the Lively frigate, which carried the news of victory to England, he mentions that, as he knows how anxious his friend would be for his welfare, both in health and reputation, he sends him a short detail of the transactions of the Captain: adding that, if he approved of it, he was at perfect liberty to insert it in the newspapers; inserting the name of "Commodore," instead of "I." He mentions, that Captain Miller and Berry, &c. authenticated the truth, till he quitted the San Josef, to go on board La Minerve; and that, farther than this, the detail should not be printed. As he does not write for the press, he modestly intimates, there may be parts which require the pruning-knife, which he desires him to use at discretion, without fear. "I pretend not to say," concludes he, "that these ships might not have fallen, had I not boarded them: but, truly, it was far from impossible that they might have forged into the Spanish fleet, as the other two ships did."

Though the account inclosed in the above letter is in a considerable degree anticipated by the more copious and general narrative of Colonel Drinkwater, and in some measure by the letters of the commander in chief, the circumstance of it's having been written by the heroic commodore himself will be a better apology for inserting it, than any that could be offered by his biographer for it's omission.

A few Remarks relative to the Proceedings of his Majesty's Ship Captain, on board of which Ship Commodore Nelson's Pendant was flying on the 14th of February 1797.