Реферат: Nelson

Реферат: Nelson

Plan.

1. Introduction................................................................2

2. Early years.................................................................2

3. Service in the Mediterranean................................................4

4. Battles of Cape St. Vincent and the Nile....................................5

5. Blockade of Naples and battle of Copenhagen........................... 7

6. Victory at Trafalgar........................................................9

7. Assessment.................................................................11

8. Bibliography...............................................................12

Introduction.

Nelson Horatio Nelson, Viscount Duca (duke) Di Bronte, also called (1797 -

1798) sir Horatio Nelson, or (1798 - 1801) baron Nelson of the Nile and

Burnham-Thorpe (b. September 29, 1758, Burnham Thorpe, Nor-folk, Eng. - d.

October 21, 1805, at sea, off Cap Trafalgar, Spain), British naval commander

in the wars with Revolutionary and Napoleonie France, who won crucial

victories in such battles as those of the Nail (1798) of Trafalgar (1805),

where he was killed by enemy fire on the HMS "Victory". In private life he

was known for his extended love affair with Emma, Lady Hamilton, while both

were married.

Early years.

Horatio Nelson was the sixth of 11 children of the village rector, Edmund

Nelson, and his wife, Catherine. The Nelson were genteel, scholarly, and

poor. The family's most important connection from which Nelson could expect

preferment was that with a distant relation, Lord Walpole, the descendant of

sir Robert Walpole, who had been prime minister earlier in the century.

Decisive for Nelson's life, however, was his mother's brother, Capt. Maurice

Suckling, who was to become comptroller of the British Navy. When Horatio's

mother died, Captain Suckling agreed to take the boy to sea.

Nelson's first years in the navy were a mixture of routine experience and

high adventure. The former was gained particularly in the Thames estuary, the

latter in voyage to the West Indies by merchant ship and a dangerous and

unsuccessful scientific expedition to the Arctic in 1773. Nelson had his

first taste of action in the Indian Ocean. Soon after, struck down by fever -

probably malaria - he was invalided home, and, while recovering from the

consequent depression, Nelson experienced a dramatic surge of optimism. From

that moment, Nelson's ambition, fired by patriotism tempered by the Christian

compassion instilled by his father, urged him to prove himself at least the

equal of his eminent kinsmen.

In 1777 Nelson passed the examination for lieutenant and sailed for the West

Indies, the most active theater in the war against the American colonies.

Promoted to captain in 1779, at the early age of the 20, he was given command

of frigate and took part in operations against Spanish settlements in

Nicaragua, which became targets once Spain joined France in alliance with the

American Revolutionaries. The attack on San Juan was militarily successful

but ultimately disastrous when the British force was almost wiped out by

yellow fever; Nelson himself was lucky to survive.

In 1783, after the end of the American Revolution, Nelson returned to England

by way of France. On his return to London he was cheered by the appointment,

in 1784, to mand a frigate bound for the West Indies. But this was not to be

a happy commission. By rigidly enforcing the navigation Act against American

ships, which were still trading with the British privileges they had

officially lost, he made enemies not only among merchants shipowners but

also among the resident British authorities who, in their own interest, had

failed to enforce the law. Under the strain of his difficulties and of the

loneliness of command. Nelson was at his most vulnerable when he visited the

island of Nevis in March 1785. There he met Frances Nisbet, a widow, and her

five-year-old son, Josiah. Nelson conducted his courtship with formality

charm, and in March 1787 the couple was married at Nevis.

Returning with his bride to Burnham Trope, Nelson found himself without

another appointment and on half pay. He remained unemployed for five years,

aware of "a prejudice at the Admiralty evidently against me, which I can

neither guess at, nor in the least account for" - but which may well have

been connected with his enforcement of the Navigation Act Within a few days

of the execution of King Louis XVI of France in January 1793. However, he was

given command of the 64-gun Agamemnon.

Service in the Mediterranean.

From this moment, Nelson the enthusiastic professional was gradually replaced

by Nelson the commander of genius. The coming months were probably his most

tranquil emotionally. At home waited a living wife, whose son he had taken to

sea with him. His ship, fast and maneuverable, and his crew, superbly

trained, pleased him. His task was to fight the Revolutionary French and

support British allies in the Mediterranean. Assigned to the forlorn defense

of the port of Toulon against the revolutionaries - among them a 24-year-old

officer of artillery, Napoleon Bonaparte - Nelson was dispatched to Naples to

collect reinforcements. He later gratefully recognized that he owed the

success of his mission largely to the British minister - the adroit and

scholarly Sir William Hamilton, who was had lived at Naples for 30 years and

whose vivacious young wife, Emma was in the queen's confidence.

When Toulon fell, Lord Hood, Nelson's commander, moved his base to Corsica,

where Nelson and his ship's company went ashore to assist in the capture of

Bastia and Calvi, where a French shot flung debris into Nelson's face juring

his right eye and leaving it almost ughtless. At the end of 1794, Hood was

replaced by the uninspiring Admiral William Hotham, who was subsequently

replaced by Sir John Jervis, an officer more to Nelson's liking. At the age

of 60, Jervis was an immensely experienced seaman who quickly recognized

Nelson's qualities and who regarded Nelson "more as an associate than a

subordinate officer". The arrival of Jervis coincided with an upsurge of

French success by the so that the British were forced too abandon their

Mediterranean bases and retreat upon Gibraltar and the Tagus.

Battles of Cape St. Vincent and the Nile.

Making for a rendezvous with Jervis in the Atlantic off Cape St. Vincent,

Nelson found himself sailing in mist through a Spanish fleet of 27 ships. The

Spaniards were sailing in two divisions and Jervis planned to cut between the

two and destroy one before the other could come to its assistance. But he

had miscalculated, and it became clear that the British ships would not be

able to turn quickly enough to get into action before the Spanish squadrons

closed up. Without orders from Jervis. Nelson hauled out of line and

attacked the head of the second Spanish division. While the rest of Jervis'

fleet slowly turned and came up in support. Nelson held the two Spanish

squadrons apart, at one time fighting seven enemy ships. The efficiency of

British gunnery was decisive and he not only boarded and captured one enemy

man-of-war but, from her deck, boarded and took a second.

The Battle of Cape St. Vincent won for Jervis the earldom of St. Vincent and

for Nelson a knighthood, which coincided with his promotion by seniority to

rear admiral. His first action in command of major independent force, however

was disastrous. In the cours4e of an assault on Tenerife, a grapeshot

shattered his right elbow, and back in his flagship the arm was amputated. In

the spring of 1798 Nelson was fit enough to rejoin the Earl of St. Vincent,

who assigned him to watch a French fleet waiting to embark an expeditionary

force.

Cruising off the port in his flagship, the Vanguard, Nelson was struck by a

violent northwesterly gale that blew his squadron off station and carried the

French well on their way to their destination, Egypt. The British set out in

pursuit, Nelson believing that the French were going either to Sicily or

Egypt. After a somewhat confused chase the British caught up with the French

squadron in the harbour at Alexandria near the mouth of the Nail. There the

British saw the harbour crowded with empty French transports and, to the

east, an escorting French squadron of 13 ships anchored in a defensive line

across Abu Qir Bay near the months of the Nile. Once the signal to engage had

been hoisted in the Vahguard, Nelson's ships attacked the French. With the

French ships immobilized, the attacking British ships could anchor and

concentrate their fire on each enemy before moving on to demolish their next

target. Its outcome never in doubt from its beginning at sunset, the battle

raged all night. By dawn the French squadron had been all annihilated. The

strategic consequences of the Battle of the Nile were immense, and Nelson

took immediate steps to broadcast the news throughout the Mediterranean as

well as hastening it to London.

At Naples, the most convenient port for repairs, he was given a hero's

welcome stagemanaged by Lady Hamilton. A prolonged British naval presence in

Naples was useful in supporting the shaky of King Ferdinand, the one major

ruler in Italy to be resisting the southward march of the French, who had

already taken Rome and deposed the pope.

The love affair that developed between Nelson and Emma Hamilton came at a

time of crisis. With Nelson's encouragement, King Ferdinand had indulged his

own fantasies of glory and, openly joining the alliance of Great Britain,

Russia and Austria against the French, led his own insignificant army to

recapture Rome. Not only was this a disastrous failure but the French

counteroffensive drove him back to Naples, which itself then fell. Nelson had

to evacuate the Neapolitan royal family to Sicily, and at Palermo it became

obvious to all that his infatuation with Emma Hamilton was complete. She had

proved herself indispensable company to him.

Blockade of Naples and battle of Copenhagen.

In the summer of 1799, Nelson's squadron supported Ferdinand's successful

attempt to recapture Naples, but word of his dalliance with Emma had reached

the Admiralty, and his superiors began to lose patience. Bonaparte had

escaped from Egypt to France, and the French still held Malta when Lord

Keith, who had replaced ST. Vincent as commander in chief, decided that the

enemy's next objective would be Minorca. Nelson was ordered to that island

with all available ships but refused on the grounds that he expected the

threat to be toward Naples. Events justified him, but to disobey orders so

blatantly was unforgivable. The Admiralty, also angered by his acceptance of

the dukedom of Bronte in Sicily from King Ferdinand, sent him an icy return

home.

In 1800 he returned, but across the continent in company with the Hamilton.

When the curious little party in England, it was at once clear that he was

the nation's hero, and his progress to London was triumphal. Emma was

pregnant by Nelson when he was appointed second in commanded to the elderly

admiral Sir Hyde Parker, who was to command an expedition to the Baltic,

Shortly before sailing, Nelson heard that Emma had borne him a daughter named

Horatia.

Parker's fleet sailed the first objective, Copenhagen, early in 1801. At

first Nelson's advice was not sought; then, as Danish resistance became

increasingly likely, he could record, "Now we are sure of Fighting, I am sent

for." By the stratagem of talking the fleet's ships of shallower draught

through a difficult channel, Nelson bypassed the shore batteries covering the

city's northern approaches. The next morning, April 2, he led his squadron

into action. There was to be no room for tactical brilliance; only superior

gunnery would tell. The Danes resisted bravely, and Parker, fearing that

Nelson was suffering unacceptable losses, hoisted the signal to disengage.

Nelson disregarded it, and, an hour later, victory was his; the Danish ships

lay shattered and silent, their losses amounting to some 6,000 dead and

wounded, six times than those of the British.

Before this success could be followed by similar attacks on the other

potential enemies, Tsar Paul of Russia died and the threat faded. Parker was

succeeded by Nelson, who at last became a commander in chief. The Admiralty,

well aware of his popular appeal now made maximum use of it by giving him a

home command. At once he planned an ambitious attack on the naval base of

Boulogne in order to foil a possible French invasion. He did not take part

himself, and the operation was a glory failure. A second attempt was

abandoned because of peace negotiations with France, and in March 1802 the

Treaty of Amiens was signed.

At last there was time to enjoy the fruits of his victories. Emma had , on

Nelson's instructions, bought an elegant country house, Merton Place, near

London, and transformed it into an expensive mirror for their vanities. At

last her husband rebelled, but it was too late for change, and he appeared

reconciled to his lot when, early in 1803, he died with his wife and her

lover at his side.

Victory at Trafalgar.

Bonoparte was known to be preparing for renewed war, and, two days before it

broke out, Nelson, in May 1803, was given command in the Mediterranean,

hoisting his flag in the Victory. Once again he was to blockade Toulon, now

with the object of preventing a rendezvous between the French ships there

with those at Brest in the Atlantic and, after Spain declared war on Britain,

with Spanish ships from Cartagena and Cadiz. A combined force of that size

could well enable Bonaparte to invade England; and early 1805, Napoleon, who

the previous year had crowned himself emperor, ordered the fleets to converge

for this purpose. In March, Admiral Pierre Villeneuve, who was to be in

overall command, broke out of Toulon under cover of bad weather and

disappeared. Nelson set off in pursuit. Villeneuve cut short his marauding,

but his fleet was intercepted and damaged by a British squadron, Failing to

win control of the English Channel, he ran south to Cadiz.

Nelson put into Gibraltar, made dispositions for the blockade of Cadiz, and

returned to England. During his 25 days at home, he planned the strategy for

the confrontation with the Franco-Spanish fleets that seemed inevitable; 34

enemy ships were blockaded in Cadiz by smaller numbers under Admiral Cuthbert

Collingwood. Although Napoleon, abandoning the plan of a cross-Channel

invasion, began to redeploy the Grand Army, in Britain the danger of invasion

seemed as pressing as ever, and Nelson appeared the country's hope.

When his orders came, Nelson on September 15 sailed in the Victory. He was now

at the height of his professional powers. Worshiped by his officers and sailors

alike, he was confident that his captains understood his tactical thinking so

well that the minimum of consultation would be required. On his 47th

birthday he dined 15 captains in his flagship and outlined his plans to bring on

a "pell-mell battle" in which British gunnery and offensive spirit would be

decisive. He planned to advance on the Franco-Spanish fleets in two divisions

to break their line and destroy them piecemeal. This was the final abandonment

of the traditionally rigid tactics of fighting in line of battle.

After receiving Napoleon's orders that he must break the blockade,

Villeneuve, on October 20, sailed out of Cadiz. At dawn next day, the Franco-

Spanish fleets were silhouetted against the sunrise off cape Trafalgar, and

the British began to form the two divisions in which they were to fight, one

by Nelson, the other by Collingwood. As the opposing fleets closed, Nelson

made signal. "England expects that every will man do his duty". The Battle of

Trafalgar raged at its fiercest around the victory. A French sniper from the

mast of the Redoutable, shot Nelson through the shoulder and chest. He was

carried below to the surgeon, and it was soon clear that he was dying. When

told that 15 enemy ships had been taken, he replied, "That is well, but I had

bargained for 20". Thomas Hardy, his flag captain, kissed his forehead in

farewell and Nelson spoke his last words, "Now I am satisfied. Thank God, I

have done my duty".

Although the victory of Trafalgar finally made Britain safe from invasion, it

was, at the time, overshadowed by the news of Nelson's death. A country

racked with grief gave him a majestic funeral in St. Paul's Cathedral, and

his popularity in countless monuments, streets, and inns named after him and,

eventually, in the preservation at Portsmouth of the Victory. Emma Hamilton

and his daughter, however, were ignored. Emma died, almost destitute, in

Calais nine years later. Horatia, showing her father's resilience, married a

clergyman in Norfolk and became the mother of large and sturdy family.

Assessment.

Nelson had finally broken the unimaginative strategical and tactical

doctrines of the previous century and taught individual officers to think for

themselves. His flair and forcefulness as a commander in battle were decisive

factors in his two major victories- the battles of the Nile and Trafalgar. In

the former, he had destroyed the French fleet upon which Napoleon Bonaparte

had based his hopes of Eastern conquest, and in the latter he had destroyed

the combined French and Spanish fleets, thus ensuring the safety of the

British Isles from invasion and the supremacy of British sea power for more

than a century. Spectacular success in battle, combined with his humanity as

a commander and his scandalous private life, raised Nelson to godlike status

in his lifetime, and after his death at Trafalgar in 1805, he was enshrined

in popular myth and iconography. He is still generally accepted as the most

appealing of Britain’s national heroes.

Bibliography.