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Horatio Nelson, facts about Nelson

Nelson, Horatio (1758-1805), a British admiral, was one of the greatest seamen in history. His brilliant victories in several battles against the French made Britain a great sea power and crippled Napoleon's empire in Europe. He was a great leader because both the ordinary seamen and his officers trusted him and were trusted by him.

Horatio Nelson, facts about Nelson (click to increase)
Nelson and the Prize by Richard Westall. This painting shows the young Nelson taking leave of his captain, Captain William Locker, to take command of a captured vessel with a heavy sea running. This was Nelson's first independent command	Nelson's flagship, the Victory, led the British fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar. Seen here in dry dock at Portsmouth, England, it is flying the signal 'England expects that every man will do his duty'

Nelson, the son of a rector, was born at the parsonage of Burnham Thorpe in Norfolk. He went to sea as a boy, soon deciding that he would be a hero. So rapid was his promotion that he was a post captain by the age of twenty. From 1793 onwards he was fighting the French and Spanish in the Mediterranean. For his outstanding tactics at the Battle of Cape St Vincent, 1797, under Admiral Jervis, he was acclaimed a hero by his countrymen. A wound made him blind in one eye, and the following year he lost his right arm in a daring attack on Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Isles. By this time he was a rear-admiral. He chased the French throughout the Mediterranean before completely defeating them at the Battle of the Nile in 1798.

Horatio Nelson, facts about Nelson: the Battle of Trafalgar. Nelson destroyed the combined fleets of France and Spain, but was mortally wounded at the height of the battle

Nelson was struck down by a shot while gaining his most famous victory - at Trafalgar. As commander-in-chief of the British fleet, he had pursued the French to the West Indies and back before cornering them at Cape Trafalgar, Spain, on October 21, 1805. The beginning of the great battle was marked by Nelson's famous signal: 'England expects that every man will do his duty.' Nelson travel was ending on his ship the Victory after the battle. Nelson's column in Trafalgar Square is one of the chief landmarks of London.

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