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agreed upon by me, and Mr. Jackson, his Majesty's Minister to the King of Sardinia, to remove His Sardinian Majesty from Gaeta, or any other place where his Majesty may be residing, to any place within the Mediterranean where the King may think proper, You are therefore hereby required and directed to receive my Public dispatches for his Sardinian Majesty and Mr. Jackson, and proceed with them, in his Majesty's Ship Juno, under your command, to Gaeta, and on your arrival there, you will deliver my letter to the King, and should his Sardinian Majesty desire to be removed to any part of Sicily, Malta, Corfu, or any other place within the Mediterranean, you will receive his Majesty, the Queen, and suite, on board the Juno, and proceed to such place as his Majesty shall direct, where you will land him, the Queen, and suite, and afterwards proceed to Malta, for the purpose of being refitted. Should his Majesty request you to wait at Gaeta for three or four days, in order to prepare for his embarkation, you will do so, and immediately write Mr. Jackson, at Rome, (when his Majesty's intentions are signified to you,) that his answer may arrive previous to your sailing; and you will also, the instant you anchor at Gaeta, forward my dispatches to Mr. Elliot, at Naples, by express. But should his Sardinian Majesty not desire the Juno to wait for the purpose before mentioned, and signifies the same to you officially, you will proceed immediately to Naples, and receive from his Excellency Mr. Elliot such dispatches as he may have for Sicily or Malta, with which you will proceed, and make the best of your way to Valetta harbour, where you will cause every exertion to be used in refitting and completing the Juno for immediate service, agreeable to the letter herewith transmitted addressed to Commissioner Otway. Having so done, and completed your provisions, &c., to the usual time, you will afterwards return, and join the Squadron on Rendezvous No. 97, where you will find me, or orders for your further proceedings. I must desire to recommend that you will keep a particular account of all your disbursements in the event of his Majesty the King of Sardinia accompanying you, in order that Government may take the same into consideration, and direct your being repaid.

NELSON AND BRONTE.

TO HIS EXCELLENCY HUGH ELLIOT, ESQ.

My dear Sir,

[Autograph, in the Elliot Papers.]

Victory, November 8th, 1804.

Your letters by the Etna, of the 14th October, were duly received, and I thank your Excellency for all the interesting information you are so good as to give me. I can only add one lamentation more to the uncomfortable situation, to say no worse of it, of those good Sovereigns of Naples. I never had but one opinion of Russia, for many years past. I am to this moment ignorant, except by the French papers, of what is passing in Spain. What can be expected from such communications to a Naval Commander-in-Chief? Pray return them: I keep them as curiosities.

I have heard nothing from England since August 28th: French papers give us the news to October 11th; therefore, I am left in total ignorance. I shall send a Vessel to Naples the first arrival from England. She will probably bring out my I am very unwell, and the wet weather we have had has done my cough no good.

successor.

I have wrote to the Admiralty, and to Lord Melville about your desire for a Vessel to carry your dispatches: I have none. The Juno, who goes first to Gaeta, in case the King of Sardinia should not feel himself safe, will, if his Majesty does not use her, proceed to Naples, and take any letters you may have for either Malta or Sicily. The fever has much abated at Gibraltar and Cadiz. At Malaga it has certainly ceased, and the Port is expected to be opened. The Fleet is in most perfect health. Pray, present my humble duty to their Majesties. They have none that feel for them more than myself, and they may rely upon me to the last moment of my breathing. I hope Mrs. Elliot is perfectly recovered, and beg my respectful compliments. William is very well. I am ever, my dear Sir, your most obliged and faithful servant, NELSON AND BRONTE.

Sir,

TO WILLIAM MARSDEN, ESQ., ADMIRALTY.

[Original, in the Admiralty.]

Victory, at Sea, 8th November, 1804.

I herewith transmit you a copy of a letter and paper therein referred to, from Captain Gore, of his Majesty's Ship Medusa, dated the 6th October, (a copy of which, he acquaints me, has also been transmitted to you) giving an account of the capture of three Spanish Frigates with treasure on board, as therein mentioned, which you will be so good as to lay before the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, for their information; and, at the same time acquaint their Lordships that I very highly approve of the meritorious conduct of that excellent Officer, Captain Gore, upon the present, as well as upon all former occasions, since he has been under my command, in the important trust of watching the Enemy outside the Straits, and for the great and perfect security which he has afforded with his little Squadron to our Trade to, and from, this Country; and when the very bad state of the Medusa is considered, his constantly keeping at sea previous to this, and after an opportunity offered for his returning to England, with the Spanish Frigate Fama, deserves particular approbation. I am, Sir, &c.

NELSON AND BRONTE.

4 On the 5th of October, 1804, off Cape St. Mary's, near Cadiz, the Indefatigable, Captain Graham Moore; Medusa, Captain John Gore; Amphion, Captain Samuel Sutton; and Lively, Captain Graham Eden Hamond, fell in with the four Spanish Frigates La Medée, bearing the Flag of Don Joseph Bustamente; La Fama, La Clara, and La Mercedes, from South America, laden with treasure and valuable merchandize. Captain Moore communicated to the Spanish Admiral his orders to detain these Ships (vide p. 241, ante), and expressed a wish to do so without bloodshed; but not receiving a satisfactory answer, an Action commenced. In ten minutes, La Mercedes blew up, and the three other Ships soon after surrendered. As Spain was then at peace with England, this affair naturally excited the indignation of the Court of Madrid, and led immediately to a War.

TO CAPTAIN GORE, H. M. SHIP MEDUSA.

[Autograph, in the possession of the Right Hon. John Wilson Croker.]

Most private.

My dear Gore,

Victory, November 9th, 1804.

From my heart do I congratulate you on your share of the capture of the Spanish Frigates; but I own it is mixed with regret that you did not command. However, it [is] a good thing, and I hope before this time you have taken more of them. The Lima Ships are loaded with gold. Should you find that I am destined to be here a few months longer, and that the Medusa is in absolute want of going to England, you can apply to Sir Richard Strachan, who will send Medusa to me; and you are sure that, if I can, you shall go home without Convoy, unless your rich Prizes. Be assured of my inclination to meet your wishes as much as is possible.

5

The secret of the capture was perfectly well kept, but one of your Mids wrote a letter to Mr. Williams, and out it all came. I hope Gibraltar is perfectly free from sickness by this time; and that you may very safely send your Prizes, and communicate with the Garrison. The water, I thought, from the Navy tank, was perfectly clear from the Garrison, and you will have, before this time, Transports with provisions and stores. I am very far from well; and what, my dear Gore, are the mines of Peru, compared to health? God bless you, and believe me ever your sincere and obliged friend,

NELSON AND Bronte.

Captain Moore had no business to take the Amphion; but I dare [say] Sutton wished it. I am distressed for Frigates and Sloops.

4 i. e., Except.

5 Lieutenant Edward Williams. Having been in the Victory at Trafalgar, he was made a Commander on the 24th of December, 1805; and he died in that rank in 1843.

6

Captain Moore stated in a letter to the Admiralty, of the 19th of October, that he ordered the Amphion to England, "for the security of the two Spanish Frigates, La Medée and La Clara."

TO LIEUTENANT ROBERT LLOYD, H.M. SHIP GUERRIER, ON BOARD L'ESPERANCE.

[Order-Book.]

Victory, at Sea, 9th November, 1804.

You are hereby required and directed to proceed immediately with my Public dispatches to Gibraltar, and on your arrival there, you will deliver my letter to his Excellency General Sir Thomas Trigge, and keep those (in case the disease still continues) for the Donegal and Medusa to be forwarded by La Sophie or Halcyon, as early as possible. On your passage from hence to Gibraltar, I must desire you will be particularly careful, and not allow the Esperance to be boarded by any Spanish Ship or Vessel of War, or suffer her to be placed in any situation under their Forts or Batteries, or otherwise, that may subject her to detention or capture, as the intentions of Spain are at this moment very uncertain with respect to our Country. After having disposed of the dispatches as above mentioned, you will return to the command of his Majesty's Prison-Ship Guerrier, taking particular care of the people on board L'Esperance, till an opportunity offers for joining their proper Ship, and deliver L'Esperance into the charge of the Halcyon, or her Agents.

NELSON AND Bronte.

TO SIR ALEXANDER BALL, BART., MALTA.

[Autograph, in the possession of Sir William Keith Ball, Bart.]

Victory, November 10th, 1804.

My dear Ball, Captain Moore has thought fit to take home with him the Amphion, and I think very probable he would Gore, had he not separated from him in pursuit of one of the Spanish Frigates,' which, after striking, attempted to get away. Gore, in a very leaky Ship, would not proceed to England, but sent the Lively home with her; yet I have no accounts of a War,

7 La Fama.

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