TO LIEUTENANT ROBERT CORNER.' [Autograph, in the possession of Peter Smith, Esq.] Victory, April 18th, 1804. Sir, If you are the gentleman who was Second of the Terrible, and afterwards in the Victory, I remember you most perfectly. I am not aware of any opportunity offering for your removal into more active employ; but, if you can effect an exchange into any Ship here, I can have no objections. I am, Sir, &c., NELSON AND Bronte. TO NATHANIEL TAYLOR, ESQ., NAVAL STOREKEEPER, MALTA. [Letter-Book.] Victory, April 18th, 1804. Sir, Perhaps the hawser-laid rope of six and a half, six, five and a half, five, four and a half, and four, may if the hemp is good be relaid and made serviceable in our present great want of stores. I wish to talk to Mr. Lawson about it, and if it can be done, it will be very desirable. I am, &c. NELSON AND Bronte. TO CAPTAIN HENRY RICHARDSON, H. M. SHIP JUNO. [Letter-Book.] Sir, Victory, at Sea, 19th April, 1804. Although nothing can be greater than the necessity of his Majesty's Ship Juno, under your command, keeping constantly on Rendezvous No. 97; and, although, in the absence of the said Ship, the Swift Cutter, with dispatches from the Lieutenant Robert Corner, who obtained that rank in 1779: he died a Lieutenant about 1820. 2 The Swift Hired Cutter, of eight four pounders and twenty-three men, under the command of Lieutenant William Martin Leake, who was killed in the Action, was captured by the French Xebec Privateer L'Esperance, of ten Guns and fifty-four men, in the Mediterranean, on the 3rd of April 1804. James says, ("Naval His Admiralty, has been captured by the Enemy, without being able to save them, I cannot but approve of your conduct in quitting your station, and proceeding to the Bay of Rosas, to assist the Officers and people of the late Hindostan ;3 but, I must recommend the strictest attention being had to keep the Juno on the said Rendezvous, to protect any Victualler, Transport, &c. from capture by the Enemy. I enclose you Rendezvous No. 102, being the present station of the Fleet, and am to desire you will acquaint any of his Majesty's Ships or Vessels in search of the Squadron, that they will find me there, or orders for their further proceedings. I am, &c., NELSON AND BRONTE. TO ALEXANDER DAVISON, ESQ. [Autograph, in the possession of Colonel Davison.] My dear Davison, Victory, April 19th, 1804. Whatever I might have had in the Hindostan is gone, and also all our letters in the Swift Cutter. She was taken the 5th, and all our dispatches, letters, &c. &c., are gone to Paris. I have only had two dispatches sent me since my leaving England. One, the British Fair, was very near taken in the Gut. The Swift, of the force of twenty-three men and boys, is taken by a thing of fifty-three men and boys. How Government can think of sending Papers of consequence in such a Vessel I cannot imagine. I suppose we shall have a Book of intercepted correspondence,' with such additions as tory," vol. iii. p. 263)-"The Swift, it appears, was carrying dispatches to ViceAdmiral Lord Nelson off Toulon, but which, we rather think, for very few, if any, particulars have been published, were thrown overboard previously to the Cutter's capture;" and adds, that "it seems strange that important dispatches should be forwarded by a Vessel not equal to a Frigate's Launch, when armed with her carronade and proper complement of men." The Hindostan Store-Ship, Captain (or more properly Commander) John Le Gros, caught fire, and was totally destroyed in the Bay of Rosas, on the 2nd of April 1804. Captain Le Gros was " honourably acquitted of any blame, and the Court-Martial gave him great credit for his conduct in smothering the fire at a distance of twelve leagues from the shore, which saved the lives of the Crew." He died at Jersey, in 1807. Lord Nelson evidently alluded to an octavo volume which was published in London in 1798, entitled, "Copies of Original Letters from the Army of General Buonaparte in Egypt, intercepted by the Fleet under the command of Admiral Lord Nelson." the ingenious head of a Frenchman can invent. Lieutenant Askew is safe on board the Triumph: he was fortunate to come up in the Thisbe. I see no prospect of my being useful to any one. I shall only repeat that I am ever, my dear Davison, your most obliged friend, NELSON AND BRONTE. I have wrote to you before respecting paying poor blind Mrs. Nelson's debts, if within the bounds of reason, and my fortune. TO ADMIRAL THE EARL OF ST. VINCENT, K.B. [Autograph, in the possession of Vice-Admiral Sir William Parker, Bart., G.C.B.] My dear Lord, Victory, April 19th, 1804. The loss of the Hindostan has been great; but from our care and attention, I may truly say, of every Captain in the Flect, we shall get on for the summer. It is an accident, such a Ship must be liable to; and if Captain Le Gros' account is correct (he is now on his Trial) he had great merit in the order in which the Ship was kept, and it must have arose from either some of the Medicine-Chests breaking, or from wet getting down, which caused things to heat. The preservation of the Crew seems little short of a miracle: I never read such a Journal of exertions. Misfortunes seldom come alone. The Juno very properly, hearing of the accident, quitted her station off Cape St. Sebastians the very day the Swift was taken, or that would have been prevented. I send the account I have of that event to the Admiralty. I only hope that no dispatches of any consequence were entrusted in such a Vessel. Whatever they are, they are this day before Buonaparte. Every Jack in Diplomatic affairs is intrusted with a cipher, but an Admiral Commander-in-Chief is not. It will now be corrected. am ever, my dear Lord, most affectionately yours, NELSON AND Bronte. TO LADY HAMILTON. [From "Lord Nelson's Letters to Lady Hamilton," vol. ii. p. 29.] My dearest Emma, Victory, April 19th, 1804. I had wrote you a line, intended for the Swift Cutter; but, instead of her joining me, I had the mortification, not only to hear that she was taken, but that all the dispatches and letters had fallen into the hands of the Enemy; a very pretty piece of work! I am not surprised at the capture, but am very much so that any dispatches should be sent in a Vessel with twenty-three men, not equal to cope with any Rowboat Privateer. As I do not know what letters of yours are in her, I cannot guess what will be said. I suppose, there will be a publication. The loss of the Hindostan, was great enough; but, for importance, it is lost, in comparison to the probable knowledge the Enemy will obtain of our connexions with Foreign Countries! Foreigners for ever say, and it is true - We dare not trust England; one way or other, we are sure to be committed!' However, it is now too late to launch out on this subject. Not a thing has been saved out of the Hindostan, not a second shirt for any one; and it has been by extraordinary exertions, that the people's lives were saved. Captain Hallowell is so good as to take home for me, wine as by the enclosed list; and, if I can, some honey. The Spanish honey is so precious, that if [any one has] a cut, or sore throat, it is used to cure it. I mention this, in case you should wish to give the Duke a jar. The smell is wonderful! It is produced nowhere but in the mountains near Rosas. The Cyprus wine-one hogshead, was for Buonaparte,-I would recommend the wine-cooper drawing it off: and you can send a few dozens to the Duke; who, I know, takes a glass every day at two o'clock. I wish I had anything else to send you; but, my dearest Emma, you must take the will for the deed. I am pleased with Charlotte's letter; and, as she loves my dear Horatia, I shall always like her. What hearts those must have, who do not! But, thank God, she shall not be dependent on any of them. Your letter of February 12th, through Mr. Falconet, I have received. I know they are all read; therefore, never sign I shall continue to write through Spain; but your name. never say a word that can convey any information-except, of eternal attachment and affection for you; and that I care not who knows; for I am, &c. NELSON AND BRONTE. Poor Captain Le Gros had your Note to him in his pocketbook, and that was all he saved. Mr. Este left him at Gibraltar, and went to Malta in the Thisbe. Captain Le Gros is now Trying. I think it will turn out that every person is obliged to his conduct for saving their lives. She took fire thirteen leagues from the land. TO MISS CHARLOTTE NELSON." [From "Lord Nelson's Letters to Lady Hamilton," vol. ii. p. 109.] My dear Charlotte, Victory, April 19th, 1804. I thank you very much for your kind letters of January 3rd and 4th; and I feel truly sensible of your kind regard for that dear little orphan, Horatia. Although her parents are lost, yet she is not without a fortune; and I shall cherish her to the last moment of my life, and curse them who curse her, and Heaven bless them who bless her! Dear innocent! she can have injured no one. I am glad to hear that she is attached to you; and, if she takes after her parents, so she will to those who are kind to her. I am ever, dear Charlotte, your affectionate uncle, NELSON AND Bronte. Now Dr. Lambton Este, who has been, and will again be mentioned. His niece, only daughter of the Reverend Doctor Nelson, afterwards Earl Nelson. Miss Nelson married, on the 3rd of July 1801, the Honourable Samuel Hood, now Lord Bridport. |