Towards the end of August 1805, Captain Blackwood of the Euryalus arrived at the Admiralty, with intelligence of the enemy having put into Cadiz, where they were watched by Vice-Admiral Collingwood; and on the 14th of the following month, Lord Nelson again embarked on board the Victory. The scene is described as having been singularly affecting. He was followed to the beach by numbers of the inhabitants of Portsmouth in tears, many of whom knelt down before him and blessed the beloved hero of the British nation. The affectionate heart of Nelson could not but sympathise with the general interest that his countrymen took in his welfare, and turning round to Captain Hardy, he said, “I had their huzzas before – I have now their hearts.” The Victory weighed on the 15th, at day-break, and, accompanied by the Euryalus, worked down Channel against contrary and strong gales.
After encountering much blowing weather, his Lordship arrived off Cadiz on the 29th Sept.; and from that day till the 21st Oct. never came in sight of land, in order that the enemy might be kept in ignorance of his force: the wisdom of this plan was strongly proved by subsequent events. The French commander-in-chief, M. Villeneuve, repeatedly declared his belief that Nelson, by detaching six sail of the line to the Mediterranean, had reduced the British fleet so much as to render it one-third weaker than those of France and Spain[1].
We now come to the great and terrible day of the battle, When, as it has been well expressed, “God gave us victory, but Nelson died.” The two columns of the British fleet, led on by the commander-in-chief and his worthy second, the gallant Collingwood, advanced with light airs and all sail set, towards the van and centre of the enemy; the former steering for the bow of the huge Santissima Trinidada, the latter cutting through their line astern of another Spanish first-rate. The succeeding ships of each column vied with each other in following their leaders’ example. The enemy at first displayed considerable coolness; and, as the Victory approached, such of their ships as were a-head of her, and on her bows,
- ↑ For the respective force of the hostile fleets, see Vol. I, pp. 205-6.
