Men of Honour

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Men of Honour Page 33

by Adam Nicolson


  politeness, 18th Century idea of 166-9, 171, 172, 192

  Polyphemus 219, 220

  Pompée 10

  Pope, Alexander 115, 206

  Popham, Sir Home 128-9

  Powys, Caroline Lybbe 167

  Prelude (Wordsworth) 237, 291-2

  Pride and Prejudice (Austen) 172-3

  Prince 198, 288, 289

  Prince of Wales 186, 187-8

  Principe de Asturias 18

  Prowse, Captain 155

  Purísima Concepción 17

  Pye, Henry James 38-9, 41-2

  Quebec 133-4, 135

  raking fire 220, 223

  Ram, Lieutenant William 227

  Rayo 305, 311

  Redoutable 241, 244, 246, 247, 254, 258, 259, 260, 262-3, 264, 272, 278, 302, 303, 304

  Revelation xii

  Revenge 88, 214-15, 310

  Rice, Henry 106-7, 109-14, 118

  Riou, Captain 55

  Robinson, Hercules 49-50

  Rochefort 75, 79, 85

  Rochefoucauld, Duc de 37

  Rodney, Admiral 179, 180, 181, 183, 186, 192, 197

  Romantic Battle 182-3, 316-17

  Rosily, Admiral 47

  Rotheram, Edward 275

  Rousseau, Jean Jacques 193, 285, 286

  Royal Academy 252, 273

  Royal Arsenal, Woolwich 247

  Royal George 179

  Royal Navy 10, 12, 20, 21-2, 23-5, 26, 33, 43, 46, 69, 120, 146, 150, 154, 185

  appreciation of within Britain 70-2

  bourgeois capitalist philosophy of 44-6, 313

  Channel Fleet 74, 84, 86, 87, 99

  chivalry, officers’ sense of 122-7

  class distinctions 54-5, 140-7, 214-15, 216

  fleet as a great machine 66-9, 131-2

  funding 21-2, 41-3, 58-9

  homesickness within 99

  humanity 137-8

  liberation of individual to win promotion and place 45-6, 184-5

  line of battle 175-85

  love within 147-56

  Mediterranean fleet 54, 74, 78, 101, 103, 121, 191

  number of ships 23, 72

  officer class 23, 24-5, 26, 102-3

  officer status anxiety 107-9, 110, 114

  officers’ attachment to men 137

  officers’ knowledge of ships and seafaring 132-3

  orderliness of ships 53-7, 58, 59-63, 69, 72-3, 131-2, 133-4, 178, 201-2

  penalties 79

  punishments 135, 138-41

  quality of sailors 15-16

  self-image 57-8

  self-sacrificial style of command 224-5

  state of fleet before Trafalgar 89-90

  strategic position, 18th Century 182

  superiority of guns 162, 176-7

  supply system 21-2, 29-30, 58-9, 69, 72-3

  swiftness of attack, new tactical insistence on 178-82

  Trafalgar, tension and anxiety on morning of 90-1

  tyrant captains 152-3

  yearning for beautiful machine founded on anxiety 58-60

  zeal, importance of 43-5

  Royal Sovereign 157, 160, 215, 217, 219-20, 221, 221, 222, 223, 225-6, 245, 275-6, 282, 293, 300, 301

  Rudiments of Genteel Behaviour, The (Nivelon) 165

  Rules of Discipline and Good Government to be Observed on Board His Majesty’s Ships of War, The 108

  Ruskin, John 315-16

  Sackville, Lord 37

  Saint-André, André Jeanbon 12, 31-2

  Salvador del Mundo 17

  San Agustín 280, 310

  San Francisco de Asís 305

  San Juan 94

  San Juan Nepocumeno 93

  San Justo 225, 229

  San Leandro 225, 229

  Santa Ana 17, 219-20, 221, 221, 223, 225, 226, 236, 245, 304, 305

  Santísima Trinidad 4, 10, 17, 201, 227, 241, 269, 270, 287-8, 310, 311

  Sassoon, Siegfried 317

  Scorpion 120-1

  Scott, Reverend Dr Alexander 265, 266, 268, 270, 274

  Scott, John 202-3, 227, 254

  Seahorse 230, 232

  Senhouse, Lieutenant Humphrey 198, 199-200, 284, 292

  Servaux, Pierre 222-3, 224

  Seven Years War 20, 53, 179, 251

  Shakespeare, William 126

  ships:

  beautiful order of 66

  danger of 146-7

  decks, differences of danger upon 223

  delicacy of 240-1

  guns 64, 175-7, 202-3, 219, 248-9

  hull 63, 64-5

  keel 64

  log 136

  Muster Book, The 136-7

  Quarterdeck 148, 155, 294

  rig 65-6

  stern 64

  Trafalgar, damage to 298-9

  very nearly unsinkable 248

  Shovell, Sir Cloudesley 24

  Simond, Louis 37

  Sirius 155

  Smith, Adam 44, 45, 250-1

  Smith, John 269-70

  Southampton 175

  Southcott, Joanna xiv-xv, xvii

  Southey, Robert xiv, xvi-xvii

  Spain:

  backward 13-14, 34-5

  conservative 13-14, 43

  disease, prevalence of 15

  Spanish Armada 57

  Spanish Royal Navy 17

  aristocratic officer class 24, 26, 28, 43, 45

  attacked by British ships seeking prize money 11-12

  considered secondary to army 18

  crucifixes hung on ships 160

  disease, prevalence in fleet of 15

  lack of good men 14-17, 18

  pay 87

  ships in poor condition 15

  Trafalgar, casualties 220-1, 287-8

  Trafalgar, Churruca speaks to men on morning of 93-4

  Trafalgar, first contact with British 220-1, 221

  unavailability of skilled labour 16-17 see also Combined Fleet

  Spartiate 88

  Spencer 90

  Spencer, Lady 6

  Spithead mutiny 180-1, 231, 290

  St Paul’s Cathedral 276

  St Vincent, Earl 44, 54, 55, 59, 103, 116, 125, 137, 173-4, 183, 231, 232-3

  Stanhope, Lord 114-15

  Steele, Sir Richard 164-5

  Stroehling, PE 124

  Superbe 90

  Swiftsure 10, 19, 229, 298, 302-3, 310

  Sykes, John 237

  Telford, Thomas 70

  Téméraire 91, 92, 98, 246, 260-1, 262, 264, 268, 282

  Tenerife 103

  Terpsichore 137

  Thanksgiving Odes 314-15

  Theory of Moral Sentiments (Smith) 44

  Thunderer 60, 304

  Toland, John 165

  Tonnant 229, 257, 292

  Touches, Auguste Gicquel des 278, 279, 280, 281-2, 283, 287

  Toulon 23, 29, 74, 78, 79, 99, 145, 194, 195, 277

  TRAFALGAR, BATTLE OF xv, xviii

  aggression of English fleet xi, 224, 258

  average age of sailors 53

  battle for trade 42

  battle shock 291-2

  British approach to battle 3-8, 46-8, 49-52, 96-9, 130-1, 157, 158, 159, 160

  British liberation of individual energies to ensure victory 45-6, 184-5

  British rescue French and Spanish sailors in post-battle storm 289-90, 303, 309, 310, 311

  British sailors request to leave fleet prior to 87-9

  British shipboard orderliness 53-7, 58, 59-63, 69, 72-3, 131-2, 133-4, 178, 201-2

  British tactics 91, 162, 183-5, 196-201, 217, 217-18, 240, 242, 260, 277, 279, 281

  British victory won before battle begins 9, 23

  casualties 9-10, 20, 220-1, 225-6, 227, 229, 230, 239, 263, 268, 287-8, 302-3, 306-7, 309

  closeness of battle 219-20

  Combined Fleet approach to battle 4, 46-8, 93-4, 157, 158, 159, 160

  Combined Fleet first shot 155

  Combined Fleet tactical mistakes 94-5, 276-9, 282-3

  Combined Fleet, authoritarian pattern of
24-34, 45-6

  Combined Fleet, problems within 8-10, 20, 94

  density of gunfire 163, 209-10

  desertions 53

  devastation of Spanish ships 287

  Dumanoir’s failure to come to aid of fleet 277-9, 282-3

  early fighting 203

  end of battle 289-91, 298

  first minute devastates Spaniards 220-1

  French and Spanish fear of British 11-12

  French navy, weakness of 23, 34, 35 see also French Navy

  honour as a concept comes to identify 116, 127

  horrifying nature of 204, 209-10, 226-8, 257-8, 291-3

  humanity within 251, 258, 264, 288-9, 297, 303, 309, 310, 310-11

  intimacy of 219, 244

  Intrépide’s suicide mission 277-84, 287

  last stage of 261

  moment of contact 161, 162

  Nelson’s signals to fleet 3-4, 5, 128-9, 160, 183, 215

  Neslon’s tactics 162, 183-5, 196-201, 217, 217-18, 240, 260, 277, 279, 281

  noise of gunfire 209-10

  Northesk’s reluctance to engage 275-6

  officers required to stand under fire 162-3

  pressed men 53

  prisoner exchanges 312

  prize money 264, 269-70, 299-300, 302, 304, 306, 307, 308, 309, 312

  Quarterdeck as killing zone 148

  Romantic Battle 316-17

  satisfaction of image to 19th Century mind 314

  sense of order in British fleet on morning of 66-7

  size of British fleet 72

  Spanish lack of seamen on board ship 18

  state of British fleet on eve of 89-90

  storm following 300-12

  technological parity of fleets 10

  three phases of 217-19

  Victory, role in see Victory victory won by British at Toulon and the Nile 23

  Villeneuve strikes his flag 268-9

  Villeneuve’s tactics see Villeneuve

  violence of 219-20 see also violence

  Virgilian and Homeric inheritance at play at xix

  Treatise on Practical Navigation and Seamanship, A (Nichelson) 131-3

  Troubridge, Sir Thomas 230-6

  Truguet, Vice-Admiral Laurent Jean-François 27

  Turner, JMW 71-2, 245-6, 263, 269

  Tyler, Captain 257

  Ulm, Battle of 84

  Uriarte, Don Fransico de 270

  Ushant 79, 86, 87

  Vanguard 235

  Vernon, Admiral Edward 58, 177

  Victory 5, 45, 50, 85, 88, 89, 108, 119, 127, 144, 156

  chases Villeneuve to Caribbean 81

  construction 65-6

  punishments on 138

  TRAFALGAR 290, 293

  anxiety level of men on morning of battle 90-1

  approach to battle 157, 160, 239-40

  battle around 221

  Bucentaure, battle with 244-5, 251, 260, 268

  careful maintenance 241

  carronades 244-5

  casualties 227, 239-40, 245-6, 264, 269

  damage sustained 202, 203, 227, 239-40, 254, 264

  last stage of battle 261

  Nelson carried below so as not to dishearten men 256-7

  Nelson describes plan to Captains on 196

  Nelson plans for great damage to before a shot can be fired 240

  Nelson’s relationship with 265

  paintings of 269

  prepares to collide with Combined fleet 241-2

  Redoubtable, battle with 246-7, 258-60, 262-3

  return to England 312

  storm, damage sustained in 298, 301

  surgeons 227, 239

  Villeneuve, Pierre-Charles-Jean-Baptiste-Silvestre:

  background and class 28-9

  Cape Finisterre 86, 87

  Caribbean, leaves Nelson behind in 80, 81, 131

  Churruca criticises tactics of 94-5, 277

  complains of state of French Navy 19

  Council of War, presence at 9

  despairs at state of Spanish allies 15

  Dumanoir, relationship with 277-8

  Grand Strategy, first informed of 77

  Grand Strategy, role in 75, 84-5

  Napoleon forbids informing his captains of French Grand Strategy 45

  Napoleon, relationship with 45, 47, 85, 86

  personality 92

  portraits 285

  Toulon, breaks out of 78, 79

  Trafalgar tactics 46, 48, 94-5, 120, 197, 268-9, 276-8

  Trafalgar, surrenders 268-9

  Vincent, John 144-5, 147, 155

  violence:

  biblical xii

  British culture of xi, 230, 237-8

  definition of 209

  ending of 258

  heroism, relation to 215

  honour in exposure to 224-5, 240

  millennial apocalyptic xii-xiii

  Nelson’s instinct for devastation and 190, 232-3, 262

  Trafalgar, presence at 209-38, 244-5, 257-8, 270, 272, 288, 289-91, 292-3

  Troubridge’s nature of 231-2, 233, 235-6

  Wordsworth views as divine virtue 314-15

  Virgil xviii, xix, 57, 235, 284-5, 317

  Voltaire 169

  Walker, Henry 307-8

  Walpole, Horace 36, 37-8, 106, 167, 180

  Walpole, Robert 36, 40

  war:

  as foundation of beauty 314-17

  change in attitudes towards after First World 317

  Waterloo, Battle of 263, 314

  Wealth of Nations (Smith) 44

  Wellington, Duke of 76, 172, 251

  Wemyss, John 88-9

  West Indies 78, 80, 133

  West, Benjamin 124, 251, 252, 253, 272, 273

  Wharton, Lieutenant 87

  Wilkes, John 142-3

  Wolfe, General 251, 252, 253, 272

  Wordsworth, Dorothy 70

  Wordsworth, William 52, 70, 115, 191-2, 193-4, 237, 291-2, 314-15

  Wyatt, James 124

  ‘Young Sea Officer’s Sheet Anchor, The’ 26

  Yule, Lieutenant John 91

  zeal:

  Bayntun’s 134

  definition of 3

  French Revolutionary 19

  Nelson’s 44

  Royal Navy encourages individual 43-6

  Acknowledgements

  Any book of this kind relies entirely on the work of scholars over many decades and I happily acknowledge my debt to all those who have written about the 1805 Royal Navy in the past. In particular, the outstanding volumes of naval records produced annually since 1893 by the Navy Records Society make any exploration of this extraordinary and fascinating world the greatest of pleasures. I have quoted extensively from those records and I gratefully acknowledge the permission to do so. Anyone wishing to become a member of the Society, and receive the annual volumes as part of their subscription, should apply to the Hon. Secretary, Department of War Studies, King’s College London, Strand, London wc2r 2LS.

  I would also very much like to thank my editors, Susan Watt and Hugh van Dusen, as well as Katie Espiner, Marie Estrada, Vera Brice, Amanda Russell and Helen Ellis, all of whom have, with practised skill, guided this book through its various paths. Caroline Dawnay and Zoe Pagnamenta remain sources of great encouragement, for which I am immensely grateful.

  About the author

  ENDPAPERS: Nelson’s Undress Coat in the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. The star sewn on to its wool serge cloth is of the German Order of St Joachim, founded in 1755, of which Nelson had been appointed Knight Grand Commander in 1801. The motto, Junxit Amicus Amor, Love has United Friends, represents a powerful strand of medievalist 18th-century thought, one of the formative influences on the behaviour of officers at Trafalgar.

  Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

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  Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2005

  135798642

  Copyright © Adam Nicolson 2005

  Adam Nicolson asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

  A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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