Today is October 21^st, the anniversary of Britain’s most famous naval victory, the battle of Trafalgar. It is also the anniversary of the death of Lord Nelson, the hero of that battle who lost his life at the moment of his greatest victory. The following is a brief précis of that life and the battle with which Nelson will forever be associated.

Horatio Nelson, the son of a church minister, joined the Royal Navy as a midshipman at the age of 12 and rose quickly through the ranks becoming captain of his own ship at the age of 20 and admiral before his 40^th birthday, one of the youngest in English naval history. An outstanding leader and tactician he was also a man of immense personal courage always in the forefront of the action losing the sight of his right eye at the siege of Calvi in 1794 and his right arm whilst leading an attack on Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 1797.

He became one of the most popular figures of contemporary society, an icon adored by the masses and courted by royalty throughout Europe. Charismatic and vain, he scandalised society by embarking upon a passionate affair with the beautiful Lady Emma Hamilton with whom he had a daughter, Horatia. Both were married to other people at the time but this did nothing to diminish Nelson’s popularity and appeal. He died tragically at the age of 47 years at the moment of his greatest triumph at Trafalgar in October 1805, a victory which guaranteed British control of the seas for the next 100 years.

Horatio Nelson (first known as Horace) was born on September 29^th, 1758 in the village of Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk. He was a bright child of average physique and was sent, aged 10, to the Royal Grammar School, Norwich shortly after the death of his mother. He stayed there for a year before completing his formal academic education at Sir John Paston’s School in North Walsham. On January 1^st, 1771, aged 12 he joined HMS Raisonnable as a midshipman thus beginning a career that would bring him unimagined fame and fortune and a place forever in the hearts of his countrymen. He sailed the world in the service of king and country, defying the might of Napoleon Bonaparte and his allies and winning significant victories at the Nile in 1798 and Copenhagen in 1801. As a reward for his success he was made first, a Baron and then Viscount. His final date with destiny came off Cape Trafalgar, Southern Spain in the autumn of 1805.

When dawn broke on the misty morning of October 21^st, 1805 Lord Nelson’s fleet prepared for battle against the combined fleet of French and Spanish vessels under the command of the French Admiral Villeneuve. Sending the signal that “England expects every man to do his duty” (or words to that effect) Nelson, foregoing the established broadside tactics of the time, split his fleet into two columns and, leading one column himself aboard his flagship HMS Victory, sailed straight into the lines of the numerically superior French and Spanish. Ignoring the advice of his junior officers Nelson, dressed in full uniform and giving no thought for his own personal safety, stood prominently on the bridge of his ship in full view of his men eager, as always, to lead from the front. Of course, this meant that he was equally conspicuous to the enemy.

Nelson’s tactics aided by the excellent seamanship and superior gunnery of his sailors caused havoc amongst the enemy who were crushed into submission by the withering hail of British cannon fire; their losses were catastrophic. At the moment of victory Nelson was struck in the chest by a French sharpshooter’s musket ball. Mortally wounded, he was quickly carried down below decks but lived long enough to hear confirmation of his total victory before receiving that famous kiss -“Kiss me Hardy”- from his subordinate Lieutenant Hardy.

His body was preserved in a vat of brandy and transported back to England where his funeral brought London to a standstill as hundreds of thousands of his grieving countrymen poured on to the streets to pay their last respects. Nelson was buried at St Paul’s Cathedral and a grateful nation honoured his memory and that of his finest hour by erecting a statue of the great man atop a column, naturally called Nelson’s column, in the newly named Trafalgar Square in London.