“The inhabitants of this place had yesterday the satisfaction of welcoming the old _Victory_ and her gallant crew to the River Medway: the noble ship passed close to the Garrison Point, and was received with an enthusiastic cheering from the shore, which was returned by her crew. The civilities of the officers of the _Victory_ have been beyond belief in satisfying the anxious curiosity of numbers who have been on board to see the ship and the spot where our gallant Nelson fell and died. The fatal bullet that deprived him of his valuable life is in the possession of the surgeon of the _Victory_, just as he extracted it from the body, with part of the epaulet and coat adhering to it. Many of the poor wounded fellows are on board, nearly well and in good spirits. The bullets in the lower part of the mainmast are so thick that it is surprising how anyone on the quarter-deck could have escaped, especially the brave Captain Hardy, whose amiable character seems to be the greatest alleviation the officers and crew of the _Victory_ have for the loss of their Nelson.” UNDER FIRE WITH COLLINGWOOD And when the loving cup’s in hand, And Honour leads the cry, They know not old Northumberland Who’ll pass his memory by. When Nelson sailed from Trafalgàr With all his country’s best, He held them dear as brothers are, But one beyond the rest! The splendid service that the _Royal Sovereign_ rendered on the 21st of October, 1805, should appeal to every British man and boy. In the words of Captain Blackwood—“Nelson’s Blackwood”—who watched the fight, written immediately after the battle, “of the _Victory_ and the _Royal Sovereign_ it is impossible to say which achieved the most.” The _Royal Sovereign_ had been with Nelson off Toulon in 1804. She had gone home to refit when Nelson went across the Atlantic in pursuit of Admiral Villeneuve. She rejoined the British fleet off Cadiz just ten days before Trafalgar, when Collingwood, who had hitherto had his flag in the _Dreadnought_, moved into her. Two interesting preliminary glimpses of Admiral Collingwood on board the _Royal Sovereign_, on the morning of Trafalgar Day, are given us by his biographer, Mr. G. L. Newnham Collingwood, who had access to the Admiral’s papers and letters after his death, and took all possible pains to get together everything that could be gathered about him from those who served with Collingwood in the great battle.