The Life of the Right Honourable Horatio Lord Viscount Nelson, Volume 1Harrison, James
History
The Life of the Right Honourable Horatio Lord Viscount Nelson, Volume 1
Harrison, James
Admirals -- Great Britain -- Biography; Great Britain. Royal Navy -- Biography; Nelson, Horatio Nelson, Viscount, 1758-1805
Nothing can be more certain, than that his services were supereminently
beneficial; and, that the period was not yet arrived for their being
duly acknowledged.
Though not a word appears, in the official returns of the wounded at the
siege of Calvi, to intimate the fact; though not a single syllable of
regret is expressed, in the dispatches of either commander in chief; it
was at this very siege, that the hero had the misfortune to be entirely
deprived of the sight of his right eye. The calamitous accident was
occasioned by a shot from one of the enemy's batteries striking the
ground near the battery which he commanded; and driving, with prodigious
violence, some minute particles of sand, or small gravel, into that
tender organ.
Even this shocking event, with all it's attendant anguish, was incapable
of forcing him from his post. With a ribbon tied over his inflamed eye,
he persisted in directing the batteries, till the last fortress of
Corsica had submitted to his sovereign's arms.
Surely, if the total loss of sight in one eye, which himself is said
never to have considered as a wound, did not entitle his name to be
placed in the list of wounded officers, which seems somewhat doubtful,
the gallantry of remaining at his post would never have escaped Lord
Hood, as it seems to have done the Honourable Lieutenant General Stuart,
had he been present on the occasion.
On the 8th of August, two days before the capitulation was signed, Lord
Hood, who had received the thanks of both houses of parliament, for his
very gallant conduct in the expedition against Corsica, voted on Friday,
the 20th of June 1794; when, also, the like thanks were voted to all the
officers, sailors, and soldiers, engaged in that expedition; sent a
letter to Captain Nelson, dated on board the Victory, off Calvi, in
which he inclosed the above resolutions: observing that, having received
his majesty's commands, to communicate to the respective officers,
seamen, marines, and soldiers, who had been employed in the different
operations which had been successfully carried on against the enemy in
Corsica, a resolution of the two houses of parliament; he desires that
he will make known, to all in the Agamemnon, and such other officers and
seamen as are with him, and were employed at Bastia, the sense that is
entertained of their spirited and meritorious conduct.
This, too, which is merely an official letter, has been magnified, by
those who clearly know nothing about the matter, into an additional
honour conferred on Captain Nelson, and said to have been highly
flattering to his feelings.
How his feelings were in reality affected at this period, the reader
will presently have an opportunity of knowing from much better
authority.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account