The Life of the Right Honourable Horatio Lord Viscount Nelson, Volume 2Harrison, James
History
The Life of the Right Honourable Horatio Lord Viscount Nelson, Volume 2
Harrison, James
Admirals -- Great Britain -- Biography; Great Britain. Royal Navy -- Biography; Nelson, Horatio Nelson, Viscount, 1758-1805
On Thursday, the 7th of March, a cartel ship came into the fleet, then
at anchor under Tolaro in the Isle of Rouse, with Captain Layman, the
officers, and crew, of the Raven brig, which was wrecked off Cadiz, on
the night of January the 29th. The Captain General of Andalusia, Lord
Nelson was told, had treated them with the greatest kindness--"Which,"
generously exclaimed his lordship, "I will return, whenever fortune may
put it in my power!" Having weighed, in the morning of the 8th, the
fleet, at six in the evening, anchored in the Gulph of Palma; where a
court-martial was held on the officers and crew of the late Raven brig,
which passed a slight censure on the captain for not having approached
the shore with greater caution. In the evening, the fleet beat out of
Palma, and steered between Vache and the reef off Antioch. On the 12th,
in the Gulph of Lyons, they were joined by the Active, Seahorse, and
Juno; who had, the day before, seen the French fleet perfectly ready for
sea. The Renown also joined that evening; on board of which, invalids,
&c. were next day sent. It was a calm, all day; but, in the evening,
light breezes springing up, the fleet stood out for St. Sebastian's. On
the 16th, the Renown was dispatched for Gibraltar and England; on the
17th, the fleet was beating to the eastward, off Tarragona; and, on the
20th, in the afternoon, passed Minorca, standing for Sardinia, which
they saw on the 23d in the evening, when his lordship sent the Juno with
orders for the transports to join him. At sunset, on the 26th, the fleet
anchored in the Gulph of Palma; where Lord Nelson found his old friend,
Admiral Louis, in the Ambuscade, who had sailed from England the 16th of
February. The whole of this night, and the three following days, were
employed in clearing transports. On the 29th, the Seahorse brought
intelligence that the French fleet were safe in port on Sunday the 24th.
The day following, the signal was made to prepare for sea; and, our
fleet having sailed from Palma, anchored at Palla, on the 31st in the
evening. Next morning, April 1, at day-light, they commenced watering;
and, at sun-set, every ship was compleat, and the fleet moved farther
off shore. Their activity, his lordship remarked, was never exceeded. On
the 3d, at day-light, they sailed from Palla; and, next morning, were
joined by the Phoebe, with the signal that the enemy's fleet was at
sea. At nine, Captain Capel went on board the Victory; and reported to
his lordship, that he had seen the French fleet on Sunday morning at
eight o'clock, and kept with them till sun-set, but lost sight of them
during the night. Lord Nelson immediately sent the Ambuscade to Gaieta,
and the Active to the coast of Africa, for intelligence respecting them.
Next day, the Amazon and transports joined from Malta; and a Turkish
corvette also arrived from Constantinople, with letters of gratitude
from the Grand Vizier and the Capitan Pacha, to which his lordship
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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