With the child Horatia as her pledge, Emma had Nelson in chains –though he was besotted, anyway, readily accepting all her demands. Her campaign to discredit Fanny was a masterpiece of flattery, blackmail and power. She controlled access to Nelson, and used that control to force his family into line: even old Edmund had given in by the time he died. Emma, a whirlwind of energy and ambition, was always a step ahead of her men, scheming out the next option. When Sir William died she needed a ‘reserve’ patron, and lit on the Duke of Queensberry. She could not afford to be alone, and had skill enough to keep herself in the limelight. Whether she ever separated her need for Nelson as a protector from her love for him is unknown: she certainly possessed him and held his private life in thrall.76
Throughout his time ashore Nelson remained an admiral in waiting, a warrior at rest. He spent his energy urging the claims of his chosen followers, campaigning on the Copenhagen medal and prize-money issues, and negotiating with Lloyds Patriotic Fund for the families of those killed and wounded. One of the key elements in the creation and maintenance of an eighteenth-century naval ‘family’ was the patron’s ability to distribute rewards, with prize money as the most obvious, if not always the most important example. Prize cases could run on for years: Nelson spent part of 1802 settling the distribution of money earned in Vado Bay back in 1796, and he also settled the more fraught question of the Copenhagen prize money.77 In early 1803 Nelson proposed a round figure of £100,000; St Vincent finally settled on £60,000 and £35,000 head money – the timing suggests that the old Earl was anxious to remove as many causes of grievance as he could before Nelson went back to war.78
Although he had been a major public figure for several years, 1802 was Nelson’s only opportunity to engage with British politics. Hitherto his political connections had been restricted to an intermittent, quasi-public correspondence with Lord Spencer at the Admiralty, and personal contacts like Minto. During the Baltic campaign he had corresponded with Prime Minister Addington, opening a curious relationship with a worthy but ultimately dull politician. While Nelson was mercurial, brilliant and dynamic, Addington, the guardian of good order, sound money and stability, was the minister for the state rather than a party leader. After being picked by the King to continue the government, he gained the support of most independent men and proved remarkably popular. These were the very qualities that attracted Nelson. He had no time for faction; indeed, in wartime he thoughtopposition tantamount to treason. Addington and Nelson shared a simple patriotism built on unwavering loyalty: the admiral admired Addington’s ‘truly patriotic feelings’ and trusted his judgement, while the Prime Minister listened carefully to Nelson’s advice, and acted on it.79
Addington, moreover, needed Nelson. His very name was a guarantee of sound defence and success in war, while his vote in the House of Lords and his occasional speeches were a powerful reinforcement for Addington’s Ministry. In turn Nelson raised key issues with the Prime Minister, having abandoned hope that St Vincent would concede on Copenhagen, prize or pensions. His appeals were carefully constructed. Nelson asked Addington to secure Royal sanction to wear a Turkish decoration awarded for Copenhagen, while noting that he would be far happier to wear the King’s gold medal for the battle, ‘the greatest and most honourable reward in the power of our sovereign to bestow, as it marks the personal services’.80 Too astute to swallow the bait Addington secured the necessary permission, while holding out hope for brother William’s episcopal ambitions.81 This relationship worked because Nelson saw it as a ‘friendship’ as well as a political connection. It even stretched to cover the interests of those southern scapegraces the King and Queen of Naples, for whom Nelson acted as a local agent.82
If Nelson was never entirely satisfied with the official response to his requests for patronage and reward, he was wise enough to keep up the connection with Addington, as the best guarantee of future satisfaction. Later, he would consider the return of Pitt a change for the worse, and saw nothing to celebrate in the underhand and factious methods employed to bring down his friend.83 The exact nature of the contact between Nelson and Addington from late 1802 is obscured by their presence in London, but the fact that it remained frequent and friendly is obvious from the sensitive national and personal issues on which Nelson wrote, and his contact with other members of the administration. It was also the period in which his rather awkward relationship with the Admiralty began to improve.
While they were all at sea, Nelson had been very close to St Vincent and Troubridge, but their translation to the Board of Admiralty changed the relationship. He expected them to treat him as close friends, as he would have treated them had the situation been reversed. That both men felt constrained to act as his ‘superiors’ grated. He found St Vincent distant and formal, and thought it ill became Captain Troubridge to lord it over Vice Admiral Nelson. In a barbed note to Troubridge he noted, ‘when I forget an old and dear friend, may I cease to be your affectionate Nelson & Bronte.’84 He was not the only officer to resent the stiff and formal manners of St Vincent’s Board: it did not help that the old Earl was frequently unwell, and embarking on a highly contentious policy that would split the Cabinet and the service, making him many enemies.85 Nelson had only secured a few patronage trifles from the Earl before the alarming events in Europe made his goodwill priceless.86 St Vincent, narrow-minded, dogmatic and resolute, would not bend or admit his error. Both Copenhagen and the prize case made easy relations impossible, and it did not help that the Earl was not fully engaged with the rest of the government, which held a rather more astute appreciation of Nelson’s worth.87
*
Nelson may have been at home at last, but he could not entirely relax:the Peace of Amiens was only a truce and the signs from Europe remained threatening, while his public fame and record made it obvious that he would be back in harness if war came again. There was no time to settle, and no excuse for turning his back on the task: once ashore, he focused his hard-won and finely honed talents on the higher direction of national policy and strategy. Nelson did not share the fears of Grenville and Windham that peace with France meant destruction, but he was not blind to the dangers:
I am the friend of Peace without fearing War; for my politics are to let France know that we will give no insult to her Government, nor will we receive the smallest. If France takes unfair means to prevent our trading with other Powers under her influence, this I consider the greatest act of hostility she can show us; but if Bonaparte understands our sentiments, he will not wish to plunge France in a new war with us. Every man in France, as well as this Country, is wanted for commerce; and powerful as he may be, France would pull him down for destroying her commerce, and the war in this Country would be most popular against the man who would destroy our commerce. I think our Peace is strong if we act, as we ought, with firmness, and allow France to put no false constructions on the words, or on omissions in the Treaty.88
These were wise sentiments, although his analysis of France was optimistic. In the event the French were prepared to follow Bonaparte’s chariot of glory for another twelve years, renouncing him only when the enemy reached Paris.
Nelson also discussed the future of the peace with Colonel Stewart. From his post at Shorncliffe, watching the French forces at Boulogne, Stewart doubted they meant to keep the peace. Nelson’s views were based on a broader grasp of the issues. He thought Napoleon’s demands on the Swiss would bring all Europe into concert against him, because it proved that his word was worthless. There was ‘no sense but insolence in his present conduct’. He was confident the Ministers would not allow any French insult to pass, or accept any dictatorial language from them. ‘This conduct and no other will secure my support.’ Although Addington ‘will not want a proper spirit to call forth, when it is necessary, the resources of the country, and make a popular war’, he still hoped for peace.89
In late July Nelson and the Hamiltons set off to promote the claims of the new shipyard and facilities at Milford on Sir Wil
liam’s Welsh estate. Along the way the party, which included William Nelson, Catherine Matcham and their families, stopped at Oxford to receive honorary doctorates: Horatio and Sir William in Civil Law, brother William in Divinity. Although turned away from Blenheim Palace by the descendants of the great Marlborough, the English warrior hero of the previous century, the party was greeted with rapturous applause in every town it passed through, and as the news spread each destination tried to outdo the last. Who needed the chilly hospitality of the great, when the unalloyed love of the people was available at every coach stop? The party travelled from Burford to Gloucester and Ross-on-Wye, before taking a river journey to Monmouth where the reception surpassed anything that had gone before. The journey through Wales was punctuated by a stop at the impressive Merthyr ironworks, before pressing on to Pembrokeshire.
At Milford Greville had laid on a grand civic occasion: Sir William presented the New Inn with the Guzzardi portrait and Nelson gave a major speech, praising his Welsh friend Foley and the town that had gathered to hang on his every word. The return leg passed through more towns, including Swansea, where civic freedoms were granted and Emma sang ‘Rule Britannia’, with an extra ‘Nelson’ verse in case anyone missed the point. She did the same when they returned to Monmouth, while Nelson gave a speech expressing his confidence that when a British army met the French, without relying on allies, it would be as successful as the Navy. Monmouth, after all, was the birthplace of the victor of Agincourt.
Nelson’s ‘triumphal progress’ was already attracting attention in London, as the Morning Post noted: ‘It is a singular fact that more éclat attends Lord Nelson in his provincial rambles than attends the King.’ He gave the speech once again in Hereford, as ever mixing piety with praise for his followers. After another triumph at Ludlow, the party stopped for a few days with Richard Payne Knight, an old friend of Sir William, and author of a scandalous book on the cult of Priapus. Thereafter the party called at Worcester, placed a large order for china and took another freedom, at the cost of a speech. Further halts only added to the pandemonium that broke out whenever he appeared. Forewarned by the provincial press, midland towns were primed for a show, long starved of anything on this scale. At Birmingham he met manufacturing colossus Matthew Boulton, before stopping at Althorp, home of Lord Spencer. When the journey ended at Merton on 5 September, Nelson had harvested the full measure of his earthly glory in forty-six days, stamping his name on the nation.
In the process he had proved himself a truly inspired mass communicator: the style and manner that won the hearts of seamen and officers worked equally well with civic worthies and tradesmen. Unlike many professional politicans, Nelson had none of the patrician hauetur that alienated the middle class: he spoke to them in a language they understood, about things that for the first time made them feel proud to be British. With a woman of common stock as his muse, he proved that Britain had greatness among all its people: heroism, beauty and talent were not the province of the elite. Little wonder he carped to Davison on his return that popular applause was ample reward for his efforts, ‘but the comparison is not flattering to King and Government’. He considered making a similar progress through the North the following year.90
*
For all his talk of being cut off from the centre of power, Nelson remained integral to the national cause. This became obvious when the political world returned to London in late 1802. Bonaparte had used the Peace of Amiens to clear up a few anomalies, and extend his control over subject and client states, in ways that the British ministers had simply not anticipated. By October his actions had thoroughly alarmed the ministers, and they prepared to mobilise the fleet. War could not be long delayed.
At the opening of Parliament on 16 November, the King’s speech reflected a strong desire to preserve peace, but only with honour. Brought to town by the long running 1799 prize case, Nelson also discussed the European situation with St Vincent and Addington. It was a mark of their mutual esteem that Jervis’s squalid conduct in the prize business did not ruin a vital command partnership. Nelson was more open with Minto on 26 September, arguing that the country needed to be much better prepared, and that he should have the Mediterranean command.91 When war threatened St Vincent switched Nelson with Keith, the reliable ‘Scotch pack horse’, the right man for the job in both cases. Keith’s Channel command was a monument of sustained labour and perseverance. He stood the task for six years: six months would have been too much for Nelson.
The issue that was likeliest to precipitate war was Malta. After discussing the subject with Nelson, Addington decided to go to war rather than give it up. Nelson advised him that unless it was in safe hands ‘we had no choice but to keep Malta’ – it must never belong to France.92 By late February the only hope for peace, Minto argued, was to send Nelson to the Mediterranean to demonstrate that Britain meant business.93 He was the British deterrent.
With his stock rising in Government circles it was time to ask for a favour. With Sir William dying and Emma’s finances in ruins the hero had a problem: his income was quite unequal to his needs. From a gross income of £3,418, payments to Lady Nelson and other pensions and gratuities left him with a disposable figure of only £768, and he also had debts of £10,000. His only recourse was to ask Addington for an increase in his pension, noting that St Vincent and Duncan had each been awarded £1,000 a year by the Irish Parliament.94 The following day, in the House of Lords, he let the Prime Minister know, ‘I am your Admiral.’95 Despite sending two reminders about the money he needed before he went to sea, nothing was done; instead he went on full pay, and opened the possibility of a prize windfall.96
By 22 March the future course was set: whether it was war or peace, Nelson had the Mediterranean command. George Murray, who had earned his admiration leading the attack at Copenhagen, would be Captain of the Fleet. Samuel Sutton would prepare the newly refitted Victory for his flag, while Hardy took the frigate Amphion. The two men agreed to change ships, and share prize money. Nelson asked St Vincent, who had wanted to retire on health grounds but had been dissuaded by Addington, to find a ship for his nephew William Bolton, but did not trouble him for Berry, who would be left for the ‘day of battle.’97 Sir William, meanwhile, died in the arms of his wife and her lover on 4 April, but Nelson was too busy for mourning.
However important Nelson had become to the national self-image, it was his international reputation that would dominate the next conflict. His European tour had demonstrated a level of popular fame unknown to any other sea officer, and his name had become common currency on every continent. Even Bonaparte could not escape the phenomenon of Nelson worship. During the brief peace, British visirs flocked to see Paris, and the new First Consul, their curiosity piqued by long absence and the novelty of a European republican colossus. In the Consular quarters at the Tuileries Bonaparte had installed busts of two Englishmen. Charles James Fox earned his place as a friend of France; Nelson was there as a god of war.98 Having fascinated the greatest soldier of the age, it is little wonder Nelson terrified the French admirals who served him.
The peace, short and unsatisfactory as it had been, was a vital intermission in the twenty-two-year Anglo-French conflict. It established the British willingness to sacrifice national interest to the wider cause of European stability, and exploded the Whig myth that opposition to France was selfish and partisan. Addington’s determined effort to preserve peace exposed the dishonest, grasping policy of the French ministry and the underhand diplomatic methods and limitless ambition of Bonaparte himself. By May 1803, when the conflict resumed, there was little disagreement in Britain that it had to be fought, and fought to a finish.99 That Britain and her people had the confidence to take on such a task reflected their new sense of national identity, shared purpose, and a common trust in the unique, iconic figure of Horatio Nelson. He, and he alone, had the presence and track record to stop the otherwise irresistible Bonaparte.
Notes – CHAPTER XII
1 Gash, L
ord Liverpool, pp. 41–2
2 Monaque, ‘Latouche Tréville; the Admiral who defied Nelson’
3 St Vincent to King George III 24.7.1801; George III p. 582. Admiralty to Nelson 26.7.1801; Morrison II pp. 157–9. St Vincent to Admiral Lutwidge 24.7.1801; St Vincent pp. 125–6. Lutwidge had been Nelson’s captain on the Arctic expedition. Nelson Memorandum 25.7.1801; Nicolas IV pp. 425–8
4 White, ‘The Public Oder Book’, pp. 253–5 giyes a full list.
5 Nelson to Admiralty 27 and 28.7.1801; to St Vincent 28.7.1801; Nicolas IV pp. 429–32.
6 It had opened in 1796. Wilson, The Old Telegraphs, pp. 17–20
7 St Vincent to Nelson 29.7.1801; CRK/11. also St Vincent 1 pp. 127–8
8 Nelson to Admiralty 30.7.1801; to St Vincent 30 and 31.7.1801; Nicolas IV pp. 432–3. St Vincent to Nelson 31.7.1801; CRK/11 and St Vincent I pp. 128–9
9 Nelson to Addington 31.7.1801; Nicolas IV p. 434
10 Ware, C. The Bomb Vessel: Shore Bombardment in the Age of Sail, pp. 54–8
11 Nelson to St Vincent 2.8.1801; Nicolas IV p. 434. St Vincent to Nelson 3.8.1801; CRK/11
12 Nelson to Lutwidge and Admiralty 3.8.1801; Nicolas IV pp. 435–8
13 Nelson to Admiralty 4.8.1801; to Addington (quote) 4.8.1801; Nicolas IV pp. 438–41
14 Nelson to Clarence 5.8.1801; Nicolas IV p. 441
15 Nelson to Admiralty; to Captains of the Sea Fencibles 6.8.1801; Nicolas IV PP. 443–5
16 Nelson to St Vincent 6.8.1801; Nicolas IV p. 445
Nelson: Britannia's God of War Page 34
