I.

Introduction

Horatio Nelson (1758-1805), British naval commander, whose victories in the battles of the Nile and Trafalgar made him a British national hero.

Nelson was born in Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk, on September 29, 1758. He entered the British navy in 1770, serving under his uncle, Captain Maurice Suckling. In the ensuing years Nelson gained much naval experience through service on a merchant vessel, on an Arctic expedition, and in the East Indies and the West Indies. By 1779 he had attained the rank of captain. Subsequently he saw battle service in the West Indies in 1780, was chosen to instruct Prince William, later William IV, king of Britain, in naval tactics, studied naval matters in France, and in 1784 commanded the British frigate Boreas, stationed at Antigua, West Indies. In 1787, while stationed in the West Indies, Nelson married Frances Nisbet.