in the British Fleet. For myself, individually, I commit my life to Him who made me, and may his blessing light upon my endeavours for serving my country faithfully. To Him I resign myself and the just cause which is entrusted to me to defend. Amen. Amen. Amen." Nelson entered this prayer into his diary in Victory's great cabin
"England Expects That Every Man Will Do His Duty"
As the morning progressed, the two rough ly-formed columns of the British Fleet were sailing east, driven by a west-northwesterly breeze that barely rippled the surface of the water. As the British bore down on their northbound opponents, the French-Spanish force positioned its ships into a sligh tly arced line-ahead formation , with the concave side facing during the morning before the Barthe British and a number of ships rie. Ir's nor surprising that one of the most noteworthy things he wrote on in small clusters towards the rear. Because of the light winds, that day was a prayer. The son of a parson , his religious beliefs were inthe fleets were approaching one another slowly, sailing only at about grained from yo uth. three knots. Around 1140, Nelson Nelson's reference to trusting decided he had time to send a sighis life "to Him who made me," was nal "to amuse the fleer." He ordered a cons istent theme througho uL his his signal officer, then-lieutenant li fe, marked with a spiritual expeJohn Pasco, to send "England Conrience he underwent while homefides Thar Every Man Will Do His ward bound from the Far East in Duty." Pasco pointed out that the HMS Dolphin. Nelson, then just COURTESY T ll E ARCHIVES & COLLECTIONS SOC IETY, ONTAR IO fl f seven teen and recovering from a This rendition ofNelson's famous signal sentfrom HMS Vicag hoist wo uld be shorter i "co nnear-fatal bout of malaria, later de- tory was published in The Boy's Own Paper in 1885. fides" were replaced with "expects." (In rhe Royal Navy's signal codescribed his deep depression during the voyage and how ir eventually dissolved with a sudden "glow book of the time, the word "confides" had to be spelled out, but of patriotism." He also described how his reverie ended with the the word "expects" was in the codebook). Nelson agreed, and the co nvi cti on that "I wi ll be a hero! And confiding in Providence, seemingly casual but now-famous "England Expects That Every Man Will Do His Oury" was run up Victory's signal hal yards. I will brave every danger." Like so much of what Nelson wrote, his Last Prayer was * * * "See how that noble fellow Collingwood carries composed-perhaps consciously-with a wide aud ience in his ship into combat. " mind. His considerable ego and his political instincts to ld him that his words wo uld become part of the Barde's historical re- Cuthbert Coll ingwood headed the British leeward line to the south cord, regardless of the outcome. One of the clues to that was the of Nelson, and as the fleets approached one another, his newlyfact that he wrote two copies of the prayer to reduce the chances coppered flagship HMS Royal Sovereign was the first to reach the enemy line. When Nelson made this comment on his quarterthat it wou ld be lost in the Bartle. deck, he surely was sharing the satisfaction Collingwood had in * * * ''I'll give them such a dressing as they never had before. " ''I shall being the first into Barde. Their friendship had been sealed in the 1780s, when both commanded not, Blackwood, be satisfied with anything short oftwenty. " Captain Henry Blackwood of HMS Euryalus was on Victory's frigates in the West Indies. It quarterdeck with Nelso n for ;i considerable length of rime during strengthened as their careers the morning of the Bartle. Two of the admiral's comments that progressed over the years. In the weeks before the Blackwood recalled underscored Nelson's commitment to achieving an overwhelming victory over the Combined Fleer. Ship-to- event, Nelson had worked ship battles in the age of fighting sail rarely proved decisive. As the hard to be sure that his friend Bartle ofTrafalgar approached, Nelso n recognized that the Admi- and second-in-command knew ralty, the political leadership at Whitehall, and the British public that he had total confidence in needed a clear-cur victory over Napoleon. Nelson understood, as him, very typical of the way he had before the Battles of the Nile and Copenhagen, the broad Nelson treated his subordinate z g z admirals and captains. Collingstrategic implications of a victory in combat. g As events were leading up to Trafalgar, Nelson blockaded rhe wood and the British captains, French Mediterranean Fleet in a way thar lured them into decisive referred to by Nelson as his combat, rather than kept them in port. When the French finally "Band of Brothers,'' did not broke our of Toulon, sortied to rhe West Indies, and then joined disappoint their commanderwith their new ally, Spain, in a combined fleet in Cadiz, Nelson's in-chief in com bar. Just after noon, Collingopportunity for a confrontation was final ly at hand. When the wood smashed through the battle was over, 18 Combined Fleet ships had been sunk or capCombined Fleer about two-thirds Rear-Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood tured; no British ships were lost or taken.
SEA HISTORY 110, SPRING 2005
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