"Admiral Horatio Nelson"

To mark the bicentennial of the death of England’s greatest naval hero, the English-language publishing world is letting loose a veritable broadside of books about Admiral Horatio Nelson. The Columbus Public Library has added to its shelves two of the newest biographies of this most flamboyant naval figure—the one whose bronze figure stands on a 170 foot pillar overlooking the pigeon-filled Trafalgar Square in central London.

Born the sixth of 11 children, he joined the Navy at age 12. Within eight years, this small and sickly young man, with chronic bouts of seasickness, became the captain of his own ship and saw service in the West Indies, Baltic and Canada. He married Frances Nisbet in 1787 in Nevis (an island in the Caribbean). He returned to England with his bride and idled his time for the next five years on half-pay, frustrated at not being at sea.

In 1793, when Britain began trying to contain the French Revolutionary Wars, Nelson was given command of the Agamemnon. He served in the Mediterranean, helped capture Corsica and saw battle at Calvi (where he lost the sight in his right eye). He would later lose his right arm at the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Canary Islands) in 1797.

As a commander he was known for bold action and the occasional disregard of orders from his seniors. At the Battle of the Nile (1798), he successfully destroyed Napoleon's fleet and the French bid for an overland trade route to India. His next posting took him to Naples, where he fell in love with Emma, Lady Hamilton. Although they remained married to others, they considered each other soul-mates and together had a child, Horatia, in 1801.

Over the period 1794 to 1805, under Nelson's leadership, the British Navy gained supremacy over the French. His most famous engagement was at Cape Trafalgar--off the Atlantic coast of southern Spain---where he saved Britain from threat of invasion by again destroying Napoleon’s fleet. In a daring nautical tactic to divide the superior French fleet, he ordered his ships to slice through the French armada of 33 ships. Eighteen enemy ships were sunk with more than 14,000 casualties. Not a single English ship was lost, but Nelson, struck by a French sniper's bullet, died on October 21, 1805, the first day of the battle. Mortally wounded, he was taken below so that his men would not be discouraged.

Few men have ever been as adored by their officers and seamen as Nelson. Despite his love affair with Lady Emma Hamilton which scandalized the upper crust of British society, the common people idolized him.

His body was shipped back to England in a barrel of brandy. The cortege, a funeral barge escorted by a flotilla of ships, traveled from naval academy at Greenwich up the Thames river to London. It was one of the most extravagant funerals ever staged in London. The body of Admiral Nelson is buried in a crypt in St. Paul’s Cathedral.

The Library owns 9 biographies about this great figure. “Nelson: Love and Fame” by Edgar Vincent and “Horatio, Lord Nelson”, by Brian Lavery are the two newest additions.

Church membership photo-directories are a great genealogical resource for public libraries. The Library is soliciting these directories---the older the better—to add to its collection of city directories, high school class annuals and telephone books. Please drop any old church membership directories off at the Library so that they may be used by genealogist.