II.—­In the Mediterranean

The Agamemnon was ordered to the Mediterranean under Lord Hood, and Nelson was sent with despatches to Sir William Hamilton, our envoy to the court of Naples.  Sir William, after his first interview with him, told Lady Hamilton that he was about to introduce a little man to her who could not boast of being very handsome, but who would one day astonish the world.  Thus that acquaintance began which ended in the destruction of Nelson’s domestic happiness, though it threatened no such consequences then.  Here also began that acquaintance with the Neapolitan court which led to the only blot on Nelson’s public character.

Having accomplished this mission, Nelson was sent to join Commodore Linzee at Tunis, and shortly afterwards to co-operate with General Paoli and the Anti-Gallican party in Corsica.  At this time, 1794, Nelson was able to say, “My seamen are now what British seamen ought to be, almost invincible.  They really mind shot no more than peas.”  And again, after capturing Bastia, “I am all astonishment when I reflect on what we have achieved!  I was always of opinion, have ever acted up to it, and never had any reason to repent it, that one Englishman was equal to three Frenchmen.”  The Agamemnon was then dispatched to co-operate in the siege of Calvi with General Sir Charles Stuart, at which Nelson lost the sight of one eye; and later played a glorious part in the attack by Admiral Hotham’s squadron on the French fleet.  This action saved Corsica for the time.

Nelson was made colonel of marines in 1795, a mark of approbation which he had long wished for; and the Agamemnon was ordered to Genoa, to co-operate with the Austrian and Sardinian forces.  The incapacity and misconduct of the Austrian General de Vins, however, gave the enemy possession of the Genoese coast.  The Agamemnon, therefore, could no longer be useful on this station, and Nelson sailed for Leghorn to refit, and then joined the Mediterranean fleet under Sir John Jervis.

England at that time depended too much on the rotten governments of the Continent, and too little upon itself.  Corsica was therefore abandoned by Britain, and Nelson, after superintending the evacuation of Corsica, was ordered to hoist his broad pennant on board the Minerva frigate.  He then sailed for Gibraltar, and proceeded westward in search of the admiral.

III.—­St. Vincent and the Nile

Off the mouth of the Straits of Gilbraltar he fell in with the Spanish fleet; and on February 13, 1797, reaching the station off Cape St. Vincent, he communicated this intelligence to Sir John Jervis, and was directed to shift his broad pennant on board the Captain.  On the following morning was fought the battle of Cape St. Vincent.  The British had only fifteen ships of the line against twenty-seven Spanish ships, but Britain, largely through Nelson’s intrepidity, secured an overwhelming victory.  The commander-in-chief was rewarded with the title of Earl St. Vincent, and Nelson was advanced to the rank of rear-admiral and received the Order of the Bath.