at a quarter past one o’clock, was engaged with the headmost, and of course leewardmost of the Spanish division.  The ships which I know were, the Santissima Trinidad, 126; San Josef, 112;[1] Salvador del Mundo, 112;[1] San Nicolas, 80;[44] another first-rate, and seventy-four, names not known.  I was immediately joined and most nobly supported by the Culloden, Captain Troubridge.  The Spanish fleet,[45] from not wishing (I suppose) to have a decisive battle, hauled to the wind [again] on the larboard tack, which brought the ships afore-mentioned to be the leewardmost and sternmost ships in their fleet.”

By this spontaneous and sudden act, for which he had no authority, by signal or otherwise, except his own judgment and quick perceptions, Nelson entirely defeated the Spanish movement.  Devoting his own ship to a most unequal contest, he gained time for the approaching British van to come up, and carry on the work they had already begun when first passing these ships—­before the moment of tacking.  The British column being then in a V shape,—­part on one tack, part on the other, the point of the V being that of tacking,—­he hastened across, by a short cut, from the rear of one arm of the V to a position on the other side, toward which the van was advancing, but which it, being more distant, could not reach as soon as he, and therefore not to as good effect.  To quote Jervis’s words concerning this incident, “Commodore Nelson, who was in the rear on the starboard tack, took the lead on the larboard, and contributed very much to the fortune of the day.”  On the intellectual side, the side of skill, this is what he did; on the side of valor, it is to be said that he did it for the moment single-handed.  The “Culloden,” the actual leader, came up shortly, followed afterwards by the “Blenheim;” and the “Excellent” was ordered by Jervis to imitate Nelson’s movement, and strengthen the operation which he had initiated.  It was the concentration of these ships at the point which Nelson seized, and for a moment held alone, that decided the day; and it was there that the fruits of victory were chiefly reaped.

It must not be understood, of course, that all the honors of the day are to be claimed for Nelson, even conjointly with those present with him at the crucial moment.  Much was done, both before and after, which contributed materially to the aggregate results, some of which were missed by the very reluctance of men of solid military qualities to desist from seeking enemies still valid, in order to enjoy what Nelson called the “parade of taking possession of beaten enemies.”  It seems probable that more Spanish ships might have been secured, had it not been for the eagerness of some British vessels to push on to new combats.  But, while fully allowing the merits of many others, from the commander-in-chief down, it is true of St. Vincent, as of most battles, that there was a particular moment on which success or failure hinged, and that upon the action then taken