Blackwood found him in good but very calm spirits, preoccupied with the movements of the allies, and the probable results of his own plan of attack.  He frequently asked, “What would you consider a victory?” Blackwood answered:  “Considering the handsome way in which the battle is offered by the enemy, their apparent determination for a fair trial of strength, and the proximity of the land, I think if fourteen ships are captured, it will be a glorious result.”  Nelson’s constant reply was that he would not be satisfied with anything short of twenty.  He admitted, however, that the nearness of the land might make it difficult to preserve the prizes, and he was emphatic in directing that, if the shattered enemies had any chance of returning to Cadiz, the frigates were to be actively employed in destroying them, and were not to be diverted from that single aim in order to save either ships or men.  Annihilation, he repeated, was his aim, and nothing short of it; and he must have regretted the absence of the six of the line in the Mediterranean, imperative as that had been.  Word had been sent for them to Gibraltar by Blackwood the moment the enemy moved, but they were still away with the convoy.

Blackwood, being a great personal friend of the admiral, took the liberty, after exchanging greetings, of submitting to him the expediency of shifting his flag to the “Euryalus,” and conducting the battle from her.  Nelson made no reply, but immediately ordered more sail to be made upon the “Victory.”  Finding himself foiled in this, Blackwood then made a direct request for the command of one of the two vacant seventy-fours.  This would give him a chance to share in the fight, which in a frigate he probably would not have, but it would also displace the first lieutenant of the ship from the position to which he had succeeded temporarily.  Nelson replied instantly, “No, Blackwood, it is those men’s birthright, and they shall have it."[136] The incident shows vividly the lively sympathy and sense of justice which ever distinguished Nelson; for it must have pained him to deny a request so consonant to his own temper, coming from one whom he had long known and valued, both as a friend and as an officer, and of whose recent service such orders would have been a graceful and appropriate acknowledgment.  It may be desirable to explain to unprofessional readers what was the claim of the lieutenants which Nelson refused to ignore.  The efficiency of the ships for the coming day’s work was due to them scarcely less than to the absent captains, and if they survived the battle, having been in command through it, they would reap not only the honor but also their confirmation in the rank of post-captain, through having exercised it in actual battle.  This succession the admiral aptly called their birthright.