Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson

The Right Honourable Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, KB (September 29 1758 – October 21 1805) was a British admiral who won fame as a leading naval commander. He is famous for his participation in the Napoleonic Wars, most notably in the Battle of Trafalgar, where he lost his life. He became the greatest naval hero in the history of the United Kingdom, eclipsing Admiral Robert Blake in fame. His biography by the poet Robert Southey appeared in 1813, while the wars were still being fought. His love affair with Emma Hamilton, the wife of the British ambassador to Naples is also well known, and he is honoured by the London landmark of Nelson's Column, which stands in Trafalgar Square.

Early life

Horatio Nelson was born in Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk, England to the Reverend Edmund Nelson and Catherine Nelson. (His mother was a grandniece of Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford.) His mother died when Nelson was nine. He learned to sail on Barton Broad on the Norfolk Broads, and by the time he was twelve, he had enrolled in the Royal Navy. His naval career began on January 1 1771, when he reported to the third-rate Raisonnable as an Ordinary Seaman and coxswain. Nelson?s maternal uncle Captain Maurice Suckling commanded the vessel. Shortly after reporting aboard, Nelson was appointed a midshipman and began officer training. Ironically, Nelson found that he suffered from chronic seasickness, a complaint that dogged him for the rest of his life.

Related Topics:
Burnham Thorpe - Norfolk - England - Reverend Edmund Nelson - Catherine Nelson - Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford - Norfolk Broads - Royal Navy - January 1 - 1771 - Third-rate - ''Raisonnable'' - Ordinary Seaman - Coxswain - Maurice Suckling - Midshipman - Seasickness

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By 1777 he had risen to the rank of lieutenant, and was assigned to the West Indies, during which time he saw action on the British side of the American Revolutionary War. By the time he was 20, in June 1779, he made captain; the 28-gun frigate Hinchinbrook, newly-captured from the French, was his first command.

Related Topics:
1777 - Lieutenant - West Indies - American Revolutionary War - 1779 - Captain - ''Hinchinbrook''

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In 1781 he was involved in an action against the Spanish fortress of San Juan in Nicaragua. A success, the efforts involved still damaged Nelson's health to the extent that he returned to England for more than a year. He eventually returned to active duty and was assigned to Albemarle, in which he continued his efforts against the American rebels until the official end of the war in 1783.

Related Topics:
1781 - Nicaragua - ''Albemarle'' - 1783

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