done my duty, I praise god for it.” Having said this, he turned his face towards Mr. Burke, on whose arm he had been supported; and great as must have been his previous sufferings, expired without a struggle or a groan, at half-past four o’clock, just three hours and a quarter after he had received the fatal wound, and about fifteen minutes after Captain Hardy left him[1].
According to the official statements, the total loss sustained by the Victory in this ever memorable combat, was 57 killed and 75 wounded; but, according to Dr. Beatty’s Narrative, the real number of wounded was 102; 27 men having reported themselves too late to be included in the returns[2].
The Victory having been made sea-worthy at Gibraltar, where she arrived seven days after the battle, passed through the Straits during the night of the 4th of November, and the next day at noon joined Vice-Admiral Collingwood off Cadiz. Captain Hardy parted company in the evening, and stood for England. The body of Lord Nelson had been preserved with the greatest care and attention by the Surgeon; at first in brandy, and afterwards, on arriving at Gibraltar, where a sufficient quantity could be procured, with a portion of spirits of wine mixed with brandy. After a long and melancholy passage, the Victory arrived at St. Helen’s on the 4th December, when the Port-Admiral made the signal for the ships at Spithead and in Portsmouth harbour to strike their colours half-mast. The recollection how lately she had sailed, bearing the flag of that great Admiral, whose remains
- ↑ A short time previous to the commencement of the battle, Captains Blackwood and Hardy witnessed Lord Nelson’s will. To the latter officer his Lordship bequeathed a small legacy, and all his telescopes.
- ↑ It is said to have been the intention of Vice-Admiral Collingwood, to have sent the body of Lord Nelson home in the Euryalus frigate, until a very strong reluctance was manifested by the crew of the Victory to part with so valuable a relic, to which they felt almost an exclusive claim: they remonstrated through one of their boatswain’s mates, against the removal, upon a ground that could not be resisted: he said, “the noble Admiral had fought with them, and fell on their own deck; that if, by being put on board a frigate, his body should fall into the hands of the enemy, it would make their loss doubly grievous to them; and, therefore, that they were one and all resolved to carry it safely to England, or to go to the bottom along with it themselves.”
