Horatio Nelson

Introduction

The life and accomplishments of Horatio Nelson (b. 1758–d. 1805) have fascinated and inspired each generation in the two centuries since his death at the Battle of Trafalgar. Ironically, this naval officer became the face of Britain’s struggle against the armies of Revolutionary and Napoleonic France. From humble beginnings as the son of a clergyman, he entered the Royal Navy at twelve. His pre-commissioning excursions to the West Indies, Arctic, and East Indies provided the requisite knowledge of seamanship and naval leadership to pass his lieutenant’s examination in 1777. Thenceforward a combination of ability, ambition, luck, heroism, and patronage propelled him ahead of a very able cohort of peers to the attention of the Admiralty and, eventually, to near-universal adulation by the British public. His path to distinction, however, was not without near misses and controversy. There were frequent brushes with death through illness and combat. He once lamented that an admiral with one eye and one arm was not much use to his country! And there were times when self-confidence bordered on arrogance and operational initiative abutted bold insubordination. His personal life also created potential for derailing his professional ambitions, typified by an adulterous affair with Emma Hamilton that befuddled even his staunchest supporters. Ultimately, Nelson’s shortcomings were overlooked and the opportunities he sought were granted because he produced results, capitalizing on a knack for being at the right place at the right time. In 1797 at the Battle of St. Vincent he led boarding parties from HMS Captain to capture the Spanish ships San Nicolas and San Josef. In 1798 his fleet’s destruction of a French fleet at Aboukir Bay thwarted Napoleon’s ambitions in Egypt. In 1801 the daring assault he led at Copenhagen accelerated collapse of armed neutrality against British interests in the Baltic. The Peace of Amiens 1802 proved a brief interlude for Nelson—its collapse the following year led to his command of the Mediterranean Fleet. With Napoleon scheming to invade Britain, Nelson aimed to prevent French ships in the Mediterranean from accessing the English Channel. To this end he chased Admiral Villeneuve’s squadron to the West Indies and back to European waters, thus setting conditions for the Battle of Trafalgar, which defeated a combined French and Spanish fleet on 21 October 1805. There Nelson lost his life, but this victory established British naval supremacy, compelling Napoleon into unsustainable military adventurism until his defeat at Waterloo in 1815.

Reference Works

Centuries of evolving technology, tactics, and organization for sailing navies reached an apogee during Nelson’s lifetime. Sound command and operation of a sailing ship required a body of knowledge and experience that took years to master. In modern parlance, building, equipping, manning, and fielding a fighting ship-of-the-line required a system-of-systems which was as sophisticated as any European state could muster at the time. Students easily can be overwhelmed by the specialized and sometimes esoteric language needed to decipher naval operations of this era. Fortunately, an abundance of excellent reference material is available for this task. King 2000 serves as a handy primer for building a rudimentary understanding of nautical words and phrases. Lavery 1989 provides a comprehensive overview of the Royal Navy and its milieu, thus providing background for continued research. Winfield 2005 and Gardiner 2011 delve further into the construction and capabilities of the British warships employed by Nelson and his contemporaries. Knowing Nelson’s contemporaries is central to knowing Nelson. Ralfe 1972 compiled a multivolume set of biographies in the 19th century that is still useful. Nearly all these biographies are updated in the online Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. White 2002 eliminated some of the guesswork associated with determining those personalities, places, and events germane to Nelson’s life. For a more general reference work that encompasses the wider scope of maritime history, see Hattendorf 2007.

Gardiner, Robert. Warships of the Napoleonic Era: Design, Development and Deployment. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute, 2011.
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Ship draught photocopies on a large page size enable visual analysis of the details, thus enhancing understanding of warship capabilities and limitations by type and country of origin.
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Hattendorf, John B., ed. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Maritime History. 4 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.
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Each entry’s narrative includes end references and bibliography. Last volume includes topical outline, directory of contributors, and index.
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King, Dean. A Sea of Words: A Lexicon and Companion for Patrick O’Brian’s Seafaring Tales. New York: Henry Holt, 2000.
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A-to-Z quick reference with introductory essays by John Hattendorf on the Royal Navy and J. Worth Estes on naval medicine. Useful for both fiction and nonfiction.
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Lavery, Brian. Nelson’s Navy: The Ships, Men and Organisation, 1793–1815. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute, 1989.
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Sixty chapters provide a foundation for development of the vocabulary essential for comprehension of most aspects of the navy’s resources and functions.
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Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
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Authoritative, succinct narratives of the historically significant British personages during the age of sail.
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Ralfe, James. The Naval Biography of Great Britain: Consisting of Historical Memoirs of Those Officers of the British Navy Who Distinguished Themselves During the Reign of His Majesty George III. 4 vols. Boston: Gregg, 1972.
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Originally published 1828. Many of the 149 biographies were written by the subjects themselves, with the rich detail and bias inherent to eyewitness accounts.
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White, Colin. The Nelson Encyclopedia. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole, 2002.
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An arrangement of personalities, place names, phrases, and other categories central to Nelson’s personal and professional life. Contains some never before published letters.
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Winfield, Rif. British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. London: Chatham, 2005.
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Provides details on over 2,000 individual vessels. Includes information on commanders, significant deployments and actions, refits and major repairs, dimensions, and builders.
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Anthologies

Each of these anthologies is the byproduct of increased scholarly and popular interest in Nelson associated with the bicentenary of his death at Trafalgar, demonstrating how the right commemorative milestone can prove a catalyst for new interpretations of well-worn historical topics. Differentiation between the impact of Nelson and Trafalgar is nearly impossible due to inextricable linkage. Yet historians attempt differentiation by varying their degrees of emphasis. The collection of essays in Cannadine 2005 focuses on Nelson the man and myth, while those essays in Cannadine 2006 preponderantly emphasize Trafalgar’s influence on the Napoleonic Era and the evolution of naval warfare into the 20th century. The essays in Harding 2008 extend the analysis of Trafalgar’s effect on Continental affairs, pointing the way ahead for further research. On the other hand, Stillwell 2005 serves as an introduction of Trafalgar to a broader audience. Though it has been common to present Napoleon as Nelson’s greatest nemesis, the two never met. However, their fates intertwined as presented in the essays and illustrations of Lincoln 2005. And though Nelson stood above his fellow officers, there were many who compared favorably with him. Le Fevre and Harding 2005 singles out fourteen British admirals whose accomplishments in their own right demonstrate the extent to which Nelson was the first among equals.

Cannadine, David, ed. Admiral Lord Nelson: Context and Legacy. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.
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A compilation of the lectures sponsored by the National Maritime Museum and the Institute of Historical Research and delivered at the University of London in October 2004. These essays demonstrate that Nelson, from his time to the centenary of his death to today, has been and is many things to many people.
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Cannadine, David, ed. Trafalgar in History: A Battle and Its Afterlife. London: Palgrave McMillan, 2006.
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A compilation of ten lectures by renowned historians that places the Battle of Trafalgar in the context of its time and addresses some of the many interpretations of what it has meant over the last 200 years.
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Harding, Richard, ed. A Great & Glorious Victory: New Perspectives on the Battle of Trafalgar. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth, 2008.
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This collection of eight essays from the Nelson Legacy Conference Series places emphasis on how events at sea affected events on shore and provides direction for further research.
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Le Fevre, Peter, and Richard Harding, eds. British Admirals of the Napoleonic Wars: The Contemporaries of Nelson. London: Chatham, 2005.
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Fourteen biographical essays of admirals whose careers bore much semblance to that of Nelson’s, yet provide the contrast to develop a more complete understanding of what it meant to be a British naval officer during the latter years of the age of sail.
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Lincoln, Margarette, ed. Nelson and Napoléon. Greenwich, UK: National Maritime Museum, 2005.
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Ten essays by leading scholars that trace the parallel histories of these two men. Includes an abundance of fascinating illustrations from an exhibit at the National Maritime Museum.
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Stillwell, Alexander, ed. The Trafalgar Companion. Oxford: Osprey, 2005.
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A collection of scholarly essays written for a broad audience. Each essay accompanied by several evocative illustrations.
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Correspondence

The bulk of Nelson’s correspondence is available in Nicolas 1845–1846. The body of his published correspondence expanded a few years later with Pettigrew 1849, with many new letters that exposed his relationship with Emma Hamilton. It must be understood that a number of letters in these two publications were not true facsimiles of the originals due to editorial sensibilities. Today’s Nelson scholars are no longer inhibited by those constraints, so newly discovered letters are published with the highest possible degree of authenticity. Such is the standard of the letters published in White 2005, which are selections from the mass of previously unpublished letters revealed through the Nelson Letters Project. For figures like Nelson who leave behind a lengthy trail of correspondence, historians often cull excerpts that are revelatory of character and convictions. The works of Callo 2001 and Maffeo 2007 fill this niche for those in search of Nelson’s connection to specified character traits and issues.

Callo, Joseph F. Nelson Speaks: Admiral Lord Nelson in His Own Words. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute, 2001.
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Designed to avert the gaze upon Nelson’s iconic image and reveal his true character through commentary on 333 quotations, derived primarily from Nelson’s letters in Nicolas 1845–1846.
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Maffeo, Steven E. Seize, Burn, or Sink: The Thoughts and Words of Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 2007.
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Over 3,000 quotations by and about Nelson with topic arrangement and a detailed index that facilitate concentration on specific issues.
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Nicolas, Nicholas Harris, ed. The Dispatches and Letters of Vice-Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson. 7 vols. London: Henry Colburn, 1845–1846.
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Remains the canon of published Nelson correspondence, but one must understand its intentional errors in commission and omission and be prepared to supplement with subsequently published correspondence.
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Pettigrew, Thomas Joseph. Memoirs of the Life of Vice-Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson. 2 vols. London: T. and W. Boone, 1849.
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Originally conceived as a supplement to Nicholas 1845–1846. Contains several hundred previously unpublished letters, many of which underscore the relationship between Nelson and Lady Hamilton.
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White, Colin, ed. Nelson: The New Letters. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell in association with the National Maritime Museum and Royal Naval Museum, 2005.
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The 507 previously unpublished letters presented in this volume shed significant new light on Nelson’s private life, personal relationships, secret operations, and intelligence contacts. Editorial care taken to preserve the pulse of Nelson’s writing style.
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Contemporary Accounts and Letters

While we come to know Nelson through his own words, someone’s character is often best deduced by his contemporaries. And while secondary source histories are indispensable guides, first-hand accounts often allow students to draw their own conclusions. Thus, deeper understanding of Nelson and his times involves examining a breadth of primary sources. First Lord of the Admiralty papers are especially useful for determining the strategic effects and unintended consequences of naval operations. Corbett 1913–1924, Smith 1922–1927, and Laughton 1907–1911 respectively present the papers of Spencer, Jervis, and Barham for the period that Nelson served as an admiral. Collingwood’s private correspondence in Hughes 1957 contains the reflections of one of Nelson’s closest comrades and successor at Trafalgar. Minto 1874 provides an intelligent perspective on the key events of the age, not sparing criticism when due. For extensive first-hand accounts of naval life, the journals of Hoffman in Bevan and Wolryche-Whitmore 1998 and Moore in Wareham 2004 provide unadulterated observations. And the experiences of a British marine officer in Petrides and Downs 2000 add another unique perspective to the tapestry of Nelson’s navy.

Bevan, A. Beckford, and H. B. Wolryche-Whitmore, eds. A Sailor of King George: The Journals of Captain Frederick Hoffman, RN, 1793–1814. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute, 1998.
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Hoffman participated at Trafalgar, reflecting on this battle and many other events central to the naval war against France. His descriptions challenge many stereotypes of the sailing navy.
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Corbett, Julian S., and Herbert W. Richmond, eds. Private Papers of George, Second Earl Spencer, First Lord of the Admiralty, 1794–1801. 4 vols. London: Navy Records Society, 1913–1924.
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Includes reports and descriptions of the significant naval activity of the period, illuminating the navy’s interaction with other key decision-making entities of the British government.
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Hughes, Edward, ed. The Private Correspondence of Admiral Lord Collingwood. London: Navy Records Society, 1957.
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A collection of letters to family and friends spanning 1776 to 1810.
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Laughton, John Knox, ed. Letters and Papers of Charles, Lord Barham, Admiral of the Red Squadron, 1758–1813. 3 vols. London: Navy Records Society, 1907–1911.
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Barham’s experience as a naval officer, comptroller of the Royal Navy, and member of the Admiralty Board culminated in 1805 as First Lord of the Admiralty.
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Minto, Countess. Life and Letters of Sir Gilbert Elliot, First Earl of Minto, from 1751 to 1806. 3 vols. London: Longmans, Green, 1874.
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Minto was a trusted confidant of Nelson. Several insightful reflections on Nelson and his times can be found in the third volume.
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Petrides, Anne, and Jonathon Downs, eds. Sea Soldier: An Officer of Marines with Duncan, Nelson, Collingwood and Cockburn: The Letters and Journals of Major T. Marmaduke Wybourn RM, 1797–1813. Tunbridge Wells, UK: Parapress, 2000.
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Letters from Wybourn to his sisters illuminate details of operations in Home waters, the Mediterranean, North American waters, and the Caribbean. Marginal notes by the editors provide context throughout.
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Smith, David Bonner, ed. Letters of Admiral of the Fleet the Earl of St. Vincent whilst First Lord of the Admiralty 1801–1804. 2 vols. London: Navy Records Society, 1922–1927.
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Selections from St. Vincent’s letter books in the British Library.
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Wareham, Tom. Frigate Commander. Barnsley, UK: Pen & Sword Maritime, 2004.
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Draws from the thirty-seven-volume journal of Graham Moore (b. 1764–d. 1843) of the Royal Navy. Moore’s prose has the feel of an insider’s account, with insightful commentary often accompanying his vividly described observations of naval life.
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Biographies

Nelson is the topic of hundreds of biographies, each subjected to the biases of the author and zeitgeist of the time. Considering these factors and the scale of Nelson’s accomplishments, new perspectives of Nelson’s life can be expected with regularity. Clarke and M’Arthur 1809 produced the first widely published account of Nelson’s life, an account that propagated myths and hero worship, but was not altogether without value. The succession of biographies that followed were written in a similar vein until Mahan 1899 focused on Nelson’s naval leadership qualities, a perspective suited for the naval arms race of the era. Shifting focus, Oman 1946 incorporated new letters that further illuminated Nelson’s complex personality. Of the many more recently published biographies, each attempts to capture a unique perspective. Coleman 2002 presents a Nelson who achieves greatness despite his many flaws, while Vincent 2004 juxtaposes Nelson’s often mutually exclusive aims of achieving glory and finding intimacy. Knight 2005 produced the best single-volume biography of the Trafalgar bicentenary period, based exclusively on primary source documentation while taking care to place Nelson’s accomplishments within their strategic context. The epic two-volume biography of Sugden 2004 and Sugden 2012 contains an abundance of detail written with captivating style.

Clarke, James, and John M’Arthur. The Life of Admiral Lord Nelson. London: T. Cadwell and W. Davis, 1809.
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A hagiographic Nelson biography replete with inaccuracies that have been debunked after two centuries of scholarship. Nonetheless valuable as a bookend for understanding the evolution of Nelson historiography.
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Coleman, Terry. The Nelson Touch: The Life and Legend of Horatio Nelson. New York: Oxford University Press. 2002.
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Unsavory aspects of Nelson’s character and his errors in judgment emerge in this biography. Yet, his career progressed because of patronage and because he got results. Highlights the national response to a personality that becomes larger than life in his own lifetime.
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Knight, Roger. The Pursuit of Victory: The Life and Achievement of Horatio Nelson. London: Allen Lane, 2005.
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The best of the single-volume Nelson biographies published in the Trafalgar bicentenary period. Knight’s narrative eschews Nelsonian myths by relying on primary sources and seeks to contextualize Nelson’s achievements through understanding of the Royal Navy, its enemies, and many other factors that shaped the era.
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Mahan, Alfred Thayer. The Life of Nelson: The Embodiment of the Sea Power of Great Britain. Boston: Little, Brown, 1899.
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This one-volume second edition attests to its contemporary popularity, published two years after its initial two-volume release. The biography resonated with the general public and naval professionals at a time when the national identities of Britain, Germany, the United States, and Japan were increasingly linked to naval power.
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Oman, Carola. Nelson. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1946.
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A character study that incorporated many primary sources hitherto unavailable to Nelson biographers. Also provides detailed acquaintance with some of the admiral’s more intimate associates. Still within the canon of Nelson biographies.
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Sugden, John. Nelson: A Dream of Glory. London: Jonathon Cape, 2004.
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First of a two-volume biography examining Nelson’s life up to 1797. Comprehensively researched and very rich in detail.
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Sugden, John. Nelson: The Sword of Albion. London: Bodley Head, 2012.
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Covers the last eight years of Nelson’s life with the same abundance of detail and engrossing narrative style as the first volume.
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Vincent, Edgar. Nelson: Love & Fame. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2004.
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Based on previously published sources, this is an emotionally engaging account that juxtaposes Nelson’s often mutually exclusive aims of achieving glory and finding intimacy.
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Comparative Biographies

Of the many accomplished British naval officers from the era of the French Revolution and Napoleon, Nelson is the most prominent—hence his accomplishments tend to dominate perceptions of naval leadership. Understanding that Nelson’s pursuit of the decisive mêlée was but one of the Royal Navy’s essential tasks, other worthy examples of naval leadership abound. Tracy 2006 identifies 200 of Nelson’s most noteworthy contemporaries, establishing a sense that Nelson was first among equals. Adams 2005 deservedly elevates Collingwood to a position above all others but Nelson. Morriss 1997 and Harvey 2000 present biographies of Cockburn and Cochrane, two officers whose adventurous exploits have been inspiration for fictional heroes. More mundane but no less important are the leadership qualities needed to deploy and sustain a fleet at sea, aptly described by Talbott 1998 in a biography of Charles Middleton. McCranie 2006 tells the story of Keith, emphasizing the gritty reality of patronage and prize money distribution that were prevalent factors of naval life. Shifting from open water to the littorals, DeToy 1997 highlights the symbiotic relationship between Berkeley and Wellington as the Royal Navy supported the British army in the Peninsular War.

Adams, Max. Trafalgar’s Lost Hero: Admiral Lord Collingwood and the Defeat of Napoleon. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2005.
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A thoroughly readable biography with primary source correspondence woven liberally throughout the narrative.
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DeToy, Brian M. “Wellington’s Admiral: The Life and Career of George Berkeley, 1753–1818.” PhD diss., Florida State University, 1997.
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Provides superb insight into the complexities and rewards of inter-service cooperation between the British army and navy during the Peninsular War. Berkeley an exemplar of naval leadership for warfare across the littorals.
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Harvey, Robert. Cochrane: The Life and Exploits of a Fighting Captain. New York: Carroll & Graf, 2000.
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Arguably the British naval officer who best exemplified the fighting spirit of Nelson and who provided inspiration for historical fiction in his time and today.
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McCranie, Kevin D. Admiral Lord Keith and the Naval War against Napoleon. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2006.
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Keith commanded in the eastern seas, the Mediterranean, the North Sea, and the Channel; he experienced difficulties with Nelson in the Mediterranean. This monograph is particularly valuable as a case study in wealth accumulation from prize money and the effect of an acerbic personality on patronage.
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Morriss, Roger. Cockburn and the British Navy in Transition: Admiral Sir George Cockburn, 1772–1853. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1997.
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Burning Washington and conveying Napoleon to St. Helena are conspicuous on Cockburn’s resume, but this biography stresses his achievement as an administrator over a sixty-year career with the Royal Navy.
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Talbott, John E. The Pen & Ink Sailor: Charles Middleton and the King’s Navy, 1778–1813. London: Frank Cass, 1998.
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Middleton’s exertions and reforms while Controller of the Navy proved a catalyst for transformation of the Royal Navy from a low point during the American Revolution to its apogee at the end of the 18th century. Nelson’s achievements depended on dockyards that could put and keep ships at sea.
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Tracy, Nicholas. Who’s Who in Nelson’s Navy: 200 Naval Heroes. London: Chatham, 2006.
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A useful alphabetical listing of well-known and lesser-known naval officers.
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Bibliographies

Nelson’s life and the Royal Navy during the age of sail have been the subject of thousands of volumes. Interest in these subjects has waxed and waned over the years, but has been most intense during the periods associated with the centenary and bicentenary of Trafalgar. Hattendorf 2011 addresses merits of bicentenary scholarship while taking care to promote the relevance of selected older works. The main body of these older works is aptly categorized in Cowie 1990. With advances in scholarship and research technology, Rasor 2004 produced a more comprehensive guide, of which Nelson is one key component. The essays of Rodger 1999 and Rodger 2008 are unparalleled in their timeliness and authoritativeness.

Cowie, Leonard W. Lord Nelson, 1758–1805: A Bibliography. London, and Westport, CT: Meckler, 1990.
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An excellent source for archival and published resources available prior to the Trafalgar bicentenary period.
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Hattendorf, John B. “Whither with Nelson and Trafalgar? The Bicentenary Scholarship of the Nelson Era.” In Talking about Naval History: A Collection of Essays. By John B. Hattendorf, 143–163. Newport, RI: Naval War College, 2011.
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This historiographic essay explains the current state of Nelsonian scholarship and exhorts that work is still needed on several topics in this field of research.
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Rasor, Eugene L. English/British Naval History to 1815: A Guide to the Literature. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2004.
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Chapter 7 contains a section that includes Nelson’s significant campaigns and battles, and chapter 8 has a section dedicated specifically to Nelson. Also includes an annotated bibliography with 4,124 entries.
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Rodger, N. A. M. “Recent Books on the Royal Navy of the Eighteenth Century.” Journal of Military History 63 (July 1999): 683–703.
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Begins with a superb synopsis of current historiographic trends and offers sound advice on the need for writers to bridge the gap between technical and general histories.
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Rodger, N. A. M. “Recent Work in British Naval History, 1750–1815.” Historical Journal 51 (September 2008): 741–751.
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A candid assessment of recent works related to biography, battles, operations, technology, culture, and society. Useful commentary on the state of naval history in specified countries.
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Journals

Mariner’s Mirror stands out as the premier journal for articles related to Nelson and the Royal Navy, with primary source research of an original idea a prerequisite for publication. Less rigorous but still of scholarly use are many of the articles published in the Nelson Dispatch. An American publication, the Naval War College Review, posts an online index to its archive of wide-ranging topics.

Mariner’s Mirror. 1911–.
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Published by the Society for Nautical Research in the United Kingdom since 1911. It is a quarterly devoted to maritime and naval history. A rigorous acceptance process expects each article to have an original idea and to be based on primary source research.
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Naval War College Review. 1948–.
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Since 1948, has served as a useful forum for discussion of public policy matters of interest to the maritime services. Online access for nearly all issues, accompanied by a comprehensive index.
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Nelson Dispatch.
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A quarterly journal for members of The Nelson Society. It is used as a member forum and frequently includes articles based on original research.
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Band of Brothers

Nelson famously referred to captains under his command in the Mediterranean as a band of brothers. These fortunate officers had their names thrust into the spotlight after the Battles of Aboukir Bay and Trafalgar, each enjoying the associated recognition. Kennedy 1951 interweaves the stories of fourteen captains in a narrative inspired by their relationship with Nelson. However, this volume lacks the detail that later monographs provide. For example, Rubenstein 2005 details the adventurous career of Durham, while Elson 2008 traces the unlikely path of Hallowell from North America to the inner circles of the Royal Navy. And Samaurez, like Nelson, showed an aptitude for both fighting and diplomacy, as depicted by Voelcker 2008.

Elson, Bryan. Nelson’s Yankee Captain: The Life of Boston Loyalist Sir Benjamin Hallowell. Halifax, NS: Formac, 2008.
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Traces Hallowell’s remarkable path from Boston, Massachusetts to Nelson’s victory at the Nile to other naval operations as Rear Admiral of the Blue.
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Kennedy, Ludovic. Nelson’s Captains. New York: W. W. Norton, 1951.
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The lives and accomplishments of fourteen captains are woven into a narrative inspired by their relationship with Nelson.
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Rubenstein, Hilary L. Trafalgar Captain: Durham of the Defiance. Stroud, UK: Tempus, 2005.
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Durham’s accomplishments before and after Trafalgar alone make him worthy of this biography. One of the best real-life models for fictional depictions of an adventurous sea captain during the age of sail.
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Voelcker, Tim. Admiral Saumarez versus Napoleon: The Baltic, 1807–1812. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 2008.
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Traces the evolution of an aggressive fighting captain to that of an introspective, diplomatic flag officer whose decisions while commanding in the Baltic contributed significantly to setting conditions unfavorable to Napoleon’s Continental strategy.
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History of the Royal Navy

Tracy 1998–1999 has reduced forty volumes of the contemporary Naval Chronicle into an accessible five-volume set. Many of the entries were written by naval officers for naval officers. Of the several multivolume histories written in the 19th century that chronicle the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Era, James 1822–1827 retains usefulness for its detailed accounts of naval operations. Later historians progressively improved depiction of the strategic effects of naval operations, culminating with Rodger 2005, currently the most authoritative history of the Royal Navy. Adkins and Adkins 2007 argues that British victories at sea created the deteriorating economic conditions essential for French military defeats on land. Some specific aspects of the Royal Navy require elucidation beyond the scope of general histories. For instance, the byzantine procedures of the naval prize system are explained in Hill 1998; Lewis 1960 conducts a comprehensive review for all ranks of their origins, recruitment, conditions of service, and rewards; and Musteen 2011 provides a monograph on the long-overlooked contribution of the British naval base at Gibraltar. A useful primary source supplement for Nelson’s era can be found among 160 documents in Hattendorf, et al. 1993.

Adkins, Roy, and Leslie Adkins. The War for All the Oceans: From Nelson at the Nile to Napoleon at Waterloo. New York: Viking Penguin, 2007.
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Presents Nelson’s achievements within the context of how they thwarted Napoleon’s strategic ambitions in American, Asian, and European waters through attrition of French economic resources.
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Hattendorf, John B., R. J. B. Knight, A. W. H. Pearsall, N. A. M. Roger, and Geoffrey Till, eds. British Naval Documents, 1204–1960. Aldershot, UK: Scolar Press for the Navy Records Society, 1993.
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Each of seven chronological periods begins with a general introduction, followed by documents related to policy and strategy, tactics and operations, administration, material and weapons, and personnel. Part 5, 1714–1815, has 160 documents.
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Hill, Richard. The Prizes of Wars: The Naval Prize System in the Napoleonic Wars, 1793–1815. Gloucestershire, UK: Sutton, 1998.
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A richly crafted account of interaction between the courts, agents, and captors. Explains the prize system’s influence on operations and impact on the naval community.
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James, William. The Naval History of Great Britain from the Declaration of War by France in 1793 to the Accession of George IV in January 1820. 6 vols. London: Richard Bentley, 1822–1827.
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Useful for operational history, but lacking strategic context and influenced by partisanship. Later editions extend the history to 1837, with an index to the 1886 edition published by Navy Records Society in 1895.
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Lewis, Michael. A Social History of the Navy, 1793–1815. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1960.
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A comprehensive review of all ranks—their origins, recruitment, conditions of service, and rewards. Notable for its assessment of lives lost from violence, accident, and disease.
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Musteen, Jason R. Nelson’s Refuge: Gibraltar in the Age of Napoleon. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute, 2011.
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This monograph explains how the British base at Gibraltar supported naval operations in the Mediterranean.
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Rodger, N. A. M. The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649–1815. New York: W. W. Norton, 2005.
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The most authoritative history of the Royal Navy. Focused on its political, social, financial, and religious context through organization according to operations, administration, social history, and technology.
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Tracy, Nicholas, ed. The Naval Chronicle: The Contemporary Record of the Royal Navy at War. 5 vols. London: Chatham, 1998–1999.
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Extracts of forty volumes published from 1799 to 1819, distilled by the guiding principle of operational relevance. Index located in the final volume.
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Naval Strategy

Nelson’s victories became an archetype for emulation by successive generations of naval officers. His achievements have also inspired historians and strategists to question the roles and capabilities of naval power, discerning what aspects change or remain constant with evolving technology. Corbett 1905 traces development of communication systems used by British admirals to convey their intent before and during battle, portraying the complexity of maneuver for sailing vessels. Later Corbett 1911 introduced a theory of maritime war that deemphasized decisive naval battle à la Trafalgar in favor of stressing the strategic interdependence of naval and military operations. Creswell 1972 steps back to the 18th century to explain the logic of line ahead formation in battle, a tactical necessity which Nelson employed flexibly. A constant of naval strategy and decision-making is the need for reliable and timely intelligence and means of tactical control. Maffeo 2000 depicts the difficulties of collecting, analyzing, and disseminating intelligence among ships dependent on winds and tides. Nelson capitalized on naval intelligence, despite its limitations, to master the art and science of fleet maneuver. Tunstall and Tracy 1990 provides the most comprehensive account of the French and British signaling systems and of their effect on naval operations. Tracy 2008 demonstrates how Nelson’s brilliance brought British naval power to bear at the decisive place and time on multiple occasions. As Till 2004 postulates on how naval strategy will evolve in the 21st century, Nelson and his achievements will remain a touchstone for analysis.

Corbett, Julian S. Fighting Instructions, 1530–1816. London: Navy Records Society, 1905.
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Useful for discerning how Nelson’s tactical memoranda established intent for his subordinate commanders prior to Trafalgar.
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Corbett, Julian S. Some Principles of Maritime Strategy. London: Longmans, Green, 1911.
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Presents a maritime theory that emphasizes the interdependence of war at sea and on land with discussion on the utility of limited war. Influenced by Clausewitz’s On War.
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Creswell, John. British Admirals of the Eighteenth Century: Tactics in Battle. Hamden, CN: Archon, 1972.
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Explains the relationship between tactical development and ship characteristics. Compares the advantages of fighting in line with the hazards of concentration and surmises that successful admirals were ones who best understood their enemy’s vulnerabilities.
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Maffeo, Steven E. Most Secret and Confidential: Intelligence in the Age of Nelson. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute, 2000.
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Clearly explains the process of British naval intelligence collection, analysis, and dissemination within the context of technological limitations during the age of sail. Special attention given to Nelson’s use of intelligence that shaped the Nile campaign of 1798.
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Till, Geoffrey. Seapower: A Guide for the Twenty-First Century. London: Frank Cass, 2004.
DOI: 10.4324/9780203337837Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Combines traditional maritime theory with contemporary conditions to project the way ahead for the composition and functions of the world’s navies.
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Tracy, Nicholas. Nelson’s Battles: The Triumph of British Seapower. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute, 2008.
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This revision of the 1996 edition incorporates much of the new scholarship from the Trafalgar bicentenary period.
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Tunstall, Brian, and Nicholas Tracy. Naval Warfare in the Age of Sail: The Evolution of Fighting Tactics 1680–1815. London: Conway Maritime, 1990.
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Tunstall, Corbett’s son-in-law, devoted a lifetime to the study of naval signal books.
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Naval Leadership

Nelson’s leadership development began the moment he entered naval service. Sharman 2005 argues that the early mentorship of Captain Locker initiated formulation of Nelson’s convictions about naval tactics and how to interact with peers, seniors, and subordinates. Pocock 1980 examines how Nelson’s formative years in Caribbean waters shaped his leadership style as an admiral. What came to be known as The Nelson Touch evolved from a combination of tangible and intangible traits that earned the trust and adulation of all ranks. Mahan 1904 argues that Nelson represented one of many types of naval officer, while Horsfield 1980 assesses the leadership traits of Nelson and others through a framework of five criteria. Mackay and Duffy 2009 expands the framework of leadership analysis to twelve criteria. Palmer 2005 posits that Nelson’s willingness to cede control was key to his success—decentralized authority with decentralized execution best leveraged the talents of his subordinates in battle.

Horsfield, John. The Art of Leadership in War: The Royal Navy from the Age of Nelson to the End of World War II. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1980.
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Analyzes naval leaders by addressing their relationships, attitudes towards change, strategic and tactical acumen, administrative abilities, and personal background. Chapters devoted to St. Vincent, Collingwood, and Nelson.
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Mackay, Ruddock, and Michael Duffy. Hawke, Nelson and British Naval Leadership, 1747–1805. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 2009.
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Compares and contrasts the naval leadership of Hawke and Nelson using twelve criteria of excellence. A useful evaluation framework for both historical and present-day leaders.
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Mahan, Alfred Thayer. Types of Naval Officers. Boston: Little, Brown, 1904.
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Examines how the leadership characteristics of Hawke, Rodney, Howe, Jervis, Saumarez, and Pellew allowed them to serve conspicuously within their time and place. Mahan argued that each officer represented a type that transcends time.
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Palmer, Michael A. Command at Sea: Naval Command and Control since the Sixteenth Century. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2005.
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Examines the natural tendency of commanders to centralize control, yet demonstrates that decentralized authority and execution often have led to the best results in the chaos of combat. Nelson’s leadership style presented as an apogee for the ages.
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Pocock, Tom. The Young Nelson in the Americas. London: Collins, 1980.
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Provides a basis for understanding how Nelson’s formative years in Caribbean waters would shape his senior officer leadership style. In the author’s words: “American waters made Horatio Nelson the man he became” (p. 1).
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Sharman, Victor T. Nelson’s Hero: The Story of His “Sea Daddy,” Captain William Locker. Barnsley, UK: Pen & Sword, 2005.
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Throughout his life Nelson acknowledged Locker as the most significant mentor of his formative years. That relationship receives its fullest analysis in this short monograph.
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Campaigns and Battles, 1797–1801

In the eight years preceding Trafalgar Nelson solidified his standing as Britain’s foremost naval officer through campaigns that led to the Battles of St. Vincent (1797), Aboukir Bay (1798), and Copenhagen (1801). White 1998 details Nelson’s emotional highs and lows in the year he became a national figure. The following year with victory at Aboukir Bay, Nelson was elevated into the pantheon of British naval heroes. Warner 1960 focuses on how Nelson’s tactics defeated the French fleet near the Nile, while Lavery 1998 broadens the analysis to the battle’s impact on British Mediterranean and French continental strategies. The often overlooked impacts of the battle on Napoleon’s Egyptian designs are addressed in French without English translation in Battesti 1998. In the aftermath of Aboukir Bay, Nelson nearly jeopardized his newly won acclaim through involvement with the Neapolitan court—Gutteridge 1903 is helpful in ascertaining Nelson’s culpability for the controversies of 1799. Again, Nelson demonstrated his tactical prowess at Copenhagen, but here he also demonstrated a penchant for naval diplomacy. Pope 1972 presents a comprehensive account of the campaign, battle, and its aftermath. Feldbæk 2002 does likewise from a Danish perspective.

Battesti, Michèle. La Bataille d’Aboukir 1798: Nelson contrarie la stratégie de Bonaparte. Paris: Economica, 1998.
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A much-needed French perspective of the naval campaign and battle, emphasizing its relationship with Napoleon’s Egyptian venture.
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Feldbæk, Ole. The Battle of Copenhagen: Nelson and the Danes. Translated by Tony Wedgwood. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute, 2002.
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Originally published 1985. Provides one of the finest accounts of the battle and its strategic context from the Danish perspective.
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Gutteridge, H. C., ed. Nelson and the Neopolitan Jacobins: Documents Relating to the Suppression of the Jacobin Revolution at Naples, June 1799. London: Navy Records Society, 1903.
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Presents a mass of evidence relating to the most controversial period of Nelson’s public life.
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Lavery, Brian. Nelson and the Nile: The Naval War against Bonaparte 1798. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute, 1998.
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Approaches the Battle of the Nile within the context of the larger campaign in the Mediterranean and its strategic consequences.
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Pope, Dudley. The Great Gamble. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1972.
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Superbly researched and written with the purpose of addressing timeworn controversies surrounding the battle at Copenhagen. Concludes that the tactical victory was strategically unnecessary.
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Warner, Oliver. The Battle of the Nile. New York: Macmillan, 1960.
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Addresses the question of why a slightly smaller British fleet so decisively defeated a larger French fleet through contrast and comparison of their purpose, leadership, and teamwork.
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White, Colin. 1797: Nelson’s Year of Destiny: Cape St. Vincent and Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Stroud, UK: Sutton, 1998.
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A succinct and richly illustrated account that incorporates previously underrepresented Spanish primary source material.
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Trafalgar, 1805

Trafalgar is synonymous with decisive naval victory and, like Nelson’s life, has been the subject of hundreds of monographs. Corbett 1910 produced the first comprehensive English-language study of Trafalgar, in the process acknowledging the seminal French analysis published three years earlier by Desbrière 1933. Trafalgar has enticed readership beyond naval professionals, and thus works akin to Pope 1959 were written with less arcane prose for a broader audience. Schom 1990 continued in this style, adding to the scholarship of the campaign with a less Nelson-centric approach. Adkins 2005 then dissects the battle hour by hour using knowledge derived from multiple eyewitness accounts, weather conditions, and ship capabilities. The importance of eyewitness accounts for understanding the battle is underscored by republication of Fraser 2004. Also, the battle is best understood when the reader possesses fundamental understanding of ship capabilities and seamanship, information painstakingly delivered in Lavery 2004 and Goodwin 2005.

Adkins, Roy. Nelson’s Trafalgar: The Battle That Changed the World. New York: Viking Penguin, 2005.
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Though the subtitle may be an overstatement, Trafalgar certainly established conditions for Napoleon’s downfall. This narrative of the five-hour battle based on chronology in Rear Admiral A. H. Taylor’s 1950 article in Mariner’s Mirror (cited under Journals) accentuates the violence of 19th-century naval warfare.
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Corbett, Julian S. The Campaign of Trafalgar. London: Longmans, Green, 1910.
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The first comprehensive English-language study that places Trafalgar within its political and strategic context. Meticulous charts and illustrations provided for each phase of the campaign.
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Desbrière, Édouard. The Naval Campaign of 1805: Trafalgar. 2 vols. Translated and edited by Constance Eastwick. Oxford: Clarendon, 1933.
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English translation of La Campagne Maritime de 1805: Trafalgar, first published in 1907. A campaign analysis built upon French archival sources. Still one of the most important sources for a topic dominated by publications from British scholars.
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Fraser, Edward. The Enemy at Trafalgar: Eye-Witness’ Narratives, Dispatches and Letters from the French and Spanish Fleets. London: Chatham, 2004.
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Originally published in 1906, this unrevised edition retains its relevancy despite a few substantiated errors that are addressed in the introduction by Marianne Czisnik and Michael Nash. Provides balance to understanding the battle, the historical memory of which has been perpetuated primarily through British accounts.
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Goodwin, Peter. The Ships of Trafalgar: The British, French and Spanish Fleets, October 1805. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute, 2005.
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Provides histories and comparative analysis of the seventy-three ships present at Trafalgar on 21 October 1805.
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Lavery, Brian. Nelson’s Fleet at Trafalgar. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute, 2004.
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A primer with noteworthy dependence on primary sources. Of particular significance are the chapters that profile the physical condition and manning of six ships (Victory, Bellerophon, Defence, Mars, Euryalus, and Revenge) at Trafalgar.
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Pope, Dudley. Decision at Trafalgar. New York: Lippincott, 1959.
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Tells the story from a social perspective with a dramatic, flowing narrative.
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Schom, Alan. Trafalgar: Countdown to Battle, 1803–1805. New York: Atheneum, 1990.
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Emphasizes that the Trafalgar battle was a capstone to the broader campaign of deterring a cross-Channel invasion. Gives Admiral Sir William Cornwallis, while commanding the Channel Fleet in this period, due credit for setting conditions vital to Nelson’s victory.
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Women

A review of Nelson’s life fittingly takes into consideration his relationships with several women, with care taken to neither over- nor underestimate their influence on his naval career. Pocock 1999 identifies the most influential women and provides a general overview for each. Careful scrutiny of the letters in Naish 1958 reveals the evolution of Nelson’s relationship with his wife Fanny Nisbet, while the portrait of Emma Hamilton in Fraser 1986 explains her bewitching effect on Nelson’s psyche. Chalus 2000 advances the thesis that the indirect approach used by women in the late 18th century made them more influential in British politics than previously considered.

Chalus, Elaine. “Elite Women, Social Politics, and the Political World of the Late Eighteenth Century.” Historical Journal 43 (September 2000): 669–697.
DOI: 10.1017/S0018246X99001314Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Examines how women were legitimate political actors on a non-parliamentary stage, involved in creating and sustaining a politicized society and relationships among political elites.
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Fraser, Flora. Beloved Emma: The Life of Emma Lady Hamilton. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1986.
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An absorbing account of the life of Nelson’s mistress.
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Naish, George P. B., ed. Nelson’s Letters to His Wife and Other Documents, 1785–1831. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1958.
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Nelson’s known letters to and from his wife published in their entirety. Shed light not only on their relationship, but on Nelson’s character, daily habits, and relationship with his stepson, Josiah Nisbet.
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Pocock, Tom. Nelson’s Women. London: André Deutsch, 1999.
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Traces the impact of Nelson’s mother, sisters, wife, and mistress on the development of his character and the direction of his life.
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Legacy

Nelson and his achievements have been central to British national identity for two centuries. Cannadine 2005 and Cannadine 2006 are a compilation of conference lectures by leading scholars that update Nelson’s place in the 21st-century narrative. Further clarification of the modern narrative can be attained by defining how the Royal Navy shaped 18th-century British society’s self-perception. Lincoln 2002 takes this approach by examining publications and material objects, and Jenks 2006 proposes that the political establishment used naval-inspired patriotism for less than altruistic reasons. Use of the press gang created unflattering impressions of the Royal Navy and British culture that linger to this day. Rogers 2007 dispels myths of the press system with an unvarnished account of this unjust, yet legal practice. The legacy of Nelson and his contemporaries also has perpetuated through the historical novel. The firsthand accounts in King and Hattendorf 1997 are useful for discerning fact from fiction in this popular genre. Tracy 2007 describes the role of artists, some professionals and some of whom themselves were sailors, in creating the images of the naval war at sea. Physical testaments to Nelson’s legacy are the graves and memorials of the admirals and captains who fought at Trafalgar, carefully documented in White 2005.

Cannadine, David, ed. Admiral Lord Nelson: Context and Legacy. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.
DOI: 10.1057/9780230508705Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
A compilation of the lectures sponsored by the National Maritime Museum and the Institute of Historical Research and delivered at the University of London in October 2004. These essays demonstrate that Nelson, from his time to the centenary of his death, has been many things to many people.
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Cannadine, David, ed. Trafalgar in History: A Battle and Its Afterlife. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.
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A compilation of ten lectures by renowned historians that places the Battle of Trafalgar in the context of its time and addresses some of the many interpretations of what it has meant over the last 200 years.
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Jenks, Timothy. Naval Engagements: Patriotism, Cultural Politics, and the Royal Navy, 1793–1815. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.
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A history of national identity, naval commemoration, and the political struggles over patriotism.
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King, Dean, and John B. Hattendorf, eds. Every Man Will Do His Duty. New York: Henry Holt, 1997.
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Twenty-two firsthand accounts of fleet actions and other significant events that convey the nature of life and war at sea during the era of the French Revolution and Napoleon. Useful for gaining deeper insight into discerning fact and fiction in popular historical novels.
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Lincoln, Margarette. Representing the Royal Navy: British Sea Power, 1750–1815. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2002.
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Seeks to close the gap between the navy’s historical reality and its contemporary cultural perception through examination of existing publications and material objects. Chapters provide context on politics, trade, religion, women, and medicine.
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Rogers, Nicholas. The Press Gang: Naval Impressment and Its Opponents in Georgian Britain. London: Continuum, 2007.
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Neither market forces nor patriotic fervor enticed enough British volunteers to fill the ranks of the Royal Navy. This account of press gang operations and their unpopularity presents an unvarnished explanation of an unjust, yet legal process and its impact on British society.
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Tracy, Nicholas. Britannia’s Palette: The Arts of Naval Victory. Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press, February 2007.
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Description of the work of naval artists who illustrated the naval war against the French Republic and Empire.
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White, Colin, ed., and The 1805 Club. The Trafalgar Captains: Their Lives and Memorials. London: Chatham, 2005.
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Biographic synopses of thirty-eight admirals and commanders at Trafalgar aimed at bringing attention to the location and condition of their graves and memorials.
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European Navies

Nelson adopted aggressive tactics because he well understood the weaknesses of his naval adversaries, but his tactics at Trafalgar came so close to crossing the line between calculated risk and gamble that the Admiralty did not encourage their later use by other admirals. Glete 1993 develops a theory for determining the relative strengths and weaknesses that existed between navies contesting the maritime commons. Boudriot 1986–1988 and Boudriot 1993 reveal that French shipwrights were every bit the equal and sometimes superior to their British counterparts. Three chapters in Jenkins 1973 survey the rise and decline of French naval power during Nelson’s lifetime. Monaque 2000 traces this decline through the life of Admiral Latouche-Tréville and gives reason for counterfactual speculation about the unrealized potential of French naval power. Crowhurst 1989 explains how French privateering disrupted British trade even after the establishment of British naval supremacy at Trafalgar. The oft overlooked and maligned Spanish navy receives fair treatment in Harbron 1988.

Boudriot, Jean. The Seventy-Four Gun Ship: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Naval Architecture. 4 vols. Translated by David H. Roberts. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute, 1986–1988.
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This ship considered by the author most representative of French naval power at its height in the 18th century. Everything described drawn in meticulous detail, with the final volume focused on shipboard life and operational employment.
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Boudriot, Jean. The History of the French Frigate, 1650–1850. Translated by David H. Roberts. Rotherfield, UK: Jean Boudriot, 1993.
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Although no historical events addressed, the history of technology presented here can explain many aspects of French naval history.
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Crowhurst, Patrick. The French War on Trade: Privateering, 1793–1815. Aldershot, UK: Scolar, 1989.
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Discusses the motivations, inherent risks, and profitability of commerce raiding. Useful for understanding the unglamorous reality of guerre de course.
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Glete, Jan. Navies and Nations: Warships, Navies and State Building in Europe and America, 1500–1860. 2 vols. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International, 1993.
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Uses an array of collated data to develop a general theory on the roles of navies in nation building. Develops a concept of static and dynamic organizational efficiency to explain how states optimally and creatively exploit existing resources.
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Harbron, John D. Trafalgar and the Spanish Navy: The Spanish Experience of Sea Power. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute, 1988.
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This account, with much use of Spanish archival sources, debunks many negative assumptions about the condition of the Spanish navy.
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Jenkins, Ernest H. A History of the French Navy. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute, 1973.
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The three chapters addressing recovery of the French navy after the Seven Years’ War through its decline during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars further contextualize Nelson’s achievements.
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Monaque, Rémi. Latouche-Tréville, 1745–1804: L’amiral qui défiait Nelson. Paris: Kronos, 2000.
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This French naval officer served in the American Revolution, survived the excesses of Revolutionary France, and repulsed Nelson’s raid on Boulogne harbor in 1801. A superb source for assessing the unrealized potential of French naval power. (Title translation: Latouche-Tréville, 1745–1804: The admiral who challenged Nelson.)
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