Abstract
This compilation of biographies is a superb example of what can be achieved through meticulous editing, a generous publisher and a series of splendid subjects. The illustrations throughout the volume are sponsored by the 1805 Club, and their investment has produced a book which is as interesting to look at as it is to read. For this companion to Nelson’s Trafalgar Captains of 2005, Peter Hore has assembled 80 biographies of the men who served with Nelson and has achieved a very welcome addition to the historiography of naval biography. The contributors come from a variety of backgrounds: five of the authors are direct descendants of men who fought under Nelson; two indeed, Troubridge and Suamarez, bear their ancestors’ illustrious names. Others share a life-long interest in naval history. Together they have brought to life the dozens of officers who shared with Nelson the naval exploits for which he is famous, many of whom have been comparatively neglected by other historians because of their subordinate status. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography could do well to look at some of these entries as worthy of inclusion.
The book is divided into three sections: the Battle of the Nile; Copenhagen and the Baltic; the Trafalgar campaign. Some of the men shared all three campaigns, some only one and Peter Hore’s introduction to each puts into context the role played by individuals within the campaign. Typical of the insights this book gives the reader is Peter Hore’s explanation of the background to the complaint Nelson made so often, that he was always short of frigates to act as his eyes and ears: ‘to which has been and may again be attributed the loss of the French fleet’ (p. 3). In 1798, Nelson was attempting to anticipate the movements of the French fleet, and if on 22 June, Nelson had known that the French fleet was only three days ahead of him, he might have taken more seriously the warning given him by Leander that the French fleet was in sight. Nelson kept his fleet together instead of following up the sighting. It is a classic ‘what if’, and a battle in the Mediterranean might not have resulted in the carnage which befell the French at Aboukir Bay. (Incidentally, it is a pity that the luckless captain cannot be identified, as there is no list of ships and captains.)
The dozens of illustrations are taken from many sources, chief amongst which is the collection of the National Maritime Museum. The resources of the 1805 Club have been ransacked for this project, and Rob Powell was commissioned to take many photographs.
The small section at the end of the book summarizes the role of the North Americans of all ranks in Nelson’s navy, and concludes that more research needs to be done to uncover the contribution made by these men, who made up two per cent of the British fleet. Not many researchers into the eighteenth century would have known that the names of some of Nelson’s captains lived on in the destroyers built by the United States of America during the second world war. It is not surprising that the American Navy chose not to include in the prestigious list of the Captain Class the names of those men who went on to fight in the American Revolutionary War.
This book will be gratefully received by researchers as it corrects some myths which have been passed from hand to hand. Although, perhaps, not everyone will in the first instance read it from cover to cover, there is much of interest in every entry that will hold the reader’s attention. In particular, the social history of the Georgian navy is examined in detail, with examples of ‘interest’ from friends and family which provided the hidden springs behind many a professional career. The personal insights offered by the partisan descendants add an extra dimension to the many and varied sources used, usefully listed at the end of the book.