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HORATIO, VISCOUNT NELSON (1758-1805)
Autograph letter signed (with the right hand, 'Horatio Nelson') to Edward Hardman (private secretary to Sir Gilbert Elliott), La Minerve, [off Gibraltar] 11 February 1797, one page, 4to, long endorsement by the recipient on the verso, integral leaf removed (split, approximately 160mm, in upper horizontal fold, worn in right hand edge at centre and lower folds, slightly discoloured), partly laid down; together with a letter by Lord Mountjoy to 'Mr Sargent'.
NELSON'S READINESS FOR ACTION, THREE DAYS BEFORE THE BATTLE OF CAPE ST VINCENT. 'The Minerve was most certainly ready for sea, and it is as true that had Sir Gilbert been on board the Minerve would have been at sea before the Lee tide made ... Now the tide is made ag[ains]t us, therefore I most heartily wish you all a good appetite and only beg you will be on board as early in the morning as possible say 8 o'clock for I shall sail the first moment after, but I fear a Westerly wind'. An implied rebuke for delaying the Minerve's sailing. Nelson, commodore on Captain Cockburn's (formerly French) frigate, La Minerve had been ordered to oversee the evacuation of Corsica (where Elliott was Viceroy) and Elba. Summoned to rejoin Sir John Jervis off Cape St Vincent he stopped at Gibraltar only to take on board Captain Hardy, released by the Spaniards, and another British prisoner, and to replenish supplies. He declined to dine on shore with the governor but there appears then to have been confusion over the arrangements for Elliott's return to the ship, with consequences indicated in the present letter. By a series of bold manoeuvres Nelson evaded the enemy and brought the Minerve back to the British fleet the day before the battle on 14 February. Sir Gilbert Elliott, 1st Earl of Minto, Viceroy of Corsica (1794-1797) and later governor-general of India, was one of Nelson's closest civilian friends.
Autograph letter signed (with the right hand, 'Horatio Nelson') to Edward Hardman (private secretary to Sir Gilbert Elliott), La Minerve, [off Gibraltar] 11 February 1797, one page, 4to, long endorsement by the recipient on the verso, integral leaf removed (split, approximately 160mm, in upper horizontal fold, worn in right hand edge at centre and lower folds, slightly discoloured), partly laid down; together with a letter by Lord Mountjoy to 'Mr Sargent'.
NELSON'S READINESS FOR ACTION, THREE DAYS BEFORE THE BATTLE OF CAPE ST VINCENT. 'The Minerve was most certainly ready for sea, and it is as true that had Sir Gilbert been on board the Minerve would have been at sea before the Lee tide made ... Now the tide is made ag[ains]t us, therefore I most heartily wish you all a good appetite and only beg you will be on board as early in the morning as possible say 8 o'clock for I shall sail the first moment after, but I fear a Westerly wind'. An implied rebuke for delaying the Minerve's sailing. Nelson, commodore on Captain Cockburn's (formerly French) frigate, La Minerve had been ordered to oversee the evacuation of Corsica (where Elliott was Viceroy) and Elba. Summoned to rejoin Sir John Jervis off Cape St Vincent he stopped at Gibraltar only to take on board Captain Hardy, released by the Spaniards, and another British prisoner, and to replenish supplies. He declined to dine on shore with the governor but there appears then to have been confusion over the arrangements for Elliott's return to the ship, with consequences indicated in the present letter. By a series of bold manoeuvres Nelson evaded the enemy and brought the Minerve back to the British fleet the day before the battle on 14 February. Sir Gilbert Elliott, 1st Earl of Minto, Viceroy of Corsica (1794-1797) and later governor-general of India, was one of Nelson's closest civilian friends.
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