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Autograph letter signed ('Nelson & Bronte') to Rear-Admiral [Alexander] Cochrane, Victory [off Toulon], 12 September 1804
Details
Horatio Nelson, Viscount Nelson (1758-1805)
Autograph letter signed ('Nelson & Bronte') to Rear-Admiral [Alexander] Cochrane, Victory [off Toulon], 12 September 1804
Three pages, 239 x 182mm, the end of the letter written in inverse orientation along the top of pp.2-3, integral address panel to Cochrane at Ferrol (signed again, 'Nelson & Bronte'), docket, seal tear, remnant of seal.
'10 or 12000 French Troops would injure us there more than in any other part of the World': on a possible French threat to the West Indies, and on the risks to Spain of the United States capturing their American possessions. Writing to the commander of a squadron off Ferrol (north west Spain), Nelson informs him of the arrivals and departures of several vessels in his fleet in the Mediterranean, before speculating about the possible strategy of the French fleet: 'I think the French will some day send their fleets to sea and that the West Indies ... is more likely for them to hurt us in, than this Country. We have but few troops to defend our Islands and recent conquests, 10 or 12000 French Troops would injure us there more than in any other part of the World, for we could not send Troops to face them from Home, and that number to France is like a drop of Water in the ocean'. As for news of the Toulon blockade, Nelson ironically regrets the loss of his adversary, Admiral Latouche-Tréville, who had died on 19 August: 'Mon[sieu]r La Touche has slipt thro’ my fingers, he died a natural death'. He sends messages from his captain of the fleet, Admiral George Murray, about 'a Jack ass fit for service' and some 'Marsala Wine', and speculates that he may himself soon be returning home on leave (in fact he was to remain at sea for another 11 months). Returning to the strategic situation, Nelson expressing optimism that 'the Dons' [the Spanish] will wish to make peace, 'for if the Americans & Us go to War with them I think they will lose America & probably Spain, France will take care of one & America take by force the other'.
Over the subsequent year, both Nelson himself and Cochrane were to pursue French fleets across the Atlantic to protect the British possessions in the West Indies: in Cochrane's case, it was in pursuit of Missiessy's squadron, which escaped from La Rochelle in February 1805. Cochrane was then made commander of the Leeward Islands station, a post he occupied for several years before being appointed as commander of the North American Station during the concluding phase of the War of 1812.
Autograph letter signed ('Nelson & Bronte') to Rear-Admiral [Alexander] Cochrane, Victory [off Toulon], 12 September 1804
Three pages, 239 x 182mm, the end of the letter written in inverse orientation along the top of pp.2-3, integral address panel to Cochrane at Ferrol (signed again, 'Nelson & Bronte'), docket, seal tear, remnant of seal.
'10 or 12000 French Troops would injure us there more than in any other part of the World': on a possible French threat to the West Indies, and on the risks to Spain of the United States capturing their American possessions. Writing to the commander of a squadron off Ferrol (north west Spain), Nelson informs him of the arrivals and departures of several vessels in his fleet in the Mediterranean, before speculating about the possible strategy of the French fleet: 'I think the French will some day send their fleets to sea and that the West Indies ... is more likely for them to hurt us in, than this Country. We have but few troops to defend our Islands and recent conquests, 10 or 12000 French Troops would injure us there more than in any other part of the World, for we could not send Troops to face them from Home, and that number to France is like a drop of Water in the ocean'. As for news of the Toulon blockade, Nelson ironically regrets the loss of his adversary, Admiral Latouche-Tréville, who had died on 19 August: 'Mon[sieu]r La Touche has slipt thro’ my fingers, he died a natural death'. He sends messages from his captain of the fleet, Admiral George Murray, about 'a Jack ass fit for service' and some 'Marsala Wine', and speculates that he may himself soon be returning home on leave (in fact he was to remain at sea for another 11 months). Returning to the strategic situation, Nelson expressing optimism that 'the Dons' [the Spanish] will wish to make peace, 'for if the Americans & Us go to War with them I think they will lose America & probably Spain, France will take care of one & America take by force the other'.
Over the subsequent year, both Nelson himself and Cochrane were to pursue French fleets across the Atlantic to protect the British possessions in the West Indies: in Cochrane's case, it was in pursuit of Missiessy's squadron, which escaped from La Rochelle in February 1805. Cochrane was then made commander of the Leeward Islands station, a post he occupied for several years before being appointed as commander of the North American Station during the concluding phase of the War of 1812.
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Senior Specialist, Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts