The London History Show: Horatio Nelson
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ค. 2024
- In this video, we're looking at Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square. Who is that guy and why is he stood on that big pole?
In each episode of The London History Show, we'll be looking at a different statue, plaque, building or feature of London's landscape that you can find for yourself, and we'll tell its story. Watch the whole series here: tinyurl.com/ybzud2wm
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00:00 Intro
01:21 Working Up
03:22 An Eye And An Arm
07:00 Lady Hamilton
12:41 Trafalgar
15:12 A Corpse Pickled In Brandy
Photos and sound provided under Creative Commons licence: creativecommons.org/licenses/...
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I love how you explained what a mistress is 😆
I have had it come up before in real life! I had a kid once who assumed it meant the same thing as "headmistress". So I had to come up with a kid-friendly way of explaining it.
Way better than them googeling it
I always thought it was something between a mister and a mattress 😉
@@AnnoyingNewsletters, fittingly so.
@@AnnoyingNewsletters So sorry that is too funny!🤣
"One of the many countries we were at war with at the time", I love your facial expression when you say that line! Very interesting video!
Almost a T-shirt quote!
I was asking myself the same.
To be fair, a lot of them had found themselves fighting alongside France, with varying degrees of willingness.
The important thing is that I had an onion tied to my belt, which was the style at the time.
Hilarious
haha i loved the repeating Boris pictures when talking about mistresses.
Anyway, loving the content, and hope you are able to keep making these!
😂 Haha, I saw that too. Boris Johnson, John F. Kennedy, Donald Trump, King Charles ll , all Gemini ♊.
Very subtle lol
Saw a couple of Kings in there too, it's good to be the King.
So glad the mistress got nothing.
I saw Boris appear twice, but was he the only one to make two appearances? The images went by fast. JFK and King Charles were the other obvious ones I spotted.
Blackadder: I have a horrid suspicion that Baldrick’s plan will be the stupidest thing we’ve heard since Lord Nelson’s famous signal at the Battle of the Nile: “England knows Lady Hamilton is a virgin. Poke my eye out and cut off my arm if I’m wrong.”
💀
😂 I have to watch more Blackadder!
@@deborahbranham-taylor6682 Yes you do! 😃
Hahaha! I love that Blackadder episode! I’m laughing just visualizing it in my mind.🤣
Wasn't there also something about burying her in a Y-shaped coffin?
Nelson's uncle was on the officers exam board, but he didn't help Nelson to pass the board. He only mentioned that he was related to Nelson after the board had passed Nelson. When the other board members asked why he hadn't mentioned it, because they would have passed a relative of a friend, he said he was confident that Nelson would pass on his own merits, and wanted it to be Nelson's achievement alone.
[citation needed]
@@netsquall As per Drachinifel's video on Nelson's early career. That video is further referenced.
I think it’s quite indicative of the age that someone would rather believe nepotism was clearly the case than to do research for themselves. “[citation needed]” is a direct contravention of the guidelines I’ve just had to click through.
Don't bother. This girl is too Woke to listen.
Privilege and class was not the case in the RN at this period.
as a collector I couldnt help but feel for poor lady hamilton's husband losing his vase collection, it honestly hit me harder than any death on your story
Well, what are you collecting…
@@Perez_studios movies, blurays, 4ks, DVDs and also soundtracks
It was his second or third collection. The earlier one included the Portland Vase, which you can still find in the British Museum.
@juanaltredo2974 Quite relatable, but what he was collecting were unique. DVDs you lost you could buy again
LoL
There’s a great scene in Master and Commander after the young midshipman Blakeney loses an arm, the captain comes around and visits him in the sickbay, and hands him a book of great naval victories, open to a portrait of Nelson with an empty sleeve pinned to his chest. Sort of a nice fatherly moment from Jack, which even in the books is rarely seen.
And that moment is masterfully well directed by Weir and crafted by Crowe. You can see he genuinely cares for the boy and wants to shape him, but knows he can't be too familiar.
To be fair, one could argue the great scene in the movie goes from when it starts, to when it ends. Very good movie, indeed.
About that movie---if you' were wondering how the French were able to build a warship with American wood in an American harbo(u)r the book they were fighting an American ship in the original book. (It was during the War of 1812.) The producers changed it to a French ship because they didn't think American moviegoers would ever support a movie where the hero was fighting Americans.
@@eddiejc1 To be fair the movie is basically a pastiche of several of the books
What I love about this examination is that it goes through this idea that a “hero” is often times closer to an Achilles than a Superman. Powerful. Grand in Scale. Autocratic. Violent.
I wonder was there a bit of a death wish in Nelson to stand on the deck of HMS Victory in full regalia knowing full well that snipers firing from the masts on platforms known as fighting tops was a well established tactic in naval warfare at the time.
@John Dooley No death wish. It was what was expected and required in the time. The officers were expected to be visible to the crew in combat, partially to encourage the crew, but mainly to show that they were still in command and the vessel hadn't surrendered.
In addition, it was the most effective place to command the vessel. Below decks, the senior officers wouldn't have been able to have good situational awareness, and orders would have taken too long to pass up the decks to be relevant in most cases. Even in the two world wars, British captains and admirals generally refused to command from the heavily armoured conning tower of their vessels, instead commanding from the bridge because of the much better situational awareness it afforded them. This was such a common occurrence that the British battleship designs tended to have significantly thinner armour on the conning tower than contemporary ships from other nations.
Also, naval officers especially back then were a bit prone to a death-or-glory attitude. They weren’t all from as low level a background as Nelson, but they weren’t necessarily all that rich either - and if your ship captured an enemy ship in battle, you got prize money. There was a lot of “get rich or die trying” on the way up.
@@jgdooley2003 I suspect not so much a death wish, more the same sort of thing that had John Frost telling Anthony Hopkins on the set of 'A Bridge too Far' that British officers calmly walk when under fire, they never run.
It's the mindset of setting an example for the 'lower orders'.
If the men/grunts/lower ranks see the 'boss' not panicking (by standing or walking calmly while projectiles fly past their heads) then the idea is that the lower ranks will just assume everything is under control, therefore they will just get on with their jobs.
A solid theory, but it is costly with regards to the lives of officers.
Also it means that the lower ranks can see the 'priveledged officers' taking greater risks than is expected of the lower ranks, so that when the officer gives an order that requires risk on the part of the lower ranks they know that the officer would't ask them to take risks that he/she wouldn't take themselves if necessary.
It builds trust and morale.
I love referring to Cardinal Wolsey as "some guy" especially given the relation to one of England's most famous kings.
I just can't get enough of your humor!
I have a cat named Lord Nelson, my friend helped me name him even though she was not aware he has limited sight in one eye and a bum front leg. He was a feral cat I watched have many battles in my Boston MA back yard.
Nelson fits him!! Say hi to him for me!! :D I'm serious--
Nelson was a deeply flawed individual, a lot of military heroes are, especially it could be said our naval heroes, who tended to have something of a piratical nature about them. Drake is a prime example of this, he was literally a pirate, he even ran off while fighting the Spanish Armada to go do some looting.
You mentioned about him disobeying orders at the Battle of Copenhagen, it wasn't the only time he disobeyed orders. Another notable example was one of the other battles you mentioned, the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, where he broke the order to follow in line and chose instead to charge into the enemy fleet.
However it should be noted that at the time and even today, that while you are expected to follow orders, you're also expected to use your own brain and adapt to the situation, even if that might mean disobeying orders. Of course if you do disobey an order, you had better be right, and preferably victorious, otherwise your military career will be over fairly quickly.
At the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, he broke orders because he realised unless the Spanish ships were slowed the British ships would likely not be able to catch them back up after their first pass, so he took his ship out of line and engaged the Spanish ships directly, thereby allowing the rest of the British fleet to catch back up. If it hadn't been for his actions, the battle probably would have been indecisive.
At the Battle of Copenhagen, the order to retreat was actually sent to protect Nelson. The British fleet had split into two for the battle, with the ships with shallower drafts being sent in under the command of Nelson, while the heavier ships stayed with Admiral Parker, who was in overall command. Unfortunately three of the British ships would still run aground during the battle and with the gun smoke obscuring Parker's view of the battle, he began to think that Nelson might be in trouble and unable to withdraw due to the Articles of War. Thus, as he told his Flag Captain: "I will make the signal of recall for Nelson's sake. If he is in condition to continue the action, he will disregard it; if he is not, it will be an excuse for his retreat and no blame can be imputed to him.".
That is awesome!
Very nice to know the archival facts. As a local, Copenhagen historian we don't often focus on seeing it from Nelson's point of view.
On another note, after the victory, he went into the city, and at Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Factory, all ready famous at the time (then situated in Købmagergade just east of Trinity Church) the ordered and bought a full set of China....for Lady Hamilton.
I DID NOT EXPECT IT TO TURN ALL ASK A MORTICIAN-Y IN THE END
Anyway you're amazing and I found out that the love I have for you in short format is nothing on the love I have for you in full essay so I'm marathoning your stuff. Thanks for everything you do.
Superbly informative and entertaining. On the matter of Nelson memorabilia: Nelson and Emma would go together to the town of Monmouth, on the Wales-England border. A local aristocrat Lady Llangattock (mother of Charles Rolls, of Rolls Royce fame) kept a huge collection of Nelson memorabilia including love letters between Emma and Horatio. The collection was donated to the town, which became the Nelson Museum (still there today), and they also built yet another of those Nelson memorials, this time on the highest hill overlooking the town, the so-called Nelson naval temple.
He also tried to make sailors lives a little better, but most of all he was a brilliant naval tactician, he saw opportunities and took them.
Heating up the knives of surgery may have saved lives too. Less nasty germs and filth when lopping off bits of sailors.
Just a minor correction: Emma died in Calais aged 49 in 1815, not in 1849.
Also, another commonly quoted version of Nelson's last words are 'drink drink, fan fan, rub rub'; instructions given to the men who were providing him a drink, fanning him, and rubbing ointment into the wound. As an addition, the quote of 'God bless you Hardy' doesn't become any less gay than 'kiss me Hardy' when you learn the reason for him saying it: the account claims he said 'kiss me Hardy' to which Hardy kissed him on the forehead, Nelson then said 'now I am satisfied', Hardy then kissed him on the lips so he asked 'who was that?' and upon realising it was Hardy again said 'God bless you Hardy.'
Coming from Portsmouth, I’ve been brought up thinking of Nelson as a pure hero and so the ‘other’ side to his life is fascinating here. I have a portrait of him on my wall in France and so can add a few extra anecdotes when exposing his background. Interestingly, they are taught in Antigua that he died on the island of malaria, I suppose just to hang on to the coat tails of his fame.
Tropical fevers were so murderous, and after the admiral, Nelson was such a popular name, that some Nelsons probably died in Antigua.
I have never heard of the Island of Malaria. Sounds like an unpleasant place. 😆
@@dariusanderton3760 By that time Antilles were collectively known as "the fever islands". Malaria and Yellow Fever, both unexplained before understanding viruses and their vector, mosquitoes,, could kill scores of Europeans by day. One British regiment sent there lost 2/3rd of its officers in a year. So UK organized regiments of locals in Antilles and Africa, more resistant to the tropical disease.
I know this is 2 years old, but I thought this might be an appreciated fact. In the Officer's Mess in Portsmouth, there is a portrait of Nelson at one end of the hall. At the far end, there is a portrait of his mistress. The story goes, that distance was as close as they were allowed to come in society.
Your dialectic approach to shed light from both sides on the man is greatly appreciated. Yesterday a hero, a villain today.
Call grim indeed the nation which casts down its heroes in scorn, no man is perfectly virtuous, but it is virtues which we admire in men.
No, not a villain. A patriot.
Slavery was abolished decades after Nelson's death. His military success has led to peace. When you defeat all your enemies, peace can exist.
Can't call him a villain from a historical view, can't apply today's standards onto people from centuries ago.
Even by the standards of the time, he was a conservative, even a reactionary. (There were plenty of people around at the time who could see that slavery was horrible.) But he was a very committed military leader in a war against a revolutionary foreign power. That tends to breed reactionary attitudes.
@@doubleT84 It's not just today's standards though, plenty of people at the time were against slavery
The *mistress* explanation and the visuals accompanying... *chef's kiss*
You are a brilliant storyteller! If only all history teachers were as interesting, knowledgeable and enthusiastic about their subject matter! History would be everyone’s favorite subject in school and perhaps today’s society wouldn’t be making so many stupid, wrongheaded mistakes and decisions that could’ve been avoided because the leaders, decision makers and society in general would’ve actually paid attention in their history classes and learned so many invaluable lessons.
Fortunately for me, my dad taught me to love history from an early age, and the best teachers I had from age 9-18 whilst in school were my history teachers. Lucky me!
We few, we happy few that carry the torch of legacy forward.
My father imbued me with tall tales of Danish kings and naval heroes. Today I have a sideline as a part time Copenhagen local historian and guide. Lucky us, in deed.
i am from NAples and i am speechless i never knew how much connection we have with england and who lived there, when. and how, it's fascinating. thank you
We always want to see our heroes as completely virtuous and our villains as complete reprobates. Neither is ever true. Your explanations of both sides of the man is wonderful.
I always think that if our heroes have human flaws then there is hope for us too!
@@ChoppingtonOtterThat's a nice way of looking at it.
This channel is amazing. I'm a 34 year old gay man living in a very small town in rural Missouri, In the USA - my partner and I love your sense of humor and the way you edit your videos. Informative and entertaining, I've never wanted to learn the history of another country so much!
Only in Montréal, Canada, can you see "La colonne Nelson" a monument to honour Horatio Nelson paid by French Montrealer and English Montrealer merchants in 1809. The statute was ordered to Robert Mitchell, a Londonnian architect.
My four times great grandfather was one of those midshipmen with Nelson, and became one of his band of brothers. But they fell out when Nelson met Emma in Naples, as my ancestor had just heard news that his own wife had died and deeply disapproved of their liaison. I grew up surrounded by paintings of ships.
Was he Sir Thomas Troubridge by any chance?
I love how you explained mistresses! You are an excellent teacher.
It's not just about losing your collection. It's knowing you caused all that great work to be destroyed. I feel for the guy.
And presumably this tragedy for a love on top of knowing you’re third wheel to your wife’s liaison with a naval war hero. So many losses at once…
Very hard on an aristocrat to lose vase.
@@mechanicaldavid4827 True, but then again without the metaphorical vase what is left of the aristocrat?
Heya! I'm a historic tour guide from Barbados. I just recently found your page and love learning the history from the otherside.
With that said we have/had a trafalgar square and Nelson Statue in Barbados. Actually ours (Statue and square) predates London's by 27 years. Our Nelson was erected in 1813.
They say it was the plantocracy of Barbados who decided to make such a visual honorific to Nelson.
Probably the best of J’s videos. Fantastic and incredibly fun! I’m a tour guide at the Thomas Edison Labs and I’m always delighting at her presentation that keeps you completely interested and engaged.
I really want to re-watch this, but have a counter to calculate how many times it is said "one of the many countries we were at war with at that time ,,,,". Brilliant and thank you. :)
This channel has become a fast favorite. The tongue in cheek humour is brilliant as well. And the history is nfg honesty. Thank you.
Awesome, very well presented. Wow. Love these. And yes, "Mistress" definitions FTW.
After chapter two "An Eye and an Arm" he really had no choice. He basically had to become a naval hero.
I guess he was fortunate that he then became The Naval Hero.
As Nelson is a visitor in your town, I get the complacency. But loving history and growing up in the home of the Navy, Pompey, I only have to cast my eyes on the Solent and see the forts built not just on the hill but in the middle of the wight channel. Palmerston's follies, to see how feared those across the English channel were. 1805 was a relief for England, we were safe. Entirely in 1815.
Great video!
Cheers from a history buff in America… one of the many countries you were at war with at the time!
"Like an 18th century cosplay girl."
That caught me so off guard, I can't stop chuckling. What a fantastic explanation.
As a french man, I can tell you Napoleon is still very relevant on what France is today. And Nelson defeated him! He certainly shaped the today's UK.
A brilliant and comprehensive explanation. Clear, concise, covering both the dramatic and sensitive or controversial aspects of the story.
What a fantastic and well presented video. Thank you for taking the time to make that, I very much enjoyed it. You’ve found a new subscriber
I really admire the way you told this story. The way you organized each section kept things both interesting and informative. Thank you for the hard work!
That was a very comprehensive biography of Nelson packed into a tidy 18 minutes and 52 seconds. Love your accent and your diction! I see that you haven’t made videos in a while hopefully you’ll make some soon!
The best summation of Nelson's life that I've seen; I learned a few things too.
Your presentation style is perfect.
Thanks for giving us a great insight into Nelson! Thoroughly captivating!
I just found your channel.
You are such a brilliant story teller and ist a joy to listen to you!
Thank you!
Speaking of the barrel, there is a old sea shanty called "a drop of Nelson's blood"
We'll rowwwwwwww the oak chariot along!
I love how enthusiastic and passionate you are in your story telling! You make it really enjoyable.
I loved the Horatio Hornblower books, Nelson obviously greatly inspired them, even down to the cheating 😆
Me too. I wonder if Nelson was sea sick off Spithead?
I think Cochrane was bigger inspiration. Certainly for Lucky Jack Aubry.
Oh... I really do love your videos - almost subliminal flashes of Boris abound!
I'm a naval history gazer, often visiting historical dockyards (what an anorak), but still learned something new from this video - as I always seem to with your works).
Your video on Nelson is epicly well done!! A friend of mine, found out, that a many times back - great grand dad's was a man that was a pursur on a ship that was in the battle of Trafalgar. He survived the battle. Came home to England and married an aristocrat's daughter. From that marriage ,my friend was a decendant of the 3rd son, who sailed to Australia with his bride of 2 days!
What a great recounting of H. Nelson. Great video! I really enjoy your work! Carry on! Cheers from Idaho!
Great work! This is quickly becoming one of my favorite channels.
Thank you very much for these videos! I am learning a lot about your british history since i found your channel. I wish you all the best from Holland, one of the many countries the UK has been at war with :p
Holland was a cheeky opponent. Who else had the nerve to sail a fleet up the Thames?
Greatest hero in British history
Thank you for this! History had never had such an adorably witty narrator!
Excellent presentation. When I visit London I always try and visit Trafalgar Square. The walk down Whitehall, to the Houses of Parliament, is well worth the effort and full of history and wonderful architecture 🇬🇧
I was recently on St. Kitts where you can see Nevis nearby. Our tour guide asked who the most famous person from Nevis was. I obviously answered "Frances Nisbet". That was apparently the wrong answer.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
"The Volcano Lover" by Susan Sontag, A rather unusual and very interesting novel about William Hamilton, Emma, and Nelson in Naples.
I love your programs, J. You have made my day!
Seeing Noakes on top of the Column makes you really appreciate the size of the statue.
Years ago, I took a boat tour of the Thames and London. Very interesting. At one point, we passed what the guide said was Nelson's home and he mentioned that the ship in front of Nelson's abode was a French sailing ship. He also mentioned that the Admiral was quite the Francophobe and was more than likely continuously spinning in his grave at the thought of a French ship in his front yard! Admittedly, the tour guide may have been shining us on, but it was very funny.
While in London, I also spent a very enjoyable day at Greenwich. As a naval officer who used Greenwich Mean Time in my daily working life, of course I got my photo as I straddled the Prime Meridian and then headed to the National Maritime Museum which is one of the finest I have ever been to. Most highly recommended for a visit.
He hated republicans, not necessarily the French.
So happy to learn about my great grandfather 😊😊😊😊😊 It allows me to be more aware and mitigates the grand mythos. I truly believe that one should have a balanced view of their ancestors and historical figures.
Yours too?😄😄
Learned a lot about Nelson from your video. Enjoyed this very much.
Note- fellow sea captain Prince William (later KW4) gave the bride away at the Nevis ceremony. Best buddies then. When he learned about Emma, never spoke to HN again.
And HORATIA? I know I can look it up but Emma's fate is not the only pathetic epilog to HN's life.
And Hollywood's early 40s movie That Hamilton Woman starring Scarlet O'Hara (brain freeze here).
Very enjoyable. Keep it up.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatia_Nelson ...not too pathetic, but more of the story for sure.
Vivien Leigh? (I'm 75, my brain occasionally dies before suddenly springing back to life!)
Thank you, most entertaining , history , some I was unaware of, especially enjoyable.
I am so glad I chanced upon your channel! As a citizen of the U.S., I've been meaning to study the history of Great Britain for a long time. Your wonderful programs are MUCH better than some dusty old book!!!
There was a weird story from the Duke of Wellington when someone asked him years later if he had ever met Nelson; the answer was “Once”. They bumped into each other at the War Office, and Nelson spent the first ten or twenty minutes talking about nothing but Nelson and how wonderful he was. Then he found out who he was talking to (another military commander who could equal him for military genius and glory) and Wellington said he’d never seen a man change so completely in an instant. The second half of the conversation was an intelligent, thoughtful discussion of the strategic situation in the war with France.
Nelson was a great commander who gave the Royal Navy a tradition of victory, but he was also a celebrity who was 100% aware of his own star status.
My ancestor would dispute that story. As he wrote about his service with Nelson as bring an incredibly modest gentleman.
Who was highly embarrassed by Hero worship.
So I claim fairy tale.
Fort Nelson, British Columbia is named for him as well. However Nelson (also in British Columbia) was named for someone else with the same name, although one of the local schools there is named Trafalgar after the famous battle.
I love how you dress up for your videos, both for the fun factor and because it's kind of impressive how you manage to pull all of the looks off so well!
Greatly enjoyed this one. Keep it up!
I love the version of his funeral in the Horatio Hornblower novels, where the barge is sinking while Nelson's body is transported up the river to the ceremony.
You are SO entertaining. Your stories are always fascinating. 😊😊😊
Wow... I enjoy your videos and shorts. I'm from Canada and have always want wanted to visit London - you make it so exciting
I truly enjoy your energy, while learning more about British history. I love the UK. My Dad had several diplomatic postings (we are Americans), and we were always given a week or two in the UK before returning to the USA. I think it was to help us transition into English, as well as being debriefed, and given a chance to have fun without fear of creating a diplomatic situation. The best trip to the UK was after a year in Moscow. Where the KGB had the diplomatic apartments bugged, where we were never allowed to freely do anything, between Embassy guards and FSB "minders". The positive of spending a year in the USSR, was I got to see many amazing artists of Russian Ballet. I am very glad the USA and UK remain on good terms. London has amazing museums, beautiful architecture, and so much beauty in your diverse natural topography. I have a passion for old books...Not ones just to sit on the shelves, but ones I read often. London has always been my favorite place to hunt for treasures for my personal library. When I cross the pond, I make sure I get to see the Royal Ballet perform...
Great post J, I loved it!
Just subscribed to this channel. So glad I did. Interesting, informative, definitely entertaining. Well done!
Like many, I knew the dry facts of Admiral Nelson, but you really make it gripping and interesting. I am such a fan of your channel. Thank you!
I didn’t realise up until this video what a talent for comedic timing you have. What an outstanding video, well done. By the way, pickling cadavers in alcohol was fairly prevalent. Pub landlords used to sell these to medical students for their study of human anatomy. It’s where the term “rot gut whisky” comes from
Great job indeed! Both of you...
Two things about Nelson's death: first of all, British admirals were expected to wear their dress uniforms in battle so that they could be visible to their sailors; second, the French sniper was lucky more than skilled. Given the movement of the two ships and the uneven time lag between the trigger being pulled and the weapon discharging, just hitting the deck was good shooting.
Except that Trafalgar was fought in very light winds, and both Victory and Redoubtable were very large ships. They would have been moving slowly and almost stationary to each other. So lucky? Maybe, but it wasn't like it was a really difficult shot. Supposedly the French sniper then got picked off by a Brit sailor firing from Victory's deck.
Technically, the uniform Nelson wore at Trafalgar was his undress uniform (as it was known in the 1795 Royal Navy uniform regulations), not his full dress uniform (referred to as 'full dress' or 'dress' in the 1795 dress regs).
The undress was the working uniform for commissioned officers in the Royal Navy at the time-the full dress, or dress uniform, was for special occasions.
The difference between the two was that the full dress uniform had more gold lace (mainly on the lapels), whereas the undress uniform only had lace on the cuffs.
On the other hand though, Nelson made a point of wearing all the medals, orders and decorations he was entitled to (he wore four 'stars' of his orders in total, namely the Orders of the Bath, Crescent, St. Joachim and St. Ferdinand), as well as the diamond Chelengk (a jewelled decoration conferred by the Ottoman Sultan) in his cocked hat. Which obviously made him an obvious target for marksmen. Although given the accuracy of smooth-bore firearms at the time, in my opinion, it was probably just a lucky shot.
Note that he didn't *have* to wear those decorations on his undress uniform (most officers wouldn't), he just chose to.
Nelson's bad luck was that is opponent, captain Lucas, specifically trained his crew to take enemy ship by boarding. Nelson had given a great example of how effective it could be, capturing two Spanish ships at St Vincent. And Lucas would rather bet on his more numerous crew to prevail at close combat than contest British superiority at short range gunnery.
So Redoutable's tactic was to have additional fighters in the upper parts, showering Victory's deck with grenades and collective musket fire. That's when Nelson was mortally wounded, and a good share of the crew on upper deck with him. Second part of Lucas' plan did not go well, as the Victory was one deck higher, the assault was delayed and French crew concentrated on the few available gangways. Only to be wiped out by the broadside of the next British ship coming. Nelson's maneuver prevailed on individual ship's valor.
So individual claim of shooting down Nelson is dubious, but having him shot was well-thought tactic, not sheer luck.
I love your presentations! I know it’s a 'London history', but you could have mentioned that HMS Victory is worth a visit to Portsmouth. It’s an incredible experience to look around the ship, and you soon realise why young lads were made midshipmen. It was to carry messages all round the ship, especially in battle. Grown men were too tall to cope with the low ceilings of the ship. Be careful about bumping your head if you do visit! And you can stand on the actual spot where Nelson died.
‘Defeating the French isn’t central to who we want to be as a country anymore’, speak for yourself Draper!
Amazing video though, really loving this channel .
Hi!
Just want to tell you I found you from 9gag. And you are a very good presenter and narrator. Subscribed!
Found your channel via shorts. And never have I been so glad to stumble upon someone.
The bullet that killed Nelson was kept by ship's surgeon of the Victory named William Beatty, put in a golden amulett with the fabric of the uniform still connected to it. It was later presented by Beatty's heirs to Queen Victoria. It's still part of the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle.
For pictures google "Nelson's bullet".
Beatty wrote a very interesting report titled A True Account of the Death of Lord Nelson. At the bicentenary of Trafalgar Channel 4 made a remarkable documentary out of it: "Trafalgar: Battle Surgeon" - the whole fight seen from Beatty's perspective at the sickbay. You'll find it on YT.
Great content! Good work!
Greetings from Berlin!
Great video! I knew about Nelson losing an eye before, but this is the first I heard about him losing an arm.
Just joined your channel….. brilliant! I have loved history since I was 9 (I’m now 66) I’ve been thinking about starting a history channel for ages (I have had a music channel for years) and now I’m going to I don’t expect to be as successful as you but it will be a labour of love. Thank you so much keep on with the brilliant videos!
Another great video. So much info that I did not know. Thanks.
Great information. Thanks so much for the video.
Your videos are just fantastic, cheers! :D
I love the kazoo. Nice touch
You had me in a 'Half Nelson' of captivation with your video.
I love you’re channel so much and it’s just so wonderfully wholesome history
Wholesome history presenting I should say haha! Not necessarily the historical topics!
Thought I’d just have a quick look. Couldn’t stop watching. Thanks
I know it's irreverent, but I always chuckle at how many "last words" are attributed to Nelson. I always picture him there, knowing he's dying and coming up with some poignant saying only to realize 5 minutes later that he's still alive and having to come up with another over and over.
Very interesting, and extremely well done!
I have read that when Nelson asked the signal flags to be hoisted before the battle, he asked to say "England *confides* that every man will do his duty", but the signalman suggested 'expect' because it would be one flag instead of raising one letter at a time (like duty). So, the line is more an expression of trust.
I love your thumbnail image's, they do make me stop and listen to why you're dressed up that way today. You're always up to something new.
Great story telling. You have a great skill
Really loved this thank you I love history n this was brill 👍
I'm a little drunk, and that "... Or Fanny... Nice..." Fucking left me in stitches haha