Horatio Nelson Shows His Bravado and Independence, Going Out of Channels to Criticize His Commander, Admiral William Hotham, For Seeking to Leave His Post

An unpublished letter written before he lost his arm at the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife the following year

In 1795 the war between France, and Britain and its coalition, was in its third year. Admiral William Hotham was commander of the British Mediterranean Fleet, which was supporting Britain’s allies the Austrians as they attempted to defend their possessions in Italy from the French.  The goal of the anti-French coalition was to push the French back westward along the Riviera by starving them of needed supplies through a blockade of the port towns. Horatio Nelson, then age 37, was a Post-Captain on board HMS Agamemnon in Hotham’s fleet, and he was assigned to command a squadron.

On March 8, 1795, news reached Hotham that the French fleet was at sea and heading for Corsica, with a plan to invade it. Hotham immediately set out to intercept the French, and Nelson eagerly anticipated what would be the first fleet action of his illustrious career. On March 14, in the Battle of Genoa, the French were defeated and abandoned their invasion strategy. Their fleet returned to port. Later the same year Nelson’s heroics were on display at the Battle of Hyeres Islands on July 13, when his was one of only a few British ships to engage Rear Admiral Pierre Martin’s French fleet, causing one of the vessels to burst into flames and explode. Nelson’s ship HMS Agamemnon suffered significant damage in the fight. Nelson was promoted to Colonel of Marines, which is all the thanks he got for this exploit.

Nelson was a man of daring but Admiral Hotham was not.  An older man and unwell, Hotham’s actions during the campaign lacked resolution, to Nelson’s dismay. At the close of the Battle of Hyeres, Nelson had pleaded with Hotham to pursue the enemy, but Hotham had replied, “…We must be contented: we’ve done well enough.” Nelson, however, called the lack of a decisive victory at that place a “miserable action.” Though only a Captain, Nelson told a friend he wished he had been the admiral in command of the fleet.

Then in August Hotham wrote a letter complaining of his health and asking to be relieved, seeking to return to England rather than finish his mission. Seeing Hotham’s action as little better than desertion of his post, Nelson was furious, and he went outside channels of command to write harsh letters to the British Minister in Genoa, Francis Drake, lamenting the pending absence of the Admiral. And though only a commander of a small squadron, he personally and directly established contact with the Austrians and their leader, General De Vins. At this point Nelson was operating out of Vado Bay, near Genoa, the city where the Austrians had their headquarters. But he would soon need to go to Leghorn, the Royal Navy base at which his crippled ship could be refitted.

Autograph letter signed, August 15, 1795, Vado Bay, Horatio Nelson, to Francis Drake, expressing shock at Hotham’s request to be relieved, and attempting to set up a personal meeting between Hotham and the Austrians.

“My dear Sir, The extract of the Admiral’s letter will as much surprise you as it has done me.  I now find myself under the necessity of proceeding immediately to Leghorn instead of stopping here as was my intention.

“However, I believe I have written strongly to the Admiral to come here in the Britannia and give you and General De Vins a meeting. And I trust he will alter his mind and come here. I have prepared it on Holloway.”

This is an unpublished letter, and uncommon in that most letters of Nelson that reach the market were written with his left hand after he lost his right arm at the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 1797.

Hotham does not seem to have ever met De Vins, regardless of Nelson’s efforts, but Nelson took matters into his own hands. In September Nelson and De Vins had already personally met. It was not until late September that Nelson could take the Agamemnon to Leghorn for refitting. Records suggest this was because he caught word of the arrival of food headed to the French ports and made interdiction of the incoming supplies his top priority.

On November 1, Hotham struck his personal flag and went home. In January 1796 the position of commander-in-chief of the fleet in the Mediterranean passed to Sir John Jervis, who appointed Nelson to exercise independent command over the ships blockading the French coast as a Commodore.