613. Nelson: Glory at Trafalgar (Part 6)

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2:06The news spread quickly. Across the British fleet, the lookouts were pointing and crying out, and men were pounding up the ladders and pouring from the hatchways, cheering and shouting for all they were worth. There, 11 miles to the east, was the combined fleet. A jaw-dropping spectacle spread out across the horizon in the glow of the dawn. On the quarterdeck of the victory, a cloud seemed to pass from Horatio Nelson's face. He had barely slept, but he felt free of care. This was his moment. Every ship he had ever taken, every voyage he had ever made, had led to this hour. The victory spread her sails.

2:54Then Nelson ordered his signal lieutenant to hoist two messages. First came the order to form two divisions as planned. And then came the signal they had all been waiting for. Prepare for battle. So begins the climactic chapter of Adventures in Time, Nelson, Hero of the Seas, which Dominic, I'm sure you'd agree, must surely rank as the definitive life of this extraordinary man. written, of course, by yourself. And it has been a very long voyage, has it not, from Burnham Thorpe, where we set out 11 episodes ago. But now we are reaching the glorious and tragic conclusion of this story. So would you like to set the scene for the listeners?

3:47I would, Tom. The date is the 21st of October, 1805, a Monday. It's five o 'clock in the morning and off the southwestern coast of Spain, Nelson's fleet have finally caught up with their quarry, their combined fleet of France and Spain under Pierre Charles de Villeneuve and Federico Gravina. And listeners who have been on this journey all the way from Burnham Thorpe will remember what is at stake. So for months, Nelson has been planning a war of annihilation. He intends to exploit the speed and firepower of the Royal Navy to sail right at the combined fleet in two assault columns, One led by his own ship, the Victory, and the other by his deputy, Admiral Collingwood, in the Royal Sovereign.

4:31And his goal is to smash the enemy line into pieces and then to mop them up one by one. If he wins, Britain's command of the seas, Britain's naval mastery will be confirmed for a generation. Britain will be definitively secure from invasion and they can pursue a naval blockade strategy that will eventually bring Napoleon to his knees. But if he loses, then the combined fleet could regain control of the Mediterranean or could turn north. France and Spain could conceivably win control of the Channel and Napoleon's plans to invade Britain could be back on. so massive massive stakes uh and of course dominic the the stakes are personally very high for nelson as well and it's so important to emphasize this because he is leading one of those two prongs of the attack um in in victory and ages ago when we previously did a series on trafalgar we called him a christian achilles he's you know a man of deep christian faith but he does also have this kind of Homeric quality, doesn't he?

5:42And I think there is something of Achilles in his determination to risk death because it will provide him with the opportunity for incredible glory, which isn't to say that he wants to die. He does not want to die. We know from his letters to Emma that he was preparing, you know, if they win Trafalgar, he will lay down his command. He will live with Emma. They'll have children, all of that. But like Achilles, he would rather die a hero than duck his chance for glory. And so this is why we, in the previous episode, we described him preparing his coffin. And his journal on leaving England, he wrote, if it is God's good providence to cut short my days upon earth, I bow with the greatest submission, relying that he will protect those so dear to me that I leave behind.

6:29And you could imagine had Achilles been Christian, that's how he might have put it. Yeah, there's a fatalism to Nelson, isn't there? Which is obviously born of his years of experience in the Navy, he knows just how horrendous naval battles are. I mean, the sort of tempest of splinters and shots and screaming and blood. Well, he's been hit on the head, hasn't he? By a beam, he's had his arm chopped off, you know, all kinds of things have gone on, his eyes gone. Exactly. But the sort of paradox is that at the same time that he has this kind of fatalism, which will recur in this episode, there is a sense of absolute confidence in his ships and his men.

7:03You know, everything in his life, all the years of training, all the years of service, all the battles, everything has prepared him for this moment. And yes, he is only one man and a brilliant commander, but behind him is an unequaled military machine, the most lethal killing machine in the world. And one that is based on what he stands for at Trafalgar is the economic and industrial might and modernity of industrial Britain. because of that he knows that his men are fitter quicker better trained more adept than their french and spanish opponents and indeed his french and spanish opponents know it themselves and have frankly and freely said so so when he gives the command this machine you know it's like terrible cliche like a clockwork machine kind of springs into action people are stowing away the hammocks the last of the furniture the surgeons are kind of getting out their instruments if you've seen master and commander the film there's a sort of moment when they're beating to quarters and everyone rushing into action yeah that's what this is like and there's kind of dread isn't there because they know what it is to be in a battle but also the excitement of people who have been kind of training all their lives for this moment i mean you can imagine the the atmosphere is one of mingled, there must be a little bit of fear and dread, but also tremendous anticipation.

8:29Finally, after all these months, after years of waiting. And confidence, I would guess. Yes, exactly. So let's go through the timeline. At 7.30 in the morning, Nelson signals to his frigate captains to come aboard the Victory. The frigates are smaller ships, for those people who are not massively familiar with the Royal Navy. Unlike us. Yes, we're tremendously familiar. With our tremendous knowledge. Yes, exactly. Yeah, undoubtedly. In the Chatham High Street episode, did we not confuse a destroyer and a battleship? Is that not the great sin that we committed? A few listeners noted that deliberate mistake and good on them.

9:07I like to keep them on their toes. We were just trying to make it accessible, weren't we? I think that was what we were trying to do. For the non-naval people. Exactly. So anyway, Nelson signals to his frigate captains to come aboard the Victory. He is going to need them to signal his orders. the chief frigate commander whom we met in the previous episode bringing the news of Villeneuve's movements to Nelson at Merton is a guy called Henry Blackwood and Henry Blackwood says to Nelson why don't you come across to my frigate and command the fleet from there why risk your life at the head of the line why not you know be at a safe distance like a kind of first world war commander and direct the fleet from there and a lot of commanders did do this kind of thing you Not all did, but it was not totally unknown.

9:50And Nelson said, no way. And Blackwood must have known Nelson would say, no way. Nelson would be bound to put himself in harm's way from the front. But it's a sign of just how dangerous they know Nelson's plan is to sail directly at the enemy without giving yourself the opportunity to fire first. But that's precisely why Nelson has to do it. Because it is so dangerous. he cannot possibly ask his men to throw themselves into the jaws of hell without leading them there himself. And in fact, he wants to be visible. This is what he's always done. Nelson loves a bit of bling. So he's there in all his paraphernalia.

10:30He's got all those kind of the stars of knighthood sewn onto his jacket, epaulets gleaming. And actually, some of his men on board the ship say, yeah, I mean, brilliant that you're here, but why don't you just wear a slightly less showy coat but he's you know he's not going to do that he he he wants to draw attention to himself i guess that what makes this even more risky for nelson personally is that he like all the other officers on board the ship are not allowed to duck the seamen can duck but officers cannot no matter how many sharpshooters no matter how many grape shot i mean just insane courage yeah so he's got his nice coat on and on they go the gap is 11 miles and closing very slowly but it's closing every minute it's basically walking speed isn't it yeah so the combined fleet is sort of spread out on the horizon it's a very faint breeze so they are moving exactly in a very slow and deliberate and stately way the kind of the drums beating as they kind of head across the waves nelson is surveying them through his telescope he can see that the combined fleet is basically sailing in in slight disorder it's not a terribly well organized operation so they're kind of ragged crescent and they're going from south to north so about 12 ships from the front is the vilna's flagship the bucentor and then about six ships behind it or so is gravina's flagship the santa anna and then there's another 15 french or spanish ships now some of these ships are absolute leviathans as we'll discuss but nelson is confident you know we have the the firepower and the skill to beat them eight o 'clock the victor's cook serves breakfast a few men um too nervous to eat it but most of them absolutely ravenous a sailor said afterwards they felt like lions anxious to be at it which gives you a sense of the mood and they're given wine aren't they not grog yes they're given wine would you have a glass of wine before going to battle i suppose you would yeah i certainly would so yes there's a real sense of excitement the lieutenant on the ajax said all seemed deeply anxious to come to close quarters with the enemy and most of what we know about the mood and the fleet comes from officers obviously because they tend to be more literate and they wrote letters and things so you have a sense of them across the fleet people kneeling to say their last prayers or they give keepsakes to their friends or they write farewell notes to their families and often some of these notes i have to say are incredibly moving so there's a young midshipman on the royal sovereign on Colleen Wood's flagship called John Aikenhead who wrote to his mum and dad should I my dear parents fall in defense of my king let that thought console you I feel not the least dread on my spirits oh my parents sisters brother day grandfather grandmother and aunt believe me ever yours and here's another story this is a teenage midshipman called Robert Smith on the victory on Nelson's flagship who did not survive the battle he wrote to what he called his dear and honored parents he says i can't wait to face the enemy of my country and he says if the worst happens to me then you dearest of mothers consider that your affectionate son could not die in a more glorious cause and actually the one that i always think is really moving is henry black with a frigate captain he wrote to his wife adieu my dearest wife your henry will not disgrace his name and if he dies his last breath will be devoted to the dearest of dear wives take care of my boy make him a better man than his father yeah very moving so so i mean all of them have loved ones on their mind and of course nelson also has loved ones on his mind yes so he's in his great cabin isn't he which if you go to portsmouth you can obviously see it it's the highlight of going to the victory and he must the furniture has been taken out so he must have been sitting on the floor effectively with his left hand yeah and And as in the Battle of Copenhagen, his portraits of Emma have been taken down.

14:33And this time as well, he has a portrait of Horatia. And we know they are absolutely uppermost in his thoughts as the victory glides ever so slowly towards the battle line. So he writes one last prayer, doesn't he, Tom? I'm sure you would love to read that. Oh, I would. I mean, this is so moving. May the great God whom I worship grant my country and for the benefit of Europe in general a great and glorious victory. and may no misconduct in anyone tarnish it and may humanity after victory be the predominant feature in the british fleet for myself individually i commit my life to him that made me and may his blessing light upon my endeavors for serving my country faithfully to him i resign myself and the just cause which is entrusted to me to defend our men our men our men and then of of course, Emma and Horatia.

15:24And we talked about this in the episode we did about kind of four months ago on Emma Hamilton, that he writes a codicil to his will. I leave Emma, Lady Hamilton, therefore a legacy to my king and country that they will give her an ample provision to maintain her rank in life. I also leave to the beneficence of my country, my adopted daughter, Horatia nelson thompson and i desire she will use in future the name of nelson only these are the only favors i ask of my king and country at this moment when i am going to fight their battle and how king and country respond to this request we will see in next week's bonus when we look at what happened to emma and horatia after trafalgar so if you're an emma hamilton fan like tom you will want to be a member of the rest is history club and you can of course join tom in that crew at the rest is history.com or actually if you're not a fan of em hamilton because in which case you'll enjoy the bonus all the more yes i guess so so it's now 10 o 'clock in the morning uh they are a few miles from their quarry and everything has been prepared the decks have been cleared they have started watering the timbers to prevent against fire the red coated marines have gone to their posts on deck the gun crews um have gone to their stations they have powder and cartridges and shot and in his makeshift operating theater which is called the sort of the surgeon's cockpit down in the bowels of the ship the ship's doctor william beaty has laid out his scalpels and his bandages and his bottles of vinegar and all of this kind of thing and i'm sad to say we will be returning to uh that particular cockpit later in the episode he will have been warming his soars won't he because that was something that nelson insisted on having had his um arms sawn off yes he said it was too cold and that was the thing that he remembered so below decks the gun crews they would have stripped their waists they have tied handkerchiefs around their heads and ears um to muffle the sound of the guns uh they will be some of them are dancing a jig um their band are playing things like you know brawl britannia god save the king heart of oak all of these kind of patriotic songs to get them in the in the mood nelson for the last time tours the ship he says to his men he shakes hands with his left hand with his men he says do not fire until absolutely sure of your object in other words hold your fire until you see the whites of their eyes and he has never seemed more calm or more confident my noble lads he says this will be a glorious day for England, whoever lives to see it.

18:09And on every ship in the fleet, there are similar scenes. The captain's giving these incredibly inspiring speeches to their men, saying, you know, we don't back down, we don't surrender, I know you will do well, you know, this is going to be a great day, enjoy it. Get out there and have fun. Exactly. It is like a bit of a sort of football manager before a big game kind of atmosphere. So it's 11 o 'clock now, Nelson takes his place on the quarter deck of the Victory, And beside him are the ship's captain, Thomas Hardy, the master of the ship, Thomas Atkinson, the first lieutenant, John Quilliam, and the frigate captain, Henry Blackwood.

18:44And they can now see the combined fleet clearly. They can see the decorations on the French and Spanish ships, the gun ports. They can see the little figures moving about on deck. And they can see the size of some of their opponents. Yeah, they're monsters, aren't they? Gravina's flagship, the Principe de Asturias, has 112 guns. The Santissima Trinidad, which Nelson had faced at Cape St. Vincent. Is it, I think, at Cape St. Vincent? 140 guns, so the biggest ship on Earth. Four decks. Four decks, an absolute monster. So in total, Villeneuve and Gravina have 33 ships. They have 2 ,600 guns and 30 ,000 men.

19:26Nelson much smaller in men 17 ,000 men smaller in guns barely 2 ,000 guns and 27 ships that's how the British like it isn't it to be outnumbered that's how we love it so as we discussed in the previous episode I mean this is an amazing fact and cannot be hammered home too strongly the two fleets at Trafalgar had 10 times as much firepower as all the armies at Waterloo put together I mean that Like, you know, imagine being at the centre of that, the noise and the smoke and the, you know, it's very First World War, actually. There's never been anything like it in history, right? No, never has. Certainly two industrialising nations in Britain and France and a third in Spain, never have they committed so much of their resources to create a kind of killing zone of this explosive power.

20:18It's kind of science fiction quality for everyone who's going to have to live through it. It's clear that the French and Spanish are girding their loins for a fight. Nelson says to Blackwood, the enemy are putting a good face on it. And Blackwood says rather ominously, indeed, sir, they have a coolness I am sorry to witness. But actually, on board, certainly some of the Spanish ships, there's anxiety. So one of the captains says the fleet is doomed. And also on Villeneuve's flagship, it had just recently been struck by lightning. And so there are lots of people there who think that's an omen too.

20:50So I think there is a sense of trepidation on the combined fleet. Yeah, I agree with you, but I think we shouldn't be too harsh on poor old Villeneuve. Villeneuve got a terrible press in Paris, didn't he? People said he was a coward and all of this, which he absolutely wasn't. He has dressed just like Nelson has, very conspicuously. He's got a Parisian chic, naval chic, and his sort of green trousers and gleaming back boots and a big blue coat. And there's a scene before the battle where they parade the imperial eagle around the decks. Yeah, which has been given to them personally by Napoleon.

21:21By Napoleon, exactly. I think designed by Napoleon, actually. And they're all shouting, Vive l 'Empereur! Vive l 'Empereur! And then the Bucentour signals to the combined fleet, open fire when the enemy are within range. And that moment is coming closer and closer now. It's 11.30. The British fleet are just a couple of miles away. They have unfurled their flags. So if you imagine the scene, if there's a Hollywood screenwriter listening to this, the big, the cross of St. George, the Union Jack, the victory is flying the white ensign, which is basically a combination of the two, which is Nelson's personal flag as an admiral of the white.

22:00Magnificent, an admiral of the white. It's a great spectacle. Now they've divided into their two columns. Collingwood's column is now ahead and Nelson is impressed that Collingwood is making such great progress. He says, see how that noble fellow collingwood carries his ship into action and at that point he calls over to a signal lieutenant called john pascoe and he says one more signal to inspire the men england confides that every man will do his duty and this is why he before he left he'd made sure that all the ships in his fleet had the most up-to-date signal book isn't it for just such a moment.

22:39But Nelson has made a mistake. There is no easy signal for the word confides. And so Pascoe hesitates and says to him, confides, sir, really? What about expects? And Nelson says, that will do, Pascoe, make it directly. And so a moment later, 31 flags go up the mizzen top gallant main mast. I'm sure you can picture which particular mast that is. And that signal is, of course, England expects that every man will do his duty. And to quote myself in The Adventures in Time to inspire young readers, in those words, there was an extraordinary magic, as if Nelson was speaking personally to every man in the fleet, putting an arm around his shoulders and urging him to do his best.

23:29I mean, I've got to say, expect is much better than confides. Yeah, it is. It is. Exactly. It's a simple, direct word. And there's a little bit of a sense of obligation there, isn't there, which people would want to rise to. Yeah. Again, it's like the football manager. Yeah. One sailor said, that signal gave us a determination to conquer, which is exactly as it should be. But it's not the last signal, is it? So there's two more signals at 1144. Yes. So one of the signals is that the feet should prepare to anchor the night after the battle. And the reason for that is that Nelson, who from his earliest days on the ship as a midshipman, had been recording weather patterns.

24:09He can read the sea and the weather like nobody else. And he can sense that a storm is brewing. And the kind of the incipient storm is manifesting itself in quite a strong swell that is coming in from the west. And for now, this is good news for the British fleet because it's kind of urging them on. So Collingwood, you know, rushing on towards the French fleet. He's able to do that because he has this swell behind him. And it's also very bad news for the combined fleet because every time there is a swell that comes through, it rolls their ships up and down, up and down. And that in turn means it's very difficult for their cannon to aim directly.

24:50I mean, essentially, it's only for a few seconds that they will be level with the British ships. And this ensures that essentially when they start firing, they don't really have accuracy. So that's good news for Nelson. So that's the first signal, looking ahead to when the French hopefully have been beaten. But for now, there is, of course, the prospect of battle. And so the second signal, unsurprisingly, is engage the enemy more closely because that pell-mell battle, getting up close, creating chaos, that is what Nelson's battle plan is all about. So we're coming very close to midday now. Henry Blackwood, the frigate captain, is now preparing to leave to go back to his frigate And he says farewell to Nelson.

25:34He says, I trust my Lord that on my return to the victory, I shall find your lordship well and in possession of 20 prizes, meaning 20 captured enemy ships, which is Nelson's goal. And Nelson says to him, God bless you, Blackwood. I shall never speak to you again, which is an extraordinary fatalistic thing to say. And biographers have sometimes said, you know, did Nelson have a kind of presentiment of his own demise? I mean, maybe it's the kind of remark, theatrical remark, that if he'd won, Blackwood would have forgotten it. I mean, I think it's the kind of comment that he is recorded as having made before battles quite a lot.

26:10It's almost like kind of touch wood, isn't it? Yes, I think it is. 11.56. Collingwood's royal sovereign, the head of that column, is now within range of the French guns. And the gun captains on the French ship, Fugue, give the order to fire. Ballonqués, pointés, envoyés. And this is devastating for the Royal Sovereign, isn't it? Because as it's approaching, it can't fire back. The British can only aim their own guns once they are up alongside the French ships. But for now, as they approach it, the French are just able to blast the prow of Collingwood's ship. But Collingwood, undeterred, unwavering, leads his column right into the tempest of enemy fire.

26:51He's getting broadsides from two sides, from the Santa Ana and the Fuga. But that's his job. That's what he's all about. And he's followed by the other ships from his division. And there's a story that I always think is too good to be true. Because the next ship is a ship called the Belle Isle, an English ship under William Hargood. and he overtakes a heavier ship called the Tonnel under Charles Tyler. And as they're passing each other, Tyler shouts to William Hargood, a glorious day for old England. It's brilliant how they're performing exactly as they feel. They feel they have to live up to this.

27:30That's the wonderful thing. There's no sense of irony about this for them. They complete sincerity. Well, also, they know this is a titanic battle that will live in the annals of history and they want to be in those annals. Yeah, I mean, quite right. And they are. So Nelson is watching with admiration from the victory as Collingwood's division leads the way. His own moment has almost come. The victory is now very close to Vilna's flagship, the Bucentor. There are shots beginning to whistle overhead, but he says, you know, hold your fire, hold your fire. And his gun crews are holding their nerve.

28:01And then three enemy ships open fire on him at once, the San Agustin, the Heros, and the Santissima Trinidad. So that's about 200 guns. That's a lot of guns. Firing into Nelson's ship. And the air is already full of smoke and splinters and blood and whatnot. And yet still Nelson waits. He has got up to Vilno's flagship now and he's slowly turning, turning, taking the enemy fire, waiting for the perfect moment to return it. But that means, of course, he's absorbing enormous punishment. And because he's on the quarter deck, you know, he's in the line of fire. So at one point, you know, the quarter deck is quite small.

28:41At one point, his secretary, who's a bloke called John Scott, is talking to Captain Hardy when an enemy cannonball just smashes into the middle of him and basically blows him to pieces. It's kind of two legs are left standing, aren't they? Yeah, it's a ghastly scene. And two sailors basically take the rest of him and throw it over the side. And Nelson, he kind of glances over his shoulder and he says, oh, is that poor Scott that's gone? Poor fellow. Yeah, very Duke of Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo. Very Duke of Wellington. Then the ship's wheel explodes in a kind of cloud of splinters. There's another shot that kills eight Marines in one go on the poop deck.

29:18And Nelson says to the Marine captain, spread out your men. You know, don't pack them together because they'll be more easily killed if they're packed together. And there are more and more shots kind of hammering into the quarter deck. One of them famously ricochets off Hardy's shoe and rips off the buckle. and, you know, it's very lucky for Hardy, basically, he could have lost his foot. And Nelson says to Hardy, this is too warm work, Hardy, to last long, meaning we can't take much more of this. Because they've now lost, what, about 50 men dead and wounded on the deck of the Victory. Their sail has been reduced to ribbons.

29:54The wheel has been destroyed. But while that has been happening, they have completed the turn, and they are ready to fire. And so Victory has 50 cannons trained on the Bussentour, and smash the French flagship seems almost to kind of crumple in submission before this firepower. And now it is the turn of the French flagship, its deck to be covered with bodies, soaked in blood, its guns wrecked, its officers smashed to pieces. Although Villeneuve survives, doesn't he? And it is a scene of the utmost devastation. And that is what Nelson's entire battle plan had been this is the chaos that he has created on the assumption that he will be able to capitalize on it and so it has turned out but we can't you know emphasize too much just how bloody and horrific this is i mean this is not you know anyone who thinks oh i'd love to see the battle of trafalgar i mean it's an unbelievably um traumatizing and horrific scene so we mentioned uh one of the guys who wrote a letter to his parents robert smith dying he was killed by enemy shot and they ripped off both of his legs hardy's clerk was killed on his way down to the surgeon uh the marine captain charles adair was killed while pulling his men back to try to shield them from the fire but all the time this is the amazing thing they stick to their guns they stick to their posts this is what they've been trained for to absorb all this enemy punishment and they do it because they know they will win because they are winning well the deck is is a wash with blood but below deck the gunners there are kind of much more protected by you know they're not as exposed and so therefore they are able to continue just pounding and pounding and pounding and the british gunners are just much more efficient much quicker than their french adversaries i mean that's what basically makes them so lethal yeah but it's not over yet because of course the victory is still kind of isolated at the head of its column three enemy ships at once kind of converge on the victory hemming it in and an attempt to kind of break out of their deadly embrace he drives the victory into one of the french 74s which is called the rue du table and he sends the rue du table swinging backwards so there's more shots on every side the rue du table is preparing to board because of course that was Villeneuve's plan turn the sea battle into a land battle use all the infantry on our ships to get aboard the british ships and create havoc so the rue du table's men are throwing grappling hooks they're pulling the two ships together getting ready to launch their assault and there's kind of loads of musket fire coming in and a hail of grenades there are clouds of black smoke coming from above the victory and then tom comes the moment and maybe you would like to read from the earth shatteringly definitive account yes adventures in time by dominic sambrook On the quarterdeck, Nelson and Hardy were deep in conversation as so often in the past.

33:00On his admiral's coat, the golden buttons gleamed in the sunlight. High above the deck of the Redutable, a French marksman levelled his musket. Through the smoke, he could see a flash of guilt as two little figures moved on the British flagship. On the victory, Nelson turned to speak to Hardy. The marksman's finger tightened on the trigger. It was 1.15 in the afternoon. In Burnham Thorpe, the birds were singing. The marksman fired. We'll take a break.

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34:17Hello and welcome back to a very emotional Rest is History. Dominic, a shot has rung out from the friendship, the Redutable, but the clamour of the battle being what it is, nobody has heard it. And it's only when Hardy, who's been kind of pacing ahead, turns back to look for Nelson that he realizes what has happened because he sees Nelson lying on his side. He's in excruciating agony. He's propping himself up with his left hand and Hardy can see that a musket ball has hit Nelson on the left shoulder, punched through his spine and is buried inside his body. And Hardy and other sailors rush to his side and Nelson looks up at Hardy and says, I believe they have done it at last.

35:08My backbone is shot through. And Hardy orders men to pick the admiral up, to carry him down to the surgeon's cockpit. And of course, every step that the men carrying Nelson take, it's absolute agony for Nelson himself. And such is his pain that he asks for a handkerchief to cover his face because he doesn't want to alarm his men with how seriously he injured he is he knows that probably he's dying and so he's taken down into the cockpit and there in the shambles he is laid down yeah it's a it's a terrible place that's the cockpit it's very dark it's lit by these kind of shaking lanterns there's a smell of sweat and blood there's there's blood everywhere there's blood on the timbers uh there's the bodies of wounded men everywhere you know they can hear up ahead the roar of the guns uh the cheering and screaming and whatnot and whenever the ship lurches you know some of the wounded men cry out in pain and they they lie nelson down on a midshipman's cot and they take off his clothes the surgeon dr beattie william beattie comes at once and they can tell from his face right away you know what this means and Nelson says to Beattie ah Mr Beattie you can do nothing for me I have but a short time to live my back is shot through and and Beattie examines him now around Nelson are some of his closest comrades his chaplain Alexander Scott who will basically not leave his side now for weeks to come and his steward William Chevalier and others and Beattie is fighting back tears and he looks at Nelson he says my lord unhappily for our country there is nothing that can be done for you.

36:55And Nelson says, doctor, I told you so. Doctor, I'm gone. Now, what happens next? There are different accounts. Probably the best version of this, I think, is in John Sugden's extraordinary biography, which kind of sifts all the evidence. Nelson, throughout the afternoon, is talking about Lady Hamilton, isn't he, Tom? Remember me to Lady Hamilton. Remember me to Horatia. I have to leave Lady Hamilton, my adopted daughter, Horatia, as a legacy to my country. It's interesting that he still says at this point, my adopted daughter, everybody in that room knows that she's his daughter and not adopted.