516. Nelson: God of War (Part 3)

Valentine’s day, 1797: the British Royal Navy are hoping for a decisive clash with the Spanish enemy, off the coast of Portugal, at Cape St. Vincent. Nelson has already narrowly avoided capture at the hands of the Spanish, after sailing through their fleet unnoticed, thanks to the auspicious cover of thick fog. But the British are outnumbered, and the Spanish fleet has at its head the largest warship in the world, the Santísima Trinidad. The stakes couldn’t be higher: if the Spanish aren’t stopped, they could head North towards the western coast of France and join forces with the French, the consequences of which would be terrible. Indeed, the French would then reign supreme over the Channel, offering them the perfect conditions to invade Britain. But after a disastrous start to the battle for the Royal Navy, all seems lost for the Royal Navy, until a single British ship breaks formation, and takes on the Santísima Trinidad. But who could possibly be behind such an insane manoeuvre? Join Tom and Dominic in the third part of our series on Lord Nelson, as they dive into the chaos and carnage of the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, and look at how Nelson’s incredibly daring charge saved Britain… _______ LIVE SHOWS *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U. S. A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L. A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D. C., Boston and New York. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:10Tom Holland?

  On the deck of the Victory, Jervis clenched his fists in frustration. The Spanish were getting away. After all the waiting, it had all been for nothing. And then, to his amazement, one of the smaller British ships did something extraordinary. In flagrant defiance of all his orders, it broke out of the line, abandoning the planned formation and striking out alone across the sea.

• 0:44Tom Holland?

  The admiral's jaw dropped. The unknown captain was heading straight for the Spanish fleet. He was bearing down on the gigantic enemy flagship, the Santissima Trinidad, guns blazing. For death or glory? And then Jervis realised who it was. It was Nelson. So honestly, Dominic, do you know, my daughters now, I'm afraid, are too old to have a bedtime story read to them, because actually Katie's 25.

• 1:18Tom Holland?

  But I'm quite tempted to get it for them for Christmas and read it to them.

• 1:21Dominic Sandbrook?

  Oh, you absolutely should. I can't think of a better way you could spend Christmas.

• 1:25Tom Holland?

  So this is from Nelson, Hero of the Seas, your thrilling new book.

• 1:28Dominic Sandbrook?

  Yeah.

• 1:29Tom Holland?

  Aimed at a younger audience, but very much tailored for an adult patriot as well.

• 1:34Dominic Sandbrook?

  Definitely.

• 1:35Tom Holland?

  And this is a heroic, I mean astonishing moment, we'll come to it, in the Battle of Cape St Vincent, fought on the 14th February 1797. And this is the feat that makes Nelson a national hero for the first time. And we'll be looking at that, we'll be looking at how he loses his arm.

• 1:51Dominic Sandbrook?

  Yes. So today's episode, I mean, there's no disguising it. This is history as pure swashbuckling melodrama.

• 1:57Tom Holland?

  Daring to.

• 1:58Dominic Sandbrook?

  Absolutely. And we have no apology in saying that. So let's remind ourselves, Tom, where we got to. We are in February 1797. The British have been driven out of the Mediterranean by Napoleon's advances on land. The Spanish have joined the war and are looking to link up with the French, which would be disastrous for Britain. Nelson has been heading back through the Mediterranean. He's gone through the Straits of Gibraltar. He has sailed through the Spanish fleet in the fog. And to his relief, he has linked up with Sir John Jervis, Old Oak, this toad-like, indomitable admiral off Cape St Vincent.

• 2:39Dominic Sandbrook?

  And now Jervis has the chance to draw up his plans and to strike for victory.

• 2:44Tom Holland?

  And the scene is set for what the British hope will be a decisive clash. Because even though the British outnumbered, their hope is that by engaging the Spanish, they can capture ships, they can maim ships, they can impair it. And the reason why this really matters is that Jervis, of course, is, you know, he's down off the coast of Spain and Portugal. But his main thoughts are surely focused on the Channel. Because the risk is, is that if the Spanish fleet is able to continue on its way northwards to Brest in France and to join up with the French fleet.

• 3:23Dominic Sandbrook?

  Yep.

• 3:23Tom Holland?

  Then even though the Royal Navy is the largest fleet in the world, the combination of the second largest, the French, and the third largest, the Spanish. I mean, potentially it could threaten Britain with the loss of the control of the Channel. And that would open up a possibility of a French invasion.

• 3:39Dominic Sandbrook?

  Exactly. So Jervis knows, as you said, that he is outnumbered. But he believes they have to take on the Spanish now to stop them linking up. And he is confident, as he later put it, in the skill, valor and discipline of the officers and men I had the happiness to command. And that is not just patriotic boosterism. That is a genuine, realistic appreciation of the Royal Navy's qualities as opposed to those of the Spanish Navy.

• 4:03Tom Holland?

  And perhaps specifically of the fighting quality of the captains that he has promoted and favoured. And one of the things I think that Jervis has instilled in his captains is that, you know, there is the letter of an order and there is the spirit of an order.

• 4:22Dominic Sandbrook?

  Yes, that's right.

• 4:22Tom Holland?

  And he's trying to encourage his captains to show initiative if the opportunity should arrive.

• 4:29Dominic Sandbrook?

  Which is exactly what Nelson will do later on. So Nelson gets that, I think, from Jervis. So that day when Nelson arrives, Jervis moves him to another ship, a bigger ship, the captain, 74 guns. He's very pleased to find that the captain is in great condition. The crew have been drilling and drilling with the guns all the time, preparing for this opportunity. That night, Jervis makes the ships keep close order. They can hear the Spanish guns, the signal guns, away in the fog. Then dawn comes. It's the 14th of February 1797. It's a cold, misty morning. The lead ship, which is Calodden, under Thomas Trubridge, Nelson's friend from episode one.

• 5:09Tom Holland?

  He's a man who loves glory, doesn't he?

• 5:11Dominic Sandbrook?

  He absolutely does. They said, "Nobody in the fleet." He's Jervis's favourite, Thomas Trubridge, everybody believes.

• 5:16Tom Holland?

  Because he's really, I mean, he's risen from nothing. He was an able seaman.

• 5:19Dominic Sandbrook?

  Exactly. He's properly meritocratic. And they always used to say, "Nobody hates the French more than Thomas Trubridge." You know, he really does burn with zeal for king and country. So his lookouts have spotted ships and the British start to advance very slowly, deliberately. People who remember Atrafalga series will remember that you don't often charge into these battles. You proceed in a very stately, kind of considered way.

• 5:45Tom Holland?

  It's like a kind of dance, isn't it? You line up opposite each other. That's the convention.

• 5:50Dominic Sandbrook?

  And there is a wonderful, wonderful story told of this. So the captain of the Victory is looking through the telescope. Jervis is on the Victory, but of course, he's not the captain of that ship because he's the commanding the entire fleet. And the captain says, "There are eight sail of the line, Sir John." Very well, sir. "There are twenty sail of the line, Sir John." Very well, sir. "There are twenty-five sail of the line, Sir John." Very well, sir. "There are twenty-seven sail of the line, Sir John." And so at this point, the captain of the Victory is clearly thinking, "There are far too many of them," you know.

• 6:22Tom Holland?

  Let's get out of here.

• 6:23Dominic Sandbrook?

  And Jervis just says, "Enough, sir. No more of that. The die is cast. And even if there are fifty sail, I will go through them."

• 6:30Tom Holland?

  That is the Sandbrook spirit.

• 6:31Dominic Sandbrook?

  And behind them, there's a Canadian officer, I think he is, who hears this and he can't restrain himself and he shouts out, "That's right, Sir John. And by God, we'll give them a damn good licking." Love it. This is how we talk about rival history podcasts, isn't it?

• 6:46Tom Holland?

  It is, yes, it is.

• 6:47Dominic Sandbrook?

  So Jervis has 15 ships of the line. The Spanish have 27 ships. The Spanish have more three-decker ships. The three-decker ships the Spanish have have 112 guns each. And they also have a ship called the Santissima Trinidad.

• 7:04Tom Holland?

  And that's an absolute monster, isn't it?

• 7:05Dominic Sandbrook?

  Four decks, 130 guns, the most formidable warship on earth. Arguably, it's ever been built.

• 7:13Tom Holland?

  Yeah, so there's another officer in the British line who looks at them and says in a tone of huge excitement, "By my soul, they are thumpers."

• 7:22Dominic Sandbrook?

  Yeah.

• 7:24Dominic Sandbrook?

  This is, this is probably the story in all history that shows Britain at its best, I think it's fair to say, Tom.

• 7:29Tom Holland?

  Yeah, if only every episode could be like this.

• 7:32Dominic Sandbrook?

  The two fleets are converging. Jervis is completely calm. You know, he instills this sense of tranquility and confidence in his captains.

• 7:41Tom Holland?

  And Dominic, just to reiterate, the key thing here is the British fleet is outnumbered, but they're still expecting to win.

• 7:49Dominic Sandbrook?

  Completely.

• 7:49Tom Holland?

  And they will win by engaging the Spanish. So they have to engage the Spanish.

• 7:54Dominic Sandbrook?

  Yes.

• 7:55Tom Holland?

  They're worried that the Spanish fleet will kind of sail back, will go to Cadiz or whatever.

• 7:58Dominic Sandbrook?

  Yes, exactly.

• 7:59Tom Holland?

  So even though they're outnumbered, it's the Spanish who are probably going to try and get away.

• 8:04Dominic Sandbrook?

  Exactly. Because the Spanish, I mean, what we're saying about the British capabilities, this is not us being

• 8:09Tom Holland?

  jingoistic.

• 8:10Dominic Sandbrook?

  Sort of silly and jingoistic. The Spanish and the French absolutely know this and they factor this in that, you know, when you're up against a British fleet, you're in trouble and the best thing to do is to try to get away.

• 8:19Tom Holland?

  And it's not just the gunnery, it's also that they've just been out all the time because of their limes.

• 8:23Dominic Sandbrook?

  Yeah.

• 8:23Tom Holland?

  But the Spanish and the French can't do that. They have to spend most of their time in port.

• 8:27Dominic Sandbrook?

  Yes, exactly. The British are experienced, they are drilled, they are formidable. And I think actually running through this whole Nelson story, as much as we praise Nelson's individual genius, there is a sense that when a British fleet and a Spanish or French fleet go into battle, the general expectation is that the British will always win, don't you think?

• 8:45Tom Holland?

  I do, and I think it's because chiefly thanks to the process of industrialisation and globalisation that the Royal Navy is both facilitating and being sharpened and honed by. Britain has a weapon of lethal destructiveness, rather in the way that with the longbows and the use of longbowmen and men-at-arms in the Hundred Years' War, for a brief time, they were able to impose themselves on the greatest power in Christendom. This is really the only other period where Britain has a kind of cutting-edge offensive weapon. And the French and the Spanish respect that and indeed fear it.

• 9:20Dominic Sandbrook?

  So to give a sense of the battle picture, the Spanish ships are in two divisions. They have eighteen ships first and then nine, and they're in very ragged formation, so Jervis can tell they're not quite at it. The British, they are advancing sort of in a calm, steady, controlled way, now flying the colours of the Union Jack. And the plan there is that effectively they will advance on the Spanish fleet and then they will tack, which means kind of zigzagging upwind towards the larger Spanish division, and they will cut the Spanish in two. They will deal with the first larger division of the Spanish, then they will turn back to deal with the second division.

• 9:58Tom Holland?

  And of course, this is not the formal dance of battle that the Spanish would expect. And it bears witness to the fact that this, I suppose really, an impatience with the limitations of fighting simply in a line.

• 10:13Dominic Sandbrook?

  Yeah.

• 10:13Tom Holland?

  You know, one against the other, that it's not just Nelson, that this is something that the, you know, the entire officer class of the Royal Navy is starting to get to grips with. I mean, Hotham hadn't, but Jervis clearly has.

• 10:24Dominic Sandbrook?

  Absolutely, he has. Yes, he has. So, leading the line is Thomas Trubridge's Calodden, Victory is in the centre, and actually Nelson's captain is towards the back. At the very back is his friend Cuthbert Collingwood's ship, Excellent.

• 10:37Dominic Sandbrook?

  On they go. At 11.30, Culloden reaches the enemy line. At this point, Jervis sends the signal saying now is the time to zigzag upwind and to cut the Spanish fleet in two.

• 10:46Tom Holland?

  And already the kind of gunsmoke is starting to, the Spanish are starting to fire.

• 10:50Dominic Sandbrook?

  Yes.

• 10:51Tom Holland?

  And Jervis has been on the quarterdeck and now he goes up onto the poop deck to get a better sense of the action. His ship is kind of wreathed in smoke. And while he's standing there, an officer can't duck even as bullets are firing or cannon or whatever. And as he's standing there, a cannonball smacks into the head of an officer next to him. Jervis is absolutely spattered by blood, brains, fragments of skull. He wipes the gore from his face very coolly and lowers his telescope and stumps back to the quarterdeck.

• 11:23Dominic Sandbrook?

  Love it. Brilliant. That's exactly how I would behave on the ship. You're quite right. About this point, as the firing starts, Jervis realises that something has gone very badly wrong with his plan. That basically the ships that are succeeding, the second lot of British ships, have missed his last signal in the confusion, in the chaos, in the smoke.

• 11:43Tom Holland?

  They're not tacking.

• 11:44Dominic Sandbrook?

  And they are not tacking. They are not turning to deal with the First Division. And without getting massively into kind of the minutia naval tactics, what this means is it will take time for them to turn. In that time, the smaller Spanish ships will get away. They will be able to run to the sanctuary of their home port, which is Cadiz. And on the other hand, the larger Spanish division will probably also manage to get away. They will be able to loop round and rejoin their comrades. And it's at that point that he sees one British ship disobeying his orders, striking off alone, breaking the attack formation and heading straight for the enemy flagship, that's Santissima Trinidad.

• 12:28Tom Holland?

  And who is it?

• 12:29Dominic Sandbrook?

  It is Nelson.

• 12:30Tom Holland?

  It's Nelson.

• 12:31Dominic Sandbrook?

  It's Nelson on the captain. So Nelson has been watching all this on the captain. He knows that he's under strict instructions. Do not abandon the attack formation. Stay in formation. But as soon as he sees that something is going wrong, Nelson thinks... I will ignore the letter of the law.

• 12:47Tom Holland?

  I'll go with the spirit of the law.

• 12:48Dominic Sandbrook?

  I will go with the spirit. You know, it's gone wrong. I'll take it into my own hands. I'm going to go straight for the biggest ship on earth, the Santa Isma Trinada.

• 12:56Tom Holland?

  But just to emphasise, the balls of Nelson in doing this, it's not just that he is charging alone, you know, this vast ship. It's also the fact that the entire structure of the navy is founded on obedience and particularly in battle, to flout instructions. You know, it goes against every instinct of a service that depends on strict discipline.

• 13:20Dominic Sandbrook?

  Yeah.

• 13:20Tom Holland?

  For its very survival. And if it all goes wrong, if the Spanish fleet still gets away, or even more if the British start losing ships, then Nelson will be the scapegoat.

• 13:31Dominic Sandbrook?

  Definitely.

• 13:31Tom Holland?

  He will be ruined.

• 13:32Dominic Sandbrook?

  Yeah. Oh, I mean, he could be called marshals. Absolutely. But that gamble changes the course of the battle. It shows incredible courage. He is firing on this enormous ship, the Spanish are firing, this enemy shot ripping into his sails and his rigging. Other Spanish ships begin to converge on him, but the fact that he does that means they don't get away because they turn to fight him. Thing is, it shows incredible courage, but also it's very effective. By going straight at this huge Spanish ship, he has bought time for the other ships, British ships, to change course and to follow him. But also he's stopped the Spanish from breaking away because instead of rushing for Cadiz, they've turned to deal with Nelson. So within moments, yeah, he's engaged in this colossal kind of firefight with the Spanish ship.

• 14:17Dominic Sandbrook?

  But British ships are now coming to his aid, Trubridge and Colloden, Collingwood in the excellent.

• 14:22Tom Holland?

  So all the lads.

• 14:23Dominic Sandbrook?

  All his pals.

• 14:23Tom Holland?

  Yeah, all his pals.

• 14:25Dominic Sandbrook?

  The captain is taking horrendous damage. So its main mast is riddled with holes, while other masts are blasted overboard. The wheel is splintered, the sails are shredded.

• 14:36Tom Holland?

  Yeah, and splinters are really dangerous, aren't they? So it's not just the cannonballs. It's when the cannonball smacks into wood and the splinters go out. And at this point, Nelson is hit by a massive splinter in the side of his stomach. So this is another, it's not as kind of obviously bad as the wound to his eye, which blinds him in that eye. But it is, I mean, it causes him trouble for the rest of his life. It's a very serious wound.

• 14:59Dominic Sandbrook?

  Yeah, absolutely, it does. He knows his ship can't take it much longer, that they're being absolutely pummeled by the Spanish. And he says to the master of his ship, okay, enough, go straight for the nearest Spanish ship, which is the San Nicolas. Just go straight for it, ram into it, let's do this. The master, you know, turns the wheel, what's left of the wheel, they head straight for the Spanish ship, and they crash into the San Nicolas.

• 15:24Tom Holland?

  So we've just mentioned Nelson has got a massive grey splinter stuck in his stomach. Does it stop him? Does it put him off?

• 15:31Dominic Sandbrook?

  Absolutely not.

• 15:32Tom Holland?

  No.

• 15:32Dominic Sandbrook?

  By this point, he's given orders, come on, we're gonna do with this, we're gonna board. His crew have armed themselves, they've got pikes, they've got pistols, some of them have got cutlasses, they've got tomahawks, some of them, kind of butchers' knives, they've got everything they can get their hands on. He jumps onto, I mean, this is, you know, no script writer would invent this. He jumps onto this beam that overhangs the San Nicolas, he draws his sword, and he literally shouts, "Death or glory", and then-

• 16:00Tom Holland?

  And then he jumps.

• 16:01Dominic Sandbrook?

  He jumps onto the San Nicolas. I mean, this is like, why didn't Russell Crowe play Nelson? Or, I mean, I suppose he was Captain Jack Aubrey. But this is a brilliant part for somebody, isn't it? He jumps onto the Spanish ship. When he gets there, he finds the Spanish ship, the San Nicolas, is already littered with bodies. His gunners have done their work very well. And then there's the scene of him charging through the cabins with his men behind him, all his marines and whatnot. Musket shots come at them, his marines, he steps back and his marines sort of do their work. They keep going, fighting their way through the ship. They get to the quarterdeck, littered with Spanish bodies, and the Spanish throw down their weapons. And at this point-

• 16:40Tom Holland?

  He's captured the ship, you know, he thinks brilliant.

• 16:42Dominic Sandbrook?

  This alone is an incredible feat, right? No British officer has boarded and captured an enemy ship for 300 years. It's so rare.

• 16:54Dominic Sandbrook?

  And then, just as he's kind of panting, more drama, another twist. Musket balls start peppering the deck and he looks up and he realises that in the chaos, the San Nicolás has become entangled with another Spanish ship, a three-decker ship called the San Jose.

• 17:12Tom Holland?

  So this is enormous, hulking, looming over them.

• 17:15Dominic Sandbrook?

  And the San Jose men are up on their kind of nests, firing down on Nelson and his men on the San Nicolás.

• 17:22Tom Holland?

  And this is the greatest moment, isn't it? Because Nelson's response to this, rather than thinking, oh, we'd better beat a retreat, is to board that ship.

• 17:30Dominic Sandbrook?

  This is incredible. Don't forget, he is blind in one eye.

• 17:34Tom Holland?

  He's got a splinter in his stomach.

• 17:35Dominic Sandbrook?

  He's got a splinter in his side. He runs to the side. He leaps across the gap to the San Jose, kind of hauls himself up the side.

• 17:42Tom Holland?

  Very Hollywood.

• 17:42Dominic Sandbrook?

  Almost falls. His men doing the same behind him. They swarm aboard the San Jose. The Spanish are so taken aback by this. There's a lot of them throw down their weapons straight away. This captain is still firing at the San Jose. The Spanish give up pretty much straight away and it's just an unbelievable scene.

• 18:00Tom Holland?

  I mean, the thing about it is, it's very Nelson. It's pure glory. I mean, it's boy's own. You wouldn't believe it if you saw it in a film. I mean, it's so extraordinary that Patrick O'Brien never dared, even at Jack Aubrey's most dramatic, to come up with something so improbable. So Nelson has won this incredible glory, but he's done it by inflicting utter carnage on not one but two Spanish ships. There's an eyewitness to what the British find when they go below decks. So of both the ships, they've seen the horror of what's happened on the decks, but going down below decks, this is where British artillery has had its impact. "These decks were full of dead bodies, some with their heads and others both their legs and arms off,

• 18:42Tom Holland?

  and the rest knocked all to pieces and their entrails all about, and blood running so thick, we could not walk the decks in part without going over our shoes in human blood, which was a deplorable sight and too shocking to relate." But he's just related it. And I've just related it as well. It's the combination of glory and carnage, I think. That makes Nelson's achievements simultaneously kind of thrilling, but also terrifying.

• 19:11Dominic Sandbrook?

  And gallantry, because after the Spanish all line up, he walks along the line shaking their hands and taking their swords, they each handed their swords and he gives them to his men who put them under their arms. His men, it's very kind of master and commander. His men are covered with soot and grime and blood and they all crowd around Nelson and one of them slaps him on the back, which is great, kind of Liz Majesty, you know, and this guy, this sort of, you can imagine this kind of burly sailor or whatever. He says to his mates, well, it's not every day you can congratulate your captain for capturing a Spanish man of war. And of course it isn't.

• 19:44Tom Holland?

  Well, because the Romans had this thing that a commander of an army, if he killed the opposing commander of an army, you know, this was an exceptional thing that only happened two or three times over the entire course of Roman history. I mean, this is the British parallel. It's so extraordinary what he's done.

• 19:59Dominic Sandbrook?

  Capturing one ship would make him a national hero.

• 20:01Tom Holland?

  Capturing two.

• 20:01Dominic Sandbrook?

  Two, and also to boot, basically winning the battle for the British. Because Cape St Vincent is a crushing victory for British naval spirit. Fifteen ships have beaten 27 and they've captured four of the 27 as prizes. Hundreds of Spanish have been killed, thousands wounded, 3,000 taken prisoner. It is an astounding achievement and everybody knows, as much as of course Jervis will take a lot of the credit, Jervis himself knows it's Nelson who is the star of the day, really.

• 20:35Tom Holland?

  And this is a victory that has saved Britain from potential invasion to boot.

• 20:39Dominic Sandbrook?

  Yeah.

• 20:40Tom Holland?

  So the fact that people in Britain can kind of breathe a huge sigh of relief while also reading their newspapers about unbelievable tales of daring do, Nelson for the first time is a national hero. And to be honest, this is what Nelson has always dreamed of. He's always wanted to be a hero. He's always wanted to be admired. He's always want to be wreathed in glory. And now he is.

• 21:01Dominic Sandbrook?

  And now he is, yes.

• 21:02Tom Holland?

  I talked in the beginning of the first episode about how there's a kind of almost a quality of Achilles about Nelson's heroism. And we have the record, the opinion of the former Viceroy of Corsica, who was with the fleet on one of the frigates and watching the action. And he described Nelson as a hero beyond homers or any other possible inventions.

• 21:24Dominic Sandbrook?

  Oh, that's nice. So they get letters from home. Jervis has been made the Earl of St Vincent. Nelson has been promoted to Rear Admiral of the Blue and Knight of the Order of the Bath. And he gets a lovely letter from his father, who's staying with Fanny in Bath, where they would often take the waters. And his father said, "They went to a concert that morning, and when people saw them, they bowed to Fanny as if she'd won the battle herself", which must be lovely for Fanny. And then the Reverend Nelson says that when they walked home, strangers came up to shake him by the hand, and he had to step aside because he was so embarrassed to weep in public with pride. Isn't that nice, Tom?

• 22:03Tom Holland?

  It is nice. Well, bear in mind also that, you know, they haven't seen Nelson for years.

• 22:06Dominic Sandbrook?

  Yeah.

• 22:07Tom Holland?

  And he's been busy writing back to Fanny, saying, "Oh, I'd probably die."

• 22:10Dominic Sandbrook?

  Yeah.

• 22:10Tom Holland?

  So her sense of relief must be enormous.

• 22:12Dominic Sandbrook?

  Enormous, exactly.

• 22:13Tom Holland?

  So Dominic, really for Nelson, I mean, this is everything that he ever wanted. And for him, it should be a moment of transcendent happiness, a moment of complete apotheosis. But there is a sting in the tail, isn't there?

• 22:27Dominic Sandbrook?

  There always is with Nelson because, as we said in the first episode, he's admirable, he's inspirational, but there's also a slight element of comedy and disaster that always sort of hanging over Nelson, especially, Tom, when he goes on to land. And unfortunately, in the second half of this episode, that is what he is going to do with disastrous consequences.

• 22:50Tom Holland?

  Okay, so any patriotic Britons listening, you've sapped your full with the first half, but I'm afraid the second half, it's slightly less glorious.

• 23:02Tom Holland?

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• 23:15Dominic Sandbrook?

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• 23:44Tom Holland?

  Hello, welcome back to The Rest Is History. Nelson and the Earl of St Vincent, as he now is, John Jervis, they have won the Battle of St Vincent. Britain has been saved from potential invasion, so hurrah, Nelson's an absolute hero. But Dominic, we were talking at the end of the first half, how this half is going to be slightly less glorious, isn't it?

• 24:05Dominic Sandbrook?

  It is indeed. So, they have won the battle, but Nelson being Nelson, there's always a little deflating epilogue, isn't there?

• 24:14Tom Holland?

  There is, when he goes on land.

• 24:16Dominic Sandbrook?

  Yeah.

• 24:17Tom Holland?

  So glory followed by an unfortunate episode on terra firma.

• 24:21Dominic Sandbrook?

  So basically, they go to Lisbon to rest and repair. And while they're there, they hear reports or rumours that the Viceroy of Mexico is going to be sailing home or sending home his treasure fleet. So this is the silver from Cuba and from the Argentine.

• 24:37Tom Holland?

  And it's very kind of Elizabethan quality to all this, isn't it? You can imagine Drake.

• 24:41Dominic Sandbrook?

  Yeah, absolutely. And at first, the new Earl of St Vincent, as he is, Sir John Jervis, says, well, if we hang around and blockade Cadiz, we should be able to get this fleet. They hang around outside Cadiz, no joy at all. And Nelson and Troubridge, his old pal, they're both kind of hot-headed. And they put their heads together and they say, look, we think this fleet must have made for Tenerife. That's where they've gone, so down in the Canary Islands, off the coast of Africa, Spanish Islands. That's why we haven't seen it. They've anchored the treasure fleet there. We can take Tenerife, we can get this treasure. Yeah, this treasure, this enormous quantity of silver.

• 25:17Tom Holland?

  It would make them for life, wouldn't it?

• 25:18Dominic Sandbrook?

  It would, and it could change the fortunes of the war, could knock Spain out of the war, who knows? This is amazing.

• 25:23Tom Holland?

  Well, there is that, of course, because of course, it's all about patriotism.

• 25:25Dominic Sandbrook?

  Yeah.

• 25:25Tom Holland?

  But there is also the element that

• 25:26Dominic Sandbrook?

  Oh, yeah.

• 25:27Tom Holland?

  Both men would be unbelievably rich.

• 25:30Dominic Sandbrook?

  They would be.

• 25:30Tom Holland?

  And at this point, then, neither of them are.

• 25:32Dominic Sandbrook?

  No, because Nelson, in fact, through much of his career.

• 25:35Tom Holland?

  Hasn't taken many prizes.

• 25:36Dominic Sandbrook?

  Never really takes many prizes. They're always piffling little privateers and things that he's been getting.

• 25:41Tom Holland?

  He's all about, you know, serving his country.

• 25:43Dominic Sandbrook?

  He fancies a bit of money as well, I think it's fair to say.

• 25:45Tom Holland?

  He does, yeah.

• 25:46Dominic Sandbrook?

  So Nelson says to St Vincent, look, I just need eight ships. Or so, come on, we can do this. St Vincent says, all right, fine, go for it. And they set off in July. They've got three sort of decent sized ships, seventy fours, as they're called, including Nelson's new ship, the Theseus, and some frigates and artillery boat and all this. The plan is Nelson will command the ships, Trubridge will lead the men on land. What could possibly go wrong? Six days later, they pitch up in Tenerife. And I think even at this point, they look out and they're like, hmm.

• 26:14Tom Holland?

  Quite what we were expecting.

• 26:15Dominic Sandbrook?

  It's kind of harder than we're expecting because it's kind of these very steep, black beaches and high cliffs. It's incredibly hot and this is something they haven't really bargained for.

• 26:25Tom Holland?

  And it's very well defended as well, isn't it?

• 26:26Dominic Sandbrook?

  Very well defended.

• 26:27Tom Holland?

  So there are kind of guns all along the shore. It's a menacing place.

• 26:31Dominic Sandbrook?

  They have arrived, as is not untypical in Nelson's career, with no real sense of what would await them and no maps or anything like that, no plans of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and all this. Anyway, they arrive and they say, well, come on, you know, we're the British, we can't possibly lose. They make a first attack before dawn on the 22nd of July. And I think it's fair to describe this attack as total and utter shambles. The current is so strong, it takes them ages to get to the beach. They don't get to the beach until dawn has broken, so everyone can see them. They start ringing the church bells and firing cannons. Trubridge goes ahead anyway. He leads his men up this beach. They go up this mountain, dragging two cannons with them. It's so hot, it takes them ages to get up to the top of this mountain. By the time they get there, they're in an absolutely terrible state.

• 27:15Dominic Sandbrook?

  Trubridge's men are worried that Trubridge is going to drop dead because he's sweating so much, kind of panting like a beast.

• 27:21Tom Holland?

  Still got his uniform on.

• 27:23Dominic Sandbrook?

  Exactly. They get up there with the guns. They realise the range isn't long enough to reach the town. So it's been a complete and utter waste of time.

• 27:30Tom Holland?

  Yeah.

• 27:30Dominic Sandbrook?

  They come back down again, very hot still. Two of them fall down the mountain and die. They've been completely humiliated. Now, at this point, Nelson should have given up. He knows himself, he says, victory is a forlorn hope. But he says, the honour of our country demands a second attempt, which is frankly. Madness, absolute madness. It's very Churchillian, Churchillian, Gallipoli or something, isn't it? Kind of just, you know, doubling down on a very bad plan. So now he thinks, well, we'll attack Tenerife, we'll just go straight for it. We're just, what could go wrong? We'll just go straight up the beach, blast our way in, get the treasure, storm the citadel. Brilliant. He probably, I think, expects to die on this.

• 28:08Tom Holland?

  Well, because he is leading from the front, isn't he?

• 28:10Dominic Sandbrook?

  Yes.

• 28:11Tom Holland?

  And I guess this is why his men are happy to follow him on what they must have reckoned as.

• 28:15Dominic Sandbrook?

  But can't say no. If he's going, he can't say no, can he?

• 28:18Tom Holland?

  Because it's not just that he's facing risks that are as great as he's asking them to face, but they're actually greater.

• 28:23Dominic Sandbrook?

  Yeah.

• 28:24Tom Holland?

  As ever, he will be in his full uniform, he'll have his medals, and he'll be at the front of the expedition.

• 28:28Dominic Sandbrook?

  And I think a sign that he thinks that this might not end well is he burns his letters from Fanny in his cabin that night, the night before they go. And Josiah comes in to help him do it. So Josiah, of course, has been hanging around all this time.

• 28:40Tom Holland?

  So he's seventeen by now.

• 28:41Dominic Sandbrook?

  Seventeen. He's huge, but he's still quite useless.

• 28:45Tom Holland?

  Well, you say that, but I think, you know, as we will see, he proves his worth.

• 28:50Dominic Sandbrook?

  He does one good thing, Tom, it's fair to say. Nelson says to Josiah, look, when I've gone, you take care of the ship. And Josiah says, the ship must take care of herself. And Nelson, supposing your poor mother was to lose us both, what will she do? And Josiah says to him, I will go with you this night if I never go again.

• 29:08Tom Holland?

  You know, that's not useless.

• 29:10Dominic Sandbrook?

  No, that's admirable, I guess.

• 29:11Tom Holland?

  It's brave and plucky.

• 29:13Dominic Sandbrook?

  As we will see, it's just as well that he does. They set off late at night, they're rowing through the darkness, they approach this beach, and then they hear Spanish voices. They are discovered, Tom. The bells are ringing, there's lanterns blazing, there's people firing guns and stuff. And Nelson thinks, oh, no, nightmare. People are falling into the sea, they're in danger of being caught in this crossfire, basically helpless. And Nelson, very Nelsonian behaviour, he stands up, he draws his sword, he pushes through to the front of the boat, he's going to lead his men onto land, up the beach, just go for it. And at that point, he raises his sword, a shot hits him right in the right elbow. A few seconds, he tries to stand upright, but then he staggers, he slumps, he falls down.

• 29:58Dominic Sandbrook?

  Josiah is at his side.

• 29:59Tom Holland?

  And this is where he proves his worth.

• 30:01Dominic Sandbrook?

  Well, yes.

• 30:02Tom Holland?

  The blood is pumping out. Josiah is appalled. He could easily have lost it, but he doesn't. And he's got a neckerchief.

• 30:10Dominic Sandbrook?

  Yeah.

• 30:10Tom Holland?

  And he takes it off and he ties it round Nelson's arm to give Nelson a tourniquet. And this basically saves Nelson's life.

• 30:17Dominic Sandbrook?

  Does.

• 30:17Tom Holland?

  So they get him into a boat and they row him back to the Theseus, to Nelson's ship. And the sailors see what's happened, see that, you know, his arm has gone. And so they lower a chair for him to sit on. But this is, you know, Nelson isn't going to sit in a chair, way too undignified. And so he reaches for a rope with his one good arm. And it's Nelsonian. He then hauls himself up using his one arm.

• 30:41Dominic Sandbrook?

  Incredible.

• 30:41Tom Holland?

  With the blood presumably still seeping out through Josiah's neckerchief, no matter how tight he's tied it. And he gets on the ship and he salutes using his left hand.

• 30:51Dominic Sandbrook?

  He does. And he says to his men, tell the surgeon to get his instruments ready. For I know I must lose my arm and that the sooner it is off, the better. Because of course he's right. In this period, you're hitting the arm or a leg. The best thing to do is to get that off straight away and reduce the chance of infection or serious complications. So he's helped down to the cockpit. To be in the cockpit at this point is to be in a scene from hell.

• 31:16Tom Holland?

  Yeah.

• 31:16Dominic Sandbrook?

  Probably blood everywhere. They've sanded the floor. The surgeon has got his saws ready. The surgeon is called Eschelby.

• 31:22Tom Holland?

  Not Stephen Maturin.

• 31:24Dominic Sandbrook?

  No, not Stephen Maturin. Now, he can see straight away that Nelson's arm has been shattered above the elbow. And that one of the arteries has been ruptured and unless he can intervene, Nelson will die. They set up some sea chests as a makeshift table. Their surgeon's assistants put Nelson on his back. Then they tie a strap above his elbow. They use a screw to tighten the strap. And then the men hold Nelson down.

• 31:50Dominic Sandbrook?

  First of all, what Escherby does, he slices open Nelson's arm and he gets forceps to pull out the arteries.

• 31:58Tom Holland?

  And he's got thread, hasn't he? Yeah. Silk and thread. And he ties all the ends of the arteries up.

• 32:03Dominic Sandbrook?

  With thread.

• 32:04Tom Holland?

  Yeah. And with the expectation that if the wound heals, the thread will just drop off.

• 32:09Dominic Sandbrook?

  Exactly.

• 32:09Tom Holland?

  But actually, as we will see, that takes a bit of a time.

• 32:11Dominic Sandbrook?

  And then he reaches, this is the point where if you're Nelson, you're thinking, could life get any worse? It can, because at this point, Escherby reaches for his handsaw and begins to saw at Nelson's arm.

• 32:23Tom Holland?

  And the thing that Nelson remembers is that it's cold.

• 32:26Dominic Sandbrook?

  That's right, yes.

• 32:27Tom Holland?

  The steel is cold and, you know, he recovers from the operation. But from that point on, he orders that surgeons' knives and saws should always be heated before any operation.

• 32:38Dominic Sandbrook?

  Yeah.

• 32:38Tom Holland?

  The one thing he takes from it.

• 32:40Dominic Sandbrook?

  So, to cut a long story short, the expedition has been a complete and utter disaster. Trubridge's men did get ashore. They ended up being trapped, I think in a nunnery or something like that. The Spanish behaved absolutely tremendously. They surrender to the Spanish and the Spanish say, well, you can go back to your ship. You know, you've had a crack, but that's fair enough. We all, you know, it's war, these things happen.

• 33:00Tom Holland?

  It's fair and love and war.

• 33:01Dominic Sandbrook?

  While you're waiting for your ship, they say, are you hungry?

• 33:04Tom Holland?

  Like some tapas?

• 33:05Dominic Sandbrook?

  They bring them bread and cheese and wine. They say, have you got injured men? We'll treat them in the hospital. Their commander, so we should say a word for the Spanish commander on Tenerife, who's Don Antonio Gutierrez. And as the British sailors put it, he showed that the old Spanish honour still flourished on the island of Tenerife.

• 33:23Tom Holland?

  So, fever of Espana.

• 33:24Dominic Sandbrook?

  Fever of Espana, exactly.

• 33:25Tom Holland?

  Well done, Spain.

• 33:26Dominic Sandbrook?

  The British had lost 150 men, gained absolutely nothing.

• 33:29Tom Holland?

  But I mean, it's still not as bad as the mosquito coast, is it?

• 33:32Dominic Sandbrook?

  No, I guess not.

• 33:32Tom Holland?

  So, you know.

• 33:34Dominic Sandbrook?

  There's that.

• 33:34Tom Holland?

  There's that to bear in mind.

• 33:35Dominic Sandbrook?

  Nelson has lost his right arm from just above the elbow and he's been dosed with laudanum, but he is in excruciating pain because one of these silk threads binding the arteries has got stuck in some obscure way and basically has not dropped off.

• 33:51Tom Holland?

  No, and it won't drop off for months and months, will it?

• 33:53Dominic Sandbrook?

  Exactly.

• 33:54Tom Holland?

  And it's constant agony as a result.

• 33:56Dominic Sandbrook?

  His wound is still open and it's incredibly sore. So back they go and they're sailing back and he writes to St Vincent. This is the first letter that we have from Nelson using his left hand. You can see it if you Google it online. Abysmally written, obviously, because he's not using his wrong hand, but it's full of self pity.

• 34:13Tom Holland?

  Dominic.

• 34:14Dominic Sandbrook?

  What?

• 34:15Tom Holland?

  You can't accuse Britain's greatest hero of self pity.

• 34:18Dominic Sandbrook?

  Yeah, but Tom, come on.

• 34:19Tom Holland?

  No, it's not self pity.

• 34:20Dominic Sandbrook?

  He doesn't say these things happen.

• 34:21Tom Holland?

  He's full of regret that he can no longer serve his country.

• 34:24Dominic Sandbrook?

  He says, "The sooner I get to a very humble cottage, the better. I should make room for a better man to serve the state. I am become a burden to my friends and useless to my country. When I leave your command, I shall become dead to the world." All of this kind of thing.

• 34:37Tom Holland?

  That's not self pity.

• 34:38Dominic Sandbrook?

  This is left, Tom, this is, this is self pity.

• 34:40Tom Holland?

  It's regret that he can no longer, he thinks, serve his country as he would like to. And I think that reflects very well on his patriotism.

• 34:47Dominic Sandbrook?

  St Vincent, who could have been very cross with Nelson, said, "The stupid scheme of yours has gone horribly wrong and has cost the lives of 150 people." He actually writes to him and says, "Don't worry about it. Mere mortals cannot command success."

• 35:00Tom Holland?

  Well, he says to Nelson that he would be proud to bow to Nelson's stump.

• 35:04Dominic Sandbrook?

  Yeah.

• 35:04Tom Holland?

  I think reflects very well on, well, St Vincent, as he is now, isn't he?

• 35:08Dominic Sandbrook?

  It does. So effectively what he says to Nelson is, "Listen, don't worry. Your career is not yet over." And of course, it isn't. Because next week, we will turn to what for me is possibly the most thrilling chapter in Nelson's life. One of the most glorious episodes, Tom, in British naval history.

• 35:27Tom Holland?

  There are.

• 35:28Dominic Sandbrook?

  The hunt for Bonaparte and the Battle of the Nile.

• 35:32Tom Holland?

  So members of The Rest is History Club, you can hear it right now. The rest of you, if you would like to join Nelson sailing to and fro across the Mediterranean and the hunt for Napoleon, you can sign up at therestishistory.com. But either way, we will be with you very soon. Toodle pip.

• 35:48Dominic Sandbrook?

  Bye bye.