The Letters of Lord Nelson to Lady Hamilton, Vol. I.

Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson (1758–1805), was a British naval officer whose tactical genius and personal daring made him the most celebrated admiral in the history of the Royal Navy. Born in Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk, the son of a country parson, he entered the navy at twelve through his uncle's influence and held his own command by twenty. Nelson's bold, unconventional tactics delivered decisive victories at the Battle of the Nile (1798), which shattered French ambitions in Egypt, and at Copenhagen (1801). He lost his right arm at Tenerife and the sight of one eye at Calvi, yet his physical courage never wavered. At Trafalgar on 21 October 1805, he destroyed the combined Franco-Spanish fleet and secured British naval supremacy for a century — but was killed by a musket ball during the battle. His dispatches and letters, published posthumously, reveal a complex man whose writings match his audacity in battle.