Nelson, Horatio (1758–1805)

English admiral. He joined the navy in 1770 at the age of 12. During the Revolutionary Wars against France he lost the sight in his right eye in 1794, and lost his right arm in 1797. He became a rear admiral and a national hero after the victory off Cape St Vincent, Portugal. In 1798 he tracked the French fleet to the Egyptian seaport of Aboukir Bay where he almost entirely destroyed it at the Battle of Aboukir Bay (also known as the Battle of the Nile). In 1801 he won a decisive victory over Denmark at the Battle of Copenhagen, and in 1805, after two years of blockading Toulon, he defeated the Franco-Spanish fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar, near Gibraltar. He was knighted in 1797, made a baron in 1798, and a viscount in 1801.

The son of a clergyman, he was almost continuously on active service in the Mediterranean 1793–1800 and lingered at Naples for a year, during which he helped to crush a democratic uprising and fell completely under the influence of Lady Hamilton. In 1800 he returned to England and soon after separated from his wife, Frances Nisbet. He was promoted to vice admiral 1801 and sent to the Baltic to operate against the Danes, nominally as second-in-command; in fact, it was Nelson who was responsible for the victory of Copenhagen and for negotiating peace with Denmark. In 1803 he received the Mediterranean command, and for nearly two years blockaded Toulon. On Oct 21, 1805, he defeated the combined French and Spanish fleets off Cape Trafalgar, 20 of the enemy ships being captured, but Nelson himself was mortally wounded.