1

The Nelson Society of Australia Inc.

Newsletter

April 2015

Program of Events

Wed May 13th 12pm Lunch at Rosie O’Grady’s, William St, Fremantle.

Court Martial and Execution of Admiral John Byng by Rob O’Connor

Wed July 8th 12pm Lunch and talk (venue to be announced)

Wed Sept 9th Lunch and talk (venue to be announced )

Wed Oct 18th 12pm Trafalgar Memorial Luncheon. Victoria League

276, Onslow Road, Shenton Park

Fri Nov 6th 7pm Pickle Night RAAFA, Booragoon.

Mon Nov 30th 7pm End of Year Gathering, 10 Edna Rd, Dalkeith hosted by the Fosters

who will reveal some of their Trafalgar Treasures.

Lady Emma Hamilton

No 36

2

It is with pleasure that I present my report on the activities of the Society during the year since our last AGM on Monday 10th March 2014. At our May meeting, I presented at talk on Nelson’s captains – the second in what I hope will be an ongoing series. On this occasion I gave an outline of the lives and careers of Edward Berry, Alexander Ball, James Saumarez, Thomas Foley and Ralph Miller. The July meeting took the form of a visit to the State Library for a special presentation on Louis de Freycinet’s circumnavigation of 1817-1821, which included exploration of part of the coast of what is now Western Australia. We were also privileged to have a private viewing of several of his charts of the West Australian coast and the Swan River that are held in the Library of Western Australia. It was a most interesting and successful outing and we owe our thanks to Rob O’Connor who organised the event. In September we were entertained by another in the series of inter-views with significant historical characters in Nelson’s life; this time Betty Foster interviewed Emma Hamilton, convincingly portrayed by Gillian Mead who put up a spirited defence of Emma in the face of her many detractors! October is always a busy month for the Society and this year was no exception. On Friday 17th I gave a talk on “Nelson in Naples” at the Fremantle Maritime Museum, but unfortunately due to poor promotion and publicity, numbers were down with a total attendance of about 23 - including the speaker! On Saturday 18th October, I was invited to give the address at the Navy Club’s Trafalgar Dinner in Fremantle. Unfortunately we had to cancel, yet again, our Trafalgar Day Memorial Service in the Cathedral which was planned for Sunday 19th but instead we celebrated with a most enjoyable Trafalgar Lunch - on this occasion in conjunction with the Victoria League at their headquarters in Shenton Park, and we were particularly pleased to welcome our Founder and Honorary Life President, Graham Perkins, who I might add, has recently celebrated his 94th birthday. On the following day (Monday 20th) I gave a short address to a lunchtime meeting of the Highgate RSL and on Trafalgar Day itself, I was invited to attend the Retired Naval Officers’ Trafalgar Lunch at RFBYC where John Caskey gave us a short address in his own amusing and inimitable style. Well done John! Our Pickle Night Supper was held on Friday 7th November at RAAFA in Bullcreek but despite a slightly smaller gathering than we have come to expect, it was a very enjoyable evening and Gillian Mead delivered an entertaining account of Pickle’s race back to England with the news of Trafalgar. As has become our custom, we also exchanged greetings with the Pickle Night Dinner held in the New York Yacht Club. Sadly Pickle Night is the only function in our calendar that we have managed to maintain since our foundation in 2001, and we have to once again congratulate and thank Bob Woollett and his able committee for organising this event so successfully, year after year. Our final event for 2014 was a Christmas gathering at Gwen Phillip’s house in Ardross where we viewed the video of an excellent talk given by Graham Perkins at his retirement village earlier in the year entitled, “Emma Hamilton – Famous of Infamous!”, followed by a video of the 2005 Trafalgar Night celebrations in Portsmouth.

followed by our now traditional Wireless Hill picnic which was held on the lovely warm evening of Monday 9th February. In other news I’m pleased to report that in the past twelve months we’ve had some welcome developments with Navy regarding the

Sword of Excellence. The 2012 winner, Lieutenant Tony Hanneman, was presented with his award in Sydney in April (unfortunately at very short notice which meant that we were unable to have a representative present) and the winner for 2013, Lieutenant Aaron Cochrane, was presented with his award in Darwin at the end of August. On this occasion the Society was ably represented by John Caskey. Shortly afterwards, in October, Chief of Navy announced the winner for 2014 – Lieutenant Nicholas Graney RAN - with the presentation to be advised - but to date we have heard nothing further. Nev-ertheless it is pleasing that Navy has finally caught up with the backlog and we are hopeful that the awards are now

back on track. Attendances at general meetings over the past year have again been disappointing and in a bid to foster a little increased interest, we are trialling yet another format this year – this time informal lunch meetings where we can socialise and have a short talk of perhaps 20 minutes duration. For our next meeting in May we are going to try Rosie O’Grady’s in Fremantle, where a good selection of counter meals is available and drinks are reasonably priced. Rob O’Connor is going to tell us about the court martial and execution of Admiral John Byng - that ought to stimulate the appetite! Falling attendances at meetings, and particularly AGMs, have also prompted us to make some more minor adjustments to our Constitution, principally to reduce the quorum for an AGM to six, but also to tidy up the Constitution in line with some suggestions made by the Department of Commerce after our last amendments in 2013 - and I’d like to thank Rob for his help and professional guidance in getting the amendments into a suitable form and for talking us through them tonight . All members of committee have re-nominated for office with the exception of Rob O’Connor who is standing down, but I’m pleased to report that David Agostini has nominated to replace him. Rob’s time and professional expertise have been of immense value during his nine years on committee – please join me in thanking him. . Your Committee puts a great deal of time and effort into all of our activities and I can’t let the occasion pass without paying tribute to their labours on your behalf, because without their efforts there would be no programme of meetings and events, and while your support - through participation and enjoyment of the various events is their reward - they also deserve a special vote of thanks, so please join me in thanking them Finally, I have to thank the volunteers outside Committee who continue to keep the Society viable – and here I would like to give special thanks to Betty Foster who produces our newsletters and also Cynthia Lyall who, with husband John, mans the reception desk at every meeting, and not forgetting of course, the Pickle Night sub-committee. And last but not least, I have to thank our Honorary President and Founder, Graham Perkins, for his continuing support and

encouragement and also our Patron, Commodore David Orr.

NSA AGM CHAIRMAN MIKE SARGEANT’S REPORT – Monday 30th March 2015

Mike Sargeant

3

The Vice Admiral Viscount Lord Nelson KB Trafalgar Bicentennial Sword of Excellence for 2014 is awarded to Lieutenant Nicholas James Patrick Graney RAN 8499122 of ATTACK SIX

I commend you for your outstanding leadership and commitment to your duty as the Executive

Officer of ATTACK SIX and all platforms in which your crew has been embarked successfully

coordinating, conducting and managing whole ship activities as the executive officer. Furthermore

you have excelled in your role as Boarding Officer of ATTACK SIX having displayed outstanding

leadership, sound judgement and skilful execution in all boarding operations leading to a safe and

effective operation RESOLUTE mission outcomes.

Your high work ethic, administrative and management skills, ensured that ATTACK SIX was

organised, trained and prepared for operation RESOLUTE where your multinational abilities were

in evidence across all workforce levels. A strong sense of teamwork and high morale existed

because of your devotion to your duties which encouraged every member of ATTACK SIX to be

the best they could be. You are an Officer with strong, personal convictions, demonstrated by

leadership based on exceptional example and a determination to make a positive difference to the people you are

responsible for. Your strong Navy ethos and commitment to mentoring your peers and subordinates alike has ensued that

your people have progressed both professionally and personally. You have consistently shown the highest standards o

professional competence, leadership excellence, dedication and devotion to ATTACK SIX and the patrol Boat community.

Your conduct has bee in accordance with the highest traditions od the Royal Australian Navy and you have proven yourself

deserving of the Admiral Nelson Sword of Excellence Award

Citation from T.W. Barrett AO. CSC. Vice Admiral RAN. Chief of Staff

THE E system engineering officer responsible for HMAS

Perth’s highly successful missile firings at RIMPAC 2012 has

earned the prestigious Admiral Nelson Sword of Excellence.

As the sword remains on display in Western Australia, LCDR

Tony Hannemann received a Gold Commendation in place of

the actual sword from CN VADM Ray Griggs at an awards

ceremony at Fleet Base East on April 30. 2014 LCDR

Hannemann’s name will be engraved on the sword

alongside the names of previous recipients. The award

recognises LCDR Hannemann’s crucial role in Perth’s

milestone firing of three Evolved Sea Sparrow missiles and

two Harpoon Block II missiles at the world’s largest

international maritime warfare exercise. LCDR Hannemann

said he was honoured to receive the Sword of Excellence and

hoped his success inspired other Navy personnel to actively

pursue more challenging leadership situations. “I believe one

purpose of leadership within the RAN is to ensure that in

confronting and difficult situations there is a clear sense of

direction and guidance to ensure the necessary objectives and

requirements can be achieved as efficiently and effectively as

possible,” he said. “Often the consequences of a lack of

leadership can be dire. I think leadership is largely a situation

not explicitly tied to rank or formal authority, hence the

importance of leadership and leadership training across all

levels of the RAN – because any officer or sailor can find

themselves thrust into a position of leadership”.

VADM Griggs said LCDR Hannemann’s professionalism,

leadership and dedication were vital to Perth becoming the

first Navy warship to win the coveted Naval Gunfire

Support Rodeo at RIMPAC “Your achievements as a

leader in a fighting ship make you a worthy winner of an

award named in honour of one of the greatest fighting

sailors,” he said. “As the senior fire control officer you

were instrumental in the successful firing of three Evolved

Sea Sparrow missiles and two Block II Harpoon missiles.”

The CN then continued “LCDR Hannemann’s exceptional

systems knowledge, faultless attention to detail and im-

pressive motivation enabled him to play a critical role in

the success of the

anti-ship missile

defence upgrade

program. your

tireless pursuit of

excellence has

resulted in your

b e i n g a n

i n d i s p e n s a b l e

member of the

Perth team and a

role model for all.”

The Citation by VADM Griggs of LCDR Tony Hannemann the 2012 Winner of the ‘Sword of Excellence’

VADM Griggs with LCDR Hannemann

4

When Admiral Lord Nelson received a teapot marking his triumph in the Napoleonic Wars he took it home as a treasured

memento. It was part of a porcelain tea set commissioned by the Lord Mayor of London to thank the naval hero for his travails

against the French Empire. It was presented at a Banquet to mark Nelson’s victory at the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801. But

more than 200 years later a rather awkward fact has been uncovered. Unbeknown to Nelson the teapot is French. It was made

in Paris and is likely to have been surplus stock that ended up in a London workshop The teapot was auctioned at Bonhams

London in April this year where it fetched £35,000.00 The teapot probably formed part of a further set of the Baltic porcelain

given to Nelson's brother, William, who married Hilare Barlow in

March 1829. Hilare was the daughter of Admiral Sir Robert Barlow

G.B.C. whose illustrious naval career included command of HMS

Triumph, part of Nelson's fleet in the Mediterranean in 1803.

Following William's death in February 1835, Hilare was married for

the third time - to George Knight, the nephew of Jane Austen,

although Hilare kept the name of Nelson. When Hilare died in 1857,

this teapot passed to her niece, Florence Catherine Barlow and

then to her daughter, Coleen Joyce who bequeathed it to her cousin,

Hilare Margaret Barlow, mother of the present owner, featured in the

photo below right with her other Nelson memorabilia at the BBC

Antiques Road Show.

Porcelain from both the 'Nelson' and the 'Baltic' Services

was inherited by Nelson's niece, Charlotte who was William

Nelson's daughter from his first marriage. Charlotte Nelson,

Duchess of Bronte, had received many of Nelson's

possessions after his death. Charlotte may even have had

a Baltic tea set of her own as she had accompanied her

uncle to the Lord's Mayor's inauguration.

Charlotte married Samuel Hood, Baron Bridport. And

Nelson's porcelain and many other relics were inherited by

his son Alexander Nelson, Viscount Bridport a Lord

Bridport's sale at Christie's in July 1895 featured many pieces of the Baltic service. Other pieces are in the Nelson-Ward

Collection bequeathed to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich in 1946 by the grandson of Horatia, Nelson and Emma

Hamilton's daughter.

Discovered on the Antiques Road Show brought in by a descendant of Nelson

Our First Gathering of the Year at Wireless Hill, Monday, February 9th

5

The Leopardess

Talk given at the AGM of the Nelson Society of Australia

by Gillian Mead, 30th March 2014

It is likely that Emma, restless and already discontented with

her lot, flitted in and out of jobs as swiftly as she was learning to

hop in and out of bed. She admitted her early promiscuity,

years afterwards.

In late eighteenth century London the rich and rakish worked

hard at their pleasures so the quacks of the period sought to

generate, even to rejuvenate a bloated aristocracy.

Doctor Graham’s Temple of health was conveniently situated

to receive the debauched and the debilitated of the capital’s

most fashionable square mile.

How James Grant recruited Emma for his staff is open to

conjecture. Among the attractions of Doctor Grahams odd

establishment was a mud bath. It was also the centrepiece of

the Temple of Health, the Celestial Bed, an ornate and

extraordinary contraption that was guaranteed as a cure all for

infertility. It was probably the Temple of Health where Emma

met Sir Harry Featherstonehaugh. Sir Harry a 26 year old

member of the aristocracy an bachelor, immediately captivated

by Emma and he whirled her away to Up Park, the Sussex

estate he had recently inherited from his father.

Emma fell in love with the boisterous late eighteenth century

upper-class country life as to the manor born. However, she

overplayed her hand, recklessly spending Sir Harry’s money.

She abused his trust as a mistress of the household which

resulted in her peremptory dismissal. Moreover, she was

pregnant. With little more than the coach fare to Flintshire,

Emma had no alternative but to return to her grandmother’s

cottage at Hawarden.

Before leaving Up Park, Emma had taken out an insurance for

the future, slipping into her bundle of belongings a handful of

pre-paid postal covers addressed to the Hon. Charles Greville,

one of Sir Harry’s London friends and house party guests.

Greville at the age of 32, was a cautious aesthete and

suggested that at some future time she might care to consider

a more sober existence with him. Thus, Greville, second son of

the Earl of Warwick, became Emma’s insurance policy for her-

self and for the unborn child, whose father was probably Sir

Harry.

The Nelson legend, with which the story of Emma, Lady

Hamilton, is so intimately linked, is one of the most potent in

British history. Something in the character of this frail,

wayward man, who yet showed such persistence and

audacity, seems to speak to the British heart.

As Lady Hamilton's fame therefore to be attributed solely to

her connection with Nelson? Emma's tremendous drive and

character brought this peasant girl from Flintshire, despite

her humble origins, to an exalted position in society. She

inspired Romney, the artist, to adulation and many fine

portraits. He called her his divine lady and thought her

superior to all womankind.

She won the confidence of that haughty pair, the King and

Queen of the two Sicilies in Naples and showed

considerable talent for politics and management. She even

charmed that acerbic wit, Horace Walpole. And there was a

William Hamilton, himself an elegant, cultivated gentlemen,

who became her slave, then married her, and, finally, of

course, the great Lord Nelson, England's hero, who owed to

her, as he often said, the inspiration for his career.

However Emma born Emily Lyon was undeniably coarse

and vulgar. An Irish woman, who met her in Vienna in 1800,

described her figure as colossal and her hair was dirty. She

said she thought her bold, daring, vain, even to folly, and

stamped with the manners of her first situation much more

strongly than one would suppose, after having lived in “good

company” for 15 years.

And yet, through the sheer force of her personality, which

was just as important as her glowing young beauty, Emma

did win the confidence of the great. Particularly through

Nelson, who worshipped her, she left her mark on the

course of history before dying at tragic death, exiled and

forgotten.

She was a woman of many facets. When she was in her

early teens she had discovered that men found her

interesting and physically attractive and she was beginning

to appreciate that a girl of her natural attributes might find

comfort and a career somewhere along the many cornered

road that separated an obliging serving wench from a

full-blown prostitute.

To whom then, did Emma owe her further education – how

to please men, preferably gentlemen with money? Possibly,

in the first place, to a certain Mrs Kelly, the Abbas of

Arlington Street who, had there been telephones, might

have ranked as high priestess among call girls.

6

It was clear to Greville that Emma was his if he wanted her,

but only when he was satisfied that Emma had finished with

her past, would be free to dry up the tears of his lovely

Emily and to give her comfort.

Greville planned that his tamed Emma would be respected

and admired and that her expected child would be cared for

and never want for anything.

He welcomed her to the house he had prepared in

Paddington Green. Greville intended to groom his flighty

Flintshire lass into a companion as acceptable at table and in

his world as she was good in his bed. Now, the below stairs

Emily (Lyon) was discarded in favour of the more gentle

Emma.

No girl could have wished for a more generous education

than that which Emma received from her Greville. Emma

devoted herself to pleasing Greville, play acting where

necessary, to provide her mentor with the perfect mistress.

Indeed within days of her arrival at the house she fell into her

new role as though the rough-and-tumble of Emily Lyon’s past

had not occurred. Very soon Paddington Green became

charmed by this demure and disciplined creature of Charles

Greville’s fashioning, Emma! However, below the surface of

the new Emma, the born exhibitionism of the old Emily was

ever tempted to break through.

Kept busy, Emma was kept out of mischief. She sang and she

danced for Greville’s personal pleasure. She learn to walk

well, to talk well, to read well and to dress well. She played

the harpsichord and she poured tea to Greville’s directions;

lifting, tilting, replacing the teapot with the precision of a

recruit at rifle drill but with a great deal more delicacy.

However, Greville knew he was almost certainly his uncle’s

heir and would inherit an income of at least 5000 pounds a

year from the Welsh Estates which had come into the family

through Sir William’s widow. But supposing Sir William was to

marry again and produce a direct heir? There was one

reasonable way to avert such a disaster. Emma must become

the old man’s mistress. In practice, Greville needed a wealthy

wife to help further his political ambitions and in needed to

palm off Emma in order to place himself on the snob marriage

market. Gradually and in the course of a lengthy

correspondence, Greville prepared Sir William for the offer

and Sir William accepted. Finally, Emma was to be told she

was taking a long holiday in sunny Naples and that Greville

hoped to join her there. In his letters to Sir William, Greville

described Emma as honourable honest and trustworthy.

Rescued from giddiness and dissipation, she was prudent

and quiet. He also wrote that she had vanity and liked

admiration, but she connected it so much with the desire of

appearing prudent that she was more pleased if it was

accidental rather than planned.

On the third of December 1785 Emma wrote to Sir William

politely asking him if he would agree to her staying with him

in Naples for six or eight months until Greville returned from

Scotland. She was on the threshold of an adventure which

would assure her a place in history.

For all his scheming Charles Greville never made a name for

himself in politics nor did he secure a wife, rich or poor. Of

the pair, it is Emma, Lady Hamilton, who is best remembered

– the Leopardess Greville had temporarily tamed - but who

never truly changed her spots.

When Emma finally realised that Greville had ‘sold’ her to his

uncle, Sir William, she wrote a letter with a postscript “Pray

write, for nothing will make me so angry and is not in your

interest to disoblige me, for you don’t know the power I have

here. Only I will never be his mistress. If you affront me, I

will make him marry me.”

In September 1787 when Emma had lived in Naples 18

months, she was unrecognisable from the fretting, insecure

creature that Greville had made over to his uncle without her

knowledge. William doted on her and arranged for her to be

tutored in manners, language and particularly music.

He considered her singing voice remarkably fine and she

took three lessons a day with her singing master. At the

end of May in 1791, the Hamiltons arrived in England where

society was on tenterhooks to see what would happen next

in this fascinating relationship. But there was no

quick and easy marriage. Emma was on trial, biding King

George the III’s permission for the match, and Emma put the

prospect of becoming her ladyship greatly at risk. Trium-

phant, beautiful, anticipating marriage, she flouted conven-

tion and made life something of a circus wherever she went.

Sir William followed in doting attendance, a whipless

ringmaster who had been tamed by his prize Leopardess.

In the months preceding her marriage Emma was foolish.

For all the good fortune which had so extraordinarily

changed her circumstances, the Leopardess still could not

change her spots. The same restlessness that cost Emma

the hospitality of Up Park now cost her ultimate prize. She

was barred from appearing at court by Queen Charlotte.

Had Emma been prepared to play

the demure, engaged crystal to Sir

William’s eccentric sugar daddy, the

Queen of England might have

overlooked Emma’s past. However,

living in open defiance with Sir

William and rolling His Britannic

Majesty’s Ambassador in the saw-

dust of her high spirited circus,

Emma really put herself out of court

in London for life.

Sir William Hamilton

7

In the summer of 1798, five years after Emma’s first brief

encounter with the young and comparatively unknown

naval captain, Nelson was again at sea and again sailing

over Emma’s immediate horizon. Admiral Sir Horatio

Nelson was returning to the Bay of Naples in command of

a squadron and under orders to hunt down Napoleon.

Because of Spanish intentions, action had been taken and

the Spanish fleet had been defeated off Cape Vincent on

14 February, 1797. On that famous battle on Saint

Valentine’s Day, Nelson, under Jarvis, had displayed all

his brilliance and had gained a knighthood. The success of

Nelson’s dashing action in command of Captain at the

Battle of Cape St Vincent accelerated the process through

which he was fast becoming the most exhibitionist of

patriots.

Nelson’s cry “Westminster Abbey or Glorious Victory” as

he led a boarding party to enforce the surrender of

another great Spanish ship, the ‘San Joseph’, typified the

aggressive exhibitionist which inhabited the man and

which would soon prove so blissfully compatible with Lady

Hamilton’s nature.

On the 17th of June,1798 Nelson’s squadron dropped

anchor off Naples. He had not come expressly to see

Emma, nor indeed her husband. He was short of frigates

and hoped to borrow some from the Neapolitan Navy. The

Admiral differed in appearance from the young

captain of ‘Agamemnon’. One armed, one eyed, tiny, thin,

fragile and much decorated, Nelson was beginning to

resemble an overloaded scarecrow.

Ashore, Emma had greatly change in appearance too. The

basic coarseness of her peasant birth had begun to

reassert itself and together with the good living – the

“guttling” (guzzling) she so much enjoyed – was creating a

grotesque character of the beauty who had enraptured

Romney 16 years before. However the love story of

Nelson and Emma flourished and Nelson became the

Hamilton’s permanent lodger. This arrangement was

described as the ‘trio juncta in uno’.

Moving forward to the early 19th century Emma’s fairytale

existence was approaching its climax and soon she was

saying goodbye to Vienna. London in damp November

brought reality. Now Emma and her lover must face up to

the truth of their situation; to the existence of Fanny,

Nelson’s long neglected wife; and Sir William had his

problems too. He must organise his retirement and

prepare for death.

Nelson, outwardly the popular national hero, had been

reduced, when ashore, to a puppet sailor on Emma’s

string. To the horror of Charles Greville, she had returned

to London a gross, overweight, tasteless virago, mistress

in every respect of Nelson and a domineering wife of his uncle.

It was the roughest luck that when Emma most needed Nelson,

the country’s need was even greater. Britain went to war again

with France, on the sixteenth of May 1803, barely a month

after’s Sir William’s death. On the twentieth of May Nelson

sailed from Portsmouth bound for the Mediterranean in his

flagship, HMS Victory. Then followed the Battle of Trafalgar on

the 21st of October 1805 and news eventually reached Emma

that she had lost her Prince Charming for ever.

After Trafalgar Emma was left 2000 pounds in addition to 900

pounds a year between herself and her daughter, Horatia,

together with “Paradise Merton” and all its contents. But shortly

after Nelson’s funeral, talk spread of parties taking place at

Merton and it was clear, yet again, that the leopardess would

never change her spots. Emma entertained wildly, attracting the

worthless froth of society to eat and drink at her expense and all

the time her debts were rising as fast as her beauty was fading.

Eventually, in alcoholic despair, she began to pour wine and

spirits on to her already weakened liver. Inevitably, worry,

frustration and drink began to weaken an amazing

constitution which had sustained so much assault and battery

for so long.

Emma died in Calais on the fifteenth of January, 1815 at the

age of 51. The British consul paid for her funeral.

Our Treasurer and his assistant -John and Cynthia Lyall

Congratulation John from all of us at the Nelson Society on being

awarded the Legion of Honour for your service with the RAAF and

also to you and Cynthia on your 70 years of marriage. John and

Cynthia met in England in WW11 in Norfolk where Cynthia was in

the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force operation centre as an aircraft

plotter and John was a rear gunner on Stirling Bombers. The 91-

year-olds keep themselves busy with entertaining 6 great-grand

children and looking after the finances of the Nelson Society.

8

This article does not refer to the commander of the Russian

Mediterranean Squadron, Admiral Ouschakoff, who was a sore

trial to Nelson, even when supposedly co-operating. It refers to the

ally he never met, other than by correspondence, but arguably the

greatest Russian soldier of any era, Generalissimo Count

Aleksandr Suvorov.

First, a little scene setting. The Austrian Empire

had been slow to join the post-Nile coalition being

engineered by William Pitt. Loaning General Mack

to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies had proved a

poor substitute for active resumption of the war

against Revolutionary France. The debacle of the

Neapolitan army occupying Rome, and then

fleeing before the French even arrived to do battle,

led to the ignominious Royal flight from Naples to

Palermo and a winter of near despair for Lord

Nelson and Sir William Hamilton. However, one piece of Austrian

thinking about the basis for a renewed campaign in Northern Italy

was undoubtedly correct. Russian military support for their army

needed to include generalship of high quality and, for that

purpose, the Tsar Paul was specifically asked to send Suvorov,

who was created a Field Marshal of the Austrian army, in order to

lead the campaign.

Although nearly seventy and in disgrace for presuming to criticise

Tsar Paul’s new Infantry Manual, he was as little loath to be sent

with the Russian army to the Veneto as his Tsar was to send him

far away. Austrian realisation that they had been out-generaled in

Northern Italy two years previously (mainly by Napoleon

Bonaparte, now trapped in Egypt), clearly outweighed any qualms

on the score of Suvorov’s reputation for brutal generalship.

This had followed from his putting down the Kosciuszko Uprising

of 1794 in partitioned Poland, whether or not responsibility for the

massacre of twenty thousand Polish civilians by Cossacks in the

Warsaw suburb of Praga was correctly laid at his door.

There seems to have been no difficulty in Suvorov and the

principal Austrian commander in Northern Italy, General Melas,

working well together from the outset, once Suvorov arrived in

April 1799. This was also the time that Cardinal Ruffo’s Army of

the Holy Faith had advanced beyond Calabria, still gaining

strength, in the march towards Naples and Nelson already had

arrangements in hand to support this Royalist resurgence, subject

to the need to see off any French naval incursion. That the French

Directory still espoused the cause of atheism and persecuted the

Church was an excellent recruiting sergeant for Ruffo in Southern

Italy! Undoubtedly, Nelson’s resources were stretched, owing to

three ships of the line being committed to the Levant with Sir

Sidney Smith, and the need to sustain support to the Maltese

against the French in Valletta, but he still had a burning

desire to reverse the winter retreat from the mainland.

The opportunity would not be slow in coming. Even

before the arrival of the Russians, the Austrian army had

defeated forward French units at Verona on 26 March and

Magnano on 5 April, causing a French retreat

towards Milan.

From a setting off point south-west of Verona,

Suvorov had, in eight days, marched the Austro

-Russian army to the River Adda and defeated

Moreau at Cassano, just east of Milan on 27

April. Two days later, he entered Milan, but

rapidly continued the pursuit of Moreau and

defeated him again at Marengo so that, upon

entering Turin in May, the King of Piedmont-

Savoy declared him ‘A Prince of the House of

Savoy.’ News passed at reasonable speed up and down

the west coast of Italy, so when Ruffo’s advance towards

Naples was matched by the news of early success in the

north (the interpretation of which was surely helped by Sir

William’s extensive knowledge of inland Italian

geography), use by Nelson of a squadron to seize the Bay

of Naples islands (Thomas Troubridge) and a single ship

to take Salerno (Sam Hood in Zealous), kept inexorable

pressure on the French armies.

This late spring truly demonstrated the weakness of

seeking to occupy large tracts of a mountainous country in

which the population were largely opposed to French

domination, even if reluctant to face the risk of reprisals

that uprisings would have carried. Thus, when the plan to

order General MacDonald to denude central Italy of

French troops, in order to trap the allied army between

MacDonald and Moreau, was put into effect, Suvorov was

quickly appraised of MacDonald’s strength and direction of

advance.

He likewise knew he had time to attack MacDonald near

Piacenza, before any of Moreau’s forces arrived. The

result was that MacDonald’s army suffered a heavy defeat

in a three-day battle at the River Trebbia, 17-19 June

1799, close to the scene of Hannibal’s first Italian victory

over the Romans in 218 BC. Nelson had already made his

delayed departure for the Bay of Naples before he knew

the outcome of this battle, so the information coming after

his arrival off Naples on 24 June would only have

strengthened his determination as King Ferdinand’s

plenipotentiary to take a hard line with Neapolitan rebels

and the French.

NELSON’S RUSSIAN ALLY OF 1799

Howard Cartwright

[Extract from: The Nelson Dispatch Volume 11 Part 12 Autumn 2014, pp. 717-21

9

The subsequent Naples

executions, starting with

Caracciolo and continuing for

many months, both before

and after King Ferdinand’s

stay on board Foudroyant,

sadly tainted Nelson’s human

rights record at just the time

when Suvorov’s own past

record in that respect was

being put in the shade by his

phenomenal achievements

against the French.

It must be remembered that Moreau had been a very

successful general north of the Alps earlier in the war, while

MacDonald, a subsequent Marshal of France, now had to

make a difficult upland retreat to the Ligurian coast and

thence to join Moreau near Genoa.

There now followed the complete reoccupation of the

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the capitulation of the remaining

French garrisons and, with the aid of a division of Russian

troops detached by Suvorov, the occupation of Rome, with

Captain Thomas Louis of Minotaur serving as Governor.

The northern allies took the fortress of Mantua on 28 July.

However, the zenith of allied achievement was yet to come.

The French Directory dismissed Moreau in favour of their

next bright hope, Joubert, who was apparently regarded as

even more promising than the temporarily discredited

Napoleon Bonaparte! Substantially reinforced and having the

benefit of those units which had survived earlier battles,

including General Moreau himself, it was Joubert’s terminal

bad luck to advance into a strong defensive position, only to

find that his army did not outnumber the army of Field

Marshal Suvorov.

Moreau, who survived this battle at Novi Ligure on 15

August, after taking command again on the death of Joubert,

nearly rescued the defensive line. However, Suvorov, right at

the front, could continue to summon reinforcements until the

French broke.

They could now only retreat on Genoa, their last foothold in

Italy, but an immediate siege had been rendered impossible,

thanks to the Gulf of Genoa embracing such a wide sweep of

coastline and Admiral Lord Keith having pursued the Franco-

Spanish fleet of Admiral Bruix out of the Mediterranean with

almost the entire fleet he had brought into that sea. As acting

Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean (yet again!), and with

hopelessly stretched resources, Nelson could no more

blockade Genoa that he could bring the siege of Valletta to a

successful conclusion without an adequate army – a subject

upon which he had made repeated requests.

This would have left Suvorov with a straight choice between

invading southern France or simply masking Genoa, while

establishing early winter quarters to keep the bulk of his army

intact and healthy. Naturally, he favoured the former, more

active option, but his Tsar intervened to order him and all his

Russian troops to invade Switzerland from the south. There he

came under the command of Rimski-Korsakov (otherwise

known as Prince Korsakov), who was invading north-eastern

Switzerland with a joint Austro-Russian army from the

adjoining Vorarlberg part of Austria. Melas had sufficient

Austrian troops to mask Genoa, until the Royal Navy sent out

the Mediterranean fleet once more. The lack of prompt forward

planning at Horse Guards Parade to send an army to bring

about French surrender of Valletta and in Egypt was now

brought into sharp focus by the escape of Bonaparte from

Egypt, even though his whereabouts remained secret until

after he had landed in France. Sadly also, speed of

communication by sea militated against the Admiralty ordering

the Mediterranean fleet back to the blockade of Genoa soon

enough to create a viable argument for the siege of Genoa

being given priority over the removal of Suvorov and his army

from Northern Italy into Switzerland.

In the mind of the mad Tsar Paul, the seizure of Switzerland

from the French would bring a tidy end to the successful 1799

campaign on land, thanks largely to Russian forces. That an

Autumn invasion of a mountainous country was hazardous

appears not to have entered his thinking. However, it is out of

this impossible aim that the Alpine legend of the endurance

and heroism of Suvorov and his men has arisen.

The writer will return to this story in another article following in

their steps, as he has done in part by motor car on modern

roads.

The Madron Banner

Believed to have been made as news of the Battle of

Trafalgar and the death of Lord Nelson were received off

Penzance in November 1805

Cardinal Ruffo 1744-1827

10

The Nelson Society of Australia Inc

Patron: Commodore David J Orr. RAN (Ret’d ) Honorary Life President: Graham Perkins

COMMITTEE 2015-2016 Chairman: Mike Sargeant

Vice Chairman: Bob Woollett Secretary Richard Savage Treasurer/Membership Secretary John Lyall Minutes Secretary Gillian Mead Members: Gwen Phillips, David Agostini

OTHER POSITIONS Newsletter: Betty Foster, (editor), Bob Woollett,

(assistant editor) Rob O'Connor, (photos) Nelson Dispatch Distribution: Gwen Phillips

Any enquiries ring Richard Savage Secretary 9310 6365 .

Pickle Night: John Caskey,

Bob Woollett,

Betty Foster

At last the fatal wound,

Which spread dismay around,

The hero’s breast,

The hero’s breast received

“Heaven fights upon our side!

The days our own”, he cried

Now long enough I’ve lived,

In honest cause my life was passed,

In an honour’s cause I fall at last,

For England, home, and beauty,

For England, home, and beauty.

Thus ending life as he began.

England confessed that every man

That day had done his duty,

That day had done his duty.

John Braham

O’er Nelson's tomb with silent grief oppressed.

Britannia mourns her hero now at rest.

At those bright laurels will not fade with years,

Whose leaves, whose leaves

Are watered by a nation's tears.

Was in Trafalgar Bay

We saw the Frenchman Lay;

Each heart was bounding then;

We scorned the foreign yoke,

For our ships were British Oak,

And hearts of Oak our men!

Our Nelson marked them on the wave,

Three cheers outr gallant seamen gave.

Nor thought of home or beauty,

Nor thought of home or beauty.

Along the line the signal ran

England expects that every man

This day will do his duty,

This day will do his duty.

And now the cannons roar

Along the frightened shore;

Our Nelson led the way.

The ship the Victory named!

Long be that Victory famed,

For Victory crowned the day!

But dearly was that conquest bought,

Too well the gallant hero fought,

For England home and beauty,

For England home and beauty.

He cried as midst the fire he ran

England expects that every man

This day will do his duty,

A song the ‘Death of Nelson’