0:00:02 > 0:00:0431st October 1805.
0:00:04 > 0:00:06Battle of Trafalgar.
0:00:06 > 0:00:09Dispatch from Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood.
0:00:10 > 0:00:15It is my duty to inform the Lord Commissioners of the Admiralty
0:00:15 > 0:00:17of the ever to be lamented death
0:00:17 > 0:00:19of Vice Admiral Nelson,
0:00:19 > 0:00:22who in the late conflict with the enemy,
0:00:22 > 0:00:24fell in the hour of victory...
0:00:28 > 0:00:30SOFT SCRAPING
0:00:34 > 0:00:37MECHANICAL CLINKING
0:00:46 > 0:00:49I wish to be an admiral.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51And in command of the English fleet.
0:00:53 > 0:00:55I should very soon either do much,
0:00:55 > 0:00:57or be ruined.
0:01:05 > 0:01:07If it be a sin to covet glory,
0:01:07 > 0:01:09I am the most offending soul alive.
0:01:15 > 0:01:17I am now...
0:01:17 > 0:01:19perfectly the great man.
0:01:32 > 0:01:34No separation, no time,
0:01:34 > 0:01:39my only beloved Emma, can alter my love and affection for you.
0:02:05 > 0:02:0725th May.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11Fresh breeze northeast, squalls with rain.
0:02:11 > 0:02:13Exercise party of men with great guns.
0:02:17 > 0:02:19In the early summer of 1798,
0:02:19 > 0:02:23Horatio Nelson and his fleet of 13 men-of-war
0:02:23 > 0:02:27left Gibraltar, heading east into the Mediterranean.
0:02:37 > 0:02:41I am as ignorant of the situation of the enemy as I was 27 days ago.
0:02:42 > 0:02:44We have been off Malta,
0:02:44 > 0:02:47Syria, into Asia
0:02:47 > 0:02:49without success. HE SIGHS
0:02:49 > 0:02:51Yet no person will say it is for want of activity.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57His quest was to find Napoleon Bonaparte...
0:03:00 > 0:03:02..who had left France with an invasion force
0:03:02 > 0:03:05of more than 40,000 men.
0:03:05 > 0:03:07The problem was,
0:03:07 > 0:03:09no-one knew where he'd gone.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14Is he going to Portugal, is he going to Egypt, is he going to Ireland?
0:03:14 > 0:03:17If they can get an army into Ireland,
0:03:17 > 0:03:19they can open the back door to invade England.
0:03:21 > 0:03:22Britain is finished.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28You must hate the French like the devil.
0:03:29 > 0:03:30My mother told me that.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37Nelson's rise to such a prestigious command had been rapid.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42But if he failed to find the French fleet,
0:03:42 > 0:03:44his career would be finished.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51God forbid it should so happen that the enemy escape me.
0:03:54 > 0:03:58People had taken risks for him, they'd chosen him.
0:03:58 > 0:04:00He needed to deliver the goods.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05I only beg
0:04:05 > 0:04:07that Your Lordship will always believe
0:04:07 > 0:04:11I shall endeavour to prove myself worthy of your selection of me
0:04:11 > 0:04:13for this highly honourable command.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17Not a moment shall be lost in pursuing the enemy.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26Failure would put at risk all that he had strived for
0:04:26 > 0:04:27since he was a boy.
0:04:34 > 0:04:36BIRDSONG
0:04:37 > 0:04:40Horace Nelson was born in a small village
0:04:40 > 0:04:42in the north Norfolk marshes in 1758...
0:04:44 > 0:04:48..one of 11 children of an impoverished country parson.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54He came from what in those days was called "the middling class."
0:04:54 > 0:04:57This was a landless, property-less family
0:04:57 > 0:05:00in an age when property mattered.
0:05:01 > 0:05:06You needed what was called "interest" - that is, influence.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11When Nelson was nine, his mother died.
0:05:11 > 0:05:15His father, Edmund, was left to raise the large family.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22His father was a bit distant and austere,
0:05:22 > 0:05:25a difficult man as far as young children were concerned.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30All we can say is that throughout his life,
0:05:30 > 0:05:33Nelson felt a need for human warmth.
0:05:33 > 0:05:38He felt a need to be loved, a need to be cared for,
0:05:38 > 0:05:43and a need to be recognised and that was a powerful motor for him.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50Escape from his emotionally distant father
0:05:50 > 0:05:53came in the form of his uncle, Maurice Suckling,
0:05:53 > 0:05:54a captain in the Navy.
0:05:56 > 0:06:00Nelson joined his uncle's ship of the line as a midshipman.
0:06:01 > 0:06:03He was just 12 years old.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11The Navy was a brilliant way to actually get ahead in life
0:06:11 > 0:06:12and everyone knew that.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14It wasn't like the Army, where you had to be wealthy,
0:06:14 > 0:06:17you had to buy a commission to become an officer.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19You could become an officer,
0:06:19 > 0:06:22you could gain very, very high levels within the Royal Navy
0:06:22 > 0:06:25just by being very good at your job.
0:06:27 > 0:06:32At 19, Nelson dispensed with the name Horace.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35From now on, he called himself...
0:06:35 > 0:06:37Horatio.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41Two years later, he was made one of the youngest captains in the fleet.
0:06:42 > 0:06:47Marriage to Frances Nisbet, the daughter of well-to-do colonials,
0:06:47 > 0:06:49was another step up the social ladder.
0:06:56 > 0:06:58My dearest Fanny...
0:07:01 > 0:07:02..I wish to be an admiral.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05And in command of the English fleet.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10I should very soon either do much,
0:07:10 > 0:07:11or be ruined.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21War with France offered ambitious young officers like Nelson
0:07:21 > 0:07:24the opportunity to make their names...
0:07:25 > 0:07:28..against an enemy that had struck terror
0:07:28 > 0:07:31into the hearts of Britain's ruling class.
0:07:32 > 0:07:33For the first time,
0:07:33 > 0:07:38a great European country is being run by a radical republican regime.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41They're inspired by a rhetoric, by an agenda.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44They're not fighting for their king and their country,
0:07:44 > 0:07:47they're fighting for liberty, equality and freedom.
0:07:47 > 0:07:52All of those things that a son of the church believed in -
0:07:52 > 0:07:54constitution, King, country -
0:07:54 > 0:07:57were threatened by the French Revolution.
0:08:00 > 0:08:02Nelson quickly gained a reputation
0:08:02 > 0:08:04for throwing himself into battle
0:08:04 > 0:08:08and having an unquenchable thirst for fame.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10PEN SCRATCHES
0:08:10 > 0:08:13I...am envious...
0:08:15 > 0:08:18..only of glory.
0:08:21 > 0:08:23For if it be a sin to covet glory...
0:08:24 > 0:08:26..I am the most offending soul alive.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43In February 1797,
0:08:43 > 0:08:46Nelson had grabbed the chance to shine.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50Off the southwest corner of Portugal, at Cape St Vincent,
0:08:50 > 0:08:53the British fleet confronted France's greatest ally,
0:08:53 > 0:08:55Spain.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03This was the ultimate opportunity as far as Nelson was concerned
0:09:03 > 0:09:05and at Cape St Vincent, he excelled himself.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10He attacked a Spanish 80-gun ship.
0:09:10 > 0:09:12His ship was much, much smaller.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16Nevertheless, Nelson brought his own ship alongside
0:09:16 > 0:09:18and he boarded that ship.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23Then from that ship, he boarded another,
0:09:23 > 0:09:26even bigger Spanish ship, a huge three-decker,
0:09:26 > 0:09:29in person, and as a flag officer, leading such a charge
0:09:29 > 0:09:32was a unique event in naval history.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34No-one had done it before.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39"Sir, the hopes of falling in with the Spanish fleet
0:09:39 > 0:09:40"expressed in my letter to you..."
0:09:40 > 0:09:42Immediately after the victory,
0:09:42 > 0:09:44Nelson had been handed the battle report
0:09:44 > 0:09:47that his commander, Admiral John Jervis,
0:09:47 > 0:09:49had written for his superiors back in London.
0:09:51 > 0:09:53"..which had the good fortune..." Good fortune?
0:09:54 > 0:09:57"..to arrive up with the enemy by the larboard tack..."
0:09:57 > 0:10:02Jervis wrote a very prosaic, uncomplicated dispatch
0:10:02 > 0:10:05and didn't do justice to Nelson at all in it.
0:10:05 > 0:10:09"The ships were captured and the action ceased at five o'clock."
0:10:11 > 0:10:13This upset Nelson greatly.
0:10:13 > 0:10:18He's not relying any more upon his superiors to do him justice.
0:10:18 > 0:10:19He'll do himself justice.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26A few remarks relative to myself...
0:10:27 > 0:10:30..in the captain
0:10:30 > 0:10:34in which my pendant was flying
0:10:34 > 0:10:38on that most glorious Valentine's Day, 1797.
0:10:41 > 0:10:42A soldier of the 61st Regiment,
0:10:42 > 0:10:45having broke the upper quarter-gallery window,
0:10:45 > 0:10:47I jumped in myself.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50GUNFIRE AND SHOUTING I pushed onwards to the quarterdeck,
0:10:50 > 0:10:53where I found Captain Berry in possession of the poop.
0:10:56 > 0:11:00A fire of pistols opening from the admiral's stern gallery.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04I directed the soldiers to fire upon her stern...
0:11:08 > 0:11:11..and on the quarterdeck of a Spanish first-rate,
0:11:11 > 0:11:14extravagant as the story may seem,
0:11:14 > 0:11:17did I receive the swords of the vanquished Spaniards.
0:11:17 > 0:11:19CANNONS BOOM
0:11:29 > 0:11:33Nelson's report was published in full in a national newspaper.
0:11:34 > 0:11:40His reputation for dash-and-glory heroics fed a war-weary public
0:11:40 > 0:11:42eager for good news.
0:11:44 > 0:11:52He knew that that PR was critical to get him to the status of hero.
0:12:02 > 0:12:03Glory is my object.
0:12:05 > 0:12:06And that alone.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14Six months later, he was forced to write to Admiral Jervis
0:12:14 > 0:12:18with the news of the high price that came with chasing glory.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20SAWING
0:12:22 > 0:12:23Sir...
0:12:25 > 0:12:28..I am under the painful necessity of acquainting you
0:12:28 > 0:12:31that we have not been able to succeed in our attack.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36Leading the assault on Santa Cruz in Tenerife,
0:12:36 > 0:12:39Nelson's forces were beaten back by the heavily armed Spaniards.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43Nelson was shot in the right arm,
0:12:43 > 0:12:45which was amputated shortly afterwards.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53When I leave your command...
0:12:54 > 0:12:55..I become dead to the world.
0:12:58 > 0:13:00I go from hence and I'm no more seen.
0:13:02 > 0:13:03It's a very interesting letter, that,
0:13:03 > 0:13:06because it reveals two sides of Nelson's character.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09Yes, he could be courageous and he could lead people in battle,
0:13:09 > 0:13:12but he was also quite sly and cunning and manipulative.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17You will excuse my scrawl...
0:13:19 > 0:13:22STRAINED: ..considering it is my first...
0:13:28 > 0:13:30..attempt...
0:13:30 > 0:13:32It's almost like a child saying,
0:13:32 > 0:13:34"I'm terrible, I can't do this any more,"
0:13:34 > 0:13:35waiting for someone to reassure them,
0:13:35 > 0:13:37say, "No, it's absolutely fine.
0:13:37 > 0:13:39"You're still competent, we still want you in the Navy,
0:13:39 > 0:13:42"we'll go and give you a command. Having one arm is not a problem."
0:13:46 > 0:13:48Britain was equally fragile.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51Her European allies had deserted her.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54At home, the war was increasingly unpopular.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03In December 1797,
0:14:03 > 0:14:06Nelson, still in agony from his amputation,
0:14:06 > 0:14:09attended a Thanksgiving service at St Paul's
0:14:09 > 0:14:13that the government hoped would boost the nation's flagging morale.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19Spanish, French and Dutch emblems are brought in
0:14:19 > 0:14:24and they're laid up in honour and glory in this great cathedral
0:14:24 > 0:14:26that belongs to the city of London.
0:14:26 > 0:14:30That's what these wars are about - it's about power and money.
0:14:34 > 0:14:35If Britain doesn't have an empire
0:14:35 > 0:14:38and doesn't have connections of trade with the rest of the world,
0:14:38 > 0:14:42it is not going to be a very powerful country.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51Nelson understands that connection -
0:14:51 > 0:14:54the city, the sea, the Navy,
0:14:54 > 0:14:56British Empire. These all fit together.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06Standing close to Nelson was William Pitt, the Prime Minister.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10Pitt had recently learned that Napoleon was assembling
0:15:10 > 0:15:13a massive invasion force in the Mediterranean
0:15:13 > 0:15:16that threatened Britain and its empire.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21We can't talk to these people, we can't negotiate with them.
0:15:21 > 0:15:22We're going to have to destroy them.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28They're a virus and they threaten everything that we stand for.
0:15:32 > 0:15:34Pitt sent Nelson south with one mission -
0:15:34 > 0:15:37to hunt the French down and destroy them.
0:15:53 > 0:15:5540,000 troops.
0:15:56 > 0:15:58280 transports.
0:16:00 > 0:16:04Many hundred pieces of artillery, wagons, draft horses, cavalry,
0:16:04 > 0:16:08artificers, naturalists, astronomers, mathematicians...
0:16:09 > 0:16:12After six weeks searching the Mediterranean,
0:16:12 > 0:16:15there was still no sign of Napoleon's fleet.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18But Nelson had a hunch as to where the French had gone.
0:16:19 > 0:16:20This season...
0:16:22 > 0:16:25..the westerly winds so strongly prevail between Sicily
0:16:25 > 0:16:28and the Coast of Barbary that I conceive it almost impossible
0:16:28 > 0:16:30to get a fleet of ships to the westward.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35He summoned his captains onto his flagship.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38They were the cream of the British Navy.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41Among them were the Welshman Thomas Foley,
0:16:41 > 0:16:45the outspoken and energetic Benjamin Hallowell,
0:16:45 > 0:16:47and his most senior captain,
0:16:47 > 0:16:49the aristocratic James Saumarez.
0:16:51 > 0:16:53Nelson dubbed them
0:16:53 > 0:16:54his "band of brothers".
0:16:56 > 0:16:58He invited them to his table
0:16:58 > 0:17:01and talked about the tactics he was going to employ,
0:17:01 > 0:17:03the mission that was before them.
0:17:03 > 0:17:07He asked for their opinions and ideas and they loved that.
0:17:07 > 0:17:09A lot of these officers really loved being part
0:17:09 > 0:17:13of a closely knit team like this.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16It really is what you call the Nelson touch.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21He told them he believed Napoleon's goal wasn't Britain,
0:17:21 > 0:17:23but India.
0:17:23 > 0:17:25That meant the French would have to put ashore
0:17:25 > 0:17:26in Egypt.
0:17:29 > 0:17:30I therefore determine...
0:17:31 > 0:17:36..with the opinion of those captains in whom I place great confidence...
0:17:37 > 0:17:38..to go to Alexandria.
0:17:47 > 0:17:49He was right.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51But by the time Nelson reached Alexandria,
0:17:51 > 0:17:53the French army had already disembarked.
0:17:54 > 0:17:58What remained, however, was Napoleon's fleet,
0:17:58 > 0:18:00harboured at Abu Qir Bay.
0:18:05 > 0:18:09He wasn't taking any chances. He didn't even wait for daylight.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11He just went in to do the business.
0:18:14 > 0:18:16CANNON BOOMS
0:18:25 > 0:18:27CANNON BOOMS
0:18:36 > 0:18:41They fought until the French flagship, the L'Orient, blew up.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48Everyone was in shock.
0:18:51 > 0:18:57It was a terrible demonstration of what British gunnery could do.
0:19:04 > 0:19:075,000 Frenchmen died that night.
0:19:07 > 0:19:09All but two of their ships were destroyed.
0:19:10 > 0:19:12The British lost 900 men.
0:19:13 > 0:19:15Nelson, too, was wounded
0:19:15 > 0:19:19when a piece of shrapnel opened up a deep wound in his skull.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26My lord,
0:19:26 > 0:19:29almighty God has blessed His Majesty's arms in the late battle
0:19:29 > 0:19:31with a great victory over the fleet of the enemy.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36Nelson had transformed the balance of power.
0:19:37 > 0:19:39He had reenergised the British war effort.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44The Nile is the greatest naval victory in the 18th century.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49Nothing could withstand the squadron that Your Lordship did me the honour
0:19:49 > 0:19:51to place under my command.
0:19:52 > 0:19:57Their high state of discipline, together with their valour,
0:19:57 > 0:20:00was absolutely irresistible.
0:20:01 > 0:20:07Could anything from my pen add to the character of my captains, I would write it with pleasure.
0:20:07 > 0:20:09But that is impossible.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17In fact, Nelson's letter to Earl St Vincent was careful in how
0:20:17 > 0:20:19much praise he gave to his band of brothers.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26It was traditional to name and to thank your second in command,
0:20:26 > 0:20:30who was James Saumarez, during the battle.
0:20:30 > 0:20:34Nelson deliberately doesn't mention Saumarez because he sees him
0:20:34 > 0:20:36as a threat, I think.
0:20:36 > 0:20:40He sees him as another ambitious man and he knows that after
0:20:40 > 0:20:45the Battle of the Nile he has just made a huge leap forward.
0:20:45 > 0:20:52He then abuses that new position by further stamping down on those
0:20:52 > 0:20:57who might genuinely expect to receive laurels and rewards
0:20:57 > 0:20:59and honour and glory.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17Two months later, Nelson's battle-scarred fleet
0:21:17 > 0:21:19limped into the Bay of Naples
0:21:19 > 0:21:21to report the news of the victory...
0:21:23 > 0:21:27..and that Napoleon had been left stranded in Egypt.
0:21:30 > 0:21:32The whole of Naples,
0:21:32 > 0:21:37particularly the English residents who have been terrified because
0:21:37 > 0:21:44nobody knows where the French are, were absolutely thrilled.
0:21:53 > 0:21:57On board his flagship, Nelson received
0:21:57 > 0:22:01a letter from the wife of Britain's Ambassador to Naples,
0:22:01 > 0:22:03Lady Emma Hamilton.
0:22:11 > 0:22:17"How shall I begin? What shall I say to you?
0:22:17 > 0:22:20"I am delirious with joy
0:22:20 > 0:22:27"and I assure you I have a fervour caused by agitation and pleasure.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30"God, what a victory."
0:22:37 > 0:22:41The Hamiltons were the first aboard Nelson's flagship.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46William Hamilton said to Nelson, "You are now an immortal.
0:22:46 > 0:22:48"You will live for ever."
0:22:55 > 0:22:59Naples opened its arms to Rear Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson,
0:22:59 > 0:23:05Knight Bachelor, Neapolitan Order of St Ferdinand and of Merit,
0:23:05 > 0:23:06Turkish Order of the Crescent.
0:23:16 > 0:23:22My...dearest...Fanny.
0:23:24 > 0:23:29I must endeavour to convey to you something of what passed.
0:23:29 > 0:23:34Sir William and Lady Hamilton had really been laid up,
0:23:34 > 0:23:41seriously ill, first from anxiety, and then from joy.
0:23:42 > 0:23:47It was imprudently told Lady Hamilton in a moment of our victory
0:23:47 > 0:23:48and the effect was like a shot.
0:23:48 > 0:23:54The scene on the boat was terribly affecting.
0:23:54 > 0:23:58Up flew her ladyship and exclaiming,
0:23:58 > 0:24:04"Oh, God, is it possible?" she fell into my arm, more dead than alive.
0:24:07 > 0:24:15Nelson is absolutely thrilled with this response.
0:24:15 > 0:24:20She is responding as he would really like the world to do.
0:24:29 > 0:24:33The Hamiltons invited Nelson to stay with them at their villa.
0:24:34 > 0:24:38Lady Hamilton made Nelson bathe in asses' milk to soothe his wounds.
0:24:47 > 0:24:55It's balm to this man who has just not felt appreciated, which is
0:24:55 > 0:24:59unfair because his wife
0:24:59 > 0:25:04has done her duty by him all these years,
0:25:04 > 0:25:10but she has tended to write letters on the lines of,
0:25:10 > 0:25:16"It's very cold here in Burnham Thorpe and I'm wearing two sets of flannel drawers."
0:25:24 > 0:25:27Emma Hamilton could not have been more different.
0:25:27 > 0:25:31Born into rural poverty in Cheshire, she had risen from West End
0:25:31 > 0:25:35courtesan to being the toast of Neapolitan society.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40As Sir William's much younger wife, she was famous in Naples
0:25:40 > 0:25:44for entertaining guests with her flamboyant classical poses.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50She was a knockout beauty,
0:25:50 > 0:25:56although her figure, which was the talk of Europe, is now an ample
0:25:56 > 0:25:58but well-shaped figure.
0:25:58 > 0:26:05She is this angelic creature who just wants to look after him.
0:26:08 > 0:26:14I trust you will not think that one spark of vanity induces me
0:26:14 > 0:26:17to mention the most distinguished reception that ever
0:26:17 > 0:26:23I believe fell to the lot of a human being. 80 people dined at Sir William's.
0:26:23 > 0:26:301,740 came to a ball. 800 supped.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35Conducted in such a style...
0:26:36 > 0:26:39..that I neither asked, nor solicited for such an honour.
0:26:42 > 0:26:47One of the things about Naples was it took Nelson at his own
0:26:47 > 0:26:51estimation of his worth and he loved that.
0:26:53 > 0:26:54The tiny kingdom of Naples
0:26:54 > 0:26:58and Sicily was Britain's only ally in the Mediterranean.
0:26:58 > 0:27:02Nelson was ordered by his commanding officer, Lord St Vincent,
0:27:02 > 0:27:05to remain in Naples and given a new role,
0:27:05 > 0:27:09to deepen Britain's links with the Neapolitan monarchy.
0:27:09 > 0:27:11The Hamiltons would help, particularly Emma,
0:27:11 > 0:27:13who was close to the Queen.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16It's a very small circle
0:27:16 > 0:27:20and at the core of it is Maria Carolina, the Queen of Naples,
0:27:20 > 0:27:27who's a rather sort of Cruella de Vil character in a way.
0:27:27 > 0:27:34But she charms Nelson into this extraordinary submission
0:27:34 > 0:27:41and you feel that in Nelson's submission there's a sort of anger
0:27:41 > 0:27:47against the British establishment who haven't recognised him.
0:27:50 > 0:27:53I have not received a line from England since the 1st of October.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58Lord St Vincent is in no hurry to oblige me now.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04I am got, he fancies, too near him in reputation.
0:28:06 > 0:28:11In short...I am the envied man.
0:28:13 > 0:28:18There's this continuing emotional vulnerability which required
0:28:18 > 0:28:21careful handling.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25He brooded over every fancied slight.
0:28:28 > 0:28:32Nelson soon began to find that managing Neapolitan politics
0:28:32 > 0:28:35was more complicated than running a quarterdeck of a British
0:28:35 > 0:28:36man-of-war.
0:28:39 > 0:28:43Politically it was corrupt, it was inefficient, it was ramshackle.
0:28:47 > 0:28:53This country by a system of procrastination will ruin itself.
0:28:55 > 0:28:58The strong language of an English admiral telling them
0:28:58 > 0:29:01plain truths of their miserable system may do good.
0:29:04 > 0:29:08To help him navigate, Nelson relied on Emma Hamilton, who was
0:29:08 > 0:29:11fluent both in the language and the ways of the court.
0:29:14 > 0:29:17Emma Hamilton is in a very particular position.
0:29:17 > 0:29:21She is a confidant of the Queen of Naples. The King is a buffoon.
0:29:21 > 0:29:24This means that for a late-18th century woman,
0:29:24 > 0:29:26she's in an enormously powerful position.
0:29:27 > 0:29:31I hope some day to have the pleasure of introducing you to Lady Hamilton.
0:29:31 > 0:29:34She is one of the very best women in this world.
0:29:34 > 0:29:36She is an honour to her sex.
0:29:42 > 0:29:46Their relationship deepened as Nelson began to share
0:29:46 > 0:29:48the burdens of command with Emma.
0:29:53 > 0:29:57Vanguard, May 19th, 1799.
0:29:57 > 0:30:01Eight o'clock. Calm.
0:30:04 > 0:30:08My dear Lady Hamilton...
0:30:12 > 0:30:16..to tell you how dreary...
0:30:19 > 0:30:22..to tell you how dreary and uncomfortable the Vanguard appears...
0:30:25 > 0:30:30..is only telling you what it is to go from friends,
0:30:30 > 0:30:34what it is to go from the dearest friends
0:30:34 > 0:30:36to no friends.
0:30:38 > 0:30:45This change in Nelson allowed him a kind of release of pressure.
0:30:45 > 0:30:49And it gave space for
0:30:49 > 0:30:53private feelings that then developed, or exploded.
0:31:04 > 0:31:11Nelson was in love with the idea of himself as a hero.
0:31:15 > 0:31:19And Emma was in love with him, the hero.
0:31:19 > 0:31:24That's where they met, in a field of glory,
0:31:24 > 0:31:28and she couldn't do enough
0:31:28 > 0:31:36to feed him admiration and he was...
0:31:36 > 0:31:42This sort of starvation within him, he couldn't get enough of it.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49As Nelson and Emma's love affair intensified, civil war broke
0:31:49 > 0:31:54out in Naples between republicans and forces loyal to the monarchy.
0:31:57 > 0:32:01The Queen of Naples requested Nelson help put down the republican revolt.
0:32:04 > 0:32:07The Queen sees it and thinks as we do.
0:32:07 > 0:32:12War at this moment can alone save these kingdoms.
0:32:15 > 0:32:18Nelson was furious to discover that a peace agreement had been
0:32:18 > 0:32:24signed allowing defeated republicans to leave the city as free men.
0:32:24 > 0:32:28He arrested dozens, incarcerating some on British ships
0:32:28 > 0:32:31and ordered the court martial of one of the rebel leaders.
0:32:35 > 0:32:37I hate rebels.
0:32:38 > 0:32:40I hate traitors.
0:32:44 > 0:32:48Two of Nelson's captains, members of his band of brothers,
0:32:48 > 0:32:52protested that Nelson was honour bound to abide by the agreement.
0:32:54 > 0:32:58Nelson was adamant his decision was in keeping with what the
0:32:58 > 0:32:59Queen wanted.
0:33:00 > 0:33:02Has she ruled against me?
0:33:06 > 0:33:08I am determined to obey my orders.
0:33:10 > 0:33:11Right or wrong...
0:33:14 > 0:33:16..they shall be done.
0:33:17 > 0:33:19I will be obeyed.
0:33:22 > 0:33:25With Emma at his side, Nelson convened the court martial
0:33:25 > 0:33:29on his flagship, certain that he was doing the Queen's bidding.
0:33:32 > 0:33:37Within a day, the republican leader was found guilty and hanged.
0:33:40 > 0:33:44She would have been pressing Nelson to support the royal family's
0:33:44 > 0:33:46position to the hilt.
0:33:48 > 0:33:56Nelson fell into a trap where his feeling
0:33:56 > 0:34:02for Emma incorporated Emma's feeling for the Queen.
0:34:02 > 0:34:04I mean, it was quite crazy.
0:34:09 > 0:34:12Nelson's loyalty to the King and Queen of Naples was rewarded
0:34:12 > 0:34:17with a title, the Duke of Bronte, and a Sicilian estate.
0:34:29 > 0:34:33Last night I did nothing but dream of you.
0:34:36 > 0:34:41I thought I was at a large table, he was not present,
0:34:41 > 0:34:45sitting between a princess who I detest and another.
0:34:46 > 0:34:48They both tried to seduce me.
0:34:49 > 0:34:53And the first wanted to take those liberties with me
0:34:53 > 0:34:55which no woman but yourself ever did.
0:35:00 > 0:35:05The consequence was, I knocked her down and in the moment of bustle
0:35:05 > 0:35:07you came in...
0:35:14 > 0:35:18..and taking me into your embrace whispered,
0:35:18 > 0:35:21"I love no-one but you, my Nelson."
0:35:25 > 0:35:29I kissed you fervently. And we enjoyed the height of love.
0:35:42 > 0:35:48No suppression, no time, my only beloved Emma, can alter
0:35:48 > 0:35:50my love and affection for you.
0:35:53 > 0:35:57You are my guide, I submit to you.
0:36:07 > 0:36:09Nelson became disobedient,
0:36:09 > 0:36:13refusing an order from his commander-in-chief to move his fleet to Minorca.
0:36:15 > 0:36:18The Admiralty's patience snapped and he was ordered home.
0:36:21 > 0:36:24He took it all personally. He rejected it all.
0:36:24 > 0:36:30And that illustrated the beginnings of a
0:36:30 > 0:36:32serious criticism of Nelson's
0:36:32 > 0:36:36leadership that was beginning to develop in the British High Command.
0:36:40 > 0:36:42The Hamiltons were also recalled.
0:36:42 > 0:36:44They all left together,
0:36:44 > 0:36:47a scene described by the British general Sir John Moore.
0:36:50 > 0:36:54"He's covered with stars, ribbons and medals,
0:36:54 > 0:36:58"more like the Prince of the Opera than the conqueror of the Nile.
0:36:58 > 0:37:03"It is really melancholy to see a brave and good man who has
0:37:03 > 0:37:07"deserved well of his country cutting so pitiful a figure."
0:37:21 > 0:37:23Back in Britain, Nelson's affair
0:37:23 > 0:37:26with Emma Hamilton was openly ridiculed.
0:37:28 > 0:37:32He was an outsider among the upper classes and he felt that.
0:37:34 > 0:37:38Particularly in Britain, of course, he felt his social inferiority.
0:37:40 > 0:37:44Feeling society's cold reproach, Nelson struggled over what to
0:37:44 > 0:37:46do with his failing marriage.
0:37:49 > 0:37:53I don't think he knew how to handle the relationship he'd left behind.
0:37:53 > 0:37:57He seems to have thought that somehow
0:37:57 > 0:38:03he and Fanny could become a foursome with the Hamiltons and that
0:38:03 > 0:38:08somehow they could avoid a separation, which is a ridiculous notion.
0:38:12 > 0:38:15He tried to hide the affair by burning Emma's letters.
0:38:17 > 0:38:18But it was pointless.
0:38:18 > 0:38:21Emma was pregnant with their child.
0:38:22 > 0:38:25He had always wanted a child.
0:38:25 > 0:38:29She had given him the one thing that he wanted.
0:38:29 > 0:38:33So there was no looking back, there was no going back on that relationship.
0:38:35 > 0:38:40In January 1801, Nelson informed Fanny that their marriage was over.
0:38:42 > 0:38:47I don't think there's ever been a more public humiliation,
0:38:47 > 0:38:54just treats her with absolute cruelty.
0:38:57 > 0:39:01Nelson's career was also in the balance.
0:39:01 > 0:39:04He had become a problem for the Admiralty.
0:39:04 > 0:39:07They don't know what to do with him. There is a war on.
0:39:07 > 0:39:08They can't do without him,
0:39:08 > 0:39:12but they don't want to give him independent command.
0:39:12 > 0:39:14It was as if they dare not let him off the leash on his own.
0:39:32 > 0:39:36Nelson was ordered back to sea to join the Baltic fleet,
0:39:36 > 0:39:40not in command, but under a less experienced admiral.
0:39:43 > 0:39:45He had been overlooked.
0:39:45 > 0:39:46These fears of failure
0:39:46 > 0:39:50and the desire to prove himself to his superiors had all come back.
0:39:56 > 0:40:00I literally feel as a fish out of water.
0:40:05 > 0:40:10Enough snows and rains and nearly calm.
0:40:15 > 0:40:19Despite Emma's pregnancy, Nelson had left England uncertain
0:40:19 > 0:40:23if she would risk society's disapproval to be with him.
0:40:25 > 0:40:30He was insecure in his position in the Navy and so,
0:40:30 > 0:40:34the elements of insecurity in his relationship to Lady Hamilton
0:40:34 > 0:40:37became even worse for him.
0:40:41 > 0:40:45I am sure my love and desires are all to you.
0:40:46 > 0:40:52And if any woman, naked, were to come to me,
0:40:52 > 0:40:54I hope it might rot off
0:40:54 > 0:40:55that I might touch her,
0:40:55 > 0:40:57even with my hand.
0:41:05 > 0:41:07Nelson had been at sea for a month
0:41:07 > 0:41:11when Emma wrote that she had been visited by the Prince of Wales,
0:41:11 > 0:41:15a man known for his philandering and string of mistresses.
0:41:18 > 0:41:22I knew he would visit you!
0:41:26 > 0:41:33His words are so charming that I am told no person can withstand them.
0:41:33 > 0:41:35Hush.
0:41:35 > 0:41:37Hush.
0:41:37 > 0:41:42My poor heart keep in my breast. Be calm.
0:41:44 > 0:41:46Emma is true.
0:41:50 > 0:41:52Yet no-one, not even Emma,
0:41:52 > 0:41:55could resist the serpent's flattering tongue.
0:41:59 > 0:42:02Do not sit long at the table.
0:42:02 > 0:42:04Good God!
0:42:04 > 0:42:06He will be next to you.
0:42:06 > 0:42:08And telling you soft things.
0:42:08 > 0:42:10Oh, God, that I were dead!
0:42:12 > 0:42:14I am gone almost mad...
0:42:17 > 0:42:19..he shall put his foot near you.
0:42:25 > 0:42:27Do not say a word you can to him.
0:42:33 > 0:42:36He wishes, I dare say, to have you alone.
0:42:39 > 0:42:41Don't let him touch.
0:42:54 > 0:42:58Nor yet sit next to you. If he comes, get up.
0:42:58 > 0:43:01God strike him blind if he looks at you!
0:43:05 > 0:43:07This is high treason.
0:43:07 > 0:43:11You may get me hanged for revealing it. Oh, God!
0:43:14 > 0:43:16That I were dead!
0:43:18 > 0:43:20Oh, God!
0:43:24 > 0:43:26Why do I live?
0:43:40 > 0:43:44The fleet was ordered to Copenhagen to put a stop to the Danes
0:43:44 > 0:43:46shipping French merchandise.
0:43:49 > 0:43:52Powerless in his personal life,
0:43:52 > 0:43:55Nelson focused instead on what he could control.
0:43:57 > 0:44:00Copenhagen is a unique battle in Nelson's career.
0:44:00 > 0:44:04It's the one battle where he completely controls everything that
0:44:04 > 0:44:09happens by signal and ensures that nobody is using their initiative.
0:44:13 > 0:44:15His tactics of surprise
0:44:15 > 0:44:18and overwhelming firepower were classic Nelson.
0:44:20 > 0:44:23And in less than three hours, the Danes were routed.
0:44:27 > 0:44:32Exhausted and still depressed, Nelson asked to be relieved.
0:44:32 > 0:44:36But with the French still posing a threat,
0:44:36 > 0:44:38the admiralty kept him at sea.
0:44:43 > 0:44:48I have never known happiness...beyond moments.
0:44:53 > 0:44:55HE SIGHS
0:44:56 > 0:44:59I am tired to death.
0:45:14 > 0:45:17That winter, Nelson's life changed for ever.
0:45:22 > 0:45:24Emma had given birth to a baby girl.
0:45:24 > 0:45:27She named her Horatia.
0:45:33 > 0:45:37He couldn't marry her because of their situation,
0:45:37 > 0:45:41but that was the cement for the relationship and it gave him...
0:45:41 > 0:45:44As he said, you gave me what I always wanted
0:45:44 > 0:45:46and what no-one else had ever done.
0:45:56 > 0:45:59Kiss my dear, dear child for me.
0:46:02 > 0:46:09And be assured that I am for ever, ever...ever your...
0:46:09 > 0:46:12your...
0:46:12 > 0:46:14your...
0:46:15 > 0:46:18More than ever yours... Yours.
0:46:18 > 0:46:23Your own... Only your Nelson...
0:46:23 > 0:46:25& Bronte.
0:46:29 > 0:46:32Emma wrote to Nelson that she had found him a home...
0:46:35 > 0:46:37..Merton Place,
0:46:37 > 0:46:40a large Georgian property close to the centre of London.
0:46:43 > 0:46:48He put one very telling phrase in one of his letters to Emma.
0:46:48 > 0:46:52He said, "We shall have none of the great here."
0:46:52 > 0:46:56In other words, we don't want any of these big people here.
0:46:56 > 0:47:00We will invite the people we like and who like us.
0:47:00 > 0:47:02It will be our place.
0:47:08 > 0:47:13Have we a nice church at Merton?
0:47:13 > 0:47:15HE CHUCKLES
0:47:17 > 0:47:21We will set an example of goodness to the other parishioners.
0:47:23 > 0:47:26I admire the pigs and poultry.
0:47:29 > 0:47:33Sheep are certainly most beneficial to eat off the grass.
0:47:36 > 0:47:39BIRDSONG
0:47:42 > 0:47:47Nelson arrived at Merton in the summer of 1801.
0:47:47 > 0:47:51It was his first real home since going to sea 30 years earlier.
0:47:54 > 0:47:59Emma had filled it with paintings of Nelson and paintings
0:47:59 > 0:48:04of his battles and bits and pieces from all the battles he had fought.
0:48:04 > 0:48:07We know that there was a lightning conductor from the French
0:48:07 > 0:48:10flagship L'Orient, the big ship that exploded at the Nile.
0:48:10 > 0:48:12He kept that by the front door.
0:48:12 > 0:48:15And it was a piece that everyone wanted to talk about,
0:48:15 > 0:48:17or he wanted everyone to talk about.
0:48:19 > 0:48:24I think in Merton, he was satisfied he had found a place and a community
0:48:24 > 0:48:29of people that he loved and he really had something to live for.
0:48:34 > 0:48:36After Sir William Hamilton died,
0:48:36 > 0:48:41Merton became the refuge that both Nelson and Emma had longed for.
0:48:47 > 0:48:54'I think I have not lost my heart, since I with truth can swear'
0:48:54 > 0:49:00at every moment of my life, I feel my Nelson there.
0:49:02 > 0:49:08If from thine Emma's breast, her heart was stolen or flown away,
0:49:08 > 0:49:11where...where should she,
0:49:11 > 0:49:17my Nelson's love, record each happy day?
0:49:19 > 0:49:22Then do not rob me of my heart,
0:49:22 > 0:49:25unless you first forsake it.
0:49:27 > 0:49:30And then so wretched it will be.
0:49:30 > 0:49:33Despair alone will take it.
0:49:48 > 0:49:50Nelson and Emma had been at Merton for a year
0:49:50 > 0:49:52when the call of duty came again.
0:49:55 > 0:49:57In the summer of 1803,
0:49:57 > 0:50:00Nelson was given the command he had always wanted...
0:50:03 > 0:50:06..Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean fleet.
0:50:09 > 0:50:13It's his theatre and he is the admiral who has both the skills
0:50:13 > 0:50:17and the reputation for finding and fighting the enemy.
0:50:19 > 0:50:21My dearest Emma...
0:50:23 > 0:50:26..I believe my arrival was most welcome.
0:50:27 > 0:50:30The Nelson touch
0:50:30 > 0:50:33was like an electric shock.
0:50:35 > 0:50:37Some shed tears.
0:50:38 > 0:50:40All approved.
0:50:45 > 0:50:49He knew that the British Empire could never rest safe
0:50:49 > 0:50:53until the French and Spanish Navies had been dealt with.
0:50:56 > 0:50:59We are moving slowly, direct for Toulon.
0:51:01 > 0:51:03What force they have, I know not.
0:51:04 > 0:51:07I do not think it will be a long war.
0:51:09 > 0:51:11But it was a long war.
0:51:14 > 0:51:17Nelson would stay at sea for two years,
0:51:17 > 0:51:20waiting for the French to leave port.
0:51:25 > 0:51:29The promise of getting home fuelled a constant stream of letters.
0:51:30 > 0:51:33My dearest Emma,
0:51:33 > 0:51:36I will not have you lay out more than is necessary at Merton.
0:51:36 > 0:51:40The rooms and the new entrance will take a good deal of money.
0:51:41 > 0:51:46I also beg that as my dear Horatia is to be at Merton,
0:51:46 > 0:51:49that a strong netting, about three feet high,
0:51:49 > 0:51:50be placed around the river,
0:51:50 > 0:51:54that the little thing may not tumble in.
0:51:54 > 0:51:56Then, you may have ducks in it again.
0:51:56 > 0:52:00I shall be very anxious until I know this is done.
0:52:12 > 0:52:17After two years, the French fleet finally left port.
0:52:17 > 0:52:19In the autumn of 1805,
0:52:19 > 0:52:22Nelson cornered them off the southwest coast of Spain.
0:52:39 > 0:52:44At Cape Trafalgar, before battle commenced, Nelson wrote to Emma.
0:52:48 > 0:52:52The thoughts of such happiness, my dearest only beloved,
0:52:52 > 0:52:54makes the blood fly into my head.
0:52:59 > 0:53:02But the call of our country
0:53:02 > 0:53:07is a duty which...you would deservedly in the cool
0:53:07 > 0:53:11moments of reflection reprobate were I to abandon.
0:53:11 > 0:53:16And I should feel so disgraced by seeing you ashamed of me,
0:53:16 > 0:53:20no longer saying, "This is the man who has saved his country."
0:53:22 > 0:53:25I shall, my best beloved,
0:53:25 > 0:53:29if it please God, return a victor
0:53:29 > 0:53:34and it will be my study to transmit an unsullied name.
0:53:35 > 0:53:40Ever... For ever, I am yours.
0:53:40 > 0:53:43Only yours.
0:53:43 > 0:53:46Even beyond this world.
0:53:46 > 0:53:48Nelson
0:53:48 > 0:53:50& Bronte.
0:54:00 > 0:54:02Ten minutes before the first gunfire,
0:54:02 > 0:54:05Nelson issued his final signal to the fleet...
0:54:08 > 0:54:10..engage the enemy more closely.
0:54:32 > 0:54:34'..Vice Admiral Nelson...
0:54:36 > 0:54:41'..who in the late conflict with the enemy fell in the hour of victory.
0:54:41 > 0:54:45'His Lordship received a musket ball in his left breast,
0:54:45 > 0:54:48'about the middle of the action.
0:54:48 > 0:54:51'I have to lament, in common with the British Navy,
0:54:51 > 0:54:55'and the British nation, the fall of the Commander-in-Chief,
0:54:55 > 0:55:00'the loss of a hero, whose name will be immortal
0:55:00 > 0:55:04'and his memory ever dear to his country.'
0:55:14 > 0:55:17It was said that all of London watched Nelson's funeral
0:55:17 > 0:55:20cortege make its journey to St Paul's.
0:55:22 > 0:55:269,000 people were waiting inside the cathedral.
0:55:28 > 0:55:32In death, Nelson provided Britain's leaders with a powerful
0:55:32 > 0:55:38message, as they set about the final defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte.
0:55:38 > 0:55:41Nelson is the hero of the British state.
0:55:41 > 0:55:45He is the only thing in the British state that people can look up to.
0:55:45 > 0:55:49This one man is giving you the confidence to carry on.
0:55:49 > 0:55:51So, you have to mythologize him.
0:55:52 > 0:55:56It was a good death, in the sense that the country's hopes
0:55:56 > 0:56:01were on him, his audience was out there, rooting for him...
0:56:01 > 0:56:04He had to deliver the goods, and he delivered them.
0:56:06 > 0:56:11But in a personal sense, of course, it was a great tragedy.
0:56:11 > 0:56:15He had this woman who was fulfilling him in every way,
0:56:15 > 0:56:16he had this child...
0:56:16 > 0:56:22It was all there. He's only got one big obstacle left - this battle,
0:56:22 > 0:56:26which he said, "I'm going to fight this battle and then,
0:56:26 > 0:56:27"I'm going home."
0:56:29 > 0:56:31And he never went home.
0:56:33 > 0:56:38But in 1814, Nelson's image was severely tarnished
0:56:38 > 0:56:42when letters he had written to Emma Hamilton were published.
0:56:42 > 0:56:46Society was appalled that their hero's image should me muddied by
0:56:46 > 0:56:52revelations of infidelity, a secret lovechild and sexual jealousy.
0:56:53 > 0:56:58There was a tremendous outcry.
0:56:58 > 0:57:03Nobody wanted those letters to be published.
0:57:03 > 0:57:06It was a can of worms, that's what it really was.
0:57:06 > 0:57:07It was a can of worms.
0:57:09 > 0:57:13Society washed its hands of Nelson's former mistress.
0:57:13 > 0:57:17Ostracised and penniless, Merton long sold,
0:57:17 > 0:57:20she died a year later in a bedsit in Calais.
0:57:22 > 0:57:26Horatia moved to Norfolk, where she married a country parson.
0:57:29 > 0:57:33Over the course of the next century, Britain carefully constructed
0:57:33 > 0:57:37an image of Nelson as unimpeachable hero...
0:57:38 > 0:57:41..a solid edifice for future generations to look up to.
0:57:46 > 0:57:49Horatio Nelson made his name as a brilliant leader
0:57:49 > 0:57:51and a reckless glory hunter.
0:57:54 > 0:57:58But his love for Emma Hamilton had changed him.
0:58:01 > 0:58:05In the hours before his final greatest battle,
0:58:05 > 0:58:09his thoughts were of...home, family, children.
0:58:13 > 0:58:15My dearest angel,
0:58:15 > 0:58:21I was made happy by the receiving of your letter of September the 19th.
0:58:21 > 0:58:24And I rejoiced to hear that you are so very good a girl.
0:58:27 > 0:58:30I shall be sure of your prayers for my safety, conquest
0:58:30 > 0:58:35and speedy return to dear Merton and our dear good Lady Hamilton.
0:58:36 > 0:58:38Be a good girl.
0:58:39 > 0:58:43And receive, my dearest Horatia, the affectionate parental
0:58:43 > 0:58:44blessing of your father.