The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-05-12
Nelson and Others.

I Win Il6l VI ANStSOn. ne SUI PAASAAAS LIMB
is not this, but the unanimity with which
those who believe themselves higher crit
/ les rank him below Nelson. They always
speak of Nelson as a man apart from the
rest. While there are dozens OF great gen
erals, the impression among English
speaking people seems to be that there Is
only one great Naturalization With the
exception, perhaps, of Farragut-who is
we'll known in the United States. but not
so well known in Europe-the average An
glo-Saxon could not name another great
| fleet commander.
| This is strange, and not justified. Mel
son is great. probably the greatest. until
| Dewey's fame arose to eclipse his feats-
His many battles and the effect OF his
victories prove his pre-eminence, but 1t
is ruled that there are Others Those who
have carefully considered the exploits of
| Hood, Hooker. Lewis, Collingwood and
Blake must admit that, even If they were
not as great as Nelson, yet they achieved
much that is well worthy OF comparison
with what Nelson did.
Hallam says that the naval glory of
England can be traced lin a continuous
track of light" from the period OF the
commonwealth. Blake was the man who
began this line of great naval victories
| and Cromwell's great admiral performed
feats that will bear being weighed in the
scales against Nelson's Van Tromp,
against whom Blake was matched, was
different man from Villeneuve. The man
who carried a broom at his masthead to
show that he had swept the seas. had d
feated the combined fleets OF Spain ana
Portugal at a time when these two ma
tons were world powers. and until then
3 l. 1,l~@ ~
than a match for the doughty Dutchman.
In May. 1852, he defeated him in the
Downs, with twenty ships against forty
five. After three other battles, in each OF
which he was victorious, he, with forty
ships. many of them unseaworthy and
short-handed, encountered fleet of eigh-
ty Dutch vessels and ten fire ships. De-
feated, he withdrew, but in the following
February, with eighty ships against 100 of
Dutch, he won battle that lasted four
days.
Perhaps his greatest action was against
the Spanish in 1857, when he entered the
strongly fortified harbor of Santa Cruz
and defeated a superior force supported
by land batteries. 1t was a fight like
Dewey's, in that 1t seemed incredible to
Englishmen, who could hardly believe
their leaders great success. He was the
first man to bring ships to fight fortresses,
a thing that until then seemed foolhardy
and useless risk. Nelson, Farragut and
Dewey profted by the lesson he taught.
None OF Nelson's lighting was better
than that of Hawke off Belleisle in 1883.
when he engaged the French feet under
CONTAINS, and, notwithstanding that the
French. trusting to their knowledge of the
rocks and shadows, retired to the Shore
he fell upon them with such impetuosity
that only the approach of nightfull saved
them from total destruction. More than
half of the French vessels were destroyed
This, like Trafalgar. prevented a project
ed invasion of England
Hoods daring attack on Grasse at the
Rasseterre of st. kits and his success in
expelling the French from Corsica are
also feats of great skill and courage. With
thorough seamanship Hood combined cour
age and GOODNESS that have led many ma
val historians to rank him as second on
ly to Nelson
st. Vincent is remembered chiefly for
Nelson, yet Jervis was the leader and his
courage led to the battle and his strategy
really won it. In it's consequences this
battle was no less great than that of Ira
fslgar, for it was the foundation of all
that followed.
At this battle Collnwood's individual
gallantry was but slightly less than that
of Nelspn and he, too, was rewarded
with an admiraFs flag At Trafalgar,
while the ships went in under Nelson, who
planned the campaign, Collingwood did
much of the fighting and his valor and
skill had powerful influence on both
fleets. 1t might be said to be pure luck
that Collingwood had no chance to show
himself Nelson's equal. for there were no
great subsequent naval engagements af-
ter he succeeded to the command Some
of their contemporaries believed Colling-
wood the greater sailor.
Now, as for Nelson. His great battles
were those of the Nile, Copenhagen and
Trafalgar Great as the credit due him
is. it must be admitted that the British
fleet was then al its best and that of
France at its worst. 1t mattered very
little under what leader the English might
be, so long as the two fleets could get
into action the issue was not doubted. !
Before the battle of the Nile Nelson
went on two wild goose chases IN search
of the French. In numbers the ships were
evenly matched at Aboukir, though the
French had the aid of shore batteries. and
their fleet was superior Nelson divided
his fleet and attacked a part of the French
from both sides while the enemy's van
and all their line were either unable or
unwilling to take part in the fight
At Copenhagen Nelson met both shore
batteries and fleets. Impatient of delay,
he attacked them. He tried to repeat the
Nile experiment, but was not able to place
the Danes between two fires. and the re-
suit was that though his squadron de-
stroyed the first line OF the Dutch de-
fenses the hostile batteries were not ST.
fenced and Nelson himself suffered so
greatly that he welcomed a truce
The battle of Trafalgar was not Of Mel
sons seeking. Villeneuve had twice out
witted him and led him on one occasion
on n chase across the Atlantic Wearied
and desperate Villeneuve left Cadlz and
sought the battle OF Trafalgar. The for
ces were not so uneven. Nelson had TWEEN
ty-seven ships TO Vllleneuve's thirty-oue
And the feet of the allies was so unskilled
that the mere operation of turning was
sufficient to throw il into confusion. The
result was not in doubt for an instant
Why is II. then. that with the populace
Nelson Is first and the rest nowhere7
It is in TO small part due to the fact
that men OF action depend for their fame
upon the written records Of men OF let
ters. Nelson had good oiographers. They
found their material not wholly In his ma
val victories. but in other elements that
lent a human interest to his character.
mere dry record % battles. however /
thrilling those battles may be. is not OF |
Interest to the general public. Napoleon /
st St Helena, Washington at Valley /
Forge or with his little Ratchet. Alexander /
and BUcephalus. or signing for more (
worlds TO cougrfer-these are things that 4
make a man remembered by the popu- !
lace.
Nelson is the only naval hero whose i