Horatio Nelson

Roger Knight (University of Greenwich)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.05: English Writing and Culture from the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution, 1689-1789.
Vol. editors: Paul Baines (University of Liverpool), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Pat Rogers (University of South Florida), Nicholas Seager (University of Keele)

Dates

Born 29 Sep 1758
Died 21 Oct 1805
Activity 1771-1805

Places

Born in England
Active in England; Denmark; Egypt; France; Italy; Malta; Spain

Activities

Primary

Mariner/ Navigator/ Seaman
Military commander

Resources

Nelson's Works

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Horatio Nelson was in his lifetime and is still Britain’s most celebrated admiral, winning a series of decisive victories over the French, Spanish and Danes during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars (1793-1815). He came to epitomise Britain’s defence against invasion by Napoleon Bonaparte, who was equally if not more successful on land. Nelson secured everlasting fame by dying at the moment of decisive victory at the battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805.

Nelson was born in Burnham Thorpe, north Norfolk, in 1758, the third surviving son of a country parson of middling means and the sixth of his eleven children. He went to sea at the age of twelve in 1771 as a midshipman on a ship commanded by Captain Maurice Suckling, his mother’s brother who eventually became

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1866 words

Citation: Knight, Roger. "Horatio Nelson". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 May 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5907, accessed 24 November 2024.]