the Great Sailor
Admiral Horatio
Nelson - A Great Sailor
French.
The ruler of France was then the Emperor Napoleon. He wished to make himself
ruler of the whole world. With his armies Napoleon made himself ruler over many
lands, but he never ruled Britian. Why was this? Britian was an island, and the
ships of the British navy would not let Napoleon and his In 1805 a great war
was fought between the British and the armies cross the sea. The greatest of
all the British sailors at this time was Horatio Nelson.
Nelson fought many times against the French ships. He was
very brave, and when the ship was in battle, he was always to be seen on desk,
cheering on his man. In one battle he was blinded in his right eye; in another
he lost his right arm; but he didn`t think of giving up.
Nelson was kind and just, as well as brave. Once, when he
saw that a young boy who had jast joined the ship was afraid to climb up the
tall masts, he cried out; « Сome
along, I`ll race you to the top!» In the race to be the first the boy forgot his
fear.
“There,
now,” said Nelson when the two were at the top, “that`s nothing! You must learn
to climb masts much higher than this!”
“Our
Nel,” the man used to say, “is as brave as lion, and as gentle as a lamb.”
Nelson`s
great fight with the French was the battle of Trafalgar, which was fought near
Cape Trafalgar on the coast of Spain. Just as the battle was about to begin,
the signal flags were seen flying on the masts of Nelson`s ship, the Victory. This was the signal which the British sailors read: England
Expects That Every Man This Day Will Do His Duty.
As
the British ships bore down on the French line, the sailors remembered Nelson`s
message, and made up their minds to fight their hardest for their brave leader.
Soon the battle was raging. The guns roared, ships crashed
together and masts struck by gunfire fell with a thud to the decks. Through the
noise and the smoke the captains and officers shouted their commands, the
sailors toiled at the guns and the ships` boys ran to and fro with powder and
shot.
Nelson,
on the Victory, was on deck as usual. His men could pick him out, even
through the smoke, by the four stars which shone upon his blue and white coat.
These four stars were the cause of his death. A man on one of the enemy ships
saw them and fired. Nelson was struck on the shoulder and was carried below to
die.
Already the British were winning the fight. Nelson heard
cheer after cheer from his men, as one enemy ship after another was captured.
Before long one of his officers brought word that the battle was won.
Two
hours later the gallant sailor died. With his last breath he said: “Thank God,
I have done my duty!’
Admiral Horatio
Nelson won several brilliant victories over the French Navy near the coast of
Egypt, at Copenhagen, and finally near Spain, at Trafalgar, in 1805, where he
destroyed the French-Spanish fleet . Nelson was himself killed, but became one
of Britain`s greatest national heroes. His words before the battle of
Trafalgar, “England Expects That Every Man Will Do His Duty”, have remained a
reminder of patriotic duty in time of national danger.
