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"distinguished also by a gallant and meritorious Service"
William IV
William IV
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William IV
William IV
Footnotes
A fine letter with links to both Nelson's early and late career. William IV, as Prince William, had extended his royal patronage to Nelson when both men served in the West Indies, giving away the bride when Nelson married Fanny Nisbet, and retaining a close interest in his career. Indeed, after the Hero's death, he went so far as to claim that they had lived together as brothers. He nearly usurped Nelson in one respect: Trafalgar Square was due to be called King William Square, with a statue of the Sailor King designated for the site of the present column, until an Admiralty architect suggested that it be dedicated to Nelson instead; a plan to which William himself gave his royal assent (see Flora Fraser, 'If You Seek His Monument' in The Nelson Companion, edited by Colin White, 1995, pp.129-30). The subject of this letter, Henry Blackwood, had commanded the Euryalus, the chief of Nelson's frigates keeping watch on the Combined Fleet before Trafalgar. It was he who with Captain Hardy witnessed Nelson's so-called 'Last Codicil' just before the battle. When Blackwood left the Victory, Nelson's last words to him were "God bless you, Blackwood; I shall never speak to you again".

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