
This auction has ended. View lot details
You may also be interested in


NELSON (HORATIO) Order signed ("Nelson & Bronte"), with signed autograph postscript ("Water at Gibraltar or Tetuan/ Nelson & Bronte"), the text in the hand of Nelson's secretary, John Scott, to Lord Mark Kerr of the Fisgard, ordering him to proceed "with the utmost expedition", Victory at sea, 15 November 1804
Sold for £2,750 inc. premium
Looking for a similar item?
Our Books & Manuscripts specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialistAsk about this lot

NELSON (HORATIO)
Footnotes
WAR WITH SPAIN AND THE ADMIRALTY. Although Spain was not officially to declare war on Great Britain until 14 December, open warfare had broken out on 5 October, when English ships seized the Spanish treasure fleet, and on 15 November Nelson issued a general order to his fleet (to which he refers in the present document) announcing the outbreak of war and ordering attacks on enemy vessels. A greater threat to Nelson's ambitions came however from within the Admiralty. Lord Melville, the First Lord, had created an independent command covering Cadiz, which hitherto had been deemed part of Nelson's Mediterranean station, and given the post to Nelson's rival, Sir John Orde (who had been passed over for the Nile command in 1798): ʻJust as the rich pickings of a Spanish war began flooding in, the Admiralty sent another admiral to reap the rewards that had traditionally belonged to the commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean... Nelson's suspicions of Orde ran deep. The latter was the senior of the two officers, and Nelson pictured him tapping supplies intended for the Mediterranean, purloining and redeploying ships for his own purposes, and cornering the lion's share of the prize money. Nelson sent the Anson, Niger and Childers to reinforce Strachan outside the Straight in October and November, the last two after hearing of Orde's appointment. Partly he saw it as an opportunity to reward faithful followers by putting them in the way of rich pickings. "Make your fortune!" he told Strachan' (Sugden, pp. 721, 724). The order sent to Captain Hillyar of the Niger, nearly identical to ours and dated the same day, is printed by Nicolas; where ours does not appear.





![[Americana.]](/_next/image.jpg?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg2.bonhams.com%2Fimage%3Fsrc%3DImages%252Flive%252F2006-09%252F22%252F7332891-4-1.JPG%26width%3D650&w=2400&q=75)

![CALEPINO, AMBROGIO. 1435-1511. [Dictionarium.] Calepinus Ad librum. Mos est putidas.... Venice: Peter Liechtenstein, January 3, 1509.](/_next/image.jpg?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg2.bonhams.com%2Fimage%3Fsrc%3DImages%252Flive%252F2012-08%252F09%252F8520323-124-1.jpg%26width%3D650&w=2400&q=75)
![HEARN, LAFCADIO. 1850-1904. [Japanese Fairy Tales.] Philadelphia: Macrae-Smith, [But Tokyo: T. Hasegawa,] [c.1931].](/_next/image.jpg?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg2.bonhams.com%2Fimage%3Fsrc%3DImages%252Flive%252F2025-11%252F07%252F25776056-1-1.jpg%26width%3D650&w=2400&q=75)

