July 10th 1805
TO CAPTAIN KEATS, H.M. SHIP SUPERB.
Victory, July 10th, 1805.
My dear Keats,
I send you the last Papers; they seem rather worse for wear. I hope our present wind will last us to Cape Spartel. When the weather is fine, and you feel so inclined, I trust I need not repeat how happy I am at all times to see you, feeling myself your much obliged,
NELSON AND BRONTE.
TO COMMISSIONER OTWAY, GIBRALTAR.
Victory, July 10th, 1805.
My dear Commissioner,
Be so good as to order a fore-yard to be prepared for the Canopus; hers is rotten. Whether the Fleet will anchor at Gibraltar, or pass up the Mediterranean, must depend upon what the Enemy may have done, and when they passed Gibraltar; for if there is a hope of getting up with them before they get to Toulon, I shall not anchor. I have ordered no letters to be received for Gibraltar, as I do not wish it to be known, at the Rock, my intention of anchoring. You will be so good as to mention my intentions and wishes for secrecy, to General Fox. If I pass up the Mediterranean, I shall write you a line relative to stores, &c. &c. I am always, my dear Commissioner, your much obliged, humble servant,
NELSON AND BRONTE.
TO REAR-ADMIRAL KNIGHT, GIBRALTAR.
Victory, July 10th, 1805.
My dear Admiral,
I wish the probability of the Fleet's anchoring at Gibraltar to be kept as secret as possible, for everything which is known on the Rock gets into Spain. If the Enemy's Fleet has passed up the Mediterranean, (unless it has been such a length of time that there is no chance of my getting up with them before they get into Toulon,) I shall not anchor at Gibraltar, but have the Transports convoyed after the Fleet; but on this subject I shall write, if I do not stop. Be so good as to mention these circumstances to General Fox. I have wrote to the Commissioner to prepare a fore-yard for Canopus, as hers is rotten. I am ever, my dear Admiral, your most faithful, humble servant,
NELSON AND BRONTE.
TO WILLIAM MARSDEN, ESQ. ADMIRALTY.
Victory, at Sea, 10th July, 1805.
Sir,
You will be pleased to acquaint the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty that Mr. James Marguette, (a man of colour,) who has for these many years piloted his Majesty's Ships, in Squadrons and otherwise, from Barbadoes to the different Leeward Islands, came on board the Victory off that Island, on the 4th ult., for the purpose of piloting the Fleet under my command to any of the Leeward Islands in pursuit of the Enemy; and that on the 13th June, when the Fleet sailed from Antigua, I judged it proper to take him with me, that I might (in case of certain information after we left that place, that the Enemy had gone to Porto Rico or Jamaica,) have a person with me who was perfectly acquainted with the pilotage of those places; and as Mr. Marguette is a very clever, able man, and had been at the former place with Sir Henry Harvey, and several other Admirals; he is, therefore, now on board the Fleet; and it is my intention to send him to England by the first opportunity, in order that their Lordships may direct him a passage to Barbadoes by the first Ship of War going there.
I shall furnish Mr. Marguette with a letter, when he quits the Victory, that due attention may be paid to this valuable man, who very cheerfully offered his services to pilot the Fleet. I, therefore, beg leave to recommend him to their Lordships' notice, and trust they will be pleased to approve of my having taken him with me, for the reasons before mentioned. I am, Sir, &c.
NELSON AND BRONTE.
TO CAPTAIN PARKER, H.M. SHIP AMAZON.
July 10th, 1805.
Sir,
If you find off Cape Spartel any Vessel which can convey your intelligence to me, on my arrival off that Cape, you will proceed to Gibraltar, and complete your water, provisions, and stores with all possible expedition, and join me, unless I send you further orders. I am, Sir, &c.
NELSON AND BRONTE.
The Letters and Dispatches of Lord Nelson, vol. VI, ed. Sir Nicholas Harris Nicolas (London: Henry Colburn, 1845), p. 469-471
