How old was Nelson when he died?

Nelson was 47. He was born on 29 September 1758 at Burnham Thorpe in Norfolk and was killed at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805, about three weeks after his 47th birthday. He died aboard his flagship, HMS Victory, roughly three hours after a French marksman shot him.

Where is Nelson buried?

Nelson is buried in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral in London, directly beneath the center of the dome. After a state funeral on 9 January 1806 he was laid in a coffin made from the mast of the French flagship L'Orient, inside a 16th century sarcophagus first made for Cardinal Wolsey.

How did Nelson lose his arm and his eye?

Nelson lost most of the sight of his right eye at the siege of Calvi on Corsica in 1794. In July 1797 he was shot in the right arm during a failed attack on Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and the arm was amputated. He went on commanding fleets at sea after both wounds.

Did Nelson ever lose a battle?

Yes. His attack on Santa Cruz de Tenerife in July 1797 failed, and it cost him his right arm. He never lost a fleet battle, however: at Cape St Vincent, the Nile, Copenhagen and Trafalgar the British forces he fought with won, and at the last three he led the attack himself.

Did Nelson really put a telescope to his blind eye?

The story belongs to the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801, when Admiral Parker signaled to break off the action and Nelson fought on. It comes from an account by William Stewart, an army officer on Nelson's flagship, published years later. Royal Museums Greenwich says Nelson allegedly did it; the biographer John Sugden defends the story.

How many enemy ships were taken at Trafalgar?

Of the 33 French and Spanish ships of the line, 17 were captured and one blew up on 21 October 1805; Collingwood's dispatch counted 19. Britain lost no ships. A storm afterward cost the British most of the prizes, and four ships that escaped were captured a few weeks later.

Horatio Nelson: Britain's most celebrated admiral

Q: Was Nelson married?

Yes. Nelson married Frances (Fanny) Nisbet, a widow, on the island of Nevis on 11 March 1787. At Naples he began a very public affair with Emma, Lady Hamilton, the wife of the British envoy. Their daughter Horatia was born in 1801, and Nelson later parted from his wife.

Quick answer

Who was Horatio Nelson?

Horatio Nelson (1758 to 1805) was a British admiral of the Royal Navy. He destroyed a French fleet at the Nile in 1798, led the attack at Copenhagen in 1801 and commanded the British fleet at Trafalgar in 1805, where a French marksman shot him. He died that afternoon, after learning the battle was won.¹

Four fleet battles made Nelson's name: the Battle of Cape St Vincent (1797), the Nile (1798), Copenhagen (1801) and the Battle of Trafalgar (1805). He lost most of the sight of his right eye in 1794 and his right arm in 1797, and went on commanding at sea after both wounds.²

How did Nelson become an admiral?

Nelson was born on 29 September 1758 at the rectory of Burnham Thorpe in Norfolk, a son of the Reverend Edmund Nelson. At the age of 12 he joined the Royal Navy under the patronage of his uncle, Captain Maurice Suckling. He became a lieutenant in 1777 and a post captain in June 1779, at 20. On 11 March 1787, on the Caribbean island of Nevis, he married Frances (Fanny) Nisbet, a widow.³

Portrait of Nelson in admiral's uniform and bicorne hat with a jewelled ornament — Rear-Admiral Horatio Nelson painted by Lemuel Francis Abbott in 1799, wearing in his hat the diamond chelengk given by the Ottoman sultan after the Nile. National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. Public domain⁴

War with Revolutionary France took him to the Mediterranean. At the siege of Calvi on Corsica in 1794 he lost most of the sight of his right eye. At the Battle of Cape St Vincent on 14 February 1797, commanding HMS Captain, he left the British line on his own initiative and captured two Spanish ships, the San Nicolás and the San José, by boarding. He was made a Knight of the Bath and promoted to rear admiral. In July 1797 he led an attack on Santa Cruz de Tenerife; it failed, and he was shot in the right arm, which was amputated.⁵

What was Horatio Nelson famous for?

His first great fleet victory was the Battle of the Nile on 1 August 1798. Nelson found the French fleet that had carried Napoleon's army to Egypt anchored in Aboukir Bay and attacked at once, late in the day. The French flagship L'Orient blew up at about 10 pm, and of 13 French ships of the line only two escaped. The victory left Napoleon's army in Egypt without a fleet to support it, and Nelson was made Baron Nelson of the Nile.⁶

Nelson then spent much of 1798 to 1800 at Naples, where he began a very public affair with Emma, Lady Hamilton, the wife of the British envoy. Their daughter, Horatia, was born in 1801, and Nelson parted from his wife.⁷

In 1801 Nelson, now a vice admiral, went to the Baltic as second in command to Admiral Sir Hyde Parker. On 2 April he led the attack on the Danish ships and batteries at Copenhagen. During the battle Parker hoisted the signal to discontinue the action; Nelson fought on and then offered the Danes a ceasefire. He was made a viscount, and in May he succeeded Parker as commander in chief in the Baltic.⁸

The best-known detail, that Nelson raised his telescope to his blind eye and said he could not see the signal, comes from William Stewart, an army officer on board Nelson's flagship Elephant, whose account was published years after the battle. Royal Museums Greenwich says Nelson "allegedly" did it; the biographer John Sugden argues that the story should not be dismissed as an invention.⁹

England expects that every man will do his duty.

How did Nelson win the Battle of Trafalgar?

In 1803 Nelson took command in the Mediterranean, with HMS Victory as his flagship. In 1805 he chased the French fleet of Admiral Pierre de Villeneuve to the West Indies and back, and by October it lay in Cádiz with its Spanish allies. Before the battle Nelson explained his plan, which he called "the Nelson touch", to his captains aboard Victory: instead of fighting line against line, the fleet would attack in separate divisions and break the enemy line.¹⁰

The battle was fought off Cape Trafalgar on 21 October 1805, with 27 British ships of the line against 33 French and Spanish. At about 11.45 am Victory flew the signal "England expects that every man will do his duty". Nelson in Victory led one column and Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood in Royal Sovereign led the other, and both cut through the enemy line.¹¹

By evening 17 enemy ships had been captured and another, the Achille, was burning and blew up; Collingwood's dispatch counted 19. No British ship was lost. A storm in the following days cost the British most of the prizes, and four of the ships that escaped were captured a few weeks later. The figure of two-thirds of the enemy fleet, often repeated, is reached only by adding those later losses: on the day itself, a little more than half the enemy line was taken or destroyed.¹²

How did Nelson die?

At about 1.15 pm, with Victory locked alongside the French Redoutable, Nelson was hit on deck by a musket ball fired from the French ship's rigging. The ball entered his left shoulder, passed through a lung and struck his spine. He was carried below decks, where he died at about 4.30 pm, after learning that the battle was won. His last words are recorded as "Thank God I have done my duty."¹³

Dark painting of a wounded officer lying below decks lit by lanterns, sailors gathered around — The Death of Nelson by Arthur William Devis: the dying admiral below decks on HMS Victory, surrounded by his officers and crew. Public domain

His body was preserved in a cask of brandy and taken to Gibraltar, then home to England. It lay in state in the Painted Hall at Greenwich, and after a state funeral on 9 January 1806 he was buried in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral, directly beneath the dome, in a coffin made from the mast of L'Orient, inside a 16th century sarcophagus first made for Cardinal Wolsey.¹⁴

How Nelson won at sea

Biographers return again and again to a few habits that set Nelson apart from the cautious naval practice of his day.

Period print of two columns of sailing warships cutting through a curved enemy line — Robert Dodd's Plan of the Attack by Lord Nelson on the Combined Fleet, a print issued soon after Trafalgar, showing the two British columns driving into the Franco-Spanish line. Public domain

Break the line. At Trafalgar he attacked in columns that cut through the enemy formation, instead of fighting a parallel gun duel.¹⁵
Aim for annihilation. He tried to capture or destroy whole fleets, not merely drive them off: at the Nile only two of 13 French ships of the line escaped.¹⁶
Trust his captains. He explained his plans to his captains in person, so they could act on his intent without waiting for signals.¹⁷
Lead from the front. He fought exposed, ashore and afloat, which cost him most of the sight of an eye, an arm and finally his life.¹⁸

The signal at Trafalgar

As the fleets closed, Nelson had this message flown in flags from Victory.¹⁹

England expects that every man will do his duty.Signal flown by Nelson at Trafalgar, 1805

Nelson's life in dates

1758Born on 29 September at Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk, the son of a country rector.²⁰
1779Promoted to post captain at the age of 20.²¹
1794Loses most of the sight of his right eye at the siege of Calvi on Corsica.²²
1797Captures two Spanish ships at Cape St Vincent in February; loses his right arm at Santa Cruz de Tenerife in July.²³
1798Destroys the French fleet at the Nile; only two of 13 French ships of the line escape.²⁴
1801Leads the attack at Copenhagen and is made a viscount.²⁵
1805Wins the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October and is killed in the action.²⁶
1806State funeral on 9 January and burial in St Paul's Cathedral.²⁷

Why does Nelson still matter?

Trafalgar ended Napoleon's plans to invade Britain and confirmed British command of the sea for the rest of the Napoleonic Wars, although Royal Museums Greenwich notes that it changed little in the war on land, where Napoleon beat Austria and Russia at Austerlitz six weeks later. He never faced Napoleon in battle, yet he denied the emperor the sea, and we weigh the two in Nelson vs Napoleon.²⁸

Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, designed by William Railton, was built in the early 1840s (Historic England dates it 1839 to 1842, the Greater London Authority gives 1843 for its completion). Edwin Landseer's bronze lions were added at its base in 1867.²⁹

See the company he keeps in the greatest military commanders in history, or read his final victory at Trafalgar in full. Which commander shares your instincts? Try our Which Commander Are You quiz.