Nelson & His World

I came across this quotation from the Roman writer Horace:

'Untoward events disclose the skill of a general while success conceals his weakness.'

I wonder, if we substitute 'admiral' for 'general', whether this comment is applicable to the events of Nelson's naval career.

Sorry if it sounds like an exam question - I certainly don't know the answer. It sounds to my ignorant ears like one of those quotations that give the impression of wit/depth/wisdom but don't mean much once you take them apart. I'd be happy to be proved wrong!

Any comments from the experts?

Anna,

I'm afraid not an 'expert' on this, but I believe I can see where the first part of the quotation can be applied to Nelson. I'm not exactly sure what is meant by the second!

If by the first part Horace means that an officer, be he admiral or general, can quickly sum up a developing situation and act accordingly to bring about a successful result by using an instinctive intuition then, yes, Nelson was adept at this. Very often this was to the surprise, and perhaps initial displeasure, of his superior and other officers – but who later came to realise that Nelson's actions, had a profound effect on the victorious outcome. Perhaps the first instance of this was at St Vincent, but his intuition was to show itself again of course at the Nile, Copenhagen and Trafalgar, plus on other occasions.

I suppose the second part of the quote might mean that if things had gone wrong, it would have exposed the weakness in Nelson's plans. In many instances this outcome was quite possible, since Nelson very often took a gamble that things would go his way. What, for instance, might have happened if the two halves of the Spanish fleet had joined at St Vincent had Nelson's tactic failed, and their gunnery had been better?; What might have happened at Copenhagen, if rather more ships had gone aground due to the fear of the largely merchant pilots, and most the attacking force had been put out of action? There was no certainty that Hyde Parker's squadron would have been able to come to the rescue; At Trafalgar too, Nelson took a risk during the approach to the battle, but gambled that the combined fleet's gunnery wasn't that good. What if it had been better? What also might have been the result, if Dumanoir's action towards the end of the battle had been more forceful, and he and his largely untouched squadron had returned to the fray, when the British ships were badly damaged and their crews largely exhausted?

However, it was very likely Nelson's intuition based on his knowledge of the enemy, which told him that what he proposed was at least feasible.

In passing, it is perhaps a coincidence that the the writer's name should be Horace!

It was the anniversary of the 'untoward events' at Santa Cruz a week or so ago, which certainly exposed his weakness of obstinacy. I think perhaps Nelson's skills were very different to those needed by a successful general.