Mira,
I'm not sure we can be that specific about the details of a flag officer and his retinue moving from ship to ship, since: a) it probably wouldn't have been written down or remarked on, except perhaps in the general sense, by the admiral concerned since it was just something that had to be done; b) the servants, even the admiral's secretary, probably didn't think it necessary to record something so mundane - unless someone like Chevalier wrote something in their memoirs, should they have any; c) I don't think either that too many naval historians are particularly interested in that side of naval warfare (or I haven't read their books yet!)
However, I have found some little information in Brian Lavery's 'bible', 'Nelson's Navy', as to the number of servants allowed. Apparently, before 1795, an Admiral of the Fleet had fifty servants, a Vice Admiral twenty and a Rear Admiral fifteen. Only a small number of these - 16, 10, 10, respectively for each rank - were borne on the ship's books, and he was allowed to pocket the extra wages if he so wished, although I can't imagine Nelson stooping to that. Following 1795, admiral's were allowed a reduced number of servants on a fixed scale and he was compensated for the loss, thus 12 for a C-in-C, 5 for a rear admiral. These included the flag lieutenant, the secretary and his clerk. It is not certain where all these servants would have berthed, perhaps some had cabins in the wardroom or similar ones on the upper deck, but it would have taken some organisation to move them to another ship and would have involved men in various duties, in both the ship they were leaving and the ship that was receiving them. I'm not sure that any move would have been that different abroad and were probably much the same in home waters. Having said that however, and as Tony infers, this would have depended on the exigencies of the service and how quickly the Admiral needed to be in place in a fleet or ship. I can quite imagine that he might have needed to move speedily and that he may have only time to take his personal servant and secretary with him.
As to the feelings of the admiral himself, who by the way probably wouldn't have had a direct hand in the move except physically, there is quite a good reference to Nelson himself during a period in early 1801. On 1st January that year in a general promotion Nelson is made Vice Admiral of the Blue and chooses as his flagship the 'San Josef', which of course he had captured at Cape St.Vincent and where he hoists his flag on the 17th of that month. (Incidentally, he seems to have formed some attachment to this ship for her qualities and seems loath to have to leave her.)
On that day he writes to Jervis, his superior, ' My flag is up on board the San Josef, and Wednesday next I have fixed for her going to Cawsand Bay, where, as she must be two days or three, she shall be finished by the joiners, who have yet not begun my cabin; but I shall live in Hardy's...'
On the same day he writes in a footnote to a letter to Earl Spencer, 'the San Josef, as far as relates to Captain Hardy, is ready for sea, (she is sailing from Plymouth to Portsmouth) but the Dockyard have not done with her. My cabin is not finished, of course - nor even painted; but that I do not care about: I shall live in Captain Hardy's...' (workmen, apparently, were the same in the 18th/19th centuries!)
Now that he knows he is destined for the Baltic and must give up the San Josef for the shallower-draughted St George, in a letter to lady Hamilton on February 8th he writes, 'I am told the moment that the St George arrives, that I am to be tumbled out of this ship, as the Ville de Paris is going to Plymouth to be paid, and the Earl will hoist his flag here: and if I am as fortunate in getting a fresh painted cabin, (which is probable) I shall be knocked up. At all events, I shall be made very uncomfortable by this hurry.'
On 12th February he writes again to St. Vincent, 'My flag is on board the St George, but my person, owing to the heavy sea, cannot be conveyed from the San Josef...'
On the 20th he writes to the Commissioners of the Navy, 'Having hoisted my flag on board the St George, and finding her not fitted for a Flag, I request you will give the necessary directions for her being fitted as such on her arrival at Portsmouth, as she is now under weigh for that anchorage. The boats are not calculated for the service I am to be employed on. I have further to request they...' I believe he also found the St George a dirty ship.
Kester
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