Well, that was an enjoyable read! Thanks again, Mark and Tony.
Many of the details were already in Pope’s account, but it was interesting and valuable to have the connected narrative, not only for the insight it gave into one ship in the thick of the action, but also to have Millard’s ‘worm’s eye view’, from the ‘buzz’ he describes as they set sail for their unknown destination, to his own active but low-level involvement, fetching ammunition, or ‘skipping along’ with messages. He captures at first hand the heat and stress of battle, the mangled bodies, the sight of whole areas of the ship ‘without a man standing’, the cheerful heroism such as the man who waves his bloodied fingers, having lost the tips, and shouts carelessly, ‘See, here!’ He describes his sudden ravenous hunger as the battle subsides, when ‘without ceremony’, he breaks open some stores and devours cheese and cold potatoes, not forgetting to share them, and the fresh water he found, with the other sailors; nor to send up refreshment to Lieut. Yelland, ‘who could not leave the deck’. Millard’s account also explains the confusion surrounding Yelland’s promotion, or lack of it, which I will add to the ‘Yelland’ thread.
Even more serendipitous was the discovery, as I was tidying up my shelves, of a letter written to Millard by his father, which adds even more to the picture of this obscure but lively character. It is quoted in the Nelson Society booklet, ‘Notices of Nelson’ by R.C. Fiske. Millard père’s letter (dated 16 August 1799) is full of domestic gossip interspersed with news of national and naval affairs – ‘the Fleets are out in the Mediterranean: but whether the French will dare meet us, or slip into Brest, it is impossible for us to conjecture;’ they are in ‘hourly Expectation of hearing the Result [of the grand Expedition against Holland’.] He then says he will ‘leave the remainder of the paper for your mother’. Mrs Millard gives him advice on penmanship: ‘Next time, put your lines somewhat nearer together; we land lubbers find that the most convenient method of making room in a sheet of paper. Never fear that your letters will be thought too long…. Have you drank any sea water and washed your eyes? I should like to hear they are better.’ Drinking sea water a cure for sore eyes? Did Nelson do this, I wonder?
Millard left the navy soon after the Peace of Amiens, not, his son notes, ‘from any want of aptitude or liking for the service’. So Millard couldn’t have been the man wounded in 1806. Maybe he left because of eye trouble?
Such a long post about a lowly and obscure officer may seem odd, and I hope I will be forgiven, but I do think these glimpses of shadowy, unremembered ghosts of history, suddenly revealed in vibrant life, are such satisfying and invigorating discoveries.
_________________ Anna
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