Nelson & His World

Many of us will remember the documentary on Nelson presented by Michael Portillo during the 200th anniversary commemoration of Trafalgar. Here are the six parts; in part 4 (I think) it is rather poignant to see the late Colin White commenting on the rough sketch made by Nelson revealing his battle plans that he (Colin White) recognised for what it was - a remarkable discovery.

Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZAapCal ... re=related

Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gfnWrtjsuE

Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faOrbLWC ... re=related

Part 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRLy_uB4 ... re=related

Part 5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjUeogD1 ... re=related

Part 6
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFEmdYTk ... re=related

Oh dear! I didn't watch all the parts before I posted them and now I have taken time to view as far as half way through part two, I find that Michael Portillo says that Villeneuve commanded the French at the battle of the Nile (surely some mistake?) and Kate Williams says that Emma was a courtesan who included the Prince of Wales among her lovers....

if anyone finds any other oddities, please feel free to post.

Hi Anna,
Portillo actually mentioned Villeneuve as commanding the Rear and I read somewhere that the 13 ships of the Line of the French Fleet were divided into three squadrons, one lead by Vice-Admiral Brueys and the other two by Rear Admirals Villeneuve and Blanquet.
Ed

Hi Ed,

thanks for the clarification - I must listen again - more carefully! I'm a bit tired and pressured at the moment!

I have the DVD and whilst it is quite good there are a few slips, that about Villenueve being one of them. Vice Admiral Brueys commanded the whole French fleet at the Nile, his flagship being the L'Orient (the one that blew up), whilst Rear Admiral Villeneuve commanded one third of the fleet, with his flag in the Guillaume Tell. She was one of the four ships to escape after the battle, which later fell into British hands. Blanquet commanded the other third.

I'm not sure about Kate William's claim that the Prince of Wales and Emma were actually lovers. I had always understood that the Prince pursued her, but she managed to evade him and that Nelson was continually filled with anxiety that he would succeed! Anna, I think you perhaps might know more about this?

Kester:

yes, the Prince of Wales did show an interest in Emma and invited himself to dinner at the Hamiltons which threw Emma into a panic about how she would manage his advances and Nelson into a fit of jealousy. Nothing seemed to come of the idea and the business blew over. He never was Emma's lover though he did claim to have been dazzled by Emma's beauty when she was a young, unknown girl, but this too is almost certainly fanciful: he was much given to what, up North, we call 'romancing' - making up glamorous stories about yourself that you end up believing. In fact, Prinny would claim in the Duke of Wellington's presence, that he fought at Waterloo. He would ask the Duke to confirm, to which His Grace would reply, (tactfully,for him) 'I have often heard you say so, Sir.'

[quote="Devenish"]. . .there are a few slips, that about Villenueve being one of them.

Here I am being picky again, I shall end up with a reputation!!

Portillo quote: "The Rear of the French Fleet was commanded by Admiral Pierre Villeneuve".

I must admit that it could be misconstrued as PV commanding both Rear Squadrons.
Ed

Ed,

Michael Portillo would seem to be under the impression that Villenueve commanded the whole of the French fleet - and there is no mention of Brueys at all (or at least I didn't hear it!) Perhaps it was the only French admiral he knew!

The French fleet, just like the British, was divided into van, centre and rear. The van being commanded by Blanquet, the centre (and overall) by Brueys, the rear by Villeneuve. That Blanquet and Villeneuve were both Rear Admirals might have added to the confusion! To confuse it further, there were actually two other Rear Admirals in connection with expedition, Decres, who was in charge of the merchant convoy and Ganteaume, who was Bruey's Chief-of-Staff. Although the former probably wasn't present at the Nile (my guess is that he was in Alexandria), the latter was aboard the flagship L'Orient.