Horatio Nelson

Viscount Nelson, one of England's greatest admirals, was given command of the British Mediterranean fleet in 1803 at the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars between France and Britain and their respective allies. Battle of Trafalgar

At the Battle of Trafalgar, fought near the Strait of Gibraltar on October 21, 1805, Nelson defeated a combined French and Spanish fleet. The victory cost Nelson his life, but ended French naval dominance in Europe. Napoleon then decided that the only way he could defeat the British was through economic warfare. Britain responded by taking measures that were among the primary causes of the War of 1812.

A statue of Nelson sits atop a memorial column (shown below) in London's Trafalgar Square, which was named in honor of the battle which established British domination over the seas.

Chronology of Horatio Nelson's Life and Career
September 29, 1758	Born at Burnham-Thorpe, Norfolk.
ca. 1770	Accompanied Captain Maurice Suckling, his uncle, on a voyage to the Falkland Islands.
ca. 1773	Served aboard the Carcass as a coxswain on its voyage to the Arctic seas.
ca. 1776	Became a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy.
1779	Given command of the frigate Hinchinbrook.
1784-1787	Commanded the frigate Boreas, stationed in the West Indies.
1787	Married the widow of Josiah Nisbet.
1787-1793	Retired from the Royal Navy.
1793	Given command of the Agamemnon and ordered to join the Mediterranean fleet.
	Wounded during the Battle of Calvi, on the Corsican coast, and lost the sight of his right eye.
1797	Promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral.
1797	Served under Admiral Sir John Jervis at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent.
1797	Made a Knight of the Bath.
1797	Led a small landing party in an attack on Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands. The British were defeated and Nelson's right arm was badly mangled and had to be amputated.
August 1, 1798	Attacked and almost destroyed the French fleet in the Battle of the Nile.
1798	Made Baron of the Nile.
1801	Promoted to Vice-Admiral.
1801	Defeated the Danish fleet at the Battle of Copenhagen.
May 1803	Made Commander-in-Chief of the fleet.
October 21, 1805	Fatally wounded during the British defeat of the combined French and Spanish fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar.