17 - The Channel Command, July–October 1801

Summary

During the summer of 1801, Nelson was placed in command of a special ianti-invasion force in the Channel. It was by far the largest fleet he ever commanded, and during this time he suffered his only defeat at the hands of the French, at Boulogne on 15 August. Yet it is one of the least-known aspects of his career. Once again, however, two important new discoveries now enable us to look more closely than before at the way in which Nelson exercised command during this period.

The first is his General Order Book for January–October 1801, extracts from which featured in the previous section on the Battle of Copenhagen and Baltic Campaign. These terse, tense official orders to his captains convey a strong sense of Nelson's leadership style – urgent, inspirational and yet never losing sight of the essential details that taken together make up success.

The second is his Public Order Book for July–October 1801. This is very similar in style and content to the Public Order Book for 1798/99 and was clearly Nelson's means of communicating directly with his subordinates. It is very obviously a working book, battered with constant use and stained by sea-spray from its regular trips in open boats. Despite its routine, workaday nature, it is clear that Nelson took a close personal interest in what went into it. Twenty-three of the forty-eight orders it contains are issued directly in his name, and personally signed by him, and there are even indications that he has altered the text in some cases. The most important of these orders, sent directly by Nelson, are reproduced here.

Returning home from the Baltic in early July 1801, exhausted after the long and demanding campaign following the Battle of Copenhagen, Nelson found Britain in the grips of an invasion scare. Rumours were flying around about French troops massed in Boulogne and the neighbouring ports, ready to cross the Channel. We now know that these threats were largely a bluff by Napoleon, designed to bring Britain, his last remaining major opponent, to the negotiating table. But, at the time, the British took the threat very seriously. Even the First Lord of the Admiralty, the veteran Admiral Lord St Vincent, was convinced by the intelligence reports.