22 - Diplomacy

Summary

As well as a fighting admiral, and competent administrator, the Mediterranean Commander-in-Chief had also to be an accomplished diplomat. The time it took to send reports to Britain, and to receive instructions in return, meant that he often had to make decisions regarding matters of international relations, consulting with local diplomats as appropriate. Nelson had already showed an aptitude for this aspect of his work in the Baltic in 1801 and he was repeatedly called upon to demonstrate it again in 1803/5.

Once again, the new material throws light on the more personal side of the story – and in particular Nelson's relationships with some of the important players in the area. To make it easier to follow the various threads, the letters have been grouped by geographical area.

The Eastern Mediterranean

Although Nelson himself remained mostly in the western basin of the Mediterranean, and although most of his correspondence related to events in that area, the eastern limits of his command stretched as far as Egypt and Palestine and also included the Aegean and Adriatic Seas. He maintained a small force of frigates stationed in the Adriatic under Captain William Cracraft and he kept in regular correspondence with British diplomats in the area, such as William Drummond, the Ambassador at Constantinople. Because of his victory at the Nile in 1798, and the lavish rewards bestowed on him afterwards by the Sultan of Turkey, he felt a special personal affinity with the Turks, as the letters printed here show. The one to Drummond (396) makes a specific comparison with the earlier campaign: ‘I have only to hope that as the cause is equally just, so that the same success will follow us as at the Nile.’ Similar comparisons can be seen in his letter to the Grand Vizier of Turkey (395) announcing his arrival in 1803, and assuring him that his orders require him to render them every assistance in his power, should the French again invade Turkish territory.

The other two letters in the group are to one of Nelson's main contacts in the area, the British Consul at Corfu, Spiridion Forresti. Nicolas prints 12 letters to Forresti, but they are mostly very formal – these, taken from private letters in the pressed copy letterbooks, show that they also corresponded warmly as friends.