On the 9th February 1797, Nelson arrived at Gibraltar, having been unsuccessful in his
search for the Spanish fleet. His passenger, Gilbert Elliot, went ashore
to report to the governor, but Nelson was itching to get back out to sea.
He turned down invitations to dine ashore, and even impatiently sent a note to
Elliot's secretary asking for the party to be on board La Minerve by 8pm.
He knew that a battle was imminent and didn't want to miss it. But one
good thing to come out of the delay was that he was able to pick up Lieutenant's
Culverhouse and Hardy after the exchange of prisoners.
Finally, Elliot finished his business ashore and boarded La Minerve.
But just as she set off, two Spanish ships emerged from nearby Algeciras and
gave chase. They began to close in, and as Nelson paced the quarterdeck
with Colonel John Drinkwater, the Colonel asked him if an engagement was likely.
Nelson replied that it was possible, then looked up at his broad pendant flying
from the mast, and added,
"But before the Dons get hold of that bit of bunting I will have a struggle with
them and sooner than give up the frigate I'll run her ashore."
But even as the Spanish frigates came close enough that Elliot began to prepare
to throw his confidential papers overboard to stop them falling into enemy
hands, a cry went up that a man had fallen overboard. The officers who had
been entertaining Elliot and his party in the cabin rushed up on deck, and Hardy
quickly lowered a boat over the side of the ship, manning it himself. But
there was no sign of the man, so the crew of the boat started to row back to the
ship.
The current was against them, and they made slow progress. The Spanish
frigates were closing in, and it started to look as if poor Hardy would be
captured again. It was a tense few moments, until Nelson could take it no
longer and cried,
"By God, I'll not lose Hardy! Back the mizzen topsail."
So the ship slowed down enough that Hardy in his boat could catch up and get
aboard. It seemed certain that the Spanish ship the Terrible would
force them into a fight, but all of a sudden she shortened sail and dropped
back. Nelson's slowing La Minerve had taken the Spanish commander
by surprise, and he probably thought that Nelson had seen the British fleet and
was luring him into a trap. Whatever the reason, it allowed Nelson to
escape.
During the night, Nelson turned to the south to make sure he threw off his
pursuers, but found himself in the middle of the Spanish fleet! Luckily,
Minerve managed to creep through undetected in the darkness, and in
the morning went north towards Cadiz. Now he knew exactly where the enemy
were, Nelson rushed to find Jervis and arrived on the 13th February.
Culverhouse and Hardy, having been prisoners of the Spanish, also had valuable
information about the fleet.
Two days before Nelson arrived back at the fleet, the convoy he'd sent from Elba
got there. The Southampton reported seeing the Spanish fleet, and
that they had been damaged in the storm. The Bonne Citoyenne
brought yet another report, this time that the Spanish were 20 miles to the
south-east, and heading for Cadiz. So by the time Nelson arrived, Jervis
had the fleet preparing for battle and sailing towards where the enemy had been
seen.
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