Of Admiral Nelson, Patriotism, and Rum

PoliticalChic

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Oct 6, 2008
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1. On this day, October 21,1805, British Admiral Nelson was killed defeating the French and Spanish off Cape Trafalgar, west of the Straits of Gibraltar, in the decisive battle of the Napoleonic Wars, establishing the dominance of the British navy for a century and a half.

On his flagship HMS Victory, and facing the French flagships Bucentaure and Redoutable, he broke with traditional naval warfare by dividing his forces in two, the first attacking sections of the enemy line, while the other attacks at right angles, breaking through the lines and cutting off retreat.


Nelson flew this signal: England expects that every man will do his duty.
The very definition of patriotism.
While the enemy had 33 ships, and Nelson only 27, he sunk or captured 15 while losing none. Wounded, his last word were “I have done my duty. I thank God for it.”


Just prior to the great battle, Nelson went down to his cabin and composed the following prayer: “May the great God whom I worship grant to my country and for the benefit of Europe in general a great and glorious victory…For myself, I commit my life to Him who made me, and may His blessing light upon my endeavors for serving my country faithfully.”

Trafalgar was to be the last major pitched battle between two large fleets of sailing wooden warships. Within sixty years the first iron battleships was launched. The new technology was steam engines and ever-thicker armor.




2. While France, a Catholic nation, brought every dead warrior home to be buried in holy ground, the tradition for Britain was burial at sea.
Not so for a great hero like Nelson....but what to do to prevent the decay of the body?



3. "Rum has been a huge part of Britain’s heritage for as long as we can remember. We explore the history of “Nelson’s Blood” in the Navy, ahead of our Halloween event Voyage of the Damned (now sold out).

From around 1655, a pint of rum was the usual ration handed to each sailor in the Royal Navy every day, half served at 12 noon and the second half at about 5 or 6pm (though the amount decreased in following years). Better known as Pusser’s Rum, the name a corruption of Purser – the person who issued the rum each day – sailors had a daily tot of rum until the practice ended on 31 July 1970.

...Pusser’s Rum is sometimes referred to as ‘Nelson’s Blood’, because after the great Admiral Nelson’s death at the Battle of Trafalgar, in 1805, in which his body was preserved in a cask of spirits, holes were drilled into the sides and the liquid drained. Sailors essentially drank his blood during the long journey.
Read more at A rum deal: The origins of Nelson’s blood
 
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*****SMILE*****



:)
 

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