de Vins gave up the command in the middle of the battle, pleading ill health. "From "that moment," says Nelson, "not a sol"dier staid at his post:-it was the devil "take the hindmost. Many thousands ran 66 away who had never seen the enemy; 66 some of them thirty miles from the ad"vanced posts. Had I not, though, I own, "against my inclination, been kept at Ge66 noa, from 8 to 10,000 men would have "been taken prisoners, and, amongst the "number, General de Vins himself: but, "by this means, the pass of the Bocchetta "was kept open. The purser of the ship, "who was at Vado, ran with the Austrians 66 eighteen miles without stopping; the men "without arms, officers without soldiers, 66 women without assistance. The oldest "officer, say they, never heard of so com66 plete a defeat, and certainly without any 66 reason. Thus has ended my campaign."We have established the French repub"lic; which, but for us, I verily believe, "would never have been settled by such a "volatile, changeable people. I hate a "Frenchman: they are equally objects of << my detestation, whether royalists or re66 publicans in some points, I believe, the "latter are the best." Nelson had a lieutenant and two midshipmen taken at Vado: they told him, in their letter, that few of the French soldiers were more than three or four and twenty years old, a great many not more than fourteen, and all were nearly naked they were sure, they said, his barge's crew could have beat a hundred of them; and that, had he himself seen them, he would not have thought, if the world had been covered with such people, that they could have beaten the Austrian army. : The defeat of General de Vins gave the enemy possession of the Genoese coast from Savona to Voltri; and it deprived the Austrians of their direct communication with the English fleet. The Agamemnon, therefore, could no longer be useful on this station, and Nelson sailed for Leghorn to refit. When his ship went into dock, there was not a mast, yard, sail, or any part of the rigging, but what stood in need of repair, having been cut to pieces with shot. The hull was so damaged, that it had for some time been secured by cables, which were served or thrapped round it. CHAPTER IV. CONTENTS. Sir J. Jervis takes the command.-Genoa joins the French.--Buonaparte begins his career.-Evacuation of Corsica.--Nelson hoists his broad pendant in the Minerve,- Action with the Sabina,-Battle off Cape St. Vincent,--Nelson commands the inner squadron at the blockade of Cadiz.-Boat action in the Bay of Cadiz.--Expedition against Tencriffe. -Nelson loses an arm. His sufferings in England, and recovery. SIR JOHN JERVIS had now arrived to take the command of the Mediterranean fleet. The Agamemnon having, as her captain said, been made as fit for sea as a rotten ship could be, Nelson sailed from Leghorn, and joined the admiral in Fiorenzo Bay. "I found him," said he, "anxious to know many things, which I was a good deal "surprised to find had not been communi"cated to him by others in the fleet; and "it would appear that he was so well satis "fied with my opinion of what is likely to "happen, and the means of prevention to "be taken, that he had no reserve with me "respecting his information and ideas of "what is likely to be done." The manner in which Nelson was received, is said to have excited some envy. One captain observed to him: "You did just as you 66 pleased in Lord Hood's time, the same "in Admiral Hotham's, and now again "with Sir John Jervis: it makes no dif"ference to you who is commander-in"chief." A higher compliment could not have been paid to any commander-in-chief, than to say of him, that he understood the merits of Nelson, and left him, as far as possible, to act upon his own judgment. Sir John Jervis offered him the St. George, 90, or the Zealous, 74, and asked if he should have any objection to serve under him with his flag. He replied, that if the Agamemnon were ordered home, and his flag were not arrived, he should, on many accounts, wish to return to England: still, if the war continued, he should be |