operate with the Austrian and Sardinian forces. The incapacity and
misconduct of the Austrian General de Vins, however, gave the enemy
possession of the Genoese coast. The Agamemnon, therefore, could no
longer be useful on this station, and Nelson sailed for Leghorn to
refit, and then joined the Mediterranean fleet under Sir John Jervis.

England at that time depended too much on the rotten governments of the
Continent, and too little upon itself. Corsica was therefore abandoned
by Britain, and Nelson, after superintending the evacuation of Corsica,
was ordered to hoist his broad pennant on board the Minerva frigate. He
then sailed for Gibraltar, and proceeded westward in search of the
admiral.

_III.--St. Vincent and the Nile_

Off the mouth of the Straits of Gilbraltar he fell in with the Spanish
fleet; and on February 13, 1797, reaching the station off Cape St.
Vincent, he communicated this intelligence to Sir John Jervis, and was
directed to shift his broad pennant on board the Captain. On the
following morning was fought the battle of Cape St. Vincent. The British
had only fifteen ships of the line against twenty-seven Spanish ships,
but Britain, largely through Nelson's intrepidity, secured an
overwhelming victory. The commander-in-chief was rewarded with the title
of Earl St. Vincent, and Nelson was advanced to the rank of rear-admiral
and received the Order of the Bath.

Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson was now removed to the Theseus, and was
employed in the blockade of Cadiz, where he went through the most
perilous action in which he was ever engaged. Making a night attack upon
the Spanish gunboats, his barge, carrying twelve men, was attacked by an
armed launch carrying twenty-six men; the admiral was only saved by the
heroic devotion of his coxswain; but eighteen of the enemy were killed,
the rest wounded, and their launch taken.

Twelve days later Nelson sailed at the head of an expedition against
Teneriffe, and on the night of July 24, 1797, made a boat attack on the
port of Santa Cruz. On this occasion he was wounded in the right elbow,
and the arm had to be amputated. The small force, which had made its way
into the town, capitulated on honourable terms, and the Spanish governor
distinguished himself by the most humane and generous conduct to his
enemies. There is no doubt that Nelson's life was saved by the careful
attentions of his stepson, Nisbet, who was with him in the boat.

Nisbet was immediate