Trafalgar - Nelson and the Napoleonic Wars, including The Matcham Collection

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Lot 188
  • 188

Trafalgar--Bayntun, Captain Henry William.

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Description

  • Trafalgar--Bayntun, Captain Henry William.
Autograph account of the days following the battle of trafalgar, 24-27 October 1805, describing the fleet's struggle to keep themselves and their prizes afloat during the violent storm that followed the battle 

Provenance

Edwin Wolf 2nd (sold Christie's 21 June 1989, part of lot 272)

Literature

Knight, The Pursuit of Victory, pp.522-23; Warner, Nelson's Battles, pp.223-30; Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

Catalogue Note

Between 22-26 October the battered survivors of Trafalgar had to face a storm that is now thought to have reached gale force 10 or 11. Damage to British ships included the loss of Victory's main yard and the Royal Sovereign's foremast, but French and Spanish ships weathered the storm less well and lost many men. Admiral Collingwood commented that he "would rather fight another Battle, than pass such a week as followed it."

This account of the storm was written by Henry William Bayntun, Captain of the Leviathan (74). Bayntun had been, like Nelson, a protege of Earl St Vincent. He had served with Nelson since the blockade of Toulon and went on to have a distinguished naval career.