However some believe Nelson was a white supremacist, citing Nelson's friendships with West Indian slave traders, and his description of the ideals of abolitionist William Wilberforce as 'a damnable and cruel doctrine'.
He was shot down by a sharpshooter in the tops of the French Redoubt-able, and died three hours later.
Only on October 21, 1805, did he finally bring the enemy to battle off Spain's Cape Trafalgar, which became his greatest victory and secured Britain against invasion by the vast army Napoleon had assembled on the Channel coast. At Trafalgar and in the actions that immediately followed, the French and Spanish lost 24 ships of the line, more than Nelson commanded when he engaged. He subsequently commanded fleets involved in a blockade of French ships in Toulon harbour, and in unsuccessful pursuit of the French and Spanish fleets to the West Indies. In 1801, he secured another victory, this time over the Danes, at Copenhagen, bequeathing to folklore the story that he ignored an order to withdraw by putting a telescope to his blind eye to read the flag signal. Nelson's reputation - for personal courage, aggression and tactical brilliance - won him the adoration of his captains and indeed crews. In the following year, he commanded a British fleet in the first of his historic victories at the Battle of the Nile. He distinguished himself commanding HMS Captain at the 1797 Battle of Cape St Vincent against a larger Spanish force off the coast of Portugal, and mislaid his right arm in the unsuccessful action at Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Horatio Nelson was born in a Norfolk rectory in 1758, and secured his first command 20 years later through the influence of his uncle, who was a senior naval officer. The outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars opened the way for a long succession of triumphs, the earliest taking place in the Mediterranean, where he was blinded in his right eye.
But another statue of Nelson has been at Deptford Town Hall, a department at Goldsmiths University, London. Nelson's column, Trafalgar Square, London has not been targeted. Meanwhile, among the other figures being targeted is Lord Nelson over claims that Britain's greatst naval hero was a white supremacist and had friendships with West Indian slave traders.Ĭritics have also pointed out that Nelson, who secured victory for the British in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, was against the abolition of the slave trade.īut Lily Style, of South Brent, Devon, who is the fourth great granddaughter of Lord Nelson and his mistress Emma Hamilton, has insisted that Nelson was 'not a slaver'. The hall also includes an iconic painting of Diana, Princess of Wales. The statue was unveiled by former Prime Minister David Lloyd George in 1916. He said: 'I feel that it is no longer acceptable for Picton's statue to be amongst the 'Heroes of Wales' in City Hall.' In his letter Mr Thomas said his 'personal recommendation' would be for the statue to be placed in a national slavery museum.ĭaniel De'Ath, the first black Lord Mayor of Cardiff, has already called for the marble monument to be removed from an array of the heroes of Wales in the council's Marble Hall. Also, we cannot change what has happened in the past.
We cannot help where we are from and who we are descended from. 'In fact, I feel rather embarrassed to admit I am related to him. In a letter to the council, Mr Thomas said: 'While I am related to the Picton family, I do not defend the cruelty that Sir Thomas Picton caused. His statue has stood in the Welsh capital for more than 100 years even though he was involved in the trade and executed dozens of slaves during his time as Governor of Trinidad, and authorised the torture of a 14-year-old girl.