Nelson holding a telescope to his blind eye, ignoring the order to retreat, Battle of Copenhagen, 1801
Original illustration by William Ralston (1848-1911) from British Battles on Land and Sea by Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Company circa 1880. Info from wiki: Admiral Parker could see little of the battle owing to gun smoke, but could see the signals on the three grounded British ships, with Bellona and Russell flying signals of distress and Agamemnon a signal of inability to proceed.[12] Thinking that Nelson might have fought to a stand-still but might be unable to retreat without orders (the Articles of War demanded that all ranks 'do their utmost' against the enemy in battle), at 1:30pm Parker told his flag captain, "I will make the signal of recall for Nelson's sake. If he is in condition to continue the action, he will disregard it; if he is not, it will be an excuse for his retreat and no blame can be imputed to him."[13] Nelson ordered that the signal be acknowledged, but not repeated. He turned to his flag captain, Thomas Foley, and said "You know, Foley, I only have one eye — I have the right to be blind sometimes," and then, holding his telescope to his blind eye, said "I really do not see the signal!
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Photo credit: © Historical Images Archive / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1801, admiral, battle, blind, british, coalition, copenhagen, engraving, eye, french, holding, horatio, ignoring, illustration, image, lord, naval, nelson, order, picture, retreat, revolutionary, telescope, turning, victory, war, wars
