. Nelson and his captains : sketches of famous seamen . 3) // is difficult to exaggerate the coolness, intrepidity-, andseamanship Foley showed at the head of the British line.—Mahan. D OUND Foleys name clusters the one great* ^- dispute of Nelsons whole professional , in the Goliath, led the British attack in thatfierce and hawk-like swoop on Brueys line withwhich the fight at the Nile opened. And nothingrecorded in naval warfare is more masterful andaudacious than the fashion in which Foley took hisship through the narrow ribbon of water betweenthe island of Aboukir, with its bat
. Nelson and his captains : sketches of famous seamen . 3) // is difficult to exaggerate the coolness, intrepidity-, andseamanship Foley showed at the head of the British line.—Mahan. D OUND Foleys name clusters the one great* ^- dispute of Nelsons whole professional , in the Goliath, led the British attack in thatfierce and hawk-like swoop on Brueys line withwhich the fight at the Nile opened. And nothingrecorded in naval warfare is more masterful andaudacious than the fashion in which Foley took hisship through the narrow ribbon of water betweenthe island of Aboukir, with its batteries, and thehead of the French line, smashing the Guerrier witha raking broadside as he passed its bows, and thenswung round on the inner and unprepared side ofthe enemys ships. The Zealous, the Orion, and theTheseus followed the lead of the Goliath. TheAudacious broke through the French line at thestern of the Guerrier; the other British ships asthey came up took their places on the outer side of the French line. Thus each ship of the French 278. SIR THOMAS FOLEYFrom an engraving after R, Smirke, , in the British Museum SIR THOMAS FOLEY 279 van lay under a crossfire from two British ships,and the head of Brueys line was in this mannerdestroyed, while his rear ships—since the line layhead to wind—could only look on in agitatedhelplessness. The battle of the Nile, it may besaid, was won by a stroke of brilliant tactics almostbefore a shot was fired. But is that master-stroke of tactics to be creditedto Foley or to Nelson ? It is possible to quotemuch evidence, and many authoritative opinions,on both sides of the question. The fashion, indeed,in which the witnesses contradict each other, onthe plainest matter of fact in the story, is anamusing proof of the shortness of the humanmemory, and the unreliable quality of mens verysenses. How far distant, for example, was Nelsonin the Vanguard when Foley led past the bows ofthe Guerrier? Elliot—afterwards Sir George Ellio
Size: 1407px × 1776px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectgreatbr, bookyear1902
