Page:Memoirs of the life and gallant services of Admiral Lord Nelson.pdf/11

 of Admiral Lord Nelſon. 11 could regulate his future operations. It had been his practice during the whole of his cruize, to have his tCaprains on board the Vanguard, where he would fully develope to them his whole ideas of the dif- ferent and beſt modes of attack, whatever their poſition or ſituation might be by day or night: It cannot here be thought irrelevant to give ſome idea of what were the plans Admiral Nelſon had formed, and which he explained to his Captains with ſuch perſpicuity, as to render his ideas completely their own. To the naval ſervice at leaſt they muſt not only prove intereſting but uſeful. Had he fallen in with the French fleet at ſea, that he might make the beſt impreſſion on any part of it that ſhould ap- pear the moſt vulnerable, or the moſt eligible for attack, he divided his forces into three ſub-ſquad- Trns, viz. Vanguard Orion Culloden Minotaur Goliath Theſeus Leander Majeſtic Alexander Audacious Bellerophon Swiftſſure Defence Zealous Two of theſe ſub-ſquadrons were to attack the ſhips of war, while the third was to purſue the tranſports, and to ſink and deſtroy as many as it could. It is almoſt unneceſſary to explain his projected mode of attack at anchor, as that was minutely and preciſely executed in the action which we now come to deſcribe. Theſe plans, however, were formed two months before an opportunity preſented itſelf of executing any of them, and the advantage now was, that they were familiar to the underſtanding of e- very Captain of the fleet. The enemy's feet was fir diſcovered by the Zealous, Captain Hood, who immediately communicated, by ſignal, the number of ſhips, fixteen, lying at anchor in line of battle, in