WI: Nelson Survived

In the Battle of Trafalgar, a little after one o'clock Horatio Nelson was fatally shot through the shoulder, and he famously said to Hardy that "Hardy, I do believe they have done it at last... my backbone is shot through." Of course his body was taken back and the entire country went into mourning over his death.

But, WI Nelson had not been fatally shot? What if he had lived to see the Battle of Trafalgar through and come home alive as a Hero?

Personally I can see him going on to fight many more Battles against the French and Spanish and winning them, maybe even some battles that had been won by the British, but due to him being there had been won more decisively than in OTL due to Nelsons courage in the face of the enemy. I then think he's go onto retire a great hero, but,as the Duke of Wellington had to, be forced to come out of retirement and to possibly be put as a candidate for PM, winning it, but maybe not being that good and so having his image slightly ruined by this political career.

Discuss.
 
In the Battle of Trafalgar, a little after one o'clock Horatio Nelson was fatally shot through the shoulder, and he famously said to Hardy that "Hardy, I do believe they have done it at last... my backbone is shot through." Of course his body was taken back and the entire country went into mourning over his death.

But, WI Nelson had not been fatally shot? What if he had lived to see the Battle of Trafalgar through and come home alive as a Hero?

Personally I can see him going on to fight many more Battles against the French and Spanish and winning them, maybe even some battles that had been won by the British, but due to him being there had been won more decisively than in OTL due to Nelsons courage in the face of the enemy. I then think he's go onto retire a great hero, but,as the Duke of Wellington had to, be forced to come out of retirement and to possibly be put as a candidate for PM, winning it, but maybe not being that good and so having his image slightly ruined by this political career.

Discuss.

As for a continuing naval career, I have doubts. Nelson's health was getting quite poor by the time he died in 1805. He was prematurely aged (although not yet 50 when he died, his hair was gone almost completely white), and he was inexorably losing the sight in his remaining eye. He might have stayed in the navy for another few years, but not much more than that. Certainly he would have retired well before the end of the Napoleonic Wars.

As for him running for Parliament, the affair with Emma Hamilton would likely have put paid to any such ambition on his part. Nelson was popular among the lower classes because of his victories, but among polite society, he was pretty much a pariah. And the lower classes did not, at that period of British history, have the right to vote. So the people who were shocked and put off by his carrying on with Emma, and his treatment of his loyal wife, would be those who would be voting in the election. He could possibly sit in the House of Lords, but he won't likely be Prime Minister.

No, I think more likely he retires and lives out the remainder of his life with Emma, the only person who made him truly happy, and his daughter, Horatia.
 
It has been suggested that Nelson planned his death at Trafalgar, his greatest victory, the evidence for this being his demanding that he stay on deck, wearing his full admiral's regalia, making him an easy target. Death, and his legend secured at the scene of his greatest victory.

If he returns, then we can assume that he is given the heroes welcome he deserves, is perhaps made a full admiral as an honour, is given a healthy pension, and retired. I don't think he would personally be inclined to pursue any career in the public, let alone one in politics, and as previously mentioned, his private life may preclude that.
 
Nelson had been in the House of Lords since 1798; he could not stand for the Commons. This did not mean he could not hold office. A number of prime ministers of the nineteenth century governed from the Lords.

Most likely, he would receive an Earldom for the battle. There would likely be a special remainder to his brother and then sisters -- naval commanders tended to be somewhat short of sons. His sometime boss, the Earl St. Vincent, had such a remainder, which is why his current successor is Viscount St. Vincent, and moreover is descended from one of that admiral's daughters, whose son took the name "Jervis". (The current Earl Nelson is descended from Horatio's nephew born Thomas Bolton. He is a retired policeman.)

Further major naval commands are unlikely. Trafalgar smashed the French fleet. Nelson would have handled the aftermath somewhat better, perhaps, having anchored properly.

However, as others have pointed out, he was failing in health and had a most unseemly personal life. More likely, he would retire to Merton and raise that dear, dear infant, the orphaned daughter of Thompson, who had patriotically been given the name of "Horatia". He'd receive fellow commanders, perhaps he might run into Arthur Wellesley again -- who knows? -- and live out his last few years as a living legend of the wars against Boney.
 
IMO, Nelson was too much a firebrand to go the way of peaceful civilian life, even with an Earldom and a seat in Lords. His ferocity in war would most likely be a shambles in peace, much as Pattons most likely would have been. Sadly, some men are made for war, and Nelson would probably have not been able to finish the Napoleonic wars as he was becoming infirm and crippled. It is probably best that he died on his ship as one of the most revered heros in British history.
 
Ah I see, these are all very good points.

I was talking to my dad earlier on today about this, and he asked about whether Nelson would've been able to help in the War of 1812? And if so would he have been able to give the British fleet enough courage etc to actually beat the Americans of? Or would the American frigates that were bigger and better than the Royal Navy still be too much for the RN even with Nelson?
 
Ah I see, these are all very good points.

I was talking to my dad earlier on today about this, and he asked about whether Nelson would've been able to help in the War of 1812? And if so would he have been able to give the British fleet enough courage etc to actually beat the Americans of? Or would the American frigates that were bigger and better than the Royal Navy still be too much for the RN even with Nelson?

Doubt it. Firstly, I dont think that the royal navy as of the war of 1812 was particularly lacking in esperit d'corps, and I dont see nelsons survival changing that. They drove the french navy (and associated allies) off the seas rather well, as I recall. Secondly, I cant see nelson ending up on the american seaboard, for the simple reason that that is not a fitting station for an officer of his rank and stature. Even if he remains reasonably healthy and in the service, he probably spends the second half of the napoleonic wars leading blockading fleets and occasional raids on French ports.
 
No chance Nelson could teach a protege after Trafalgar, or take a back seat role at a naval training centre?
 
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