Admiral Lord St Vincent – Saint or Tyrant? –

A Life of John Jervis, Nelson’s Patron

Publisher: Pen & Sword

My interest in John Jervis, who eventually became Admiral of the Fleet, Lord St Vincent, was stimulated when I was doing research for my earlier book Scots and the Sea .

St Vincent had contact with three outstanding Scottish admirals in the course of his long career – Cochrane, Duncan and Keith. To the latter he handed over command of the Mediterranean Fleet before becoming First Lord of the Admiralty, and then C-in-C at the time of Trafalgar.

St Vincent had a close professional relationship with Nelson throughout the latter’s career as a captain and flag officer, and his patronage was vital to Nelson’s success. It was his generous recognition of Nelson’s conduct at the Battle of Cape St Vincent, eight years before Trafalgar, which set the younger man on the road to fame. It was St Vincent’s preparations and strategic dispositions which enabled Nelson to win his three great naval victories: The Nile, Copenhagen and Trafalgar. It was St Vincent who recalled Nelson from the Mediterranean to a home command in order to extricate him from the clutches of Lady Hamilton.

Yet it is a sad fact that Nelson repaid his faithful patron with less than complete loyalty.

This is the sub-theme of this biography of Lord St Vincent, to whom the nation owed as much, if not more than, to Nelson for his contribution to the wellbeing of the Royal Navy and his role in protecting the British Isles from invasion by Napoleon.

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