NELSON

At this time Napoleon was amassing his forces to invade Britain, and Nelson had been placed in charge of defending the English Channel. In 1801, he was dispatched to the Baltic Sea and defeated neutral Denmark at the Battle of Copenhagen. He commanded the blockade of the French and Spanish fleets at Toulon and, after their escape, chased them to the West Indies and back but failed to bring them to battle.In 1801 Yorke was appointed Secretary at War in Henry Addington's ministry, transferring to the Home Office in 1803, where he was a strong opponent of concession to the Roman Catholics.Nelson had joined the navy through the influence of his uncle, Maurice SUCKLING (1726-1778), a high-ranking naval officer. Nelson rose rapidly through the ranks and served with leading naval commanders of the period before obtaining his own command at the age of 20, in 1778. In this letter he is returning the favour to a young relative.