Nelson's 'Band of Brothers'

Nelson used this phrase on a number of occasions to describe the remarkably close and friendly relationship that existed between him and the captains who served under his command at the Battle of the Nile on 1 August 1798.
The term is a quotation from the famous Agincourt speech in Nelson’s favourite Shakespeare play, King Henry V.

By extension, it has come to include all those officers who were particularly close to Nelson, or who served with him in his battles. Indeed it has developed into a description of his distinctively 'collegiate' style of leadership - a style that set him apart from most other admirals of his time.

In fact, the phrase is most apt when applied to the original Nile captains. They represented the élite of the Royal Navy at that time - a group of highly professional and experienced men. Most were the same age as Nelson, in their late thirties or early forties, and most had known him, and served with him, for a number of years.

Nelson had established himself as one Britain's most successful fighting admirals. However, it was not merely his success in battle that made him popular amongst those that served with him. It was his particular attention to the welfare, training and trust that was placed in both his officers and men that gave exceptional inspiration to those about him. His "band of brothers" knew instinctively what was required of them.

In 1798, in command of his own fleet of fourteen ships, Nelson destroyed a French fleet of seventeen in the Battle of the Nile. It was the most overwhelming victory in the age of sail. All the key elements of the Nelsonian system were present – personal courage, tactical genius and the sharing of his innovative tactics with his captains, his ‘band of brothers’. The breaking of the French line by Captain Thomas Foley in HMS Goliath was an excellent example of the tactical independence which Nelson expected of his captains. Following the battle Nelson returned to Naples where his celebrated liaison began with Lady Emma Hamilton, the wife of the British ambassador.

Nelson's extraordinary influence over his fellow-men was as much responsible for his unique record of success in battle as his brilliant tactics. When he stepped on board ship some magnetic power radiated from him; morose men became cheerful, sluggards came alive; a motley collection of men with no common purpose became a well-knit, well disciplined ship's company.

This rare and wonderful power radiated far beyond his own ship and was felt in every officers' mess and on every lower deck in the fleets he commanded. He kept his fleet victualled and watered, his men in good health, and his ships in fighting trim throughout the long blockades.

He trained his captains, by example, persuasion and sometimes sterner measures, to consider it their duty to keep their ships seaworthy and never ask permission to go to a dockyard unless damaged beyond repair by their own resources.

The convention of toasting 'The Immortal Memory', (uniquely offered in silence) on the anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar, implicitly acknowledges all those who served and gave their lives.

The Band of Brothers

• Sir Alexander John Ball
• Sir Benjamin Hallowell
• Sir Thomas Foley
• Sir Samuel Hood
• Sir Thomas Troubridge
• Lord James de Saumarez
• Davidge Gould
• Ralph Willett Miller
• Sir Edward Berry
• Thomas Louis
• John Peyton
• George Westcott
• Thomas Thompson
• Thomas Hardy
• Henry Darby

For more information about The Band of Brothers and their descendants, you may contact The Hon Alexandra Foley by email at alex@remembernelson.com