Memo sent by Admiral Nelson on eve of Trafalgar

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

A handwritten memo sent by Admiral Lord Nelson on the eve of the Battle of Trafalgar shows that the naval hero had more on his mind than defeating the enemy.
Rather than worrying about battle plans, the 47-year-old naval tactician was thinking about onions, and how the pursers of his fleet were profiteering by using up free government supplies of them and keeping the money for food for themselves.

On October 10, 1805, Lord Nelson fired off a detailed bureaucratic missive, telling the purser of every ship of his fleet not to cheat the system.

Admiral Lord Nelson hand-wrote the memo on October 10 1805, just 11 days before he died at the Battle of Trafalgar

The government sent out free onions to the ships to ensure troops received adequate vitamin C while on duty, but Nelson had discovered that the pursers, whose job it was to manage the ships' budgets, were using the government onions first and keeping the money they saved from their budgets for themselves.

As the British ships were busy blockading combined French and Spanish fleet at Cadiz, a gratuitous back-up supply of onions was shipped to be used in soup by the government to prevent the troops developing scurvy.
The document portrays the great naval hero as a prudent leader who was fiercely loyal to his employer at the time, the British government.

 

The note also shows that Nelson had to deal with the tedious administrative matters of running a fleet just days before going into a vital battle in the Napoleonic Wars.

 

His signed memo read: 'It is my positive directions that the Pursers are obliged to purchase vegetables for the ships soup when it is possible to procure them and that the Government onions are not used for the soup.

'And it is my further directions, that whenever fresh provisions can be procured on reasonable terms, that it is purchased; but that onions, for the account of Government, are not purchased without my orders.

Lord Nelson was a master naval tactician who died at the age of 47 when he was hit by a French sniper

'Ships, absent for any length of time from me, are at liberty to purchase the gratuitous onions of Government for the recruiting the health of their ships, who may have been long fed upon salt provisions.'

The memo is one of two signed by Nelson to be sold at auction in Knowle, West Midlands, having been privately owned for more than 50 years.

Andrew Baines, the curator of Nelson's flagship HMS Victory based at Portsmouth, Hampshire, said the documents showed another side to Nelson.

'Nelson had a responsiblity to his employer, the government, to make sure they weren't getting ripped off'
- Andrew Baines, curator of HMS Victory

He said: 'There were 31 ships in the fleet in total and each one had a purser.
'The difficulty with keeping a ship at sea with a healthy crew was massive because of the lack of vitamin C from fresh fruit and vegetables.
'The purser was required to supply these provisions and got to keep the money they didn't spend. Sometimes they were not able to get hold of fresh produce if the ship was at sea for months.
'Where they could, the government replenished the stocks and sent out boat-loads of gratuitous onions, which were anti-scurvic. They contained vitamin C and were easy and cheap to grow.
'But what was happening here was that when given the choice between the government onions or onions paid for out of their money, the pursers used the free ones.
'In this memo Nelson was telling them they could not use the government ones if they were able to buy them, otherwise the government was effectively paying twice.
'Nelson had a responsibility to his employer, the government and therefore the British people, and to make sure they weren't getting ripped off.

The Battle of Trafalgar on October 21 1805 involved a fleet of 31 ships and was Britain's greatest naval victory

 

'A lot of people think of Nelson for his brilliant military strategy and fighting battles at sea but here is the day-to-day minutiae of running a fleet, seemingly dull.'

The memo, along with a second dated November 7, 1803, reminding seamen to take medical notes when going to hospitals in port, are to be sold by Knowle Auction Rooms for up to £2,000 each. Auctioneer Simon Rayner said: 'I think it is quite surprising that just days before Trafalgar, when you would have thought Nelson's mind might be on how to defeat the French and Spanish, he was getting a bee in his bonnet about onions.'

The two documents will be sold by an unnamed woman from Sutton Coldfield. The auction takes place on May 8.