Nelson, Horatio

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Nelson, Horatio

NELSON, HORATIO. (1758–1805). British admiral and naval hero. Nelson first went to sea in 1770 in a ship commanded by his uncle, and passed for lieutenant on 9 April 1777. In the West Indies in 1778 he was taken up by Peter Parker, who took him into his flagship, gave him the brig Badger in 1778, and in 1779 appointed him to a post ship, the frigate Hinchinbrook. His first experiences of action came in the expedition to Nicaragua, where disease nearly killed him. In 1783 he unsuccessfully attacked the French garrison of Turk's Island in the Bahamas.

SEE ALSO Bahamas.

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