about a dozen survived beyond December, and none of the deaths had been through battle. The frigate herself did not last much longer, although by then Collingwood had in his turn passed on the command. It took neither ball nor storm to kill her. The bottom rotted and she gently sank.
Timothy followed the fate of the expedition for as long as possible. The figure that destroyed him most was the carnage wrought on the fighting 79th, the Liverpool Blues, the regiment he’d joined to raise the cash to marry Sarah. When they were disbanded, their numbers had gone from eleven hundred to eighty four, in four short years. The battles they had fought had been with disease, not men.
Nelson left Greytown as news arrived from Polson that the San Juan fort had surrendered – the Spanish all defeated. Not so the mosquitos and the rain, however, whose depredations soon achieved unprecedented killing levels, among both officers and men. Now the battle that Polson, Dalling and the others had to fight was to convince the world the disaster had been in fact some sort of triumph; or at least an honest victory.
In truth though – less than a year after the expedition had entered the San Juan river in hopes of dividing and sequestering the whole of the Spanish Main – that country’s flag was fluttering above the fortress once again.
‘We must rise above it,’ Nelson told Hastie, during his long convalescence in Jamaica. ‘We must rise, and strive, and do our duties as we can. I shall be admiral, Timothy, that is my word of honour. I shall rise up off this bed and find a wife. And then I’ll be an admiral. You can count on it.’
Map
About the Author
Jan Needle has written many books about the British Navy in the eighteenth century, most recently The Devil’s Luck , which is also published by Endeavour Press. The Poisoned River is the first of a series about the life and times of Horatio Nelson, which will look at some of his lesser known exploits, as well as the ones which made him the country’s most iconic hero.
Born and raised in one of Britain’s greatest naval ports, Jan immersed himself in naval history from an early age, and has sailed in almost every sort of wind-driven ship, including square riggers. The first of his historical sea novels, A Fine Boy for Killing , is considered by many critics to be a classic. The Portsmouth News said ‘We’ve had Hornblower, we’ve had Patrick O’Brian, now we have Jan Needle. The bleakness and authenticity of his historical sea novels is like an Arctic hurricane.’
Endeavour also published his two most recent thrillers, Other People’s Blood and Death Order . The Guardian said of Death Order : ‘Calculated to leave ageing colonels twitching, and the rest of us open-mouthed…unlikely to endear him to the secret services.’ The Irish Independent said Other People’s Blood ‘moves inexorably to its savage conclusion.’
Find more of Jan’s books at http://amzn.to/1o8l807
His website is at www.janneedle.com
And you can find him on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/skinbackbooks
If you enjoyed reading Nelson: The Poisoned River you might be interested in The Devil’s Luck by Jan Needle, also published by Endeavour Press.
Extract from The Devil’s Luck by Jan Needle
Historical Note
Although this book, and those that follow it, is set very firmly in the eighteenth century, it does not deal with a specific phase in the never ending struggle for world supremacy between Britain and France, nor any of the shorter-lived interventions by other nations. Daniel Swift features later in the century as a captain of the frigate Welfare, but here he is a lieutenant, learning his trade with characteristic single-minded ruthlessness. The Seven Years War is yet to come, and naval skirmishes, rather than set piece battles, are the order of the day.
Chapter One
Like many men who have been at sea too long, Captain Hector Maxwell had an
Timothy followed the fate of the expedition for as long as possible. The figure that destroyed him most was the carnage wrought on the fighting 79th, the Liverpool Blues, the regiment he’d joined to raise the cash to marry Sarah. When they were disbanded, their numbers had gone from eleven hundred to eighty four, in four short years. The battles they had fought had been with disease, not men.
Nelson left Greytown as news arrived from Polson that the San Juan fort had surrendered – the Spanish all defeated. Not so the mosquitos and the rain, however, whose depredations soon achieved unprecedented killing levels, among both officers and men. Now the battle that Polson, Dalling and the others had to fight was to convince the world the disaster had been in fact some sort of triumph; or at least an honest victory.
In truth though – less than a year after the expedition had entered the San Juan river in hopes of dividing and sequestering the whole of the Spanish Main – that country’s flag was fluttering above the fortress once again.
‘We must rise above it,’ Nelson told Hastie, during his long convalescence in Jamaica. ‘We must rise, and strive, and do our duties as we can. I shall be admiral, Timothy, that is my word of honour. I shall rise up off this bed and find a wife. And then I’ll be an admiral. You can count on it.’
Map
About the Author
Jan Needle has written many books about the British Navy in the eighteenth century, most recently The Devil’s Luck , which is also published by Endeavour Press. The Poisoned River is the first of a series about the life and times of Horatio Nelson, which will look at some of his lesser known exploits, as well as the ones which made him the country’s most iconic hero.
Born and raised in one of Britain’s greatest naval ports, Jan immersed himself in naval history from an early age, and has sailed in almost every sort of wind-driven ship, including square riggers. The first of his historical sea novels, A Fine Boy for Killing , is considered by many critics to be a classic. The Portsmouth News said ‘We’ve had Hornblower, we’ve had Patrick O’Brian, now we have Jan Needle. The bleakness and authenticity of his historical sea novels is like an Arctic hurricane.’
Endeavour also published his two most recent thrillers, Other People’s Blood and Death Order . The Guardian said of Death Order : ‘Calculated to leave ageing colonels twitching, and the rest of us open-mouthed…unlikely to endear him to the secret services.’ The Irish Independent said Other People’s Blood ‘moves inexorably to its savage conclusion.’
Find more of Jan’s books at http://amzn.to/1o8l807
His website is at www.janneedle.com
And you can find him on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/skinbackbooks
If you enjoyed reading Nelson: The Poisoned River you might be interested in The Devil’s Luck by Jan Needle, also published by Endeavour Press.
Extract from The Devil’s Luck by Jan Needle
Historical Note
Although this book, and those that follow it, is set very firmly in the eighteenth century, it does not deal with a specific phase in the never ending struggle for world supremacy between Britain and France, nor any of the shorter-lived interventions by other nations. Daniel Swift features later in the century as a captain of the frigate Welfare, but here he is a lieutenant, learning his trade with characteristic single-minded ruthlessness. The Seven Years War is yet to come, and naval skirmishes, rather than set piece battles, are the order of the day.
Chapter One
Like many men who have been at sea too long, Captain Hector Maxwell had an
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