naas, battle of.—a desperate engagement between a body of the king’s forces, consisting of the ancient britons and the armagh militia. the insurgent irish, who had just begun the great rebellion of 1798, were 3000 strong, and were defeated with the loss of 300 killed and some hundreds wounded. fought, may 24th, 1798.
narva, battle of.—this was the celebrated battle in which peter the great of russia was totally defeated by the renowned charles xii of sweden. fought, november 30th, 1700. the russians amounted to 70,000 men, while the swedes had only 20,000. the enemy lost 30,000 in killed, whilst as many surrendered to the conqueror.
naseby, battle of.—between charles i of england and the parliamentary army, under fairfax and cromwell. the main body of the royal army was commanded by lord astley. prince rupert led the right wing, sir marmaduke langdale the left, and the king himself headed the body of reserve. the forces of the parliament gained the victory, the royalists being obliged to abandon the field, losing all their cannon and baggage and 5000 men made prisoners. fought, june 14th, 1645.
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navy of england.—what the british navy has done, and the number of vessels captured by it, is shown in the following table:—
in the french war, ending 1802.
force. french. dutch. spanish. other
nations. total.
of the line 45 25 11 2 83
fifties 2 1 0 0 3
frigates 133 31 20 7 191
sloops, &c. 161 32 55 16 264
total 341 89 86 25 541
in the french war, ending 1814.
force. french. spanish. danish. russian. american. total.
of the line 70 27 23 4 0 124
fifties 7 0 1 0 1 9
frigates 77 36 24 6 5 148
sloops, &c. 188 64 16 7 13 288
total 342 127 64 17 19 569
navarino, battle of.—fought on the 20th october, 1827. “the atrocities which marked the warfare between the greeks and turks were so shocking to humanity, that the sovereigns of europe felt themselves bound to interfere, and a treaty for the pacification of greece was signed in london, on the 6th of july, 1827, by the representatives of england, france, and russia. in consequence of this, the allied fleets in the mediterranean prepared to force the combatants to consent to an armistice, and blockaded the turkish fleet in the harbour of navarino. ibrahim pacha, the turkish commander in the morea, paying but little attention to the remonstrances of the allied admirals, the united fleets sailed into harbour, on the 20th of october, under the command of sir edward codrington, to intimidate him into submission. a shot fired by a turkish vessel was the signal for a general engagement, which lasted four hours. it terminated in the almost utter annihilation of the turkish fleet, with comparatively little loss to the allied squadrons. the independence of greece was virtually achieved by this brilliant victory, and was further secured by the arrival of a small military force from france; the turkish government, however, refused submission, and war was commenced against russia. the events of this war, though not properly belonging to english history, demand a brief notice; in the first campaign the turks made an obstinate resistance, and gained some advantages over their opponents; but in the following year (1829), the russian arms were everywhere successful; the passages of the balkan were forced; adrianople, the second city in the empire, was captured, and the sultan forced to consent to terms of peace, dictated almost at the gates of constantinople. the demands of russia were, however, less exhorbitant than might have been expected[216] under the circumstances, but there is reason to believe that this moderation was inspired by a dread of provoking the jealousy and resentment of england.”
nevill’s cross, battle of.—fought october 17th, 1346, between the scots and english. more than 15,000 of the scots were slain.
“philippa, edward’s queen, took upon her the conduct of the field, and prepared to repulse the enemy in person: accordingly, having made lord percy general under her, she met the scots at a place called nevill’s cross, near durham, and offered them battle. the scots king was no less impatient to engage; he imagined that he might obtain an easy victory against undisciplined troops, and headed by a woman. but he was miserably deceived. his army was quickly routed and driven from the field. 15,000 of his men were cut to pieces; and he himself, with many of his nobles and knights, were taken prisoners, and carried in triumph to london, a.d. 1346.”
another historian says:—
“some years after his return home, king david burst into england at the head of an army. edward was absent in france, and david thought to avail himself of the opportunity. it turned out a dear business to him. marching southward as far as durham, he laid waste the country with fire and sword. at a place called nevill’s cross, an english army came up. a scottish knight, seeing their archers gathering in a vast cloud, and knowing well the bitter shower which that cloud would discharge, said to the king, “give me but 100 horse, and i will disperse them all.” the conceited and headstrong king gave no heed. the archers commenced their deadly practice without interruption. three hours of the arrow sleet, three hours of furious charging by the english horse, and the scots were a rout of fugitives. their king was taken prisoner and convoyed to london. mounted on a tall black horse that he might be seen by all the people, the son of robert the bruce was conducted to the tower.”
newark, battle of.—this battle was fought march 21st, 1644, between the army of the parliament and the royal forces, under prince rupert. he was defeated, and here afterwards charles i put himself into the hands of the scotch army.
newbury, battles of.—the first battle, fought september[217] 20th, 1643, was between the parliamentary army and that of charles i. it lasted till midnight, and among the slain was lucius carey, viscount falkland. a second battle was fought here next year, october 10th, and the result, as the first, was equally dubious, both sides claiming victory.
new orleans, battle of.—(see orleans.)
niagara fort.—upper canada.—“the fort of niagara was a place of great importance, and served to command all the communication between the northern and western french settlements. the siege was begun with vigour, and promised an easy conquest; but general prideaux was killed in the trenches by the bursting of a mortar, so that the whole command of the expedition devolved upon general johnson, who omitted nothing to push forward the vigorous operations of his predecessor, to which also he added his own popularity with the soldiers under him. a body of french troops, who were sensible of the importance of this fort, attempted to relieve it; but johnson attacked them with intrepidity and success; for in less than an hour their whole army was put to the rout. the garrison soon after perceiving the fate of their countrymen, surrendered prisoners of war.”
nicopolis, battle of.—between the christian powers, under sigismund, king of hungary, and the turks. this battle, fought a.d. 1396, is celebrated as the first fought between the cross and crescent. the christians triumphed; the turks lost 20,000 in slain, and 20,000 in wounded and prisoners.
nile, battle of the.—fought, august 1st, 1798, between the fleets of england and france. the french fleet arrived at alexandria august 1st, 1798, and admiral brueys, not being able to enter port, which time and neglect had ruined, moored the ships in aboukir bay, in a strong and compact line of battle; the headmost vessel, according to his own account, being as close as possible to a shoal on the north-west, and the rest of the fleet forming a kind of curve along the line of deep water, so as not to be turned by any means in the south-west.
the advantage of numbers, both in ships, guns, and men, was in favour of the french. they had 13 ships of the line and 4 frigates, carrying 1196 guns, and 11,230 men. the english had the same number of ships of the line, and one 50 gun ship, carrying 1012 guns, and 8068 men.[218] the english ships were all seventy-fours; the french had three 80 gun ships, and one three-decker of 120.
during the whole pursuit it had been nelson’s practice, whenever circumstances would permit, to have his captains on board the vanguard, and explain to them his own ideas of the different and best modes of attack, and such plans as he proposed to execute on falling in with the enemy, whatever their situation might be. there is no possible position, it is said, which he did not take into consideration. his officers were thus fully acquainted with his principles of tactics; and such was his confidence in their abilities, that the only thing determined upon, in case they should find the french at anchor, was for the ships to form as most convenient for their mutual support, and to anchor by the stern. “first gain your victory,” he said, “and then make the best use of it you can.” the moment he perceived the position of the french, that intuitive genius with which nelson was endowed displayed itself; and it instantly struck him that where there was room for an enemy’s ship to swing there was room for one of ours to anchor. the plan which he intended to pursue, therefore, was to keep entirely on the outer side of the french line, and station his ships, as far as he was able, one on the outer bow and another on the outer quarter of each of the enemy’s. captain berry, when he comprehended the scope of the design, exclaimed with transport, “if we succeed, what will the world say?” “there is no if in the case,” replied the admiral; “that we shall succeed is certain—who may live to tell the story is a very different question.”
as the squadron advanced, they were assailed by a shower of shot and shell from the batteries on the island, and the enemy opened a steady fire from the starboard side of their whole line, within half gunshot distance, full into the bows of our van ships. it was received in silence; the men on board every ship were employed aloft in furling sails, and below in tending the braces, and making ready for anchoring;—a miserable sight for the french, who, with all their skill and all their courage, and all their advantages of number and situation, were upon that element on which, when the hour of trial comes, a frenchman has no hope. admiral brueys was a brave and able man; yet the indelible character of his country broke out in one of his letters, wherein he delivered it as his private opinion that the english had missed him, because, not being superior in force, they did not think it prudent to try their strength with him. the moment was now come in which he was to be undeceived.
a french brig was instructed to decoy the english. by man?uvring[219] so as to tempt them towards a shoal lying off the island of beguieres; but nelson either knew the danger, or suspected some deceit, and the lure was unsuccessful. captain foley led the way in the goliath, out-sailing the zealous, which for some minutes disputed this post of honour with him. he had long conceived that, if the enemy were moored in line of battle in with the land, the best plan of attack would be to lead between them and the shore, because the french guns on that side were not likely to be manned, nor even ready for action. intending, therefore, to fix himself on the inner bow of the guerrier, he kept as near the edge of the bank as the depth of water would admit; but his anchor hung, and, having opened his fire, he drifted to the second ship, the conquérant, before it was cleared, then anchored by the stern, inside of her, and in ten minutes shot away her masts. hood, in the zealous, perceiving this, took the station which the goliath intended to have occupied, and totally disabled the guerrier in twelve minutes. the third ship which doubled the enemy’s van was the orion, sir j. saumarez; she passed to windward of the zealous, and opened her larboard guns as long as they bore on the guerrier; then passing inside the goliath, sunk a frigate which annoyed her, hauled toward the french line, and, anchoring inside between the fifth and sixth ships from the guerrier, took her station on the larboard bow of the franklin and the quarter of the peuple souverain, receiving and returning the fire of both. the sun was now nearly down. the audacious, captain gould, pouring a heavy fire into the guerrier and the conquérant, fixed herself on the larboard bow of the latter, and when that ship struck, passed on to the peuple souverain. the theseus, captain miller, followed, brought down the guerrier’s remaining main and mizen masts, then anchored inside the spartiate, the third in the french line.
while these advanced ships doubled the french line, the vanguard was the first that anchored on the outer side of the enemy, within half pistol shot of their third ship, the spartiate. nelson had six colours flying in different parts of the rigging, lest they should be shot away—that they should be struck, no british admiral considers as a possibility. he veered half a cable, and instantly opened a tremendous fire, under cover of which the other four ships of his division, the minotaur, bellerophon, defence and majestic, sailed on ahead of the admiral. in a few minutes every man stationed at the first six guns in the fore part of the vanguard’s deck was killed or wounded—these guns were three times cleared. captain louis, in the minotaur, anchored next ahead, and took[220] off the fire of the aquilon, the fourth in the enemy’s line. the bellerophon, captain darby, passed ahead, and dropped her stern anchor on the starboard bow of the orient, seventh in the line, bruey’s own ship of one hundred and twenty guns, whose difference in force was in proportion of more than seven to three, and whose weight of ball, from the lower deck alone, exceeded that from the whole broadside of the bellerophon. captain peyton, in the defence, took his station ahead of the minotaur and engaged the franklin, the sixth in the line, by which judicious movement the british line remained unbroken. the majestic, captain wescott, got entangled with the main rigging of one of the french ships astern of the orient, and suffered dreadfully from that three-decker’s fire; but she swung clear, and closely engaging the heureux, the ninth ship in the starboard bow, received also the fire of the tonnant, which was the eighth in the line. the other four ships of the british squadron, having been detached previous to the discovery of the french, were at a considerable distance when the action began. it commenced at half-after six, about seven the night closed, and there was no other light than that from the fire of the contending fleets.
trowbridge, in the culloden, then foremost of the remaining ships, was two leagues astern. he came on sounding, as the others had done. as he advanced, the increasing darkness increased the difficulty of navigation, and suddenly, after having found eleven fathoms’ water, before the lead could be hove again, he was fast a-ground; nor could all his own exertions, joined to those of the leander and mutiné brig, which came to his assistance, get him off in time to bear a part in the action. his ship, however, served as a beacon to the alexander and swiftsure, which would else, from the course they were holding, have gone considerably further on the reef, and must inevitably have been lost. these ships entered the bay and took their stations, in the darkness, in a manner still spoken of with admiration by all who remember it. captain hallowell, in the swiftsure, as he was bearing down, fell in with what seemed to be a strange sail. nelson had directed his ships to hoist four lights horizontally at the mizen peak as soon as it became dark, and this vessel had no such distinction. hallowell, however, with great judgment, ordered his men not to fire. “if she was an enemy,” he said, “she was in too disabled a state to escape; but, from her sails being loose, and the way in which her head was, it was probable she might be an english ship.” it was the bellerophon, overpowered by the huge orient. her lights had gone overboard, nearly two hundred of her crew were killed or[221] wounded, all her masts and cables had been shot away, and she was drifting out of the line towards the lee-side of the bay. her station at this important time was occupied by the swiftsure, which opened a steady fire on the quarter of the franklin and the bows of the french admiral. at the same instant captain ball, with the alexander, passed under his stern, and anchored within sight on his larboard quarter, raking him, and keeping a severe fire of musketry upon his decks. the last ship which arrived to complete the destruction of the enemy was the leander. captain thompson, finding that nothing could be done that night to get off the culloden, advanced with the intention of anchoring athwart-hawse of the orient. the franklin was so near her ahead, that there was not room for him to pass clear of the two; he therefore took his station athwart-hawse of the latter, in such a position as to rake both.
the two first ships of the french line had been dismasted within a quarter of an hour after the commencement of the action; and the others in that time suffered so severely, that victory was already certain. the third, fourth and fifth were taken possession of at half-past eight. meantime nelson received a severe wound on the head from a piece of langridge shot. captain berry caught him in his arms as he was falling. the great effusion of blood occasioned an apprehension that the wound was mortal. nelson himself thought so; a large flap of the skin of the forehead cut from the bone, had fallen over the eye; and, the other being blind, he was in total darkness. when he was carried down, the surgeon, in the midst of a scene scarcely to be conceived by those who have never seen a cockpit in time of action, and the heroism which is displayed amid its horrors—with a natural but pardonable eagerness, quitted the poor fellow then under his hands, that he might instantly attend the admiral. “no!” said nelson, “i will take my turn with my brave fellows.” nor would he suffer his own wound to be examined, till every man who had been previously wounded was properly attended to. fully believing that the wound was mortal, and that he was about to die, as he had ever desired, in battle and in victory, he called the chaplain, and desired him to deliver what he supposed to be his dying remembrance to lady nelson; he then sent for captain louis on board, from the minotaur, that he might thank him personally for the great assistance he had rendered to the vanguard; and, ever mindful of those who deserved to be his friends, appointed captain hardy from the brig to the command of his own ship, captain berry having to go home with the news of the victory. when the surgeon came in due time to examine the wound[222] (for it was in vain to entreat him to let it be examined sooner), the most anxious silence prevailed; and the joy of the wounded men, and of the whole crew, when they heard that the hurt was superficial, gave nelson deeper pleasure than the unexpected assurance that his life was in no danger. the surgeon requested, and, as far as he could, ordered him to remain quiet; but nelson could not rest. he called for his secretary, mr. campbell, to write the despatches. campbell had himself been wounded, and was so affected at the blind and suffering state of the admiral that he was unable to write. the chaplain was sent for; but before he came, nelson, with his characteristic eagerness, took the pen, and contrived to trace a few words, marking his devout sense of the success which had already been obtained. he was now left alone; when suddenly a cry was heard on the deck that the orient was on fire. in the confusion he found his way up, unassisted and unnoticed; and, to the astonishment of every one, appeared on the quarter-deck, where he immediately gave order that boats should be sent to the relief of the enemy.
it was soon after nine that the fire on the orient broke out. brueys was dead; he had received three wounds, yet would not leave his spot; a fourth cut him almost in two. he desired not to be carried below, but to be left to die upon deck. the flames soon mastered his ship. her sides had just been painted, and the oil-jars and paint-buckets were lying on the poop. by the prodigious light of this conflagration, the situation of the fleets could now be perceived, the colours of both being clearly distinguishable. about ten o’clock the ship blew up, with a shock which was felt to the very bottom of every vessel. many of her officers and men jumped overboard, some clinging to the spars and pieces of wreck with which the sea was strewn; others swimming to escape from the destruction which they momently dreaded. some were picked up by our boats; and some, even in the heat and fury of the action, were dragged into the lower ports of the nearest british ships by the british sailors. the greater part of her crew, however, stood the danger to the last, and continued to fire from the lower deck. this tremendous explosion was followed by a silence not less awful; the firing immediately ceased on both sides; and the first sound which broke the silence was the dash of her shattered masts and yards falling into the water from the vast height to which they had been exploded. it is upon record, that a battle between two armies was once broken off by an earthquake:—such an event would be felt like a miracle: but no incident in war produced by[223] human means, has ever equalled the sublimity of this coinstantaneous pause, and all its circumstances.
about seventy of the orient’s crew were saved by the english boats. among the many hundreds who perished were the commodore, casa bianca, and his son, a brave boy only ten years old. they were seen floating on a shattered mast when the ship blew up. she had money on board (the plunder of malta) to the amount of six hundred thousand pounds sterling. the masses of burning wreck which were scattered by the explosion, excited for some moments apprehensions in the english which they had never felt from any other danger. two large pieces fell into the main and foretops of the swiftsure, without injuring any person. a port-fire also fell into the main-royal of the alexander; the fire which it occasioned was speedily extinguished. captain ball had provided, as far human foresight could provide, against any such danger. all the shrouds and sails of his ship, not absolutely necessary for its immediate management, were thoroughly wetted, and so rolled up, that they were as hard and as little inflammable as so many solid cylinders.
the firing recommenced with the ships to leeward of the centre, and continued till about three. at daybreak the guillaume tell and the généreuse, the two rear ships of the enemy, were the only french ships of the line which had their colours flying: they cut their cables in the forenoon, not having been engaged, and stood out to sea, and two frigates with them. the zealous pursued; but, as there was no other ship in a condition to support captain hood, he was recalled. it was generally believed by the officers that, if nelson had not been wounded, not one of these ships could have escaped; the four certainly could not, if the culloden had got into action; and, if the frigates belonging to the squadron had been present, not one of the enemy’s fleet would have left aboukir bay. these four vessels, however, were all that escaped; and the victory was the most complete and glorious in the annals of naval history. “victory,” said nelson, “is not a name strong enough for such a scene;” he called it a conquest. of thirteen sail of the line, nine were taken and two burnt; of the four frigates, one was sunk; another the artemise was burnt in a villainous manner by her captain, m. estandlet, who having fired a broadside at the theseus, struck his colours, then set fire to the ship, and escaped with most of his crew to shore. the british loss in killed and wounded amounted to 895. westcott was the only captain who fell: 3105 of the french, including the wounded, were sent on shore by cartel, and 5225 perished.
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thus ended this eventful battle, which exalted the name of nelson to a level at least with that of the celebrated conqueror, whose surprising success at the head of the french armies had then begun to draw the attention of the civilized world. the first words of his despatches on this memorable occasion prove his gratitude to that providence which had protected him:—“almighty god has blessed his majesty’s arms.”
nisbet, battle of.—fought, may 7th, 1602, between the english and scotch armies,—10,000 of the latter were left dead on the field and in the pursuit.
northallerton, battle of.—or the standard.—a furious engagement fought in yorkshire, england, august 22nd, 1137, between the scottish and english armies. this battle received the latter name from a high crucifix which was erected by the english on a waggon and was carried along by the troops. (see standard, battle of)
northampton, battle of.—fought between the duke of york and henry vi of england. henry was defeated, and made prisoner, after a bloody fight, which took place july 19th, 1460.
noir, battles of.—first, fought, august 15th, 1799, between the french army commanded by joubert, and the russians, under suwarrow. the french were defeated with immense slaughter,—10,000 being left dead on the battlefield, among whom was their general, joubert, and several distinguished officers. a second battle was fought, january 8th, 1800, between the austrian and french armies, when the latter a second time were signally defeated.
numantia, siege of.—celebrated in the life of scipio africanus. he besieged the city with 60,000 men, the numantines had only 4000 able to bear arms, but for 14 years it bravely withstood all attempts, till at last it fell, and every soul preferred to perish rather than fall into the hands of the romans.
