August victories resound through the centuries

MUCH PARODIED, of which many versions are unprintable, Felicia Hemans’ famous poem was inspired by a tragic moment during the Battle of the Nile as our greatest admiral, Horatio Nelson, struck the first of his mighty blows to destroy Napoleon’s French navy.

This battle was one of two hugely significant victories won in the month of August by two English military heroes whose strategic gains and tactics influenced world affairs and conflicts into modern times.

The Battle of Blenheim on August 13, 1704, propelled John Churchill, first Duke of Marlborough, to revered status and a magnificent palace funded by the nation. The Battle of the Nile on August 1, 1798 scuppered Napoleon’s plans to defeat Britain by transferring India from British to French rule and led to his ultimate demise as Nelson humiliated his navy once more at Trafalgar, before Wellington finished the job at Waterloo.

Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries was very different from the continent we would recognise today. Geopolitically, it was fragmented, with various Duchies and Principalities often independent in name only, under the influence of one or other of the bigger nations or alliances.

The boy stood on the burning deck Whence all but he had fled;

The flame that lit the battle’s wreck