C - Cuthbert Collingwood, 1750-1810
Nelson’s relationship with Collingwood was very different to that which he shared with most of the Band of Brothers.
They had served together on a number of occasions throughout their lives and were close and even affectionate personal friends. But ‘Col’, as Nelson always called him, was by nature an aloof and reserved man except with his family and a few close friends. So their friendship remained essentially a one-to-one affair and Collingwood was never really part of the intimate inner circle that surrounded Nelson.
A Northumbrian, Collingwood was born in Newcastle on 26 September 1750 and educated at a local grammar school. He first went to sea in 1761. When Nelson was promoted post-captain and took command of the frigate HMS Hinchinbroke in 1779, Collingwood was made commander and given Nelson’s former sloop, the Badger. The following year, when Nelson was given the larger frigate HMS Janus, Collingwood followed him in the Hinchinbrooke.
During the peace, they met up again in the West Indies when Collingwood commanded the frigate Mediator and Nelson the Boreas. They fell in love with the same woman, Mary Moutray, the wife of the Commissioner of English Harbour in Antigua. Instead of causing friction between them, this shared unrequited love appears to have cemented their friendship and at some point they each drew the other’s portrait. Nelson’s likeness of Collingwood is a reasonably accomplished silhouette; Collingwood’s response is a rather wooden profile, showing Nelson wearing an unflattering wig.
In 1795 Collingwood was appointed to command HMS Excellent, and was sent to the Mediterranean where he met up with Nelson again, then in command of the Agamemnon. The two old friends subsequently served together at the Battle of Cape St Vincent 14 February 1797, where Collingwood played as important a role as Nelson, securing the surrender of two Spanish ships and almost capturing the great four-decked flagship, Santissima Trinidad – and at one point even coming to the rescue of Nelson’s Captain, which had been battered by the broadsides of at least four large Spanish ships.
Collingwood was promoted to Rear-Admiral in February 1799. After 1800 the two friends did not meet again for over five years. On the day of the Battle of Trafalgar 21 October 1805, Nelson gave Collingwood complete control of his division of the fleet. Collingwood responded magnificently, leading his line with panache and gallantry.
Nelson’s death came as a shocking blow and Collingwood was greatly shaken by it, referring in all his letters to the 'most poignant grief' that he felt at the loss. But he also shouldered the unexpected burden of command with considerable skill – so much so, that he was confirmed as Nelson’s successor as Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean, thus following in his friend’s footsteps for the last time. He remained at his post for over four more years without relief, growing more and more ill with the strain of command, and eventually died on 7 March 1810. His body was brought back to Britain where it first lay in state in the Painted Hall at Greenwich, and was then buried in the crypt of St Paul’s alongside Nelson.
Part of the Nelson A to Z, Edited extracts taken from The Nelson Encyclopædia by Dr Colin White, Chatham Publishing London, 2002.