Authentic Narrative Of The Death Of Lord Nelson
Sir William Beatty was a British surgeon who served in the Royal Navy. He is best known as the Ship’s Surgeon on the HMS Victory during the Battle of Trafalgar, at which he witnessed the death of Admiral Horatio Nelson. This title is an account of that battle. When Nelson was wounded during the battle, Beatty did not administer treatment, claiming that he believed that the admiral was beyond treatment. The admiral had expressed the wish to be buried in native soil, rather than simply being thrown in the sea like other mariners of the time. Beatty had to think up a way of preserving the admiral’s body, so that it wouldn’t rot on the voyage back to Britain. Finally he decided to place Lord Nelson’s corpse in a barrel of brandy to mummify it.