Pair of letters from Lord Nelson up for auction

A PAIR of letters written by Lord Horatio Nelson is to go under the hammer later this year.

The letters, one of which was written in Nelson’s left hand after he lost his right arm at the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 1797, will be sold by Hansons in June.

They are expected to sell for between £7,000 and £10,000 each.

The first letter, dated 7 May, 1793, coincides with a young Nelson’s rise to command after years of working as a midshipman under an uncle’s supervision.

That year, revolutionary France had declared war on Great Britain. Nelson had been on half pay in England for five years but was given command of the Agamemnon gunship.

The first letter documents Nelson’s response to a shipmate attempting to leave his rank.

The second, dated 21 October, 1804, is scrawled with his left hand after losing his right arm in 1797.