The Defence of Acre, 1799

On November 10th, 1801, Captain Sir Sidney Smith galloped down Whitehall in the costume of a Turkish admiral to deliver despatches of his own success. In a romantic age he was the most histrionic of naval officers, not excepting Nelson. In almost every way he was the opposite of his witty and modest contemporary, Rev. Sydney Smith, who is perhaps better known today.

The estrangement between Nelson and Smith on the eve of the defence of Acre, which made the latter’s fame, was not entirely due to temperament. Basking in his reputation as the hero of the Nile after the destruction of the French fleet of August 1st, 1798, Nelson was convalescing from his wound in the arms of Lady Hamilton at Naples. He was not in the mood to favour the appearance of a junior captain calling himself a commodore with an independent commission in the Mediterranean.