Recently, I visited Santa Cruz de Tenerife Museo Militar located in the Almeyda Fort. I particularly wanted to view the exhibit related to Admiral Lord Nelson, who famously lost his arm here in the Canary Islands after being hit by a musket ball in the Battle of Santa Cruz in 1797.
The flag captured from Nelson’s forces is proudly displayed in a glass case alongside various paintings, mannequins dressed in a typical British uniform of that time and old notes and journals. Nelson, even after losing his arm, wrote a letter to the Spanish thanking them for his care. Unfortunately, this letter is not available here but is held in a military museum on the Peninsula.
I was interested in reading that a note, which was written after his recovery and return to the UK, was sold recently at an auction in London. He wrote down his personal thoughts on the loss of his arm and thanked God that he had recovered and desired to continue in his role as an officer in the Navy.
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