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→Early years
Nelson returned with his bride to England and found himself without a ship’s appointment and on half pay, which continued for the next five years, possibly the result of prejudice related to his enforcement of the Navigation Act. But by 1793 events in France would determine the Navy’s course of action: the Terror would run rampant, King Louis XVI would face the guillotine, and Nelson was given command of the 64-gun HMS ''Agamemnon''.
Nelson returned with his bride to England and found himself without a ship’s appointment and on half pay, which continued for the next five years, possibly the result of prejudice related to his enforcement of the Navigation Act. But by 1793 events in France would determine the Navy’s course of action: the Terror would run rampant, King Louis XVI would face the guillotine, and Nelson was given command of the 64-gun HMS ''Agamemnon''.
==Mediterranean==
In the Mediterranean he was tasked to fight a losing defense of British allies and interests in the French port of Toulon against revolutionaries who were in the act of changing France from a monarchy to a republic; among them was a young artillery officer named Napoleon Bonaparte. Despite the loss, Nelson was content emotionally during the months spent there. On board his ship was a well-trained crew, and amongst his crew was his son whom he had taken on board; waiting for both was a loving wife. And it was during this time that Nelson changed from an enthusiastic young officer to a genius of a commander. Some of his success in his mission was due to the British minister in Naples, Sir William Hamilton.
Lord Hood had moved his base to Corsica after Toulon fell, and where Nelson and his crew went ashore to help capture Bastia and Calvi; a French shot ricocheted debris into his right eye, nearly losing it and rendering him blind there. An upsurge in French successes caused the British to abandon their bases in the central Mediterranean and consolidate at Gibraltar and the Tagus. Hood had earlier been replaced by two individuals, one of whom, Sir John Jervis, was a very experienced sailor who quickly recognized the command qualities possessed by Nelson.