Lord Horatio Nelson

January 9, 1806

Nelson buried at St. Paul's Cathedral

Lord Horatio Nelson, the British naval hero credited with saving Britain from an invasion by France, is buried at St. Paul's Cathedral in London.

Napoleon Bonaparte, who led France to preeminence on the European mainland, was consistently thwarted by Nelson and his Royal Navy at sea. On October 21, 1805, Nelson defeated a combined French and Spanish fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar, fought off the coast of Spain, and Napoleon Bonaparte was forced to abandon his invasion plans for England. Nelson, however, was mortally wounded at the height of the engagement while pacing the quarter-deck of the HMS Victory. He died that day, and his body was solemnly brought back to England. In London, a column was erected to his memory in the newly named Trafalgar Square.