Chapter 1 Summary

Commander Horatio Hornblower transfers command of Hotspur to a replacement officer and then takes passage to England aboard a supply ship. He is shortly joined by the officers of Hotspur, which has run aground and foundered. As the supply ship sails for England, a French privateer attempts a capture. Hornblower formulates an audacious surprise counter-attack on the French vessel and disables it, allowing the supply ship to escape. In addition, he captures a large store of secret French documents. In England, Hornblower becomes involved in a plot to utilize the captured documents to introduce forged orders to the French fleet. Hornblower travels to France and, acting as a spy, places the forged documents into the French naval communication stream, which orders the French fleet to sortie, leading to the triumphant English victory at Trafalgar.

When the unfinished novel opens, Lieutenant Hornblower is commander...