story of this brave boy has become famous through Mrs. Hemans' poem, but, although the incidents related in it have been ascribed to a number of battles at sea, there is no historical proof that such a boy took part in any of them. Usually, however, he is spoken of as the ten-year-old son of Admiral Brueys, commander of the French man-of-war l'Orient.

This ship was engaged in the battle of the Nile fought between Napoleon and the English on August 1, 1798. Nelson was in command of the English fleet, and won one of his greatest victories. During the battle the French Admiral Brueys was mortally wounded, and was left on the deck of his ship. As night came on the ship was seen to be on fire, and Nelson ordered his men to board her and rescue the officers and crew. All the Frenchmen left except the boy Casabianca, who refused to go, saying that his father had told him not to leave the ship, and that he could not disobey that order.

The man-of-war was in danger of blowing up at any minute, and the English sailors had to put off in their boats. They had barely time to pull away before the flames reached the powder and the ship exploded.

Although it cannot be said positively that Casabianca was the boy of the battle of the Nile, facts seem to prove that a boy did such an act at that battle.

by Felicia Dorothea Hemans

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