George Augustus Westphal
| George Augustus Westphal | |
|---|---|
| Born | 26 July 1785 Nova Scotia, British North America |
| Died | 12 January 1875 (aged 89) Hove, England |
| Allegiance |
 Kingdom of Great Britain United Kingdom
|
| Service/branch |
 Royal Navy
|
| Years of service | 1798–? |
| Rank | Admiral |
Sir George Augustus Alexander Westphal (26 July 1785 – 12 January 1875) was a Nova Scotian and an admiral in the Royal Navy who served in more than 100 actions. He was midshipman on HMS Victory during the Battle of Trafalgar.
George was born on 26 July 1785 in Nova Scotia, British North America, the son of George Westphal and older brother of Admiral Philip Westphal. British Naval Biographical Dictionary, 1849 provides a date of birth of 27 March 1785.
He joined the Royal Navy aged 13 as a first class volunteer on board the Royal navy frigate HMS Porcupine stationed in North America. Later he moved to serve on the home station and in the West Indies as a Masters mate and midshipman on HMS Echo and HMS Tisiphone.
In March 1803 George joined the 32 gun fifth rate frigate HMS Amphion as a midshipman whilst transported Horatio Nelson to the Mediterranean to take command. Westphal was transferred to HMS Victory.
On 21 October 1805 Westphal now a 20-year-old midshipman was at the centre of the historic Battle of Trafalgar fighting on Nelson's flagship Victory. Westphal was wounded in the head by shot during the fighting and taken to the sick bay, where he was laid near to the injured Horatio Nelson. During his treatment in the cockpit, somebody made a pillow for Westphal to lie on, using Nelson's rolled up coat. The dried blood from Westphal's wounds bonded some of his hair to part of the coat forcing the surgeon to cut away the coat before he could treat Westphal. Westphal kept these fragments of Nelson's coat as a memento by for the rest of his life.
Westphal explained in an 1842 article in the United Service magazine:
"When I was carried down wounded [George wrote], I was placed by the side of his lordship; and his coat was rolled up and put as the substitute for a pillow under my head, which was then bleeding very much from the wound I had received. When the battle was over, and an attempt was made to remove the coat, several of the bullions of the epaulet were found to be so firmly glued, unto my hair, by the coagulated blood from my wound, that the bullions four or five of them, were cut off and left in my hair; one of which I still have in my possession".
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