Little wonder then if many of Nelson's captains failed to fathom the full depth of his profound idea.

Naval officers in those days were left entirely without theoretical instruction on the higher lines of their profession, and Nelson, if we may judge by the style of his memoranda, can hardly have been a very lucid expositor.

He thought they all understood what with pardonable pride he called the 'Nelson touch.' The most sagacious and best educated of them probably did, but there were clearly some--and Collingwood, as we shall see, was amongst them--who only grasped some of the complex principles which were combined in his brilliant conception.
An analysis of the memorandum will show how complex it was.

In the first and foremost place there is a clear note of denunciation against the long established fallacy of the old order of battle in single line.

Secondly, there is in its stead the reestablishment of the primitive system of mutually supporting squadrons in line ahead.