The Fickle Finger of Fate !

Luck plays a big part in the outcome of many important events.  The decisions we make in life are decided by which way fate intervenes at a critical moment.  That intervention can bestow fame - or infamy !  Such was the fate of two men who had very different outcomes as a result of disobeying their orders.

Horatio Nelson was the commander of the British fleet at the start of the Napoleonic war of 1803-15. He knew he would be in charge at an inevitable battle between his ships and the combined navies of France and Spain, and wisely sent out spies to determine the strength of the enemy.  He learned that the French ships were modern and had well trained crews, but that the Spanish navy was "run on the cheap ".   Each month press gangs roamed the nation's jails and seemingly able prisoners were dragooned into serving their sentence in the navy.

They were chained below decks when the ships were in port to prevent escapes and the whip was applied generously during the training process.  Their officers regarded them as scum and the food provided was the cheapest available in the markets.  The spies estimated that the well trained British crews could fire, reload and fire several shots to each one the Spanish crews could manage.

Nelson devised his strategy accordingly.  He abandoned the usual custom and split his force into two columns and "T boned "the enemy line,  fragmenting their order and resulting in individual engagements - ship to ship.   Soon many Spanish ships were on fire and a few disheartened enemy captains concluded that the battle was lost - and headed for home.   This retreat became a rout - and Nelson scored a major victory.

Unfortunately, Nelson did not survive that battle.  He was fatally shot by a sniper high amongst the top gallants of a French ship, but his grateful nation had a statue dedicated to his likeness elevated on a column in Trafalgar Square, in the centre of London.

The fact that he had disobeyed orders was tactfully forgotten.   His superiors feared he would lose the battle to an enemy with greater ship numbers and signalled the recall.   Nelson - blind in one eye - took the telescope from his signaller and put it to his blind eye - and famously said.  " I see no such signal "  - and continued the advance.   Winning the battle was a great vindication, but had he lost there is no doubt that the entire blame would have been heaped on his shoulders !

George Armstrong Custer was the Colonel commanding the United States Seventh Cavalry division. The Indian tribes had been resisting the influx of settlers moving into the American west and Custer was ordered to advance to a position near the Little Bighorn and await reinforcement by another cavalry division.   This did not suit his intentions.   He planned to run for the US presidency and he needed a major victory to become a war hero.  This reinforcing division was commanded by an officer of superior rank and when he arrived the force would fight under his name - and victory would be his victory - not Custers.

Custer thought his seven hundred men sufficient to beat warriors of the Cheyenne tribe.  He was unaware that Chief Sitting Bull had mended relations between the Cheyenne and their bitter enemies the Lakota and these combined tribes were now waiting for him under the command of Chief Crazy Horse.  He also expected the Indians to be predominantly armed with bows and arrows and a few ancient muzzle loading guns.    During the American war of Independence the French had assisted the Americans and the British had taken the French outpost of Quebec in Canada - and had encouraged the Canadian Indian tribes to fight on their side.   The Indians had demanded weapons and the British had supplied surplus army muskets, and many of these had trickled over the border and were now in American Indian hands.

Custer's attack failed and he and his men were wiped out.  Instead of fame his name is often the butt of late night television comedian jokes - and the history books regard him unfavourably.  His attack tactics were certainly questionable, but had luck been on his side there is every chance that his name would be listed amongst whose who once sat in the oval office.

So often making a decision is balanced on a knife edge.   There always seem to be uncertainties  hovering just beyond the field of knowledge - and the final outcome will be decided by the fickle finger of fate.

A point to ponder for those whose decisions decide the fate of nations !