A panoramic view of Nelson's funeral procession. Nelson's funeral barge can be seen in the foreground on the River Thames as his coffin was rowed up to the Admiralty from Greenwich on Charles II's royal barge, accompanied by over 60 boats, including a variety of Admiralty and City livery barges. In the central foreground, a barge flying the red ensign fires a salute. Boats of the 'Sea Fencibles', a corps of naval reserves, line the route. Greenwich Hospital is clearly visible in the background with the Royal Observatory in the distance.

After Nelson died at Trafalgar, his body was, by his own request, placed in a cask and preserved in spirits. On the return of his body to England, it was taken to Greenwich, where it rested in state between 4-7 January, 1806. On the 8 January, 1806, seamen from HMS ‘Victory’ carried his coffin to the funeral barge to begin the procession up the River Thames to the Admiralty, and his funeral at St Paul's Cathedral on the 9th.