The Last Encounter

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"The Last Encounter"
Author	C. S. Forester
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Series	Horatio Hornblower
Genre(s)	Historical short story
Published in	Hornblower and the Crisis
Publisher	Michael Joseph, London
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Publication date	1967

"The Last Encounter" is a short story by C. S. Forester, the final chapter in the life of his fictional naval hero, Horatio Hornblower. It was published together with the unfinished novel Hornblower and the Crisis and another short story, "Hornblower and the Widow McCool".

[edit] Plot summary

In 1848, Hornblower is enjoying a well-earned retirement on his English estate when, late one night, a seeming madman claiming to be Napoleon requests his assistance. The Frenchman urgently needs to get to Paris, but his carriage has broken down on the way to a waiting ship. Hornblower's wife Barbara is favourably impressed with the man's manners and persuades her husband to provide transportation.

Later, they learn that they had in fact helped Napoleon III, the nephew of Hornblower's great enemy, on his way to vie for and win an election for President of France. As thanks for his assistance, Hornblower is made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour.

v • d • e Horatio Hornblower series by C. S. Forester Novels: Mr. Midshipman Hornblower • Lieutenant Hornblower • Hornblower and the Hotspur • Hornblower and the Crisis • Hornblower and the Atropos • The Happy Return (Beat to Quarters) • A Ship of the Line • Flying Colours • The Commodore • Lord Hornblower • Hornblower in the West Indies Short stories: "Hornblower and the Widow McCool" • "The Last Encounter"

v • d • e Works by C. S. Forester Novels: A Pawn Among Kings (1924) · Payment Deferred (1926) · Love Lies Dreaming (1927) · The Wonderful Week (1927) · The Shadow of the Hawk (1928) · Brown on Resolution (1929) · Plain Murder (1930) · Death to the French (1932) · The Gun (1933) · The Peacemaker (1934) · The African Queen (1935) · The General (1936) · The Happy Return (1937) (Beat to Quarters in U.S.) · A Ship of the Line (1938) · Flying Colours (1938) · To the Indies (1940) · The Captain from Connecticut (1941) · The Ship (1943) · The Bedchamber Mystery (1944) · The Commodore (1945) · Lord Hornblower (1946) · The Sky and the Forest (1948) · Mr. Midshipman Hornblower (1950) · Randall and the River of Time (1950) · Lieutenant Hornblower (1952) · Hornblower and the Atropos (1953) · The Adventures of John Wetherell (1953) · The Good Shepherd (1955) · Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies (1958) · Hornblower and the Hotspur (1962) · Hornblower and the Crisis (1967) Short stories: "The Paid Piper" (1924) · "Two-and-Twenty" (1931 autobiographical) · "The Nightmare" (1954) · "The Last Encounter" (1967) · "Hornblower and the Widow McCool" (1967) · "The Man in the Yellow Raft" (1969) · "Gold from Crete" (1970) · "Hornblower One More Time" (1976) Picture books: Poo-Poo and the Dragons (1942) · The Barbary Pirates (1953) Plays: U 97 (1931) · Nurse Cavell (1933) Articles: "Hollywood Coincidence" (1956) · "William Joyce" (1965) Non-fiction: Napoleon and His Court (1924) · Josephine, Napoleon's Empress (1925) · Victor Emmanuel II and the Union of Italy (1927) · Louis XIV, King of France and Navarre (1928) · Nelson (1929) · The Voyage of the Annie Marble (1929) · The Annie Marble in Germany (1930) · Marionettes at Home (1936) · The Earthly Paradise (1940) · The Age of Fighting Sail (1956) · The Naval War of 1812 (1957) · The Last Nine Days of the Bismarck (1959) (or "Hunting the Bismark") · The Hornblower Companion (1964) · Long Before Forty (1967)