Nelson was outnumbered, with 27 Britishships of the line to 33 French and Spanish, including the largest warship in either fleet, the SpanishSantísima Trinidad. To address this imbalance, Nelson sailed his fleet directly at the allied battle line's flank in two columns, hoping to break the line into pieces. Villeneuve had worried that Nelson might attempt this tactic, but for various reasons, failed to prepare for it. To add to the French crisis, their crews were inexperienced and poorly trained. The British plan worked almost perfectly; Nelson's columns split the Franco-Spanish fleet in three, isolating the rear half from Villeneuve's flag aboardBucentaure. The allied vanguard sailed off while it attempted to turn around, giving the British temporary superiority over the remainder of their fleet. In the ensuing fierce battle 18 allied ships were captured or destroyed, while the British lost none.
The offensive exposed the leading British ships to intense crossfire as they approached the Franco-Spanish lines. Nelson's ownHMS Victory led the front column and was almost knocked out of action. Nelson was shot by a French musketeer during the battle, and died shortly before it ended. Villeneuve was captured along with his flagshipBucentaure. He attended Nelson's funeral while a captive on parole in Britain. The most senior Spanish commander, AdmiralFederico Gravina, escaped with the surviving third of the Franco-Spanish fleet; he died six months later of wounds sustained during the battle. The victory confirmed British naval supremacy, and was achieved in part through Nelson's departure fromprevailing naval tactical orthodoxy.[6]
In 1805, theFirst French Empire, underNapoleon Bonaparte, was the dominant military land power on the European continent, while the British Royal Navy controlled the seas.[7] During the course of the war, the British imposed a navalblockade on France, which affected trade and kept the French from fully mobilising their naval resources.[8] Despite several successful evasions of the blockade by the French navy, it failed to inflict a major defeat upon the British, who were able to attack French interests at home and abroad with relative ease.[9]
When theThird Coalition declared war on France, after the short-livedPeace of Amiens, Napoleon renewed his determination to invade Britain. To allow his invasionflotilla to reach England, he needed to wrest control of theEnglish Channel from the Royal Navy.[10]
The main Frenchfleets were atBrest in Brittany and atToulon on theMediterranean coast. Other ports on the French Atlantic coast harboured smallersquadrons. France and Spain were allied, so the Spanish fleet based inCádiz andFerrol was also available.[11]
The British possessed an experienced and well-trained corps of naval officers.[a] By contrast, some of the best officers in the French navy had been executed or had left the service during the early part of theFrench Revolution.[12]
Vice-AdmiralPierre-Charles Villeneuve had taken command of the French Mediterranean fleet following the death ofLatouche Treville. There had been more competent officers, but they had either been employed elsewhere or had fallen from Napoleon's favour.[13] Villeneuve had shown a distinct reluctance for facing Nelson and the Royal Navy after the French defeat at theBattle of the Nile in 1798.[14]
Napoleon's naval plan in 1805 was for the French and Spanish fleets in the Mediterranean and Cádiz to break through the blockade and join forces in theCaribbean. They would then return, assist the fleet in Brest to emerge from the blockade, and together clear the English Channel of Royal Navy ships, ensuring a safe passage for the invasion barges.[15]
Early in 1805,Vice Admiral Lord Nelson commanded the British fleet blockading the Mediterranean port ofToulon. UnlikeWilliam Cornwallis, who maintained aclose blockade off Brest with theChannel Fleet, Nelson adopted a loose blockade in hope of luring the French out to battle, saying, "to be able to get at the enemy you must letthem come out toyou, ifyou cannot get atthem."[16][15] However, Villeneuve's fleet successfully evaded Nelson's when the British were blown off station by storms. Nelson commenced a search of the Mediterranean, supposing that the French intended to make forEgypt, but Villeneuve instead took his fleet through theStrait of Gibraltar, rendezvoused with the Spanish fleet in Cádiz, and sailed as planned for the Caribbean. Once Nelson realised that the French were crossing the Atlantic, he set off in pursuit.[b]
The Chase to the West Indies
He missed them by just days in the West Indies as a result of false information.[17]
Having lured the British to the West Indies, Villeneuve returned from the Caribbean toEurope, intending to break the blockade at Brest.[14] Nelson, still in fear for Egypt, made to return to the Mediterranean. The fast sailing corvette taking word of his plans back to the admiralty spotted the French heading further north. On receiving this intelligenceLord Barham immediately ordered Admiral Cornwallis to combine his squadron with that of Vice AdmiralCalder off Ferrol and to stretch out thirty to forty leagues into the Atlantic to block the French from entering the Channel.[18]
Calder intercepted the French resulting in an inconclusive engagement during theBattle of Cape Finisterre in which two of the Spanish ships were captured. Villeneuve abandoned his plan and sailed back toFerrol in northern Spain.[19] There he received orders from Napoleon to return to Brest according to the main plan.[20]
Napoleon's invasion plans for Britain depended on having a sufficiently large number of ships of the line protecting his port ofBoulogne on the English Channel. This would require Villeneuve's force of 33 ships to join Vice-AdmiralGanteaume's force of 21 ships at Brest, along with a squadron of five ships under Captain Allemand, which would have given him a combined force of 59 ships of the line.
When Villeneuve set sail from Ferrol on 10 August, he was under orders from Napoleon to sail northward toward Brest. Instead, he worried that the British were observing his manoeuvres, so on 11 August, he sailed southward towards Cádiz on the southwestern coast of Spain.[21] With no sign of Villeneuve's fleet, on 25 August, the three French army corps' invasion force near Boulogne broke camp and marched into Germany, where it was later engaged. This ended the immediate threat of invasion.[22][23]
The same month, Admiral Lord Nelson returned home to Britain after two years of duty at sea.[24] He remained ashore for 25 days and was warmly received by his countrymen.[25] Word reached Britain on 2 September about the combined French and Spanish fleet in Cádiz harbour.[26] Nelson had to wait until 15 September before his ship,HMS Victory, was ready to sail.[27]
On 15 August, Cornwallis decided to detach 20 ships of the line from the fleet guarding the English Channel to sail southward to engage the French and Spanish forces in Spain,[28] leaving the Channel with only 11 ships of the line.[29] The detached force formed the nucleus of the British fleet at Trafalgar. This fleet, under the command of Vice-Admiral Calder, reached Cádiz on 15 September. Nelson joined the fleet on 28 September to take command.[30]
Hoping to lure the combined Franco-Spanish force out from Cádiz harbor and engage it in a decisive battle, Nelson kept his main force out of sight approximately 50 miles (80 km) offshore[31] and sent a squadron offrigates (faster, but too small for the line of battle) to keep watch on the harbour.[31] This was led by CaptainBlackwood aboardHMS Euryalus, with five frigates, aschooner, and abrig.[32]
These ships were later diverted for convoy duty in theMediterranean, although Nelson had expected them to return. Similarly,HMS Superb under CaptainRichard Goodwin Keats had been sent to the dockyard for a re-fit after four years at sea, including the chase of Villeneuve, and was expected to return to the fleet where Keats was to be Nelson's second, but the ship was not released in time.[34] Other British ships continued to arrive, and by 15 October the fleet was up to full strength for the battle. Nelson also lost Calder'sflagship, the 98-gunPrince of Wales, which he sent home as Calder had been recalled by the Admiralty to face a court-martial for his apparent lack of aggression during the engagement off Cape Finisterre on 22 July.
Meanwhile, Villeneuve's fleet in Cádiz was also suffering from a serious supply shortage that could not be easily rectified by the cash-poor French.[35] The blockade maintained by the British fleet had made it difficult for the Franco-Spanish allies to obtain stores, and their ships were ill-equipped. Villeneuve's ships were also more than two thousand men short of the force needed to sail. These were not the only problems faced by the Franco-Spanish fleet. The main French ships of the line had been kept in harbour for years by the British blockade with only brief sorties. The French crews included few experienced sailors, and, as most of the crew had to be taught the elements of seamanship on the few occasions when they got to sea, gunnery was neglected.[36] The hasty voyage across the Atlantic and back used up vital supplies. Villeneuve's supply situation began to improve in October, but news of Nelson's arrival made Villeneuve reluctant to leave port. His captains had held a vote on the matter and decided to stay in harbour.
On 16 September, Napoleon gave orders for the French and Spanish ships at Cádiz to put to sea at the first favourable opportunity, join with seven Spanish ships of the line then atCartagena, go toNaples and land the soldiers they carried to reinforce his troops there, then fight decisively if they met a numerically inferior British fleet.[37]
On 21 October, Admiral Nelson had 27 ships of the line with2148 cannons, and a total of17000 crewmen and marines under his command.[38] Nelson's flagship,HMS Victory, captained byThomas Masterman Hardy, was one of three 100-gunfirst-rates in his fleet. He also had four 98-gunsecond-rates and 20 third-rates. One of the third-rates was an 80-gun vessel, and 16 were 74-gun vessels. The remaining three were 64-gun ships, which were being phased out of the Royal Navy at the time of the battle. Nelson also had four frigates of 38 or 36 guns, a 12-gunschooner and a 10-guncutter.[39]
Against Nelson, Vice-Admiral Villeneuve, sailing on his flagshipBucentaure, fielded 33 ships of the line, including some of the largest in the world at the time. The Spanish contributed four first-rates to the fleet – three of these ships, one at 130 guns (Santísima Trinidad) and two at 112 guns (Príncipe de Asturias,Santa Ana), were much larger than anything under Nelson's command. The fourth first-rate carried 100 guns. The fleet had six 80-gun third-rates (four French and two Spanish), and one Spanish 64-gun third-rate. The remaining 22 third-rates were 74-gun vessels, of which 14 were French and eight Spanish. In total, the Spanish contributed 15 ships of the line and the French 18 along with some30000 men and marines manning2632 cannons. The fleet also included five 40-gun frigates and two 18-gunbrigs, all French.[2][39]
The prevailing tactical orthodoxy at the time involved manoeuvring to approach the enemy fleet in a singleline of battle and then engaging broadside in parallel lines.[40] In previous times, fleets had usually engaged in a mixed mêlée of chaotic one-on-one battles. One reason for the development of the line of battle formation was to facilitate control of the fleet: if all the ships were in line, signalling during battle became possible.[41] The line also allowed either side to disengage by breaking away in formation; if the opponent chose to continue, their line would be broken as well.[40] This often led to inconclusive battles, or allowed the losing side to minimise its losses. Facing a numerically superior Franco-Spanish line, Nelson wanted to break it into a chaotic mêlée which would force his opponents to fight his well-trained crews ship to ship.[42]
Nelson's solution was to cut the opposing line in three. Approaching in two columns sailing perpendicular to the Franco-Spanish fleet's line, one towards the centre of the opposing line and one towards the trailing end, his ships would surround the middle third, and force them to fight to the end.[43] Nelson hoped specifically to cut the line just in front of the French flagship,Bucentaure; the isolated ships in front of the break would not be able to see the flagship's signals, which he hoped would take them out of combat while they re-formed. This echoed thetactics used byAdmiral Duncan at theBattle of Camperdown andAdmiral Jervis at theBattle of Cape St. Vincent, both in 1797.[44]
First, the British fleet would close with the Franco-Spanish as quickly as possible, preventing their escape.[45]
Second, it would quickly bring on amêlée and frantic battle by breaking the Franco-Spanish line and inducing a series of individual ship-to-ship actions, in which the British knew they were likely to prevail. Nelson knew that the superior seamanship, faster gunnery and better morale of his crews were great advantages.[46]
Third, it would bring a decisive concentration on the rear of the Franco-Spanish fleet. The ships in thevan of the French and Spanish fleet would have to turn back to support the rear, which would take a long time.[43] Additionally, once the line had been broken, their ships would be relatively defenceless against powerful broadsides from the British fleet, and it would take them a long time to reposition to return fire.
The main drawback of attacking head-on was that as the leading British ships approached, the Franco-Spanish Combined Fleet would be able to directrakingbroadside fire at their bows, to which they would be unable to reply. To lessen the time the fleet was exposed to this danger, Nelson had his ships make all available sail (includingstunsails), yet another departure from the norm.[47] He was also well aware that French and Spanish gunners were ill-trained and would have difficulty firing accurately from a moving gun platform. The Combined Fleet was sailing across a heavyswell, causing the ships to roll heavily and exacerbate the problem. Nelson's plan was a carefully calculated gamble.[48]
During the blockade off the coast of Spain in October, Nelson instructed his captains, over two dinners aboardVictory, on his plan for the approaching battle. In an animated conversation with his favourite captain, Richard Goodwin Keats, who was expected to be his second in the forthcoming battle, Nelson explained a refined battle plan whilst the two were walking in the garden of Merton in August 1805.[49] The order of sailing, in which the fleet was arranged when the opposing fleet was first sighted, was to be the order of the ensuing action so that no time would be wasted in forming two lines.[50] The first, led by his second-in-command Vice-AdmiralCuthbert Collingwood, was to sail into the rear of the Franco-Spanish line, while the other, led by Nelson, was to sail into the centre and vanguard.[45] In preparation for the battle, Nelson ordered the ships of his fleet to be painted in a distinctive yellow and black pattern (later known as theNelson Chequer) that would make them easy to distinguish from their opponents.[51]
Nelson was careful to point out that something had to be left to chance. Nothing is sure in a sea battle, so he left his captains free from all hampering rules by telling them that "No captain can do very wrong if he places his ship alongside that of the enemy."[44] In short,circumstances would dictate the execution, subject to the guiding rule that the Franco-Spanish fleet's rear was to be cut off and superior force concentrated on that part of the line.[36]
Admiral Villeneuve himself expressed his belief that Nelson would use some sort of unorthodox attack, presciently speculating that Nelson would drive right at his line. But his long game ofcat and mouse with Nelson had worn him down, and he was suffering from a loss of nerve. Fearing that his inexperienced officers would be unable to maintain formation in more than one group, he chose to keep the single line that became Nelson's target.[52]
The Combined Fleet of French and Spanish warships anchored in Cádiz under the leadership of Admiral Villeneuve was in disarray. On 16 September 1805 Villeneuve received orders from Napoleon to sail the Combined Fleet from Cádiz to Naples. At first, Villeneuve was optimistic about returning to the Mediterranean, but soon had second thoughts. A war council was held aboard his flagship,Bucentaure, on 8 October.[53] While some of the French captains wished to obey Napoleon's orders, the Spanish captains and other French officers, including Villeneuve, thought it best to remain in Cádiz.[54] Villeneuve changed his mind yet again on 18 October 1805, ordering the Combined Fleet to sail immediately even though there were only very light winds.[55]
The sudden change was prompted by a letter Villeneuve had received on 18 October, informing him that Vice-AdmiralFrançois Rosily had arrived inMadrid with orders to take command of the Combined Fleet.[56] Stung by the prospect of being disgraced before the fleet, Villeneuve resolved to go to sea before his successor could reach Cádiz.[37] At the same time, he received intelligence that a detachment of six British ships (Admiral Louis' squadron), had docked at Gibraltar, thus weakening the British fleet. This was used as the pretext for sudden change.
The weather, however, suddenly turned calm following a week of gales. This slowed the progress of the fleet leaving the harbour, giving the British plenty of warning. Villeneuve had drawn up plans to form a force of four squadrons, each containing both French and Spanish ships. Following their earlier vote on 8 October to stay put, some captains were reluctant to leave Cádiz, and as a result they failed to follow Villeneuve's orders closely and the fleet straggled out of the harbour in no particular formation.
It took most of 20 October for Villeneuve to get his fleet organised; it eventually set sail in three columns for the Straits of Gibraltar to the southeast. That same evening,Achille spotted a force of 18 British ships of the line in pursuit. The fleet began to prepare for battle and during the night, they were ordered into a single line. The following day, Nelson's fleet of 27 ships of the line and four frigates was spotted in pursuit from the northwest with the wind behind it.[57] Villeneuve again ordered his fleet into three columns, but soon changed his mind and restored a single line. The result was a sprawling, uneven formation.
At5:40 a.m. on 21 October, the British were about 21 miles (34 km) to the northwest of Cape Trafalgar, with the Franco-Spanish fleet between the British and the Cape. About6 a.m., Nelson gave the order to prepare for battle.[58] At8 a.m., the British frigateEuryalus, which had been keeping watch on the Combined Fleet overnight, observed the British fleet still "forming the lines" in which it would attack.[59][self-published source]
At8 a.m., Villeneuve ordered the fleet towear together (turn about) and return to Cádiz. This reversed the order of the allied line, placing the rear division under Rear-AdmiralPierre Dumanoir le Pelley in the vanguard. The wind became contrary at this point, often shifting direction. The very light wind rendered manoeuvring virtually impossible for all but the most expert seamen. The inexperienced crews had difficulty with the changing conditions, and it took nearly an hour and a half for Villeneuve's order to be completed. The French and Spanish fleet now formed an uneven, angular crescent, with the slower ships generally toleeward and closer to the shore.
By11 a.m., Nelson's entire fleet was visible to Villeneuve, drawn up in two parallel columns. The two fleets would be within range of each other within an hour. Villeneuve was concerned at this point about forming up a line, as his ships were unevenly spaced in an irregular formation drawn out nearly 5 miles (8 km) long as Nelson's fleet approached.
As the British drew closer, they could see that the combined French and Spanish fleet was not sailing in a tight order, but in irregular groups. Nelson could not immediately make out the French flagship as the French and Spanish were not flying command pennants.
Nelson was outnumbered and outgunned, with the opposing fleet totalling nearly30000 men and2568 guns to Nelson's17000 men and2148 guns. The Franco-Spanish fleet also had six more ships of the line, and so could more readily combine their fire. There was no way for some of Nelson's ships to avoid being "doubled on" or even "trebled on".
As the two fleets drew closer, anxiety began to build among officers and sailors; one British sailor described the approach thus:
During this momentous preparation, the human mind had ample time for meditation, for it was evident that the fate of England rested on this battle.[60]
His Lordship came to me on thepoop, and after ordering certain signals to be made, about a quarter to noon, he said, "Mr. Pasco, I wish to say to the fleet,'England confides that every man will do his duty'" and he added "You must be quick, for I have one more to make which is for close action." I replied, "If your Lordship will permit me to substitute 'expects' for 'confides' the signal will soon be completed, because the word 'expects' is in the vocabulary, and 'confides' must be spelt," His Lordship replied, in haste, and with seeming satisfaction, "That will do, Pasco, make it directly."[62]
The term "England" was widely used at the time to refer to the United Kingdom; the British fleet included significant contingents from Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Unlike the photographic depiction above, this signal would have been shown on themizzen mast only and would have required 12 lifts.
As the battle opened, the French and Spanish were in a ragged curved line headed north. As planned, the British fleet was approaching the Franco-Spanish line in two columns. Leading the northern,windward column inVictory was Nelson, while Collingwood in the 100-gunRoyal Sovereign led the second, leeward, column. The two British columns approached from the west at nearly a right angle to the allied line. Nelson led his column into a feint toward the van of the Franco-Spanish fleet and then abruptly turned toward the actual point of attack. Collingwood altered the course of his column slightly so that the two lines converged at this line of attack.
Artist's conception ofHMS Sandwich fighting the FrenchflagshipBucentaure (completely dismasted) at Trafalgar.Bucentaure is also fightingHMS Temeraire (on the left) and being fired into byHMS Victory (behind her). In fact, this is a mistake byAuguste Mayer, the painter; HMSSandwich never fought at Trafalgar.[63]
Just before his column engaged the allied forces, Collingwood said to his officers, "Now, gentlemen, let us do something today which the world may talk of hereafter."[citation needed] Because the winds were very light during the battle, all the ships were moving extremely slowly, and the foremost British ships were under heavy fire from several of the allied ships for almost an hour before their own guns could bear.
At noon, Villeneuve sent the signal "engage the enemy", andFougueux fired her first trial shot atRoyal Sovereign.[64][65][66]Royal Sovereign had all sails out and, having recently had her bottom cleaned, outran the rest of the British fleet. As she approached the allied line, she came under fire fromFougueux,Indomptable,San Justo, andSan Leandro, before breaking the line just astern of Admiral Alava's flagshipSpanish ship Santa Ana, into which she fired a devastatingdouble-shotted raking broadside. On boardVictory, Nelson pointed toRoyal Sovereign and said, "See how that noble fellow Collingwood carries his ship into action!" At approximately the same moment, Collingwood remarked to his captain,Edward Rotheram, "What would Nelson give to be here?"[67]
Artist's conception of the situation at noon asRoyal Sovereign was breaking into the Franco-Spanish line
The second ship in the British lee column,Belleisle, was engaged byAigle,Achille,Neptune, andFougueux; she was soon completely dismasted, unable to manoeuvre and largely unable to fight, as her sails blinded her batteries, but kept flying her flag for 45 minutes until the following British ships came to her rescue.
For 40 minutes,Victory was under fire fromHéros,Santísima Trinidad,Redoutable, andNeptune; although many shots went astray, others killed and wounded a number of her crew and shot her wheel away, so that she had to be steered from her tiller belowdecks, all before she could respond. At 12:45,Victory cut the Franco-Spanish line between Villeneuve's flagshipBucentaure andRedoutable; she came close toBucentaure with her guns loaded with double or treble shots each, and her 68-pounder carronades loaded with 500 musketballs, she unleashed a devastating treble-shotted raking broadside throughBucentaure's stern which killed and wounded some 200–400 men of the ship's 800-man complement and dismasted the ship.[68][better source needed] This volley of gunfire from theVictory immediately knocked the French flagship out of action. Villeneuve thought that boarding would take place, and with theEagle of his ship in hand, told his men, "I will throw it onto the enemy ship and we will take it back there!" However,Victory engaged the 74-gunRedoutable;Bucentaure was left to the next three ships of the British windward column:Temeraire,Conqueror, andNeptune.
Painter Denis Dighton's imagining of Nelson being shot on the quarterdeck ofVictory
A general mêlée ensued.Victory locked masts with the FrenchRedoutable, whose crew, including a strong infantry corps (with three captains and four lieutenants), gathered for an attempt to board and seizeVictory. Amusket bullet fired from themizzentop ofRedoutable struck Nelson in the left shoulder, passed through his spine at the sixth and seventh thoracic vertebrae, and lodged two inches below his right scapula in the muscles of his back. Nelson exclaimed, "They finally succeeded, I am dead." He was carried below decks.
Painter Nicholas Pocock's conception of the situation at 1300h
Victory's gunners were called on deck to fight boarders, and she ceased firing. The gunners were forced back below decks by Frenchgrenades. As the French were preparing to boardVictory,Temeraire, the second ship in the British windward column, approached from the starboard bow ofRedoutable and fired on the exposed French crew with acarronade, causing many casualties.
At 13:55, the FrenchCaptain Lucas ofRedoutable, with 99 fit men out of 643 and severely wounded himself, surrendered. The FrenchBucentaure was isolated byVictory andTemeraire, and then engaged byNeptune,Leviathan, andConqueror; similarly,Santísima Trinidad was isolated and overwhelmed, surrendering after three hours.
Painter Nicholas Pocock's conception of the situation at 1700h
As more and more British ships entered the battle, the ships of the allied centre and rear were gradually overwhelmed. The allied van, after long remaining quiescent, made a futile demonstration and then sailed away.[36] During the combat, Gravina was wounded, whileDionisio Alcalá-Galiano andCosme Damián Churruca – commanders of theBahama andSan Juan Nepomuceno, respectively – were killed after ordering their ships not to surrender.[69][70] Gravina died from his wounds months later.[71] The British took 20 vessels of the Franco-Spanish fleet and lost none. Among the captured French ships wereAigle,Algésiras,Berwick,Bucentaure,Fougueux,Intrépide,Redoutable, andSwiftsure. The Spanish ships taken wereArgonauta,Bahama,Monarca,Neptuno,San Agustín,San Ildefonso,San Juan Nepomuceno,Santísima Trinidad, andSanta Ana. Of these,Redoutable sank, andSantísima Trinidad andArgonauta were scuttled by the British.Achille exploded,Intrépide andSan Augustín burned, andAigle,Berwick,Fougueux, andMonarca were wrecked in a gale following the battle.
As Nelson lay dying, he ordered the fleet to anchor, as a storm was predicted. However, when the storm blew up, many of the severely damaged ships sank or ran aground on theshoals. A few of them were recaptured, some by the French and Spanish prisoners overcoming the small prize crews, others by ships sallying from Cádiz. SurgeonWilliam Beatty heard Nelson murmur, "Thank God I have done my duty"; when he returned, Nelson's voice had faded, and his pulse was very weak.[72] He looked up as Beatty took his pulse, then closed his eyes. Nelson's chaplain,Alexander Scott, who remained by Nelson as he died, recorded his last words as "God and my country."[73] It has been suggested by Nelson historian Craig Cabell that Nelson was actually reciting his own prayer as he fell into his death coma, as the words 'God' and 'my country' are closely linked therein. Nelson died at half-past four, three hours after being hit.[72]
Towards the end of the battle, and with the combined fleet being overwhelmed, the still relatively un-engaged portion of the van under Rear-Admiral Dumanoir Le Pelley tried to come to the assistance of the collapsing centre. After failing to fight his way through, he decided to break off the engagement, and led four French ships, his flagship the 80-gunFormidable, the 74-gun shipsScipion,Duguay-Trouin andMont Blanc away from the fighting. He headed at first for the Straits of Gibraltar, intending to carry out Villeneuve's original orders and make for Toulon.[74] On 22 October he changed his mind, remembering a powerful British squadron under Rear-Admiral Thomas Louis was patrolling the straits, and headed north, hoping to reach one of the French Atlantic ports. With a storm gathering in strength off the Spanish coast, he sailed westwards to clearCape St. Vincent, prior to heading north-west, swinging eastwards across theBay of Biscay, and aiming to reach the French port atRochefort.[74] These four ships remained at large until their encounter with and attempt to chase a British frigate brought them in range of a British squadron underSir Richard Strachan, which captured them all on 4 November 1805 at theBattle of Cape Ortegal.[74]
Only eleven allied ships escaped to Cádiz, and, of those, only five were considered seaworthy. The seriously wounded Admiral Gravina passed command of the remainder of the fleet over to CommodoreJulien Cosmao on 23 October. From shore, the allied commanders could see an opportunity for a rescue mission. Cosmao claimed in his report that the rescue plan was entirely his idea, but Vice-AdmiralEscaño recorded a meeting of Spanish and French commodores at which a planned rescue was discussed and agreed upon.Enrique MacDonnell and Cosmao were of equal rank and both raised commodore's pennants before hoisting anchor.[75] Both sets of mariners were determined to make an attempt to recapture some of the prizes.[75] Cosmao ordered the rigging of his ship, the 74-gunPluton, to be repaired and reinforced her crew (which had been depleted by casualties from the battle), with sailors from the French frigateHermione. Taking advantage of a favourable northwesterly wind,Pluton, the 80-gunNeptune andIndomptable, the Spanish 100-gunRayo and 74-gunSan Francisco de Asis, together with five French frigates and two brigs, sailed out of the harbour towards the British.[76][77]
Soon after leaving port, the wind shifted to west-southwest, raising a heavy sea with the result that most of the British prizes broke their tow ropes, and drifting far toleeward, were only partially resecured. The combined squadron came in sight at noon, causing Collingwood to summon his most battle-ready ships to meet the threat. In doing so, he ordered them to cast off towing their prizes. He had formed a defensive line of ten ships by three o'clock in the afternoon and approached the Franco-Spanish squadron, covering the remainder of their prizes which stood out to sea.[77][78] The Franco-Spanish squadron, numerically inferior, chose not to approach within gunshot and then declined to attack.[79] Collingwood also chose not to seek action, and in the confusion of the powerful storm, the French frigates managed to retake two Spanish ships of the line which had been cast off by their British captors, the 112-gunSanta Ana and 80-gunNeptuno, taking them in tow and making for Cádiz.[80] On being taken in tow, the Spanish crews rose up against their British prize crews, putting them to work as prisoners.[66][81]
Despite this initial success the Franco-Spanish force, hampered by battle damage, struggled in the heavy seas.Neptuno was eventually wrecked offRota in the gale, whileSanta Ana reached port.[82] The French 80-gun shipIndomptable was wrecked on the 24th or 25th off the town of Rota on the northwest point of the bay of Cádiz.[citation needed] At the timeIndomptable had 1,200 men on board, but no more than 100 were saved.San Francisco de Asís was driven ashore inCádiz Bay, near Fort Santa Catalina, although her crew was saved.Rayo, an old three-deck vessel with more than 50 years of service, anchored offSanlúcar, a fewleagues to the northwest of Rota. There, she lost her masts, already damaged in the battle.[citation needed] Heartened by the approach of the squadron, the French crew of the former flagshipBucentaure also rose up and retook the ship from the British prize crew but she was wrecked later on 23 October.Aigle escaped from the British shipHMS Defiance, but was wrecked off thePort of Santa María on 23 October; while the French prisoners onBerwick cut the tow cables, but caused her to founder off Sanlúcar on 22 October. The crew ofAlgésiras rose up and managed to sail into Cádiz.[66]
Observing that some of the leewardmost of the prizes were escaping towards the Spanish coast,Leviathan asked for and was granted permission by Collingwood to try to retrieve the prizes and bring them to anchor.Leviathan chasedMonarca, but on 24 October she came acrossRayo, dismasted but still flying Spanish colours, at anchor off the shoals of Sanlúcar.[citation needed] At this point the 74-gunHMS Donegal, en route from Gibraltar under CaptainPulteney Malcolm, was seen approaching from the south on thelarboard tack with a moderate breeze from northwest-by-north and steered directly for the Spanish three-decker.[83][incomplete short citation] At about ten o'clock, just asMonarca had got within little more than a mile ofRayo,Leviathan fired a warning shot wide ofMonarca, to oblige her to drop anchor. The shot fell betweenMonarca andRayo. The latter, conceiving that it was probably intended for her, hauled down her colours, and was taken by HMSDonegal, who anchored alongside and took off the prisoners.[citation needed]Leviathan resumed her pursuit ofMonarca, eventually catching up and forcing her to surrender. On boarding her, her British captors found that she was in a sinking state, and so removed the British prize crew, and nearly all of her original Spanish crew members. The nearly emptyMonarca parted her cable and was wrecked during the night. Despite the efforts of her British prize crew,Rayo was driven onshore on 26 October and wrecked, with the loss of 25 men. The remainder of the prize crew were made prisoners by the Spanish.[84][incomplete short citation]
Casualties % by ship.[c] The number is the order in the line. HMS Africa • British weather column, led byNelson • British lee column, led byCollingwood • French • Spanish
In the aftermath of the storm, Collingwood wrote to theBritish Admiralty on November 1805:
The condition of our own ships was such that it was very doubtful what would be their fate. Many a time I would have given the whole group of our capture, to ensure our own... I can only say that in my life I never saw such efforts as were made to save these [prize] ships, and would rather fight another battle than pass through such a week as followed it...[85]
On balance, the allied counter-attack achieved little. In forcing the British to suspend their repairs to defend themselves, it influenced Collingwood's decision to sink or set fire to the most damaged of his remaining prizes.[80] Cosmao retook two Spanish ships of the line, but it cost him one French and two Spanish vessels to do so. Fearing their loss, the British burnt or sankSantísima Trinidad,Argonauta,San Antonio, andIntrépide.[66] Only four of the British prizes, the FrenchSwiftsure and the SpanishBahama,San Ildefonso andSan Juan Nepomuceno survived to be taken to Britain.[80] After the end of the battle and storm only nine ships of the line were left in Cádiz.[76][86]
Spanish military garrisons and civilians set out to rescue survivors from the numerous shipwrecks scattered along the Andalusian coast. British prize crews were captured and given good treatment. On 27 October, Collingwood offered the governor of Cádiz to put his Spanish wounded prisoners ashore and set them free. The governor and Gravina offered in exchange to release their British prisoners, who boarded the British fleet. The French later joined this humanitarian agreement.[87]
The disparity in losses has been attributed by some historians less to Nelson's daring tactics than to the difference in fighting readiness of the two fleets.[88] Nelson's fleet was made up of ships of the line which had spent a considerable amount of sea time during the months of blockades of French ports, whilst the French fleet had generally been at anchor in port. However, Villeneuve's fleet had just spent months at sea crossing the Atlantic twice, which supports the proposition that the main difference between the two fleets' combat effectiveness was the morale of the leaders. The daring tactics employed by Nelson were to ensure a strategically decisive result. The results vindicated his naval judgement.
Report of Spanish losses in the combat of 21 October
When Rosily arrived in Cádiz, he found only five French ships, rather than the 18 he was expecting. The surviving ships remained bottled up in Cádiz until 1808 whenNapoleon invaded Spain. The French ships were thenseized by the Spanish forces and put into service against France. HMSVictory made her way to Gibraltar for repairs, carrying Nelson's body. She put into Rosia Bay, Gibraltar and after emergency repairs were carried out, returned to Britain. Many of the injured crew were taken ashore at Gibraltar and treated in the Naval Hospital. Men who subsequently died from injuries sustained at the battle are buried in or near theTrafalgar Cemetery, at the south end ofMain Street, Gibraltar. OneRoyal Marine officer, Captain Charles Adair, was killed on boardVictory, and Royal Marine Lieutenant Lewis Buckle Reeve was seriously wounded and laid next to Nelson.[d]
The battle took place the day after theBattle of Ulm, and Napoleon did not hear about it for weeks—theGrande Armée had left Boulogne to fight Britain's allies before they could combine their armies. He had tight control over the Paris media and kept the defeat a closely guarded secret for over a month, at which point newspapers proclaimed it to have been a tremendous victory.[89] In a counter-propaganda move, a fabricated text declaring the battle a "spectacular victory" for the French and Spanish was published inHerald and attributed toLe Moniteur Universel.[90][91]
Vice-Admiral Villeneuve was taken prisoner aboard his flagship and taken back to Britain. After his parole in 1806, he returned to France, where he was found dead in his inn room during a stop on the way to Paris, with six stab wounds in the chest from a dining knife. It was officially recorded that he had committed suicide. Despite the British victory over the Franco-Spanish navies, Trafalgar had negligible impact on the remainder of theWar of the Third Coalition. Less than two months later, Napoleon decisively defeated the Third Coalition at theBattle of Austerlitz, knocking Austria out of the war and forcing the dissolution of theHoly Roman Empire. Although Trafalgar meant France could no longer challenge Britain at sea, Napoleon proceeded to establish theContinental System in an attempt to deny Britain trade with the continent. The Napoleonic Wars continued for another ten years after Trafalgar.[92] Nelson's body was preserved in a barrel of brandy for the trip home to a hero's funeral.[93][page needed]
Following the battle, the Royal Navy was never again seriously challenged by the French fleet in a large-scale engagement. Napoleon had already abandoned his plans of invasion before the battle and they were never revived. The battle did not mean, however, that the French naval challenge to Britain was over. First, as the French control over the continent expanded, Britain had to take active steps with theBattle of Copenhagen in 1807 and elsewhere in 1808 to prevent the ships of smaller European navies from falling into French hands. This effort was largely successful, but did not end the French threat as Napoleon instituted a large-scale shipbuilding programme that had produced a fleet of 80 ships of the line at the time of his fall from power in 1814, with more under construction.[94] However, despite constituting a substantialfleet in being, these had no impact on Britain's naval superiority throughout the conflict. For almost 10 years after Trafalgar, the Royal Navy maintained a close blockade of French bases and observed the growth of the French fleet. In the end, Napoleon's Empire was destroyed by land before his ambitious naval build-up could be completed.
The Royal Navy proceeded to dominate the sea until theSecond World War.[95][full citation needed] Although the victory at Trafalgar was typically given as the reason at the time, modern historical analyses suggest that relative economic strength was an important underlying cause of British naval mastery.
Detail from a modern reproduction of an 1805 poster commemorating the battleNelson on top ofNelson's Column inTrafalgar Square in London
Nelson became – and remains – Britain's greatest naval war hero, and an inspiration to the Royal Navy, yet his unorthodox tactics were seldom emulated by later generations. The first monument to be erected in Britain to commemorate Nelson may be that raised onGlasgow Green in 1806, albeit possibly preceded by a monument atTaynuilt, nearOban in Scotland dated 1805, both also commemorating the many Scots crew and captains at the battle.[96][e] The 144-foot-tall (44 m)Nelson Monument on Glasgow Green was designed byDavid Hamilton and paid for by public subscription. Around the base are the names of his major victories:Aboukir (1798),Copenhagen (1801) and Trafalgar (1805).The Nelson Monument overlooking Portsmouth was built in 1807–08 with money subscribed by sailors and marines who served at Trafalgar.[97] In 1808,Nelson's Pillar was erected by leading members of the Anglo-Irish aristocracy inDublin to commemorate Nelson and his achievements (between 10% and 20% of the sailors at Trafalgar had been from Ireland[98][99]), and remained until it was destroyed in a bombing by "OldIRA" members in 1966.[96]Nelson's Monument in Edinburgh was built between 1807 and 1815 in the form of an upturnedtelescope, and in 1853 atime ball was added which still drops at noonGMT to give a time signal to ships inLeith and theFirth of Forth. In summer this coincides with theone o'clock gun being fired. TheBritannia Monument inGreat Yarmouth was raised by 1819.Nelson's Column, Montreal began public subscriptions soon after news of the victory at Trafalgar arrived; the column was completed in the autumn of 1809 and still stands inPlace Jacques Cartier. Astatue of Lord Nelson stood in Bridgetown, Barbados, in what was also once known asTrafalgar Square, from 1813 to 2020.
London'sTrafalgar Square was named in honour of Nelson's victory. At the centre of the square there is the 45.1 m (148 ft)Nelson's Column, with a 5.5 m (18 ft) statue of Nelson on top. It was finished in 1843.
Wikimedia Commons has media related toTrafalgar 200.
In 2005 a series of events around the UK, part of theSea Britain theme, marked the bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar. The 200th anniversary of the battle was also commemorated on six occasions inPortsmouth during June and July, atSt Paul's Cathedral (where Nelson is entombed), in Trafalgar Square in London in October (T Square 200), and across the UK.
On 28 June, QueenElizabeth II was involved in the largestFleet Review in modern times in theSolent, in which 167 ships from 35 nations took part. The Queen inspected the international fleet from the Antarctic patrol shipHMS Endurance. The fleet included six aircraft carriers (modern capital ships):Charles de Gaulle,Illustrious,Invincible,Ocean,Principe de Asturias andSaipan. In the evening a symbolic re-enactment of the battle was staged with fireworks and various small ships playing parts in the battle.
LieutenantJohn Lapenotière's historic voyage inHMS Pickle bringing the news of the victory from the fleet toFalmouth and thence bypost chaise to theAdmiralty in London was commemorated by the inauguration ofThe Trafalgar Way and further highlighted by theNew Trafalgar Dispatch celebrations from July to September in which an actor played the part of Lapenotière and re-enacted parts of the historic journey.
On the actual anniversary day, 21 October, naval manoeuvres were conducted in Trafalgar Bay near Cádiz involving a combined fleet from Britain, Spain, and France. Many descendants of people present at the battle, including members of Nelson's family, were at the ceremony.[104]
^abRichter, Florian (2018).The Battle of Trafalgar 1805: Profile Models of Every Ship in Both Fleets. United Kingdom: Helion, Limited.ISBN9781912174812.
^See for example:NC staff (July–December 1805). "First Bulletin of the Grand Naval Army [From the Moniteur] As it appeared in the Herald. Battle of Trafalgar".Naval Chronicle.14. Fleet Street, London: J. Gold. Cited byACS staff (2009).
^Westmacott, Charles Molloy; Jones, Stephen (1806).The Spirit of the Public Journals. Vol. 9. James Ridgeway. p. 322.Archived from the original on 24 March 2023. Retrieved27 March 2015.Being an impartial selection of the most exquisite essays andjeux d'esprits, principally prose, that appear in the newspapers and other publications ... Footnote of one claim: 'This turned out to be really asserted afterwards by the French newspapers.' The authors hence believe the rest to be a fabrication.
Best, Nicholas (2005).Trafalgar. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.ISBN0-297-84622-1.
Clayton, Tim; Craig, Phil (2004).Trafalgar: The Men, the Battle, the Storm. Hodder & Stoughton.ISBN0-340-83028-X.OL18807332M.
Corbett, Sir Julian Stafford (1919).The campaign of Trafalgar. Vol. 2. Longmans, Green, and company. p. 538.UrlArchived 24 March 2023 at theWayback Machine
Harding, Richard (1999). "Naval Warfare 1453–1815". In Black, Jeremy (ed.).European Warfare 1453–1815. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 96–117.ISBN978-0-333-69223-3.
Hayward, Joel S. (2003).For God and Glory: Lord Nelson and His Way of War. Naval Institute Press. p. 63.ISBN978-1-6125-1779-7.
Nicolson, Adam (2005).Men of Honour: Trafalgar and the Making of the English Hero (U.S. title Seize the Fire: Heroism, Duty, and the Battle of Trafalgar). Harper Collins.ISBN0-00-719209-6.
Huskisson, Thomas,Eyewitness to Trafalgar, reprinted in 1985 as a limited edition of 1000; Ellisons' Editions,ISBN0-946092-09-5—the author was half-brother ofWilliam Huskisson
Lambert, Andrew,War at Sea in the Age of Sail, Chapter 8, 2000, London,ISBN1-55278-127-5
