Battle of Trafalgar

For other uses, see The Battle of Trafalgar (disambiguation).

Battle of Trafalgar
Part of the Trafalgar campaign of the War of the Third Coalition
The Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805 by Clarkson Frederick Stanfield
Date 21 October 1805 Location off Cape Trafalgar, Atlantic Ocean Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	France Spain
Commanders and leaders
Horatio Nelson † Cuthbert Collingwood	Pierre Villeneuve (POW)  Federico Gravina (DOW)
Strength
27 ships of the line 4 frigates 1 schooner 1 cutter 2,148 guns 17,000 men	33 ships of the line 5 frigates 2 brigs 2,632 guns 30,000 men
Casualties and losses
458 killed 1,208 wounded	4,395 killed 2,541 wounded 7,000–8,000 captured 17 ships of the line captured 1 ship of the line destroyed

The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval engagement that took place on 21 October 1805 between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815

As part of Napoleon's plans to invade the United Kingdom, the French and Spanish fleets combined to take control of the English Channel and provide the Grande Armée safe passage. The allied fleet, under the command of the French admiral, Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, sailed from the port of Cádiz in the south of Spain on 18 October 1805. They encountered the British fleet under Lord Nelson, recently assembled to meet this threat, in the Atlantic Ocean along the southwest coast of Spain, off Cape Trafalgar.

Nelson was outnumbered, with 27 British ships of the line to 33 Franco-Spanish ships, including the largest warship in either fleet, the Spanish Santísima Trinidad. To address this imbalance, Nelson sailed his fleet directly at the allied battle line's flank, 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. The plan worked almost perfectly; Nelson's columns split the Franco-Spanish fleet in three, isolating the rear half from Villeneuve's flag aboard Bucentaure. 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 20 allied ships were lost, while the British lost none.

The offensive exposed the leading British ships to intense crossfire as they approached the Franco-Spanish lines. Nelson's own HMS 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 flagship Bucentaure. He attended Nelson's funeral while a captive on parole in Britain. The senior Spanish fleet officer, Admiral Federico 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 from prevailing naval tactical orthodoxy.

Background

Main article: Trafalgar Campaign

In 1805, the First French Empire, under Napoleon Bonaparte, was the dominant military land power on the European continent, while the British Royal Navy controlled the seas. During the course of the war, the British imposed a naval blockade on France, which affected trade and kept the French from fully mobilising their naval resources. 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.

When the Third Coalition declared war on France, after the short-lived Peace of Amiens, Napoleon renewed his determination to invade Britain. To allow his invasion flotilla to reach England, he needed to wrest control of the English Channel from the Royal Navy. The main French fleets were at Brest in Brittany and at Toulon on the Mediterranean coast. Other ports on the French Atlantic coast harboured smaller squadrons. France and Spain were allied, so the Spanish fleet based in Cádiz and Ferrol was also available.

The British possessed an experienced and well-trained corps of naval officers. By contrast, some of the best officers in the French navy had been executed or had left the service during the early part of the French Revolution. Vice-Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve had taken command of the French Mediterranean fleet following the death of Latouche Treville.
There had been more competent officers, but they had either been employed elsewhere or had fallen from Napoleon's favour. Villeneuve had shown a distinct reluctance for facing Nelson and the Royal Navy after the French defeat at the Battle of the Nile in 1798. 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 the Caribbean. 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.

Pursuit of Villeneuve

Early in 1805, Vice Admiral Lord Nelson commanded the British fleet blockading the Mediterranean port of Toulon. Unlike William Cornwallis, who maintained a close blockade off Brest with the Channel 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 let them come out to you, if you cannot get at them." 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 for Egypt, but Villeneuve instead took his fleet through the Strait 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.

The Chase to the West Indies

He missed them by just days in the West Indies as a result of false information.

Cádiz

Having lured the British to the West Indies, Villeneuve returned from the Caribbean to Europe, intending to break the blockade at Brest. 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 intelligence Lord Barham immediately ordered Admiral Cornwallis to combine his squadron with that of Vice Admiral Calder off Ferrol and to stretch out thirty to forty leagues into the Atlantic to block the French from entering the Channel. Calder intercepted the French resulting in an inconclusive engagement during the Battle of Cape Finisterre in which two of the Spanish ships were captured. Villeneuve abandoned his plan and sailed back to Ferrol in northern Spain. There he received orders from Napoleon to return to Brest according to the main plan.
Napoleon's invasion plans for Britain depended on having a sufficiently large number of ships of the line protecting his port of Boulogne on the English Channel. This would require Villeneuve's force of 33 ships to join Vice-Admiral Ganteaume'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. 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.

The same month, Admiral Lord Nelson returned home to Britain after two years of duty at sea. He remained ashore for 25 days and was warmly received by his countrymen. Word reached Britain on 2 September about the combined French and Spanish fleet in Cádiz harbour. Nelson had to wait until 15 September before his ship, HMS Victory, was ready to sail. 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, leaving the Channel with only 11 ships of the line. 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.
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 and sent a squadron of frigates (faster, but too small for the line of battle) to keep watch on the harbour. This was led by Captain Blackwood aboard HMS Euryalus, with five frigates, a schooner, and a brig.

Supply situation

Nelson's fleet badly needed provisioning. On 2 October, five ships of the line, HMS Queen, Canopus, Spencer, Zealous, Tigre, and the frigate HMS Endymion were dispatched to Gibraltar under Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Louis for supplies.

Battle of Trafalgar by William Lionel Wyllie, Juno Tower, CFB Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

These ships were later diverted for convoy duty in the Mediterranean, although Nelson had expected them to return. Similarly, HMS Superb under Captain Richard 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. Other British ships continued to arrive, and by 15 October the fleet was up to full strength for the battle. Nelson also lost Calder's flagship, the 98-gun Prince 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.
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. 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 at Cartagena, go to Naples and land the soldiers they carried to reinforce his troops there, then fight decisively if they met a numerically inferior British fleet.

Fleets

Main article: Order of battle at the Battle of Trafalgar

British

	British	Franco- Spanish
First rates	3	4
Second rates	4	0
Third rates	20	29
Total ships of the line	27	33
Other ships	6	7

On 21 October, Admiral Nelson had 27 ships of the line with 2148 cannons, and a total of 17000 crewmen and marines under his command. Nelson's flagship, HMS Victory, captained by Thomas Masterman Hardy, was one of three 100-gun first-rates in his fleet. He also had four 98-gun second-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-gun schooner and a 10-gun cutter.

Franco-Spanish

Against Nelson, Vice-Admiral Villeneuve, sailing on his flagship Bucentaure, 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 some 30000 men and marines manning 2632 cannons. The fleet also included five 40-gun frigates and two 18-gun brigs, all French.

Prelude

Nelson's plan

The prevailing tactical orthodoxy at the time involved manoeuvring to approach the enemy fleet in a single line of battle and then engaging broadside in parallel lines. 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. 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. 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.
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. 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 the tactics used by Admiral Duncan at the Battle of Camperdown and Admiral Jervis at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, both in 1797.

The Battle of Trafalgar painted by Samuel Drummond in 1825

The plan had three principal advantages:

• First, the British fleet would close with the Franco-Spanish as quickly as possible, preventing their escape.
• Second, it would quickly bring on a mêlée 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.
• Third, it would bring a decisive concentration on the rear of the Franco-Spanish fleet. The ships in the van of the French and Spanish fleet would have to turn back to support the rear, which would take a long time. 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 direct raking broadside 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 (including stunsails), yet another departure from the norm. 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 heavy swell, causing the ships to roll heavily and exacerbate the problem. Nelson's plan was a carefully calculated gamble.
During the blockade off the coast of Spain in October, Nelson instructed his captains, over two dinners aboard Victory, 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. 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.

The first, led by his second-in-command Vice-Admiral Cuthbert 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. 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 the Nelson Chequer) that would make them easy to distinguish from their opponents.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."
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. 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 of cat 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.

Battle

Napoleon was appalled by Villeneuve's behaviour, which forced him to temporarily abandon the planned invasion of England. He therefore ordered Villeneuve to sail to Naples to land the 4,000 soldiers still embarked there However, as Villeneuve remained inactive, Napoleon intended to replace him with François Étienne de Rosily-Mesros. Only when Villeneuve learned of this on 18 October did he take action and set sail on 19 October 1805. Due to the inexperience of the ships' crews and unfavourable winds, it took the Allied fleet until the morning of 20 October to leave the harbour. Around 12 noon, Villeneuve gave the order to form three columns.
However, repeated wind changes meant that it took until 4 p.m. for the entire fleet to adopt its formation and set a south-easterly course towards Cape Trafalgar. After Nelson was informed at about 9:30 a.m. on 19 October that the frigate HMS Sirius had observed the enemy fleet leaving, he gave the signal for a general pursuit heading south-east. Nelson's plan was to break through the enemy's ship line vertically from the side with two battle lines
The enemy ships in the rearguard and in the centre were to be defeated in close combat before the ships in the vanguard could turn and rush to their aid. Nelson relied above all on the better training and greater experience of his sailors and officers At around 6 p.m. on 20 October, the Achille sighted 18 enemy ships heading south-southwest. When Villeneuve learned of this at 8.30 p.m., the two fleets were only 15 nautical miles apart. As a clash was therefore imminent, he signalled his ships to jibe and form a battle line on the port bow. With this manoeuvre, he wanted to keep the way to Cadíz open in the event of a necessary retreat.
Due to poor wind conditions, it took around two hours for the manoeuvre to be completed. This had the effect of creating an irregular formation with many gaps. At 5:40 am on 21 October, the British were about 18 nautical miles northwest of Cape Trafalgar, while the Franco-Spanish fleet was between the British and the Cape. Nelson's last diary entry of the day before the battle began reads:

Monday Oct 21st 1805 At daylight saw the Enemy's Combined Fleet from East to ESE; bore away; made the Signal for Order of Sailing and to Prepare for Battle; the Enemy with their heads to the Southward: at seven the Enemy wearing in succession. May the Great God, whom I worship, grant to my Country, and for the benefit of Europe in general, a great and glorious Victory; and may no misconduct in any one tarnish it; and may humanity after Victory be the predominant feature in the British fleet. For myself, individually; I commit my Life to Him who made me, and may his blessing light upon my endeavours for serving my Country faithfully. To Him I resign myself and the just cause which is entrusted to me to defend. Amen, Amen, Amen.

— Horatio Nelson,

6 am to 2 pm

At around 6 o'clock in the morning, Nelson signalled to his fleet to prepare for battle. Shortly afterwards, he gave the order to form two columns and sail north-east towards the enemy fleet. As both fleets approached each other at right angles, Nelson signalled to his own ships at around 11:40 a.m.: 'England expects that every man will do his duty.' Vice-Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood was in command of the leeward division, while Nelson commanded the windward division on the Victory. Although Villeneuve was expecting his manoeuvre:

L'Ennemi ne se bornera pas à se former sur une ligne de bataille parallèle à la nôtre et à venir nous livrer au combat d'artillerie, dont le succès appartient souvent au plus habile, mais toujours au plus heureux ; il cherchera à entourer notre arrière-garde, à nous traverser, et à porter sur ceux de nos Vaisseaux qu'il aurait désunis, des pelotons des siens pour les envelopper et les réduire.

— Pierre de Villeneuve,

he had no intention of attacking on the same principle, nor did he propose an effective method of countering or thwarting Nelson's anticipated moves.

At around 11.30 a.m., the ships of the Allied fleet opened fire on the Royal Sovereign with the first long-range shots. At 12 noon, Royal Sovereign was the first to break through the enemy line between the Santa Ana and the Fougueux, firing her port guns into the stern of the Santa Ana, killing or wounding most of the crew. At the same time, she fired her starboard guns at the Fougueux. The Royal Sovereign then turned round and lay alongside the Santa Ana. At the same time, the Indomptabile, the San Justo and the San Leandro opened fire on the Royal Sovereign. After the Royal Sovereign had been exposed to fire from five ships alone and without support for 15 minutes, the Belleisle was the next to break through the enemy line, firing simultaneously at the Santa Ana and the Fougueux.
A fierce battle ensued, and after passing the Santa Ana, the Belleisle turned in the direction of the Indomptable. However, the latter was able to swerve just in time to avoid a broadside into her stern. The Indomptable then moved off in a south-easterly direction. Meanwhile, the Royal Sovereign continued to fire on the Santa Ana until the crew surrendered at about 14:15. A few minutes after the Belleisle, the Mars reached the enemy lines. However, due to the heavy fire from the Pluton and the Monarca, she was unable to make a breakthrough and turned to the north-east under fire from the Pluton. At around 13:00, the Tonnant appeared, overtook the Monarca on the port side and fired a broadside into the stern of the Pluton and into the bow of the Algéciras coming from the lee.
At 12:30, the Windward Division, with the Victory in the lead, reached the line of the Franco-Spanish fleet and broke through it between the Bucentaure and the Redoutable. In the process, the Victory came under fire from the Santísima Trinidad, the French Neptune and the San Justo. For her part, the Victory approached the stern of the Bucentaure at point-blank range and fired several broadsides at the ship, causing severe damage to the Bucentaure, which was incapacitated after only a few minutes. The French Neptune then approached the Bucentaure and fired at the Victory, sustaining damage to the foremast and bowsprit. The Victory then dropped to port and fired at the Redoutable, which was approaching from starboard. The two ships collided and were now right next to each other. A few minutes later, the Temeraire broke through the enemy lines and slipped between the Redoutable and the French Neptune.
In the ensuing mêlée, Nelson was seriously wounded by a musket shot and taken below deck, where he died at about 16:30. Together with the Victory, the Temeraire took the Redoutable in crossfire, whereupon the crew surrendered at about 13:30. Gradually, more and more British ships broke through the enemy line. While the British Neptune lay to starboard of the Santísima Trinidad and fired several broadsides at the Spanish ship, the Africa approached from the north and the Conqueror from the south. After the Santísima Trinidad had been exposed to fire from three ships for about an hour, Rear-Admiral Cisneros had the Union Jack hoisted at 14:35 as a sign of surrender.

2 pm to 5:15 pm

At around 2 p.m., Villeneuve signalled to his vanguard under the command of Rear Admiral Dumanoir, which was sailing further north, that it should turn and come to the rescue. After Dumanoir tried in vain to isolate the Spartiae and the Minotaur, he turned to the southwest. Only the Intrépide and the San Augustin followed Villeneuve's orders and approached the battle from the north. They were immediately fired upon by several British ships, including the Britannia, the Agamemnon and the Leviathan, whereupon they surrendered to the Orion after an hour-long 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 the shoals. A few of them were recaptured, some by the French and Spanish prisoners overcoming the small prize crews, others by ships sallying from Cádiz. Surgeon William 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.
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." 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.
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-gun Formidable, the 74-gun ships Scipion, Duguay-Trouin and Mont 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. At around 16:30, Admiral Gravina signalled to those ships that were able to do so to assemble and retreat towards Cadíz. This ended the battle.

Cosmao and MacDonnell sortie

The gale after Trafalgar, depicted by Thomas Buttersworth.

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 Commodore Julien 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-Admiral Escaño recorded a meeting of Spanish and French commodores at which a planned rescue was discussed and agreed upon. Enrique MacDonell and Cosmao were of equal rank and both raised commodore's pennants before hoisting anchor.
Both sets of mariners were determined to make an attempt to recapture some of the prizes. Cosmao ordered the rigging of his ship, the 74-gun Pluton, to be repaired and reinforced her crew (which had been depleted by casualties from the battle), with sailors from the French frigate Hermione. Taking advantage of a favourable northwesterly wind, Pluton, the 80-gun Neptune and Indomptable, the Spanish 100-gun Rayo and 74-gun San Francisco de Asis, together with five French frigates and two brigs, sailed out of the harbour towards the British..

The British cast off the prizes

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 to leeward, 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. The Franco-Spanish squadron, numerically inferior, chose not to approach within gunshot and then declined to attack..
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-gun Santa Ana and 80-gun Neptuno, taking them in tow and making for Cádiz.. On being taken in tow, the Spanish crews rose up against their British prize crews, putting them to work as prisoners.

Painting depicting the French frigate Thémis towing the re-taken Spanish first-rate ship of the line Santa Ana into Cádiz. Auguste Mayer, 19th century.

Despite this initial success the Franco-Spanish force, hampered by battle damage, struggled in the heavy seas. Neptuno was eventually wrecked off Rota in the gale, while Santa Ana reached port. The French 80-gun ship Indomptable was wrecked on the 24th or 25th off the town of Rota on the northwest point of the bay of Cádiz. At the time Indomptable had 1200 men on board, but no more than 100 were saved.
San Francisco de Asís was driven ashore in Cádiz Bay, near Fort Santa Catalina, although her crew was saved. Rayo, an old three-deck vessel with more than 50 years of service, anchored off Sanlúcar, a few leagues to the northwest of Rota. There, she lost her masts, already damaged in the battle. Heartened by the approach of the squadron, the French crew of the former flagship Bucentaure 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 ship HMS Defiance, but was wrecked off the Port of Santa María on 23 October; while the French prisoners on Berwick cut the tow cables, but caused her to founder off Sanlúcar on 22 October. The crew of Algésiras rose up and managed to sail into Cádiz.

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 chased Monarca, but on 24 October she came across Rayo, dismasted but still flying Spanish colours, at anchor off the shoals of Sanlúcar. At this point the 74-gun HMS Donegal, en route from Gibraltar under Captain Pulteney Malcolm, was seen approaching from the south on the larboard tack with a moderate breeze from northwest-by-north and steered directly for the Spanish three-decker. At about ten o'clock, just as Monarca had got within little more than a mile of Rayo, Leviathan fired a warning shot wide of Monarca, to oblige her to drop anchor. The shot fell between Monarca and Rayo. The latter, conceiving that it was probably intended for her, hauled down her colours, and was taken by HMS Donegal, who anchored alongside and took off the prisoners.

Leviathan resumed her pursuit of Monarca, 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 empty Monarca 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. The storm continued until 29 October, destroying nine ships and costing the lives of a further 2,700 men. After the storm subsided, all British ships and the remaining prizes safely reached British harbours.

Aftermath

Villeneuve lost 18 ships in the battle, 17 of which fell into British hands as prizes. Together, the Allied fleet suffered 2,458 dead and 2,781 wounded. On the British side, there were 458 dead and 1208 wounded, and the Battle of Trafalgar finally eliminated the French navy as a rival to the Royal Navy. The French were able to replace some of the lost ships, but their navy never again reached a dangerous strength for the British. Napoleon was therefore no longer in a position to jeopardise the naval supremacy of the United Kingdom. He had to abandon his invasion plans for the British Isles and concentrate his campaigns on the European mainland. The Spanish were subsequently unable to muster a large fleet. At the same time, the defeat at Trafalgar contributed significantly to the loss of their colonies in South America.
News of Nelson's victory and death reached London on 4 November. Nelson was honoured in the press as a national hero and the victory over Napoleon was celebrated. Nelson's body was preserved in a barrel of brandy for the trip home to a hero's funeral. Nelson was posthumously raised to the rank of earl and his eldest brother William received an annual pension of £5,000. Vice-Admiral Collingwood was made a baronet and received £2,000 a year. Nelson's body was taken on the Thames from Greenwich to Whitehall on 8 January 1806, where he received a state funeral a day later and was buried in St Paul's Cathedral. While the Spanish accepted their defeat, the battle was completely ignored in France. With Napoleon still between Ulm and Austerlitz, France dared not show any sign of weakness. Villeneuve returned to France in April 1806 after his imprisonment in the United Kingdom. There he was exiled to Rennes by Napoleon and committed suicide on 22 April.

Reasons for the british victory

In addition to Nelson's new attack tactics, the sailors and officers were the decisive factor. They were better trained, more disciplined and healthier Another advantage the British had over the Franco-Spanish fleet was their armament. While the French and Spanish continued to use matchlocks to fire their cannons, the British used a gunlock mechanism. This enabled them to fire their cannons every 90 seconds, whereas the French and Spanish needed four to five minutes to do so.
Villeneuve's leadership in July/August 1805 has often been criticised. He did not appear sovereign in those months. However, it should be borne in mind that he was in command of a fleet that could hardly pose a threat to its opponent in the Battle of Trafalgar - despite the numerical superiority of the two allies. His decisions on the day of the battle were appropriate to the situation and he had clearly recognised Nelson's battle strategy. For example, he signalled his vanguard to turn and thus stab the British in the back. Villeneuve also generally did everything a military leader at the head of an inferior force could do that day. The British navy fed off the myth spun after the Battle of Trafalgar for around a century. The battle and the circumstances of his death finally sealed Nelson's fame. Thereafter, every British admiral had to measure himself against the myth he had created around his person.

Consequences

A broadside from the 1850s recounts the story

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 the Battle 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. However, for almost hundred years the Royal Navy remainded the most dominat naval power.

100th anniversary

In 1905, there were events up and down the country to commemorate the centenary, although none were attended by any member of the Royal Family, apparently to avoid upsetting the French, with whom the United Kingdom had recently entered the Entente cordiale. King Edward VII did support the Nelson Centenary Memorial Fund of the British and Foreign Sailors Society, which sold Trafalgar centenary souvenirs marked with the Royal cypher. A gala was held on 21 October at the Royal Albert Hall in aid of the fund, which included a specially commissioned film by Alfred John West entitled Our Navy. The event ended with God Save the King and La Marseillaise. The first performance of Sir Henry Wood's Fantasia on British Sea Songs occurred on the same day at a special Promenade Concert.

200th anniversary

In 2005 a series of events around the UK, part of the Sea Britain theme, marked the bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar. The 200th anniversary of the battle was also commemorated on six occasions in Portsmouth during June and July, at St Paul's Cathedral (where Nelson is entombed), in Trafalgar Square in London in October (T Square 200), and across the UK.
On 28 June, Queen Elizabeth II was involved in the largest Fleet Review in modern times in the Solent, in which 167 ships from 35 nations took part. The Queen inspected the international fleet from the Antarctic patrol ship HMS Endurance. The fleet included six aircraft carriers (modern capital ships): Charles de Gaulle, Illustrious, Invincible, Ocean, Principe de Asturias and Saipan. In the evening a symbolic re-enactment of the battle was staged with fireworks and various small ships playing parts in the battle.
Lieutenant John Lapenotière's historic voyage in HMS Pickle bringing the news of the victory from the fleet to Falmouth and thence by post chaise to the Admiralty in London was commemorated by the inauguration of The Trafalgar Way and further highlighted by the New 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.

See also

• List of Royal Navy ships
• List of ships captured in the 19th century § Battle of Trafalgar
• Bibliography of 18th–19th century Royal Naval history
• Trafalgar Day

References

• "Rear Admiral Bertie". Naval Chronicle. 26. 1811.
• ACS staff (2009). "Battle of Trafalgar – propaganda". The Archives and Collections Society. Archived from the original on 24 October 2009. Retrieved 15 March 2009.
• Adkin, Mark (2005). The Trafalgar Companion: A Guide to History's Most Famous Sea Battle and the Life of Admiral Lord Nelson. London: Aurum Press. ISBN 1-84513-018-9.
• Adkins, Roy (2004). Nelson's Trafalgar, The Battle that changed the World (1st ed.). London: Penguin Books. ISBN 9780143037958.
• Adkins, Roy; Adkins, Lesley (2006). The War For All The World's Oceans. London: Little, Brown Book Group. ISBN 0-316-72837-3.
• Allen, Joseph (1853). Life of Lord Viscount Nelson. George Routledge. p. 210.
• BBC staff (21 October 2008). "Hero's medal marks Trafalgar Day". BBC News. Archived from the original on 11 January 2009. Retrieved 6 January 2009.
• Best, Nicholas (2005). Trafalgar. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0-297-84622-1.
• Clayton, Tim; Craig, Phil (2004). Trafalgar: The Men, the Battle, the Storm. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-83028-X. OL 18807332M.
• Laird Clowes, William (1900). The Royal Navy, A History from the Earliest Times to 1900. Vol. V. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 1-86176-013-2.
• Corbett, Sir Julian Stafford (1919). The campaign of Trafalgar. Vol. 2. Longmans, Green, and company. p. 538.
• Elmundo staff (21 October 2005). "Los países que combatieron en Trafalgar homenajean a sus caídos en el 200 aniversario de la batalla (Countries that fought at Trafalgar pay tribute to their fallen on the 200th anniversary of the battle)" (in Spanish). Elmundo.es. Archived from the original on 19 October 2011. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
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• Fremont-Barnes, Gregory (2007). The Royal Navy, 1793–1815. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84603-138-0.
• Fremont-Barnes, Gregory (2005). Trafalgar 1805: Nelson's Crowning Victory. Hook, Christa (Illust.). Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-892-8.
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• Stilwell, Alexander, ed. (2005). The Trafalgar Companion. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-835-9.
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• Thiers, Adolphe Joseph (1850). History of the Consulate and the Empire of France Under Napoleon. London: Henery G. Bohn.
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• Warner, Oliver (1959). Trafalgar. London: Batsford. OCLC 1333177.
• Warwick, Peter (2005). Voices from the Battle of Trafalgar. David & Charles Publishing. ISBN 0-7153-2000-9.
• White, Colin (2005). Nelson the Admiral. Phoenix Mill: Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-3713-0.
• Willis, Sam (2013). In the Hour of Victory – The Royal Navy at War in the Age of Nelson. London: Atlantic Books Ltd. ISBN 978-0-85789-570-7.

External links

• Media related to Battle of Trafalgar at Wikimedia Commons
• Nelson's Navy
• Read about French Muster Rolls from the Battle of Trafalgar on The National Archives' website.
• Visit HMS Victory at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard
• HMS Victory Royal Navy Web Site
• Nelson's Memorandum – battle plan – in the British Library Archived 7 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine
• Interactive guide:Battle of Trafalgar educational presentation by Guardian Unlimited
• A. J. West's "Our Navy": Wreath laying on HMS Victory, October 1905 Archived 31 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
• BBC Battlefield Academy: Battle of Trafalgar game created by Solaris Media (now Playniac) for the bicentenary.
• BBC video (42 min.) of the re-enactment of the Battle of Trafalgar off Portsmouth on 28 June 2005
• Concert Overture – Trafalgar 1805 on YouTube
• The London Gazette Extraordinary, 6 November 1805 original published dispatches, Naval History: Great Britain, EuroDocs: Primary Historical Documents From Western Europe, Brigham Young University Library. Retrieved 27 July 2006
• English folk song about the Battle of Trafalgar on YouTube

Preceded by Battle of Verona (1805)

Napoleonic Wars Battle of Trafalgar

Succeeded by Battle of Caldiero (1805)