Battle of Trafalgar

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For the painting, see The Battle of Trafalgar (painting).

Battle of Trafalgar

Part of the Trafalgar campaign of the War of the Third Coalition

The Battle of Trafalgar by William Clarkson Stanfield.jpg

The Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805 by Clarkson Frederick Stanfield

Date 21 October 1805

Location

Off Cape Trafalgar, Atlantic Ocean

36.25°N 6.20°WCoordinates: 36.25°N 6.20°W[1]

Result British victory

Belligerents

First French Empire France

Spain

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland United Kingdom

Commanders and leaders

First French Empire Pierre Villeneuve (POW) Surrendered

Federico Gravina (DOW)

Horatio Nelson †

Cuthbert Collingwood

Strength
 Battle of Trafalgar

33 ships of the line

5 frigates

2 brigs

30,000 men[2]

27 ships of the line

4 frigates

1 schooner

1 cutter

17,000 men[2]

Casualties and losses

4,395 killed

2,541 wounded

7,000–8,000 captured

21 ships of the line captured

1 ship of the line destroyed.[3] 458 killed

1,208 wounded.[4]

Battle of Trafalgar is located in EuropeBattle of Trafalgar

Location within Europe

vte

Trafalgar campaign

vte

Anglo-Spanish War

1796–1808

vte

War of the Third Coalition

 Battle of Trafalgar

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).[5]

As part of Napoleon's plans to invade England, 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 allied 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 it into pieces.
Villeneuve had worried that Nelson might attempt this tactic but, for various reasons, had
made no plans in case this occurred. 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. The ensuing fierce battle resulted in
22 allied ships being lost, while the British lost none.

The tactic exposed the leading ships in the British lines to intense fire from multiple ships 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 and died shortly
before the battle 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 remnant of the Franco-Spanish fleet (a third of
what it had been in number of ships); he died of wounds sustained during the battle five
months later.

The victory confirmed the naval supremacy Britain had established during the course of the
eighteenth century, and was achieved in part through Nelson's departure from prevailing naval
tactical orthodoxy.[6]

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.[7] 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.[8] Despite several successful
 Battle of Trafalgar

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 the Third Coalition declared war on France, after the short-lived Peace of Amiens,
Napoleon renewed his determination to invade Britain. To do so, he needed to ensure that the
Royal Navy would be unable to disrupt the invasion flotilla, which would require control of the
English Channel.[10]

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.[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 either been executed or had left the service
during the early part of the French Revolution.[12]

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.[13] Villeneuve had
shown a distinct lack of enthusiasm for facing Nelson and the Royal Navy after the French
defeat at the Battle 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 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.[15]

The Admirals of the Campaign

Vice Admiral Horatio, Lord Nelson, by Lemuel Francis Abbott

Vice Admiral Horatio, Lord Nelson, by Lemuel Francis Abbott

Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood

Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood

 Battle of Trafalgar

Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, the French Admiral

Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, the French Admiral

Federico Gravina, the Spanish Admiral

Federico Gravina, the Spanish Admiral

Pursuit of Villeneuve

Nelson's Search in the Mediterranean

Early in 1805, Vice Admiral Lord Nelson commanded the British fleet blockading Toulon. Unlike
William Cornwallis, who maintained a close blockade off Brest with the Channel Fleet, Nelson
adopted a loose blockade in the hope of luring the French out for a major battle, saying; 'to be
able to get at the enemy you must let them come out to you, if you cannot get at
them.[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 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 Ocean, 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]

Cádiz

Having lured the British to the West Indies Villeneuve returned from the Caribbean to Europe,
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 intelligence Lord Barham was alive
to the enemy strategy and immediately ordered Admiral William Cornwallis to combine his
squadron with that of Vice Admiral Sir Robert Calder 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 the Battle of
Cape Finisterre in which two of the Spanish ships were captured. Villeneuve abandoned his
 Battle of Trafalgar

plan and sailed back to Ferrol 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 before Boulogne in France. 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.[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 enemy forces in Spain.[28] This left the
Channel short of large vessels, with only 11 ships of the line present.[29] This 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]

The British fleet used frigates (faster, but too fragile for the line of battle), to keep a constant
watch on the harbour, while the main force remained out of sight, approximately 50 miles (80
km) west of the shore.[31] Nelson's hope was to lure the combined Franco-Spanish force out
and engage it in a decisive battle. The force watching the harbour was led by Captain
Blackwood, commanding HMS Euryalus.[31] His squadron of seven ships comprised five
frigates, a schooner, and a brig.[32]

Supply situation

At this point, 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.[33][citation not found]
 Battle of Trafalgar

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.[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'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.[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 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.[37]

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

 Battle of Trafalgar

Other ships 6 7

On 21 October, Admiral Nelson had 27 ships of the line with 2,148 cannon, and a total of
17,000 crewmen and marines under his command.[38] 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 30,000 men and marines
manning 2,632 cannon. The fleet also included five 40-gun frigates and two 18-gun brigs, all
French.[2]

Battle

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.[39] 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 system was to facilitate control of the fleet: if all the
ships were in line, signalling in battle became possible.[40] The line also allowed either side to
disengage by breaking away in formation; if the attacker chose to continue, their line would be
broken as well.[39] This often led to inconclusive battles, or allowed the losing side to
minimise its losses; but Nelson wanted a conclusive action, giving his well-trained crews a
chance to fight ship to ship.[41]

Nelson's solution to the problem was to cut the opposing line in three. Approaching in two
columns, sailing perpendicular to the enemy'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.[42] 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.[43]
 Battle of Trafalgar

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.[44] 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.[45] Third, it would bring a decisive concentration on the rear of the Franco-
Spanish fleet. The ships in the van of the enemy fleet would have to turn back to support the
rear, which would take a long time.[42] Additionally, once the Franco-Spanish 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.[46] 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 exacerbating the problem.
Nelson's plan was indeed a gamble, but a carefully calculated one.[47]

During the period of 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.[48] The order of sailing, in which the fleet
was arranged when the enemy was first sighted, was to be the order of the ensuing action so
that no time would be wasted in forming two lines.[49] The first, led by his second-in-
command Vice-Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, was to sail into the rear of the enemy line,
while the other, led by Nelson, was to sail into the centre and vanguard.[44] 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.[50]

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."[43] In short,
circumstances would dictate the execution, subject to the guiding rule that the enemy's rear
was to be cut off and superior force concentrated on that part of the enemy's line.[36]
 Battle of Trafalgar

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.[51]

Departure

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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.[52] 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.[53] 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.[54]

The sudden change was prompted by a letter Villeneuve had received on 18 October,
informing him that Vice-Admiral François Rosily had arrived in Madrid with orders to take
command of the Combined Fleet.[55] 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
 Battle of Trafalgar

the line and four frigates was spotted in pursuit from the northwest with the wind behind it.
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.

At 5:40 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. About 6 a.m.,
Nelson gave the order to prepare for battle.[56] At 8 a.m., the British frigate Euryalus, which
had been keeping watch on the Combined Fleet overnight, observed the British fleet still
"forming the lines" in which it would attack.[57]

At 8 a.m., Villeneuve ordered the fleet to wear together (turn about) and return to Cádiz. This
reversed the order of the allied line, placing the rear division under Rear-Admiral Pierre
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 to leeward and
closer to the shore.

By 11 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 five miles (8 km) long as Nelson's fleet approached.

As the British drew closer, they could see that the enemy 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, the enemy totalling nearly 30,000 men and 2,568
guns to his 17,000 men and 2,148 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".[58]

Combat
 Battle of Trafalgar

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Nelson's signal, "England expects that every man will do his duty", flying from Victory on the
bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar

Nelson's signal.[59]

The battle progressed largely according to Nelson's plan. At 11:45, Nelson sent the flag signal,
"England expects that every man will do his duty".[59]

His Lordship came to me on the poop, 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."[60]

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 the mizzen 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 in Victory was Nelson, while Collingwood in the 100-gun Royal
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 of HMS Sandwich fighting the French flagship Bucentaure (completely
dismasted) at Trafalgar. Bucentaure is also fighting HMS Temeraire (on the left) and being fired
 Battle of Trafalgar

into by HMS Victory (behind her). In fact, this is a mistake by Auguste Mayer, the painter; HMS
Sandwich never fought at Trafalgar.[61]

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." 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", and Fougueux fired her first trial shot
at Royal Sovereign.[62][63][64] 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 from Fougueux, Indomptable, San Justo, and San Leandro, before breaking the
line just astern of Admiral Alava's flagship Santa Ana, into which she fired a devastating
double-shotted raking broadside. On board Victory, Nelson pointed to Royal 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?"[65]

Artist's conception of the situation at noon as Royal Sovereign was breaking into the Franco-
Spanish line

The second ship in the British lee column, Belleisle, was engaged by Aigle, Achille, Neptune,
and Fougueux; 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 from Héros, Santísima Trinidad, Redoutable, and
Neptune; 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 enemy line between Villeneuve's flagship
Bucentaure and Redoutable; she came close to Bucentaure 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 through Bucentaure's stern which
killed and wounded some 200-400 men of the ship's 800 man compliment and dismasted the
ship.[66] This volley of gunfire from the Victory immediately knocked the French Flagship out
of action. Villeneuve thought that boarding would take place, and with the Eagle 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-gun Redoutable; Bucentaure was left to the next three ships
of the British windward column: Temeraire, Conqueror, and HMS Neptune.
 Battle of Trafalgar

Painter Denis Dighton's imagining of Nelson being shot on the quarterdeck of Victory

A general mêlée ensued. Victory locked masts with the French Redoutable, whose crew,
including a strong infantry corps (with three captains and four lieutenants), gathered for an
attempt to board and seize Victory. A musket bullet fired from the mizzentop of Redoutable
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 French grenades. As the French were preparing to board
Victory, Temeraire, the second ship in the British windward column, approached from the
starboard bow of Redoutable and fired on the exposed French crew with a carronade, causing
many casualties.

At 13:55, the French Captain Lucas of Redoutable, with 99 fit men out of 643 and severely
wounded himself, surrendered. The French Bucentaure was isolated by Victory and Temeraire,
and then engaged by HMS Neptune, HMS Leviathan, and Conqueror; 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, while
Dionisio Alcalá-Galiano and Cosme Damián Churruca —commanders of the Bahama and San
Juan Nepomuceno, respectively— were killed after ordering their ships not to
surrender.[67][68] Gravina died from his wounds months later.[69] The British took 22 vessels
of the Franco-Spanish fleet and lost none. Among the captured French ships were Aigle,
Algésiras, Berwick, Bucentaure, Fougueux, Intrépide, Redoutable, and Swiftsure. The Spanish
ships taken were Argonauta, Bahama, Monarca, Neptuno, San Agustín, San Ildefonso, San Juan
Nepomuceno, Santísima Trinidad, and Santa Ana. Of these, Redoutable sank, and Santísima
Trinidad and Argonauta were scuttled by the British. Achille exploded, Intrépide and San
Augustín burned, and Aigle, Berwick, Fougueux, and Monarca 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 the shoals. A
few of them were recaptured, some by the French and Spanish prisoners overcoming the small
 Battle of Trafalgar

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.[70] 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."[71] 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.[70]

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.[72] 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 clear Cape St. Vincent, prior to heading north-west, swinging
eastwards across the Bay of Biscay, and aiming to reach the French port at Rochefort.[72]
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 under Sir Richard Strachan, which captured
them all on 4 November 1805 at the Battle of Cape Ortegal.[72]

Cosmao and MacDonnell sortie

The gale after Trafalgar, depicted by Thomas Buttersworth.

Only eleven 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.[73] Both sets of mariners were determined to make an attempt to recapture some of
the prizes.[73] 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
Asís, together with five French frigates and two brigs, sailed out of the harbour towards the
British.[74][75]
 Battle of Trafalgar

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.[75][76] The Franco-Spanish squadron, numerically inferior,
chose not to approach within gunshot and then declined to attack.[77] 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.[78] On being
taken in tow, the Spanish crews rose up against their British prize crews, putting them to work
as prisoners.[64][79][citation needed]

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.[80] 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.[citation needed] At the time Indomptable
had 1,200 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-
decker 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.[citation needed]
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.[64]

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.[citation needed] 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.[81][incomplete short citation] 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
 Battle of Trafalgar

anchored alongside and took off the prisoners.[citation needed] 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.[82][incomplete short citation]

Casualties

Casualties % by ship.[citation needed] The number is the order in the line.

HMS Africa • British weather column, led by Nelson • British lee column, led by
Collingwood • French • Spanish

Aftermath

In the aftermath of the storm, Collingwood wrote:

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.

— Vice-Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood to the Admiralty, November 1805.[83]

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.[78] 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
sank Santísima Trinidad, Argonauta, San Antonio and Intrepide.[64] Only four of the British
prizes, the French Swiftsure and the Spanish Bahama, San Ildefonso and San Juan
Nepomuceno survived to be taken to Britain.[78] After the end of the battle and storm only
nine ships of the line were left in Cádiz.[74][84]

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 would later join
this humanitarian agreement.[85]
 Battle of Trafalgar

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.[86] 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.

Results

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 when Napoleon invaded
Spain. The French ships were then seized by the Spanish forces and put into service against
France.

HMS Victory 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 the Trafalgar
Cemetery, at the south end of Main Street, Gibraltar.

One Royal Marine officer, Captain Charles Adair, was killed on board Victory, and Royal Marine
Lieutenant Lewis Buckle Reeve was seriously wounded and laid next to Nelson.[c]

The battle took place the day after the Battle of Ulm, and Napoleon did not hear about it for
weeks—the Grande 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.[87] In a counter-propaganda move, a fabricated text declaring the battle a
"spectacular victory" for the French and Spanish was published in Herald and attributed to Le
Moniteur Universel.[88][89]

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.
 Battle of Trafalgar

Despite the British victory over the Franco-Spanish navies, Trafalgar had negligible impact on
the remainder of the War of the Third Coalition. Less than two months later, Napoleon
decisively defeated the Third Coalition at the Battle of Austerlitz, knocking Austria out of the
war and forcing the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire. Although Trafalgar meant France
could no longer challenge Britain at sea, Napoleon proceeded to establish the Continental
System in an attempt to deny Britain trade with the continent. The Napoleonic Wars continued
for another ten years after Trafalgar.[90]

Nelson's body was preserved in a barrel of brandy for the trip home to a hero's
funeral.[91][page needed]

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. In comparison, Britain had 99 ships of the
line in active commission in 1814, and this was close to the maximum that could be supported.
Given a few more years, the French could have realised their plans to commission 150 ships of
the line and again challenge the Royal Navy, compensating for the inferiority of their crews
with sheer numbers.[92] For almost 10 years after Trafalgar, the Royal Navy maintained a close
blockade of French bases and anxiously observed the growth of the French fleet. In the end,
Napoleon's Empire was destroyed by land before his ambitious naval buildup could be
completed.

The Royal Navy proceeded to dominate the sea until the Second World War.[93] 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 battle

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
 Battle of Trafalgar

monument to be erected in Britain to commemorate Nelson may be that raised on Glasgow

Green in 1806, albeit possibly preceded by a monument at Taynuilt, near Oban in Scotland
dated 1805, both also commemorating the many Scots crew and captains at the battle.[94][d]
The 144-foot-tall (44 m) Nelson Monument on Glasgow Green was designed by David 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.[95] In 1808, Nelson's Pillar was erected by leading members of the Anglo-Irish
aristocracy in Dublin to commemorate Nelson and his achievements (between 10% and 20% of
the sailors at Trafalgar had been from Ireland[96][97]), and remained until it was destroyed in
a bombing by "Old IRA" members in 1966.[94] Nelson's Monument in Edinburgh was built
between 1807 and 1815 in the form of an upturned telescope, and in 1853 a time ball was
added which still drops at noon GMT to give a time signal to ships in Leith and the Firth of
Forth. In summer this coincides with the one o'clock gun being fired. The Britannia Monument
in Great 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 in Place Jacques Cartier. A statue of Lord Nelson stood in Bridgetown,
Barbados, in what was also once known as Trafalgar Square, from 1813 to 2020.

Nelson on top of Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square in London

London's Trafalgar 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.

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.[98] 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.[99] The event
ended with God Save the King and La Marseillaise.[100] The first performance of Sir Henry
Wood's Fantasia on British Sea Songs occurred on the same day at a special Promenade
Concert.[101]

200th anniversary

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Trafalgar 200.

 Battle of Trafalgar

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, the Queen 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, Príncipe 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.[102]