Battle Of Trafalgar (1805) — The Biggest Naval Battle In Modern History
In 1805, the First Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte was the dominant power on the European continent, but at that time, the French Navy was…
The Battle of Trafalgar, which took place off the coast of Spain on October 21, 1805, was one of Europe’s decisive naval battles. The British fleet under the command of Admiral Horatio Nelson defeated the combined Franco-Spanish fleet under Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Battle of Trafalgar considered one of the biggest naval battles in the history of the era of sailing ships. This brilliant victory smashed the expansionist ambitions of Napoleon Bonaparte and destroyed the policy of the Continental Blockade of the First French Empire. The naval battle at Trafalgar in 1805 ushered in a period of British hegemony on the high seas. It also paved the way for England to rise to glory later under Queen Victoria. How did Admiral Nelson win the Battle of Trafalgar? Let’s learn about the Battle of Trafalgar and how Napoleon‘s defeat affected Europe through Prism of History!
In 1805, the First French Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte was the dominant power on the European continent through Napoleonic Wars. But the British Royal Navy was still in control of the seas. To be able to invade England, Napoleon could only circumnavigate the Celtic Sea or the English Channel (which was more difficult because that is where there are many storms and tornadoes). The French Navy was stationed in places like Rochefort and Cadiz at the time, as part of a Spanish alliance led by Pierre Charles Silvestre de Villeneuve. They only wanted to destroy England, so they launched an attack from Cape Trafalgar on the southwest coast of Spain.
The naval battle of Trafalgar foiled an attempt to invade Britain by sea and was the largest naval battle to end the era of sailing ships.
In the Battle of Trafalgar, the Royal Navy eliminated the greatest threat to national security in 200 years but lost the national hero, Admiral Horatio Nelson. In the 18th century, Nelson became famous for his love affair with Lady Hamilton (aka Emma Hart), the wife of William Hamilton, a British ambassador to Naples. She became Nelson’s mistress, and they lived together openly when she returned to England, although Nelson was also married to Fanny Nelson. The couple had a daughter named Horatia Nelson. Because Sir William Hamilton admired Nelson so much, he did not forbid this love affair. Horatio Nelson’s strategic vision in every war he ever fought made him the only rival worthy of Napoleon. Even Napoleon didn’t deny it; he had a half-human statue of Nelson in his room.
Nelson developed the art of war at sea to a new level to confront Napoleon‘s attack from France. He learned the command style of Admiral Sir John Jervis, who taught him how to build a cohesive fleet. He also learned a lot of ingenious strategies while serving under Admiral Lord Hood. Nelson used this combination to help England survive during the 22 years of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era. He understood that the French invasion was terrifying and that Britain’s global trade was in danger of being destroyed.
Battle of Trafalgar Background
Napoleon built the so-called “Continental System” which did not allow any British commerce in continental Europe. As a result, except for the Prussian ports, France controlled all major ports in Europe. The UK’s trade with Europe has been frozen. So Britain was finally forced to attack Napoleon on land.
The Third Coalition declared war on France after the brief Peace of Amiens. Napoleon Bonaparte was determined to invade England. To do so, he found it necessary to ensure that the British Royal Navy would not be able to disrupt landings with small fleets of ships. Napoleon must control the English Channel.
The main elements of the French fleet were stationed at the port of Brest in the Brittany region and at the port of Toulon on the Mediterranean coast. Other ports on the French Atlantic coast had smaller fleets. France and Spain had concluded an alliance, so the Spanish fleet based at Cádiz and Ferrol was also ready.
The British had a team of experienced and well-trained naval officers. In contrast, most of the best officers in the French navy retired or ceased to serve in the navy at the beginning of the French Revolution. As a result, Vice Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve became an official who had the highest authority to command Napoleon‘s Mediterranean fleet. But Villeneuve showed a difference. He demonstrated a lack of enthusiasm when faced with Horatio Nelson and the British Royal Navy after the defeat at the Battle of the Nile.
In 1805, Napoleon sent the French and Spanish fleets stationed in the Mediterranean and Cádiz broke the British blockade and joined forces in the East Indies. They would then return to join the fleets at Brest to break the blockade, and together they would take control of the English Channel. Controlling the English Channel was very important to ensure a safe passage for French troop ships to land in Britain.
The Russian and Austrian armies were preparing an attack on France when the Grande Armée crossed the English Channel. Napoleon, as a result of Villeneuve’s disobedience to his orders, had to adjust his strategy. He moved the Grande Armée that was preparing to invade Britain to attack the Russians and Austrians. The army moved with astonishing speed, and the Russo-Austrian coalition was defeated at the Battle of Austerlitz.
The Situation in the West Indies
In early 1805, Admiral Horatio Nelson commanded the British fleet to besiege Toulon. Unlike his predecessor, William Cornwallis, who maintained a tight blockade of Brest by the English Channel Fleet, Nelson had a different tactic. Nelson instituted a loose blockade aimed at forcing the French out to fight a decisive battle. However, Villeneuve avoids combat with Nelson. His fleet tried to stay away from the British fleet. While Nelson was searching for Villeneuve in the Mediterranean, Villeneuve’s fleet transited the Strait of Gibraltar, merged with the Spanish fleet, and departed as planned for the West Indies. When Nelson realized that France had crossed the Atlantic, he planned to give chase.
The Situation in Cádiz
Villeneuve returned to Europe from the West Indies with the intention of breaking the blockade on Brest. But, at the Battle of Finisterre Cape by a squadron under Vice Admiral Sir Robert Calder, two Spanish ships under Villeneuve were captured. So he had to abandon this plan and sail back to Ferrol. There he received orders from Napoleon to continue to Brest according to the main plan.
Napoleon‘s plan to invade Britain depended entirely on having a sufficient number of these ships of the line at the city of Boulogne, France. This required combining Villeneuve’s force of 32 ships with Vice Admiral Ganteaume’s force of 21 at Brest and a flotilla of five under the command of Captain Allemand. These fleets were able to create for Napoleon a combined force of 58 ships of the line.
As Villeneuve set sail from Ferrol on August 10, he received orders from Napoleon to sail north of Brest. But he was worried that the British knew about his activity, so on August 11, he headed south towards Cadiz on the southwest coast of Spain. There was no word of Villeneuve’s fleet, and the 3rd French Army Corps near Boulogne approached Prussia on August 26, where it would take part in the Battle of Austerlitz.
That same month, Nelson returned home to England after two years of duty at sea. He sent some soldiers home to rest, keeping the rest. As of the 25th, he had not come ashore but was warmly received by people who were worried about a possible French invasion. Messages arrived in England on September 2 about the combined French and Spanish fleets in the harbor of Cádiz. Nelson had to wait until 15 September when his ship, HMS Victoria, was ready to set sail.
On August 15, Cornwallis decided to detach 20 ships of the line from the fleet holding the English Channel and send them south to attack the Spanish forces. The British force holding the English Channel left only 11 ships of the line. This force, however, was divided and formed the core of the British fleet that would fight at Trafalgar. The fleet, under Vice Admiral Calder, reached Cádiz on September 15. Nelson joined the fleet on September 29 and assumed command.
The British fleet used destroyers to maintain continuity and regularity in the harbor. The main force anchored some 50 miles (80 km) west of the coast. Nelson hoped to attract a combined Franco-Spanish force and destroy it in a decisive battle. The port guard forces were commanded by Captain Blackwood, aboard HMS Euryalus. He brought in a force of seven ships (five destroyers and two schooners) on October 8.
Supply Situation
At this point, Nelson’s fleet was in dire need of supplies. On October 2, Rear Admiral Louis was ordered to take five ships of the line and the frigate HMS Endymion to Gibraltar to search for supplies. The ships were diverted for convoy duty in the Mediterranean, and Nelson expected them to return. Other British ships arrived to supplement the British fleet. The British fleet was fully prepared for the battle by October 15. Nelson lost his flagship, the Prince of Wales, with 98 guns under the command of Calder. The reason was that Calder was recalled by the Admiralty to stand trial for his lack of clarity during the operation off Cape Finisterre on July 22.
Meanwhile, Villeneuve’s fleet at Cádiz was also severely undersupplied, which could not be easily improved because they lacked cash. The blockades maintained by the British fleet made it difficult for the Franco-Spanish coalition to reach the shipyards. Villeneuve’s ships also lacked the necessary force of more than two thousand sailors.
These were not the only problems facing the Franco-Spanish fleet. The French warships considered the core of the fleet has been kept in port for many years due to the British blockade, only occasionally being able to set sail on short voyages. The rare voyages across the Atlantic drained them of vital supplies. When compared to the British fleet, they lacked seafaring experience and training sailors. The French crews had very few seasoned sailors. Most of them were trained in navigating ships on rare voyages; the technique of shooting was forgotten. Even the British didn’t have enough gunpowder, not just the French!
Villeneuve’s supply situation began to improve in August, but news of Nelson’s activities made Villeneuve reluctant to leave port. Indeed, his captains held a vote on the matter and decided to stay in the harbor!
On September 16, Napoleon ordered the French and Spanish ships at Cádiz to head out to sea. At the first favorable opportunity, they joined the fleet of seven Spanish ships of the line stationed from Cartagena to Naples. The fleet landed the troops they were carrying to reinforce the French garrison there, all in the spirit of being ready to attack if they encountered a smaller British fleet on patrol.
On October 21, Nelson had 27 ships of the line. He commanded the fleet on his flagship, the 100-gun first-class ship HMS Victoria. He had two other 100-gun first-class ships in his fleet. He also had four 98-gun second-rate ships and twenty third-rate ships. Some of the third-class ships were 80 guns, and sixteen were 74 guns. The rest were three 64-gun ships, which were removed from the Royal Navy at the time of the battle of Trafalgar. Nelson also had four destroyers of about 38 or 36 guns, a 12-gun schooner, and a 10-gun gunboat.
Correlation of Forces on Both Sides
Britain
33 ships of the line
5 frigates
2 brigs
30,000 men
France — Spain
27 ships of the line
4 frigates
1 schooner
1 cutter
17,000 men
To confront Nelson’s fleet, Vice Admiral Villeneuve had 33 ships of the line, including some of the largest ships in the world at the time. The Spaniards added four first-class ships. One of these ships had 136 guns, and the other two had 112 guns, making them significantly larger than any other ship Nelson had. The fourth first-class ship has 100 guns. The fleet consisted of six 80-gun third-rate ships (four French and two Spanish) and one French third-rate with 64 guns. The remaining 22 ships of the 74-gun third class (standard type), including 14 French and 8 Spanish ships, thus, the total number of Spaniards contributed 15 ships, and the French contributed 18 ships of the line to this fleet. The fleet also had five 40-gun ships and two 18-gun destroyers, all of which were French.
The Battle of Trafalgar
Nelson’s Plan
The orthodox naval tactic at the time was to approach the enemy fleet in a vertical formation, and then the battle would break out in two parallel lines. Before this time, the ships of the two sides weren’t in formation yet. One of the reasons for the development of this tactic was to help admirals maintain control of the fleet. If all the ships were lined up, this was a sign of an impending battle. This tactic was also defensive in nature, allowing either side to break the formation and retreat. If the attacking side chooses to continue fighting, their line formation will also be broken. Often, this tactic leads to battles without a decisive victory or allows the losing side to reduce their losses. Nelson wants a decisive match.
The solution to his ambition was to deliberately cut the enemy’s arched formation into two halves. Nelson would use two fleets of ships moving in a direction perpendicular to the French and Spanish lines, one toward the central ships and the other toward the far end of the line. His ships would break the formation of half of the enemy ships, surround them, and force them to fight to the end. Nelson hoped to completely cut off the enemy ships from their flagship. Ships would be isolated; they couldn’t see the flagship’s signal, and these ships would not be able to engage in combat while they reformed the formation. The tactic of plunging into the enemy line was a tactic used by Admiral Duncan at the Battle of Camperdown and Admiral Jervis at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, all of which took place in 1797.
This plan has three main advantages. First, it would allow the British fleet to reach the Franco-Spanish fleet as quickly as possible, reducing the chance they could get out without a fight. Second, it would quickly create a fierce duel by breaking the Franco-Spanish line into a series of single ships dueling each other. The British would then be able to win. Nelson knew that his crew had better control, faster shooting techniques, and higher morale. This was the decisive factor in victory when the advantages of the number of ships or the bravery of the enemy’s crew were greater. Third, it would create a concentrated attack on the rear of the combined Franco-Spanish fleet. The ships in the front line of the enemy fleet would have to return to support the rear, an effort that would take a long time.
The weakness of this tactic was that the cannons on the Franco-Spanish ship broadside would shell the British ships’ bows once they approached. The British ships were unable to shoot back because sailing ships have very few guns on their bows. But Nelson also thought that the French and Spanish gunners were not well trained. The Franco-Spanish army had few professional gunners, which led to poor shooting techniques. It was even difficult to shoot accurately from the guns on the moving ships. After all, the Franco-Spanish Combined Fleet was swimming in great waves that caused the ships to roll into each other and aggravate their situation. Nelson’s plan was indeed a gamble, but it was a carefully calculated gamble.
During the blockade off Spain in October, during two dinners aboard the Victoria, Nelson told the captains of his intention to fight a close battle of Trafalgar. The principle in his instructions was the order of the ships, meaning the disposition of the fleet upon the first sighting of the enemy. This order would be maintained until the end of the battle of Trafalgar; there’s no time to waste in forming a regular squad. The attack would be carried out by two flotillas. Collingwood was in command of one of these flotillas, which would launch an attack on the enemy’s tail end. Meanwhile, another flotilla, personally commanded by Nelson, would attack the enemy’s center and vanguard line. Nelson ordered the ships of his fleet to be painted in yellow and black to make them easily distinguishable from their opponents.
Horatio Nelson was careful to point out what could create a chance for victory. Nothing was certain in a naval battle on the high seas! He instructed his captains to leave all bulky items behind, saying, “There is no room for error of the captain while swimming alongside the enemy ship.” Nelson’s orders were executed according to his instructions, and the Franco-Spanish fleet’s tail end was divided. The British fleet concentrated its superior force on part of the opponent’s formation.
Admiral Villeneuve believed that Nelson would use an unorthodox offensive tactic. He was particularly concerned that Nelson would attack his right flank. But a game of cat and mouse with Nelson had worn down Villeneuve’s spirit. Blaming the officers’ inexperience meant he wouldn’t be able to maintain a formation in more than one group. He did nothing to accurately judge Nelson’s intentions.
Time Before the Battle of Trafalgar
The combined French and Spanish fleets anchored at Cadiz under Admiral Villeneuve were in disarray. On September 16, 1805, Villeneuve received orders from Emperor Napoleon. He required them to arrive in Naples. At first, Villeneuve was optimistic about returning to the Mediterranean, but soon he had other ideas. A vote was held aboard his flagship, the Bucentaure, on October 8, 1805. Some of the French captains wanted to obey Napoleon‘s orders, but the Spanish captains and other French officials, including Villeneuve, thought it best to stay in Cadiz. Finally, Villeneuve changed his mind. But on October 18, 1805, he ordered the Combined Fleet to set sail at once, even with very light winds.
The reason for Villeneuve to change his mind and to set sail was that he received a letter on October 18, 1805. The letter informed him that Vice Admiral François Rosily had arrived in Madrid with orders from Emperor Napoleon to assume command of the Combined Fleet. Outraged at the prospect of being demoted in front of the fleet, Villeneuve chose to go to sea before his successor could reach Cadiz. At the same time, he received intelligence that a flotilla of six British ships (Admiral Louis’s Squadron) had docked at Gibraltar. This means the British fleet was weakened.
The weather suddenly turned calm after a week of strong winds. This slowed the fleet as it left port, giving the British attention. Villeneuve drew up plans to create a force of four flotillas, each consisting of both French and Spanish ships. Since, according to the results of their vote on October 8, 1805, the fleet would stay, some captains were reluctant to leave Cádiz. Of course, some people didn’t want to set sail at this point, so they couldn’t follow Villeneuve’s orders closely. As a result, the fleet came out of the harbor in a haphazard manner without a particular formation.
Villeneuve was unable to reorganize his fleet until October 20. He divided the fleet into three columns, moving from the Strait of Gibraltar to the southeast. It was the same evening when the Achille spotted 18 British ships of the line following them. The fleet began to prepare for battle of Trafalgar during the night. Villeneuve was ordered to form a vertical formation. The next day, Nelson’s fleet of 27 ships of the line and four destroyers was spotted from the northwest. Villeneuve again ordered his fleet to divide into three columns, but then quickly changed his mind and ordered a vertical formation. As a result, the Franco-Spanish fleet formed an uneven formation.
The British fleet clapped on all sails, and they were ready for battle of Trafalgar after 72 signals were given on Nelson’s flagship. At 05:40, the British were about 21 miles (34 km) northwest of Cape Trafalgar, with the Franco-Spanish fleet between Britain and the cape. At 6:00 a.m., Nelson ordered preparations for battle of Trafalgar.
At 08:00, Villeneuve ordered the fleet to return to Cádiz. This reversed the order of the Franco-Spanish Combined Fleet. The rear ships under Rear Admiral Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley became the vanguard. The wind has veered around at this point. Very light winds make turning the ship almost impossible; only the most professional crews could still do it. The inexperienced crew of the Franco-Spanish Combined Fleet had to struggle with the changing weather conditions, and it took nearly an hour and a half to complete Villeneuve’s order. The French and Spanish fleets now formed an arched formation, unevenly angled, with ships moving slowly and close to the coast.
At 11:00, Villeneuve sighted Nelson’s entire fleet. By being split into two parallel columns, the two fleets would be within range of cannons within an hour. Villeneuve noted this point when aligning his fleet in a straight line, his ships were not at an even distance. The Franco-Spanish fleet was ordered to draw back about five miles (8 km) while Nelson’s fleet was approaching.
As the British drew closer, they could see that the Franco-Spanish Combined Fleet was not moving in a strict order. Nelson may not easily recognize the French flagships, as neither the French nor the Spanish flagships have ensigns.
The six British ships taken to Gibraltar did not return in time, so Nelson would have to fight without them. He had less in both men and guns, the French and the Spanish had nearly 30,000 men and 2,568 guns. Nelson had only 17,000 men and 2,148 guns. The Franco-Spanish fleet also had more than six ships of the line in this formation, so they could easily combine their firepower. Nelson’s ships were bombarded with twice or even three times as much firepower.
Detail of Battle of Trafalgar
The battle of Trafalgar progressed largely according to Nelson’s plan except for his death. At 11:45, Nelson sent the famous flag signal, “England except every man will do his duty.” He directed his signal officer, Lieutenant John Pasco, to signal to the fleets that “Britain trusts that he will do his duty.” Pasco suggested to Nelson that the word hope should be substituted for the word trust, since then the word hope is already in the signal book, while the word trust must be spelled out letter by letter. Nelson agreed to change.
The term “England” was widely used at the time to refer to Great Britain, although the British fleet included most of the crews from Ireland, Scotland, and Wales as well as from England. Unlike the picture shown, this signal is displayed only on the main mast and requires 12 types of pennants.
When the battle of Trafalgar began, the Franco-Spanish Combined Fleet was in an arcing formation facing north. According to the plan, the British fleet would approach the Franco-Spanish fleet in two flotillas. Nelson’s 100-gun flagship Victoria led the flotilla to the north, while Collingwood led the second in the 100-gun flagship Royal Sovereign. As the two flotillas of British ships approached from the west at a near-right angle, Nelson led his flotilla to launch a light attack toward the front of the Franco-Spanish fleet and then abruptly diverted to the actual point of attack. Collingwood also changed his flotilla schedule slightly so that the two flotillas converged and attacked the Franco-Spanish Combined Fleet’s formation.
Just as his squadron was about to open fire on the ships of the Franco-Spanish coalition, Collingwood said to his officer, “Now, gentlemen, let’s do something about the day so that the world has something to talk about in the days to come.” The winds were very light during the battle of Trafalgar, all ships moved very slowly. The British ships came under heavy fire from Franco-Spanish ships for nearly an hour before their guns could shoot back. This proves that the French gunners shot too badly!
At midday, Villeneuve sent the signal “Attack the enemy” and the flagship Fougueux fired her first shot at the Royal Sovereign. The flagship Royal Sovereign stretched all its sails and rose above the rest of the British fleet. As she approached the ships of the combined fleet, she came under fire from Fougueux, Indomptable, San Justo, and San Leandro, before separating off aft of Admiral Álava’s flagship, the Santa Ana. At that point, she fired a double salvo from her guns at the flagship, the Santa Ana.
The second ship of the British squadron, Belleisle, was attacked by Laigle, Achille, Neptune, and Fougueux. It soon had its masts completely broken, making it unable to move smoothly and most of the time unable to engage in combat. Her sails were broken off, obscuring the view of the batteries, but she kept her flag flying for 45 minutes until British ships in the rear came to her rescue.
Within 40 minutes, Victoria was under fire from Héros, Santsima Trinidad, Redoutable, and Neptune. Although several shots were missed, others still killed and wounded some of the crew and broke its rudder, so it had to be controlled from the rudder of the lower deck. Victoria was still unable to return fire. She struck between Villeneuve’s flagship Bucentaure and Redoutable at 12:45.Victoria approached Bucentaure and fired a ferocious salvo from her side guns into Bucentaure’s right flank, killing and wounding many on deck. Villeneuve thought the British would raid over the ship, and with the forces he had, he said to his men: “I’ll throw them overboard, and I’ll bring them back here.” However, Admiral Nelson’s Victoria only attacked the Redoubtable with 74 guns. The omitted flagship Bucentaure was handled by the next three ships in Admiral Horatio Nelson’s line, Temeraire, Conqueror, and Neptune (both sides having ships named Neptune).
A great battle ensued. Victoria locked the mast with the French Redoutable during the battle of Trafalgar. The crew of the Redoutable, which included a strong infantry squadron (with 3 captains and 4 lieutenants), assembled for an attempt to capture Victoria alive. A musket shot from the Redoutable’s main sail struck Nelson’s left shoulder and pierced his spine below his right shoulder blade. Nelson exclaimed, “They succeeded at last and I was killed.” He was carried to the lower deck of the ship.
Victoria ceased fire, and the gunners were called up to the deck to fend off the French assault. They were pushed back to the lower deck by the French gunners. As the French were about to land on Victoria, Temeraire, the second ship in Nelson’s group, approached from Redoutable’s starboard bow. She fired a volley of carronades at the French crew, causing many casualties.
At 13:55, Captain Lucas of the Redoutable, along with 99 other men out of a total of 643, was seriously wounded and had to surrender. The French ship Bucentaure was isolated by Victoria and Temeraire, after which Neptune, Leviathan, and Conqueror joined in the attack. Likewise, the isolated and overwhelmed Santísima Trinidad surrendered after three hours.
As more British ships entered the battle of Trafalgar, the ships of the combined French and Spanish fleets in the center and rear were gradually overwhelmed. The vanguards of the combined fleet, after a long period without any action, made a futile maneuver and then left. The British destroyed and captured 22 ships of the Franco-Spanish fleet without losing a single ship. The list of French ships destroyed or captured was LAigle, Algésiras, Berwick, Bucentaure, Fougueux, Intrépide, Redoutable, and Swiftsure. The Spaniards lost Argonauta, Bahama, Monarca, Neptuno, San Agustín, San Ildefonso, San Juan Nepomuceno, Santísima Trinidad, and Santa Ana. Of these, the Redoutable was sunk, the Santísima Trinidad and Argonauta tethered and towed by the British and then sunk; the Achille exploded; the Intrépide and San Augustin burned; and the LAigle, Berwick, Fougueux, and Monarca were wrecked in a great storm after the battle of Trafalgar.
As Nelson was about to die, he ordered the fleet to anchor in response to a predicted storm. The storm caused many of the badly damaged ships to sink or run aground on the shoal. Some of them were recaptured by French and Spanish prisoners after overpowering the small escort or by ships from Cádiz. Surgeon William Beatty heard Nelson groan, “Thank God I’ve done my duty!”. He noticed that Nelson’s voice had weakened and his pulse was very weak. Nelson looked up as Beatty tried to check his pulse, then closed his eyes. Nelson’s priest, Father Scott Alexander, who remained with Nelson when he died, recorded his last words as “God and my country.” Nelson died approximately three hours after being hit by the bullet.
After the Battle of Trafalgar
Only eleven ships of the combined French and Spanish fleet made it to Cádiz, and of them, only five were considered seaworthy. Under the command of Captain Julien Cosmao, they set sail for the next two days and attempted to recapture some of the ships from the British. They succeeded in recapturing two ships and forced Collingwood to abandon some of his spoils. The four ships of the line that escaped with Dumanoir were captured again on November 4 by Sir Richard Strachan at the Battle of Cape Ortegal.
When Rosily (the new admiral of the Franco-Spanish Fleet) arrived in Cádiz, he found there were only five French ships, not the 18 he desired. The surviving ships remained blockaded at Cadiz until 1808 when Napoleon invaded Spain. The French ships were then seized by Spanish rebel forces and put into operation against the French.
HMS Victoria goes to Gibraltar for repairs, taking Nelson’s body with her. She entered the Gulf of Gibraltar and, after urgent repairs, returned to England. Many of the injured crew were brought ashore at Gibraltar and treated at the Naval Hospital. Those who later died of battle of Trafalgar wounds were buried at or near Trafalgar Cemetery.
A Royal Navy officer, Captain Charles Adair, was killed aboard HMS Victory. Another Royal Navy officer, Lewis Buckle Reeve, was seriously wounded in the battle of Trafalgar and was laid to rest beside Nelson.
The battle of Trafalgar took place on the next day of the Battle of Ulm (the French captured all the tens of thousands of Austrians defending at Ulm), and Napoleon heard the news a few weeks later. The Grande Armée left Boulogne to attack the Russo-Austrian coalition before they could combine into a very large force at the Battle of Austerlitz. He had tight control over the Parisian papers, and the failure at Trafalgar was a tightly controlled secret. In a propaganda move, the battle of Trafalgar was declared a “spectacular” victory by the French and Spanish.
Vice Admiral Villeneuve was taken prisoner on his flagship and returned to England. After he was released in 1806 and returned to France, Villeneuve was found in his room at an inn stopover on the way to Paris; his body had been stabbed six times in the chest with a knife. It has been recorded that he committed suicide.
Nearly two months after the Battle of Trafalgar, the War of the Third Coalition ended with a decisive French victory. Napoleon defeated Russia and Austria, Britain’s allies, at the Battle of Austerlitz. Prussia decided not to join the Coalition, and once again, peace was temporarily restored with a decisive French victory. France could no longer challenge Britain at sea. Instead, Napoleon established the Continental System in an attempt to block British trade on the continent.
Consequences of the Battle of Trafalgar
After the battle of Trafalgar, the British Royal Navy was no longer seriously challenged by the French fleet in a large-scale campaign. Napoleon canceled his plan for an invasion of England before the battle of Trafalgar, and this plan was never carried out. Gone are the days when the French navy could challenge Britain. France’s control of the continent grew, and England was forced to intervene. They prevented the ships of the navies of the small states in Europe from falling into the hands of the French. This attempt was largely successful but did not end the threat of the French, especially Napoleon. The Emperor decided to build a large-scale shipbuilding program that created a fleet of 80 ships of the line by the time he was deposed in 1814. Several larger ships were under construction, compared with the 99 British ships of the line currently in service.
A few years later, the French had plans to build 150 ships of the line, challenging the British Royal Navy once more. The French attempted to compensate for their crew’s weaknesses through quantity compensation for quality. Nearly 10 years after the Battle of Trafalgar, the British Royal Navy maintained a tight blockade of French bases and was concerned when it observed the growth of the French fleet. In the end, Napoleon‘s empire was destroyed before the ambitious buildup could be completed.
Nelson became — and remains — the British navy’s greatest hero of the war and an inspiration to the Royal Navy. His unorthodox tactics were not used regularly by later generations. In England, Nelson memorials were erected in Glasgow Green and Oban to honor the many Scots crewmen and captain Nelson.
The disparity in losses on both sides is attributed to some historians’ assessments. I personally see the failure at Trafalgar as Napoleon’s mistake. He was to trust and assign Villeneuve to command the combined fleet involved in this strategic battle. It can be seen that Villeneuve is a person with a lack of enthusiasm and indecisiveness, which has caused the Franco-Spanish coalition to suffer great losses in battle of Trafalgar. The point is remarkable for Nelson’s bold tactics. Nelson’s fleet consisted of ships of the line that had spent a considerable amount of time at sea during the months that the French fleet was only anchored in port by blockade. Villeneuve’s fleet made only two monthly sea voyages in the Atlantic waters. Horatio Nelson, a man who won the Battle of Trafalgar with daring tactics, brought British a decisive victory.
After the Battle of Trafalgar, the British Royal Navy extended its dominance over the seas during the remaining years of the sailing age. Although the victory at Trafalgar is often interpreted differently from time to time, modern historian Paul Kennedy suggests that economic power was a potentially important consequence of British naval hegemony.
