Battle of Trafalgar

battle_name=Battle of Trafalgar

Battle

On 18 October, Villeneuve received a letter informing him that Vice-Admiral François Rosily had arrived in Madrid with orders to take command. At the same time, he received intelligence that a detachment of six British ships had docked at Gibraltar. This gave Villeneuve the military pretext he needed to leave, as he perceived that Nelson's fleet would be weakened. Suddenly Villeneuve was frantic to depart, and following a gale on 18 October the fleet began a rapid scramble to prepare to set sail. Villeneuve became determined to leave Cádiz for good and even engage the enemy, rather than suffer the humiliation of loss of command.

Related Topics:
18 October - François Rosily - Madrid - Gibraltar

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Departure

The weather however had suddenly turned calm following a week of gales. This slowed the progress of the fleet departing the harbour, giving the British plenty of warning about the departure of the French and Spanish fleet. Villeneuve had drawn up plans to form a force of four squadrons, with intermixed French and Spanish ships. Following their earlier vote to stay put, the captain's were reluctant to leave Cádiz and as a result they failed to follow closely Villeneuve's orders (Villeneuve had reportedly become despised by many of the fleet's officers and crew). As a result the fleet straggled out of the harbour in no particular formation.

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It took most of 20 October for Villeneuve to get his fleet organised, and they set sail in three columns for Gibraltar to the south-east. That same evening the ship 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 thirty-one ships was spotted in pursuit from the north-west with the wind behind them. Villeneuve again ordered his fleet into three columns, but soon changed his mind and ordered a single line. The result was a sprawling, uneven formation that did not at all resemble a line.

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The British fleet was sailing, as they would fight, under signal seventy-two hoisted on Nelson's flagship. At 5:40 a.m. the British were about 21 miles (34 km) to the north-east of Cape Trafalgar, with the Franco-Spanish fleet between the British and the Cape making for the straits of Gibraltar. At 6 o'clock that morning, Nelson gave the order to prepare for battle.

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Suddenly at 8 a.m. Villeneuve ordered the fleet to wear together and turn back for Cádiz. The course was changed from near southward to turn to the north, taking them towards the oncoming British. This would place the rear division under Rear-Admiral Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley in the van, rather than the rear. The wind became contrary at this point, often shifting direction. The inexperienced French 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 French ships generally leeward of the Spanish and closer to the shore of Spain.

Related Topics:
Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley - Van

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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 and in an irregular formation. The French-Spanish fleet was drawn out nearly five miles (8 km) long as they were approached by Nelson's fleet.

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As the British drew closer, they discerned that the French and Spanish fleet was not sailing in a tight order but rather in irregular groups. In addition, Nelson could not make out the French flagship as the French and Spanish were not flying command pennants from any of their ships.

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The six British ships dispatched earlier to Gibraltar had not returned, so Nelson would have to fight without these ships and so had to make some adjustments. He was also outnumbered and outgunned by his opponent, as the Spanish and French had 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 than did the British, and so could more readily combine their fire. There was no means by which some of Nelson's ships could avoid being "doubled on" or even "trebled on".

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Order of battle

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The French had 18 ships of the line:

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Bucentaure,

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Formidable,

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Neptune,

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Indomptable,

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Algésiras,

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Pluton,

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Mont-Blanc,

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Intrépide,

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Swiftsure,

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Aigle,

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Scipion,

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Duguay-Trouin,

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Berwick,

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Argonaute,

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Achille,

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Redoutable,

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Fougueux, and

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Héros. These were supported by the frigates

Related Topics:
''Héros'' - Frigate

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Cornélie,

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Hermione,

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Hortense,

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Rhin and

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Thémis,

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and the brigs

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Argus and

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Furet.

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The Spanish had 15 ships of the line:

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Santísima Trinidad,

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Principe de Asturias,

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Santa Anna,

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Rayo,

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Neptuno,

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Argonauta,

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Bahama,

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Montanez,

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San Augustín,

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San Ildefonso,

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San Juan Nepomuceno,

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Monarca,

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San Francisco de Asís,

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San Justo, and

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San Leandro.

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The British had 27 ships of the line:

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Britannia,

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Royal Sovereign,

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Victory,

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Dreadnought,

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Neptune,

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Prince,

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Temeraire,

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Tonnant,

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Achille,

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Ajax,

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Belleisle,

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Bellerophon,

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Colossus,

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Conqueror,

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Defence,

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Defiance,

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Leviathan,

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Mars,

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Minotaur,

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Orion,

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Revenge,

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Spartiate,

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Swiftsure,

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Thunderer,

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Africa,

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Agamemnon, and

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Polyphemus.

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These were supported by the frigates

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Euryalus,

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Naiad,

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Phoebe and

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Sirius,

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the schooner

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Pickle,

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and the cutter

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Entreprenante.

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Engagement

The battle progressed largely according to Nelson's plan. At 11:35, Nelson sent the famous flag signal, "England expects that every man will do his duty" (he had intended to send "England confides that every man will do his duty", but the word "confides" was not included in the signal codebook, so he had "expect" sent instead; the word "duty" was also absent, but was sent letter by letter, "D-U-T-Y"). He then attacked the French line in two columns, leading one column in Victory; while Admiral Collingwood in Royal Sovereign led the other column.

Related Topics:
Flag - England expects that every man will do his duty - ''Victory'' - Admiral Collingwood - ''Royal Sovereign''

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As the battle opened, the French and Spanish were in a ragged line headed north as the two British columns approached from the west at almost a right angle.

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The northern, windward column of the British fleet was headed up by Nelson's 100-gun flagship Victory. The leeward column was led by the 100-gun Royal Sovereign, the flagship of Vice-Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood. Nelson led his line into a feint toward the van of the Franco-Spanish fleet and then turned toward the actual point of attack. Collingwood altered the course of his column slightly so that the two lines converged at the line of attack.

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Just before the South 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 lead British ships were under fire from several of the enemy for almost an hour before their own guns would bear.

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At noon, Villeneuve sent the signal "engage the enemy", and the Fougueux fired her first trial shot at the Royal Sovereign. The Royal Sovereign was sailing with all sails out, and outrunning the rest of the English fleet, heading for the Santa Ana. Before reaching her, Royal Sovereign took ineffective fire from the Fougueux, Indomptable, San Justo and San Leandro, and retaliated at point-blank range against the Santa Ana.

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The only English ship able to follow, the Belle-Isle, was engaged by the Aigle, Achille, Neptune and Fougeux; she lost her four masts and was unable to fight further, her sails blinding her batteries, but yet kept flying her flag for 45 minutes until the following English ships came to rescue.

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For 40 minutes, the Victory was under ineffective fire from the Héros, Santísima Trinidad, Redoutable and Neptune; almost all shots went astray and the Victory did not respond. At 12:45, Victory cut the enemy line between Villeneuve's flagship Bucentaure and Redoutable. The Victory came so close to the Bucentaure that 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, fearing for Nelson's safety, Hardy, captain of the Victory, engaged one of the smallest French vessels, the Redoutable. The Bucentaure was to be dealt with by the Téméraire and the Neptune.

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A general mêlée ensued, and during that fight, Victory locked masts with the French Redoutable. The crew of the Redoutable, which included a strong infantry corps (with 3 captains and 4 lieutenants), gathered for an attempt to board and seize the Victory. A musket bullet fired from the mizzentop of the Redoutable struck Nelson in the left shoulder and passed through his body lodging in his spine. Nelson exclaimed, "They finally succeeded, I am dead". He was carried below decks and died at about 16:30, as the battle that would make him a legend was ending in favour of the British.

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The Victory ceased fire, the gunners having been called on the deck to fight the capture, but were repelled to the below decks by French grenades. As the French were preparing to board Victory, the English ship Temeraire approached from the starboard bow of the Redoutable, and fired on the exposed French crew causing many casualties.

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At 13:55, Captain Lucas, of the Redoutable, with 99 fit men out of 643, and severely wounded himself, was forced to surrender. The French Bucentaure was isolated by the Victory and Temeraire, and then engaged by the Neptune, Leviathan and Conqueror; similarly, the Santísima Trinidad was isolated and overwhelmed without being rescued. They surrendered after three hours.

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The British took 22 vessels of the Franco-Spanish fleet and lost not one. Among the taken French ships were the Aigle, Algésiras, Berwick, Bucentaure, Fougueux, Intrépide, Redoutable, and Swiftsure. The Spanish ships taken were the Argonauta, Bahama, Monarca, Neptuno, San Agustín, San Ildefonso, San Juan de Nepomuceno, Santísima Trinidad, and Santa Ana. Of these, the Redoutable sank, the Santísima Trinidad and Argonauta were scuttled by the British, the Achille exploded, the Intrepide and San Augustín burned, and the Aigle, Berwick, Fougueux, and Monarca were wrecked in a gale following the battle.

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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, and a few were recaptured by the French and Spanish prisoners overcoming the small prize crews or by ships sallying from Cádiz.

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