Trafalgar Cemetery
The cemetery was formerly known as the Southport Ditch Cemetery. It was consecrated in June 1798, seven years prior to the Battle of Trafalgar, which took place on 21 October 1805. The cemetery was sometimes considered to be part of St. Jago's Cemetery, the larger burial ground just to the north, on the opposite side of Charles V Wall. St. Jago's, also known as Deadman's Cemetery, was the only cemetery within the walls of the city of Gibraltar. In addition, it may have represented Gibraltar's oldest known cemetery. It was incorporated into St. Jago's Barracks playground in 1929, and repurposed as a rifle range and "ball alley." There exists little evidence of the former cemetery.
Linois's expedition to the Indian Ocean
Unknown to Linois, his squadron was sailing directly into the path of a major naval campaign, the Atlantic campaign of 1806. In the aftermath of the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805, and the subsequent end of the Trafalgar Campaign at the Battle of Cape Ortegal on 5 November 1805, the British had relaxed their blockade of the French Atlantic ports. French and Spanish losses had been so severe in the campaign that it was believed by the British First Lord of the Admiralty, Lord Barham, that the French Navy would be unable to respond in the following winter, and consequently withdrew most of the blockade fleet to Britain until the spring. This strategy miscalculated the strength of the French Brest fleet, which had not been engaged in the Trafalgar campaign and therefore was at full strength. Taking advantage of the absence of the British squadrons off his principal Atlantic port, Napoleon ordered two squadrons to put to sea on 15 December 1805. These forces were ordered to cruise the Atlantic shipping lanes in search of British merchant convoys and avoid confrontations with equivalent British forces. One squadron, under Vice-Admiral Corentin-Urbain Leissegues, was ordered to the Caribbean while the other, under Contre-Admiral Jean-Baptiste Willaumez, was ordered to the South Atlantic.