Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement fought by the British Royal Navy against the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies, during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (1796–1815).
The Battle of Trafalgar (painting)
This work depicts a scene from the Battle of Trafalgar, a naval battle fought between the British and Franco-Spanish fleet off Cape Trafalgar in southwest Spain. The British had twenty-seven ships to the thirty-three of the Franco-Spanish fleet. Despite this, the British came out as decisively victorious and captured or destroyed nineteen of the Franco-Spanish ships. Admiral Nelson, of the British Navy, took an unconventional approach to this battle and split his fleet into two lines, one led by his flagship "Victory" and the other by his subordinate Collingwood, to attack the Franco-Spanish fleet in columns perpendicular to their line. At the height of the battle Nelson was shot from a nearby French ship and mortally wounded. Despite this upsetting death, the victory at Trafalgar represented a crucial naval victory for the British. Their dominance effectively established them as the great naval power and ended Napoleon’s plans to conquer England. The significance of this battle for British history cannot be overstated. Afterwards, many citizens called for a government commissioned work of art depicting the battle. This reflected the role of the history painting and the artist by demonstrating the virtue of the hero, Lord Nelson, to the entire nation. The importance of Nelson and his tactics are referenced in "Victory"s dominating position in the scene, the execution as a history painting, and Turner's care in rendering all elements of the scene.