What year did Trafalgar take place?
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.
Trafalgar Campaign
By early November the combined fleet had been practically destroyed. Two ships of the line had been lost at Finisterre, twenty-one at Trafalgar and in the ensuing storm, and four at Cape Ortegal. No British ships had been lost in these engagements. Many of those that had survived in French or Spanish hands were badly damaged and would not be ready for service for some time. The British victory gave them unchallenged supremacy of the seas, securing British trade and sustaining the Empire. The continued failure of Napoleon to marshal his navies as he did his armies meant that the invasion of England never occurred. Already postponed several times, Villeneuve's defeat at Finisterre and his final failure to link up with the Rochefort and Brest fleets caused Napoleon to abandon his plans in favour of a march eastward. Trafalgar, with its 74 ships, became the last clash of its scale of the Napoleonic Wars; from then on the largest engagements were fought between no more than a dozen ships. After 1805 the morale of the French navy was destroyed, while its continued blockade in port robbed it of efficiency and will. While Napoleon returned to the possibility of an invasion some years later, it was never with the same focus or determination. The failure of his navy to fulfil its objectives left him disillusioned, while the timidity of its commanders and the determination of the British to resist them, both factors clearly expressed at various stages throughout the Trafalgar campaign, left the navy with a lack of purpose and direction.
Trafalgar Day
The year 2005 was the bicentennial of the Battle of Trafalgar, and the Royal Navy led "Trafalgar 200" celebrations. The 2005 International Fleet Review held off Spithead in the Solent on 28 June was the first since 1999 and the largest since Her Majesty The Queen's 1977 Silver Jubilee.
1805 in the United Kingdom
Events from the year 1805 in the United Kingdom. This is the year of the Battle of Trafalgar.
Battle of Trafalgar
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.
Sharpe (novel series)
While travelling from India to England to take up his post in the 95th Rifles, in 1805, Sharpe is caught up in the Battle of Trafalgar, his first direct encounter with France and its European allies as an Infantry officer. On the journey he also meets and falls in love with Lady Grace Hale, the wife of a politician ("Sharpe's Trafalgar").
Capture of the Rosily Squadron
The Capture of the Rosily Squadron took place on 14 June 1808, in Cadiz, Spain, nearly three years after the Battle of Trafalgar, during the uprising against the French invaders. Five French ships of the line and a frigate were still in the port, having remained there since the British victory. French Admiral Rosily, after an engagement with the Spanish lasting five days, surrendered his entire squadron with the four thousand seamen then on board.
Aldo Miccio
Miccio is a Director of Trafalgar Events, formed in 2016, the entity responsible for bringing the first NRL trial match to Nelson's Trafalgar Park, between New Zealand Vodafone Warriors and St George Illawarra Dragons. Following this event, the entity hosted the first A league football match in Nelson, the Wellington Phoenix versus the Central Coast Mariners. Trafalgar Events was also behind a new Nelson festival, SNAPAFEST, combining seafood, music and arts, with the inaugural event taking place in September 2016.
Order of battle at the Battle of Trafalgar
This is a listing of the fleets that participated in the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805, and the number of killed and wounded per ship.
Battle of Trafalgar
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. The British took 22 vessels of the Franco-Spanish fleet and lost none. Among the captured French ships were "L'Aigle", "Algésiras", , "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 "L'Aigle", "Berwick", "Fougueux", and "Monarca" were wrecked in a gale following the battle.
Battle of Trafalgar
London's Trafalgar Square was named in honour of Nelson's victory; at the centre of the square there is a column, Nelson's Column, with a statue of Nelson on top. It was finished in 1843. The statue of Lord Nelson in Bridgetown, Barbados, in what was also once known as Trafalgar Square, was erected in 1813.
Battle of Trafalgar
These ships were later diverted for convoy duty in the Mediterranean, although Nelson had expected them to return. 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.
List of public art in Trafalgar Square and the vicinity
Immediately to the north of Charing Cross lies Trafalgar Square, one of London's most famous public spaces. Conceived as part of John Nash's urban improvements, the square was initially developed from the 1820s onwards. Its centrepiece, Nelson's Column, was constructed in 1839–1842. Charles Barry's 1840 redesign of the square provided plinths for equestrian monuments to George IV and William IV, but sufficient funds were never raised for the latter statue. Most of the memorials since added have had a military or naval flavour, an exception being the statue of the physician Edward Jenner, erected in 1858 but moved to Kensington Gardens only four years later. Another work which originally stood on the square is Hamo Thornycroft's statue of General Gordon; this was removed during World War II and reinstalled on the Victoria Embankment in 1953.
Battle of Trafalgar
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. However, Villeneuve's fleet successfully evaded Nelson's when the British were blown off station by storms. Nelson commenced a search of the Mediterranean, erroneously supposing that the French intended to make for Egypt. However, Villeneuve took his fleet through the Strait of Gibraltar, rendezvoused with the Spanish fleet, and sailed as planned for the Caribbean. Once Nelson realised that the French had crossed the Atlantic Ocean, he set off in pursuit.
English Channel
Another significant challenge to British domination of the seas came during the Napoleonic Wars. The Battle of Trafalgar took place off the coast of Spain against a combined French and Spanish fleet and was won by Admiral Horatio Nelson, ending Napoleon's plans for a cross-Channel invasion and securing British dominance of the seas for over a century.
International Festivals of the Sea
The 2003 festival was held in Edinburgh's port district of Leith. The 2005 International Festival of the Sea returned to Portsmouth as part of the Trafalgar 200 and Sea Britain 2005 festivities to mark the 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar.
Los Caños de Meca
Los Caños de Meca history is related to the Straits of Gibraltar, the Roman Fretus Herculeum and the Arab Boughaz el Tarek. Also the Battle of Trafalgar was fought near the coast of Caños de Meca, off the Cape of Trafalgar, over 200 years ago, 21 October 1805.
Trafalgar railway station
Platform 1:
Trafalgar Campaign
Napoleon's first plan, put forward in May 1804 for execution between July and September envisaged the break-out from Toulon of 10 ships of the line and 11 frigates under Admiral Latouche Tréville. They would evade the patrolling British fleet under Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson and sail into the Atlantic, slipping past Alexander Cochrane's fleet off Ferrol and entering the Bay of Biscay. They would then make for Rochefort where they would be joined by another six ships of the line. While this was taking place Vice-Admiral Ganteaume would sail from Brest with 23 ships of the line and head out into the Atlantic, hopefully drawing the main British Channel Fleet under Admiral William Cornwallis after them. Latouche Tréville would then have a clear run into the Channel and up to Boulogne, where he would escort the invasion fleet safely across. The plan was complicated and depended on the unlikely events of favourable weather, the avoidance of Cochrane's and Nelson's fleets and the decoying away of Cornwallis. The plan was never put into operation. Latouche Tréville remained at Toulon rather than risk an encounter with Nelson, and died suddenly on 19 August, putting an end to the scheme.
Enlightenment in Spain
The Treaty of Amiens in 1802 provided for a temporary truce in hostilities, only to be broken in 1804 when the British captured a Spanish treasure fleet off Cadiz. The French planned an invasion of England in the coming year; the Spanish fleet was to be an integral part in assisting this invasion. At the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, the Spanish navy and the French Mediterranean fleet, attempting to join forces with the French fleets in the north for the invasion, were attacked by Admiral Lord Nelson at the head of a British fleet in one of history's greatest naval engagements. The disastrous defeat that the Spanish and French suffered assured British dominance at sea and seriously shook the resolve of the Spanish who began to doubt the usefulness of their always mutually suspicious alliance with Napoleon's regime.
Trafalgar Day
Trafalgar Day is the celebration of the victory won by the Royal Navy, commanded by Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, over the combined French and Spanish fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805.
United Kingdom in the Napoleonic Wars
After a brief peace, in 1801-1803, war began again. Napoleon's plans to invade Britain failed due to the inferiority of his navy, and in 1805, Lord Nelson's fleet decisively defeated the French and Spanish at the Battle of Trafalgar, which was the last significant naval action of the Napoleonic Wars.
Keith White (yachtsman)
In 2005, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar, White circumnavigated Great Britain and Ireland solo, travelling anticlockwise, against the prevailing winds. His boat, the "Nephele", a Beneteau First 325, encountered a severe storm 60 miles northwest of Arranmore and 40 miles from Tory Island, off the coast of Ireland, and was overwhelmed but remained afloat.
Trafalgar Square
Two statues erected in the 19th century have since been removed. One of Edward Jenner, pioneer of the smallpox vaccine, was set up in the south-west corner of the square in 1858, next to that of Napier. Sculpted by William Calder Marshall, it showed Jenner sitting in a chair in a relaxed pose, and was inaugurated at a ceremony presided over by Prince Albert. It was moved to Kensington Gardens in 1862. The other, of General Charles George Gordon by Hamo Thornycroft, was erected on an 18-foot high pedestal between the fountains in 1888. It was removed in 1943 and re-sited on the Victoria Embankment ten years later.
Trafalgar, Indiana
Col. Avery M. Buckner is credited for platting a town, in the early 1850s, along a short-lived flat bar railroad that ran between Franklin, and Martinsville. First named Liberty, the name was changed to Trafalgar. Soon Ezekiel W. Morgan came to town to open a store. Denied a site near the railroad, he bought land in a nearby village founded by George Bridges.
In 1868, the railroad was rebuilt as the Fairland and Martinsville branch of the Big Four. The post office (and town name) was moved to Morgan's store. By 1870, the “old” and “new” Trafalgars had grown together and were briefly incorporated as one. The current town of Trafalgar was reincorporated in 1946. By the 90s, the town had grown 266%. The name of the town commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar.
Trafalgar Day
Royal Navy website
Legacy of Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
However, Nelson's legacy has endured. In the BBC's "100 Greatest Britons" programme in 2002, Nelson was voted the 9th greatest Briton of all time. The bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar in 2005 led to a round of celebrations under the banner of 'Trafalgar 200'. An International Fleet Review was held, and several new biographies and histories of the battle were published. Phrases such as "England expects" and "nelson" (meaning "111") continue to remain closely associated with English sporting teams, especially cricket.
Battle of Trafalgar
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. 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.
Action of 10 August 1805
By intercepting the ship carrying the despatches for Allemand, Baker had unwittingly played a role in bringing about the battle of Trafalgar, but he was to play an even greater role a few days later, possibly even staving off an invasion of England. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General service Medal with clasp "Phoenix 10 Augt. 1805" to all surviving claimants from the action.
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.
Order of battle in the Atlantic campaign of 1806
The Atlantic campaign of 1806 was one of the most important and complex naval campaigns of the post-Trafalgar Napoleonic Wars. Seeking to take advantage of the withdrawal of British forces from the Atlantic in the aftermath of the Battle of Trafalgar, Emperor Napoleon ordered two battle squadrons to sea from the fleet stationed at Brest, during December 1805. Escaping deep into the Atlantic, these squadrons succeeded in disrupting British convoys, evading pursuit by British battle squadrons and reinforcing the French garrison at Santo Domingo. The period of French success was brief: on 6 February 1806 one of the squadrons, under Vice-Admiral Corentin Urbain Leissègues, was intercepted by a British squadron at the Battle of San Domingo and destroyed, losing all five of its ships of the line.
Maritime history of Europe
July 1779 saw the start of the Great Siege of Gibraltar, an attempt by France and Spain to wrest control of Gibraltar from the British. The garrison survived all attacks, including an assault on September 13, 1782 that included 48 ships and 450 cannon. In October 1805, the Battle of Trafalgar took place, which involved 60 vessels, 27 British, and 33 French and Spanish. The British did not lose a single ship, and destroyed the enemy fleet, but Admiral Lord Nelson died in the battle. It was the most significant naval battle of the beginning of the 19th century, and confirmed the British Navy’s supremacy of the time.
Trafalgar Campaign
a. Not of all of the ships saw action at any one time, or at all, but represent the strength of the main fleets positioned in European waters. Frigates and smaller vessels are not included.
b. The ships arriving with Magon were the 74-gun "Algésiras" and "Achille", carrying 850 soldiers between them.
c. Both were Spanish vessels, the 80-gun "San Rafael" and the 74-gun "Firme".
d. Calder was court-martialled for his failure to 'do his utmost' to renew the engagement. He missed Trafalgar to attend, was found guilty and severely reprimanded. He never received another active command.
e. See Trafalgar order of battle and casualties for more details.
Trafalgar Square
Every year on the anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar (), the Sea Cadet Corps holds a parade in honour of Admiral Lord Nelson and the British victory over the combined fleets of Spain and France at Trafalgar. The Royal British Legion holds a Silence in the Square event on Armistice Day, 11 November, in remembrance of those who died in war. The event includes music and poetry readings, culminating in a bugler playing the Last Post and a two-minute silence at 11 am.
Barnaby Barford
The Battle of Trafalgar, OA Madrid, Spain (2010)
Trafalgar Cemetery
In 1992, a monument was unveiled at the cemetery by the Governor of Gibraltar, Admiral Sir Derek Reffell. The memorial included an anchor donated by the Royal Navy, as well as an inscription. The quote was that of Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, who reported both the victory at Trafalgar and the demise of Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson. Outside of the cemetery stands a life-size, bronze statue of Lord Nelson by British sculptor John Doubleday. It was erected in 2005 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar. In addition, a small plaque was mounted at the former area of St. Jago's Cemetery to commemorate the site of interment of those sailors who later died of wounds inflicted during the battle. Trafalgar Cemetery is listed with the Gibraltar Heritage Trust.
Trafalgar Campaign
Napoleon had been planning an invasion of England for some time, with the first "Army of England" gathering on the Channel coast in 1798. Napoleon's concentration on campaigns in Egypt and Austria, and the Peace of Amiens caused these plans to be shelved in 1802. The resumption of hostilities in 1803 led to their revival, and forces were gathered outside Boulogne in large military camps in preparation for the assembling of the invasion flotilla. The Royal Navy was the main obstacle to a successful invasion, but Napoleon declared that his fleet need only be masters of the Channel for six hours and the crossing could be effected. Though the intended departure points were known and were being closely blockaded by the Royal Navy, First Lord of the Admiralty Lord Melville was short of ships. If a combined Franco-Spanish fleet were to force the Navy from its station for even a short while, the French invasion force might succeed in crossing unmolested. The French aimed to achieve at least temporary control of the Channel, while the British aimed to prevent this at all costs.
Trafalgar High School
Trafalgar High School is a years 7-12 co-ed school located in Trafalgar, Victoria. It was officially opened in 1964 after running classes on the original Trafalgar Primary School grounds, now Balfour Park. When it opened the school had 95 pupils.
Maritime history of the United Kingdom
From the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 until the outbreak of the European War in 1914, Britain had an almost uncontested power over the world's oceans, and it was said that "Britannia ruled the waves". During the Napoleonic Wars, there was increasing tension at sea between Britain and the United States, as American traders took advantage of their country's neutrality to trade with the French-controlled parts of Europe as well as with the British Isles. The Anglo-American War of 1812 was characterised by single-ship actions and the disruption of merchant shipping.
The Battle of Trafalgar (painting)
The Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805 is an 1822 painting by British artist J. M. W. Turner. It was commissioned by King George IV as a part of a series of works to decorate three state reception rooms in St James's Palace and link the Hanoverian dynasty with military success. This work was Turner's only royal commission, and was to stand as the pendant piece to Philippe-Jacques de Loutherbourg's "Lord Howe's action, or the Glorious First of June".
This massive history painting measures x and was given to Greenwich Hospital shortly after its original installation. The painting now hangs in the National Maritime Museum, also in Greenwich, London.
Naval warfare
Even the change of government due to the French Revolution seemed to intensify rather than diminish the rivalry, and the Napoleonic Wars included a series of legendary naval battles, culminating in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, by which Admiral Horatio Nelson broke the power of the French and Spanish fleets, but lost his own life in so doing.
Trafalgar Square
The site of Trafalgar Square has been a significant location since the 13th century. During Edward I's reign, the area was the site of the King's Mews, running north from the original Charing Cross, where the Strand from the City met Whitehall coming north from Westminster. From the reign of Richard II to that of Henry VII, the mews was at the western end of the Strand. The name "Royal Mews" comes from the practice of keeping hawks here for moulting; "mew" is an old word for this. After a fire in 1534, the mews were rebuilt as stables, and remained here until George IV moved them to Buckingham Palace.
Trafalgar Square (disambiguation)
Trafalgar Square is a square in central London, England that commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar.
HMS Trafalgar (D77)
In August 1945, "Trafalgar" deployed to the Far East via the Mediterranean as part of the 19th Destroyer Flotilla, which consisted of her sister ships, and which performed a variety of duties in that region while based there. It was a brief stay however, for just the following year, the destroyer, along with the rest of the 19th Flotilla, returned to the UK via the Mediterranean. Upon returning home to the UK, "Trafalgar" was placed in reserve, an occurrence quite familiar to her sister ships during the 1950s. In 1953, while still in reserve, she took part in the Fleet Review to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
Manuel Godoy
In 1805, the British attacked Spanish ships sailing from Peru to Spain, causing Godoy to again declare war. On October 21, the French and Spanish fleets suffered a humiliating defeat at the Battle of Trafalgar, ending Spain's last bid to be a world power.
Trafalgar Day
On 21 October each year the commissioned officers of the Royal Navy celebrate the victory at the Battle of Trafalgar by holding a Trafalgar Night dinner in the Officer's Mess.
Ethie Castle
The castle was purchased in 1665 by the Carnegie family, who later became the Earls of Northesk. The 7th Earl was a Vice Admiral and commanded with Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. As a tribute, the Earl was entitled to incorporate Trafalgar in his arms and this can still be seen set in a dormer at Ethie. In 1928 it was bought by William Cunningham Hector.
Trafalgar Square
The Sea Cadets hold an annual celebration of the Battle of Trafalgar victory along the square. The parade runs from Horse Guard's Parade, along Whitehall to Nelson's Column.
Ulm Campaign
As the Austrians were marching out of Ulm to surrender, a combined Franco-Spanish fleet was being destroyed at the Battle of Trafalgar. This decisive British victory ended the naval threat from France and ensured British naval domination until World War I. Despite this setback, the Ulm Campaign had been a spectacular victory and had witnessed the elimination of an entire Austrian army at very little cost for the French. The 8th bulletin of the Grande Armée described the scale of the achievement:
Trafalgar Centre
The Trafalgar Centre is a multipurpose events centre located in Nelson, New Zealand. The stadium was built in 1972 and opened in 1973. The main stadium holds up to 2,460 people. It can be used as two tennis courts or four basketball courts.
Trafalgar Campaign
While sailing to Gibraltar with his prize in tow, Baker fell in with the 74-gun on 14 August. The following day the combined fleet under Villeneuve, heading for Brest and then on to Boulogne to escort the French invasion forces across the Channel sighted the three British ships. Villeneuve mistook the British ships for scouts from the Channel Fleet and fled south to Cadiz to avoid an action. A furious Napoleon raged 'What a Navy! What an admiral! All those sacrifices for nought!' Finisterre and Villeneuve's retreat became the decisive action of the campaign as far as the invasion of England went, for abandoning all hope of fulfilling his plans to secure control of the Channel Napoleon gathered the Armée d'Angleterre, now renamed the Grand Armée, and headed east to attack the Austrians in the Ulm Campaign.
Lamellerie's expedition
Lamellerie's expedition was a French naval operation launched in February 1806. Four French Navy frigates and a brig, all survivors of the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805, attempted to break past the British blockade of Cadiz on 23 February 1806, taking advantage of the withdrawal of the principal blockade squadron several months earlier at the start of the Atlantic campaign of 1806. Although the squadron was intercepted by elements of the British blockade force, Captain Louis-Charles-Auguste Delamarre de Lamellerie escaped with the four frigates by abandoning the slower brig, which was captured. During the next six months, Lamellerie's squadron cruised the Atlantic, visiting Senegal, Cayenne and the West Indies but failing to cause any significant disruption to British trade.
Nelson's Pillar
On 21 October 1805, a Royal Naval fleet commanded by Vice Admiral Lord Nelson defeated the combined fleets of the French and Spanish navies in the Battle of Trafalgar. At the height of the battle Nelson was mortally wounded on board his flagship, ; by the time he died later that day, victory was assured.
Allemand's expedition of 1805
Elsewhere, the Trafalgar campaign reached its climax on 21 October 1805, when Villeneuve's fleet was intercepted at sea off Cadiz by Nelson's fleet and destroyed at the Battle of Trafalgar, the French and Spanish losing 17 out of 30 ships of the line. The British fleet did not lose a single ship, but the cost of the victory was severe: Lord Nelson, victor of four major battles in the previous eight years, had been killed at the height of the combat by a musket ball. The survivors of the combined fleet scattered, most making their way back to Cadiz. However, the four ships of the French vanguard, which had rapidly outdistanced the battle and not returned, escaped towards the Bay of Biscay under Contre-Admiral Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley. Allemand's cruise was to have unforeseen consequences for Dumanoir's squadron: among the British forces mustered to hunt for the ships from Rochefort was a squadron under Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Strachan in , consisting of five ships of the line and two frigates. On 2 November, the frigate HMS "Phoenix", which had also been ordered to search for signs of Allemand, discovered four French ships near Cape Finisterre. Unaware of the events of Trafalgar and assuming these ships to be a part of Allemand's force, Captain Dundas sought to lure them towards Strachan's squadron, which he knew to be in the area. Dundas was successful in provoking Dumanoir to chase his frigate, and two days later, on 4 February, Strachan was able to bring the French squadron to battle, capturing all four ships at the Battle of Cape Ortegal.
History of Halifax (former city)
Several notable naval engagements occurred off the Halifax station. Most dramatic was the victory of the Halifax-based British frigate which captured the American frigate and brought her to Halifax as prize. As the first major victory in the naval war for the British, the capture raised the shaken morale of the Royal Navy. Two-thirds of the men that followed British Captain Philip Broke in the boarding party were wounded or killed. The casualties, 228 dead or wounded between the two ships' companies, were high, with the ratio making it one of the bloodiest single ship actions of the age of sail. It had the single highest body count in an action between two ships in the entirety of the war. By comparison, suffered fewer casualties during the much longer Battle of Trafalgar. 
"Shannon", commanded by Halifax's own Provo Wallis, escorted "Chesapeake" into Halifax, arriving there on June 6. On the entry of the two frigates into the harbour, the naval ships already at anchor manned their yards, bands played martial music and each ship "Shannon" passed greeted her with cheers. The 320 American survivors of the battle were interned on Meville Island in 1813, and many later buried at nearby Deadman's Island. The American ship, renamed HMS "Chesapeake", was used to ferry prisoners from Melville to England's Dartmoor Prison. Many American officers were paroled to Halifax, but some began a riot at a performance of a patriotic song about "Chesapeake"s defeat. Parole restrictions were tightened: beginning in 1814, paroled officers were required to attend a monthly muster on Melville Island, and those who violated their parole were confined to the prison.
Trafalgar, Nova Scotia
Trafalgar is a Canadian rural community located inland from Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore. While it is named after the Battle of Trafalgar, it is not pronounced the same as Trafalgar England. Emphasis is on the first syllable traf'-el-GAR.
Battle of Trafalgar
When the Third Coalition declared war on France, after the short-lived Peace of Amiens, Napoleon was determined 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.
Rosia Bay
The Battle of Trafalgar, on 21 October 1805, was an engagement between the British fleet commanded by Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson and the Franco-Hispanic fleet commanded by Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve. While Britain won the battle, Admiral Nelson died during the engagement. When the British fleet returned to Gibraltar with Nelson's body preserved in a barrel, it was into Rosia Bay, Gibraltar's sole deep water anchorage, that HMS "Victory" was towed. While denied by the Royal Navy, local lore has it that his body was taken ashore at the bay, for transfer from a barrel of brandy to a barrel of alcohol (spirit of wine), in preparation for the return to the United Kingdom.
Trafalgar (album)
Trafalgar is a 1971 album by the Bee Gees. It was their ninth album (seventh internationally), and was released in September 1971 in the US, and November 1971 in the UK. The album was a moderate hit in the United States, and peaked at No. 34. The lead single "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?" was the first Bee Gees' No. 1 single in the United States but failed to chart in Britain as did the album. It is Geoff Bridgford's only full-length appearance on a Bee Gees album as an official member.
Nile Clumps
The Nile Clumps are sometimes incorrectly referred to as the Trafalgar Clumps. There is a separate Trafalgar Woods project to plant a total of 250,000 trees in a series of woods across the UK to commemorate the 2005 bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar. There will be a total of 33 clumps, each representing a ship which took part in the battle. The largest will be Victory Wood in Kent with 100,000 trees.
Battle of Trafalgar
Attribution:
Battle of Cape Ortegal
The Battle of Cape Ortegal was the final action of the Trafalgar Campaign, and was fought between a squadron of the Royal Navy and a remnant of the fleet that had been destroyed earlier at the Battle of Trafalgar. It took place on 4 November 1805 off Cape Ortegal, in north-west Spain and saw Captain Sir Richard Strachan defeat and capture a French squadron under Rear-Admiral Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley. It is sometimes known as Strachan's Action.
Trafalgar Monument, Carrignamuck
The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage describes it as a ruinous square-plan folly tower, built c.1820, with rubble stone walls and an ogee-headed opening to each elevation. An entry also erroneously states that it was built by the Colthurst family to commemorate the death of a family member at the Battle of Trafalgar.
Battle of Trafalgar
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 a huge force. 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. 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".
French ship Aigle (1800)
In October 1805, "Aigle" took part in the Battle of Trafalgar. She was taken during the battle.
HMS Trafalgar (1887)
HMS "Trafalgar" was one of two "Trafalgar" class battleships commissioned in 1890 and 1891, the other being HMS "Nile". The ship was designed as an improved version of existing battleships with greater displacement and a thicker armoured belt amidships. "Trafalgar" saw active service as a battleship from 1890 to 1897 and from 1909 to 1911 when she was sold. Between these two periods as a combatant, "Trafalgar" served as a guardship and as a drill ship.
History of the French Navy
Efforts to make it into a powerful force under Napoleon were dashed by the death of Latouche Tréville in 1804, and the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, where the British all but annihilated a combined Franco-Spanish fleet. The disaster guaranteed British naval domination until the steam era.
HMS Trafalgar (S107)
HMS "Trafalgar" is a decommissioned of the Royal Navy. Unlike the rest of the "Trafalgar"-class boats that followed, she was not launched with a pump-jet propulsion system, but with a conventional 7-bladed propeller. "Trafalgar" was the fifth vessel of the Royal Navy to bear the name, after the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar.
Military history of Nova Scotia
During the Napoleonic Wars, Trafalgar Day was celebrated in Nova Scotia and across the Commonwealth on October 21 throughout the 19th century until the end of World War I. The day commemorated Horatio Nelson’s victory over Napoleon in 1805, which has been called "the most famous naval battle in history and the most decisive engagement of the Napoleonic Wars, Trafalgar cemented Britain’s supremacy on the high seas." Nova Scotians also fought at Trafalgar: John Houlton Marshall, George Augustus Westphal, Phillip Westphal. In 1905, the battles centenary, there was two days of festivities in Halifax. Flags were flown at half-mast and the Halifax Herald stated that October 21 was arguably the "most memorable day in all British history". In 1927, the Canadian Pacific Railway built the Lord Nelson Hotel. The bi-centennial was also marked by recognition in various museums in the province.
Trafalgar Cemetery
For years, an annual ceremony has been held on Trafalgar Day, the Sunday closest to 21 October. On that day, the ceremony in the cemetery commemorates those who died in the Battle of Trafalgar. A general restoration of the Trafalgar Cemetery was undertaken in the 1980s. In 1990, responsibility for the maintenance of the cemetery was transferred to the Gibraltar Heritage Trust, which completed repairs of the gates and walls. Gibraltar celebrated its tercentenary anniversary of British rule in 2004. That year, some veterans who had served there were invited to Gibraltar. The July 2004 schedule for the veterans included events at the Trafalgar Cemetery, Gibraltar Cross of Sacrifice, Gibraltar Museum, and St. Michael's Cave.
Trafalgar Cup
It was contested at Wembley Stadium from 1929 until 1998, but when the Wembley Greyhounds ended it moved to Oxford Stadium in 1999 and then on to Monmore Green Stadium in 2015.
Fantasia on British Sea Songs
The "Fantasia on British Sea Songs" was first performed by Henry Wood and the Queen's Hall Orchestra at a Promenade Concert on 21 October 1905. It comprises nine parts which follow the course of the Battle of Trafalgar from the point of view of a British sailor, starting with the call to arms, progressing through the death of a comrade, thoughts of home, and ending with a victorious return and the assertion that Britain will continue to 'rule the waves': The opening series of six naval bugle calls and their responses are taken from the calls traditionally used to convey orders on a naval warship. The first call is "Admiral's salute", followed by "Action", "General Assembly", "Landing Party", "Prepare to Ram" and finally "Quick, Double, Extend and Close".
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.
The Battle of Trafalgar (painting)
The British were attempting to establish themselves as a major maritime power; with their victory in this battle they were successful and with this painting that becomes evident. Turner had a great deal of personal interest and investment in this work and with the history of the Battle of Trafalgar in general. Turner made several sketches immediately after the battle, careful studies of the ships and their rigging, and close details of the uniforms. The most notable of these early works was "The Battle of Trafalgar, as Seen from the Mizen Starboard Shrouds of the Victory". This work was well received and provided the foundation from which Turner would develop "Trafalgar" into a scene representing an overall account of the whole battle. This earlier depiction is closer to Turner’s style in that it leans away from traditional maritime paintings and more toward the ambiguity and sublime that Turner would later be known for. In preparation for "Trafalgar" Turner created two preparatory oil sketches, with the "First Sketch for ‘The Battle of Trafalgar’" aligning its composition with the traditional maritime paintings. The "Second Sketch for ‘The Battle of Trafalgar’" moves away from this traditional style and more closely resembles his final product with a more organized chaos via the build-up of clouds and people in the foreground. Despite this work being a commission, Turner chooses to depict the final work in a style that moves away from conventional practices and closer to his original work and personal style further indicating his personal connection with Trafalgar. While the subject of the piece is evident, there are elements of ambiguity suggesting the sublime, the dissolution of space via strokes of pure paint, and the symmetry between human and natural forces.
Henry William Bayntun
At the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October, Bayntun in "Leviathan" was fifth in Nelson's weather column, after , , and HMS "Conqueror". "Leviathan" raked the French flagship before engaging the massive . Seeing the distant approach of Rear-Admiral Dumanoir's squadron from the north, Captain Thomas Hardy ordered "Leviathan" and other ships to close with the enemy. "Leviathan" engaged the Spanish ship , which was supported by "Intrepide". "Conqueror" then joined the fight and Bayntun was able to lay his ship alongside the badly damaged "San Augustin" whilst continuing to fire into "Intrepide". As the 74-gun HMS "Orion" passed, Bayntun shouted at her captain, Edward Codrington, ""I hope you will make a better fist of it!"" Some time later, with 160 of his crew dead or wounded, Commodore Don Fellipe of the "San Augustin" surrendered his sword to Bayntun. Of "Leviathan's" crew, four had been killed and just over 20 wounded during the battle.
HMS Pickle (1800)
During the Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805), "Pickle" and the other small vessels kept well back from the fighting, as a single broadside from a ship of the line would have sunk her instantly. "Pickle" herself was stationed to the north-west of the weather line, where Nelson was leading HMS "Victory" into battle.
The Plumb-pudding in danger
The peace overtures came to naught: before the end of the year, a combined Franco-Spanish fleet would be decisively defeated by the Royal Navy at the Battle of Trafalgar, giving Britain unrivalled control of the seas, but Napoleon would establish a dominant position in Europe by first defeating an Austrian army through manoeuvre in the Ulm Campaign, and then winning a great victory over a combined Russian-Austrian army at the Battle of Austerlitz, ending the Third Coalition with the 1805 Peace of Pressburg.
Trafalgar Campaign
The Trafalgar Campaign was a long and complicated series of fleet manoeuvres carried out by the combined French and Spanish fleets; and the opposing moves of the Royal Navy during much of 1805. These were the culmination of French plans to force a passage through the English Channel, and so achieve a successful invasion of the United Kingdom. The plans were extremely complicated and proved to be impractical. Much of the detail was due to the personal intervention of Napoleon, who as a soldier rather than a sailor failed to consider the effects of weather, difficulties in communication, and the Royal Navy. Despite limited successes in achieving some elements of the plan the French commanders were unable to follow the main objective through to execution. The campaign, which took place over thousands of miles of ocean, was marked by several naval engagements, most significantly at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October, where the combined fleet was decisively defeated, and from which the campaign takes its name. A final mopping up action at the Battle of Cape Ortegal on 4 November completed the destruction of the combined fleet, and secured the supremacy of the Royal Navy at sea.
Trafalgar Square
On 6 July 2005 Trafalgar Square hosted the announcement of London's bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympics. A countdown clock was erected in March 2011, although engineering and weather-related faults caused it to stop a day later. In 2007, it hosted the opening ceremonies of the Tour de France and was part of the course for subsequent races.
Trafalgar Centre
In 1981, the WDF World Cup was held at Trafalgar Centre. It was only the third ever WDF World Cup and the only one ever to be held in New Zealand. England won the overall event. Some of the tournament winners included: Eric Bristow, John Lowe, Tony Brown and Cliff Lazarenko.
HMS Trafalgar (1841)
HMS "Trafalgar" was a 120-gun first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 21 June 1841 at Woolwich Dockyard. HMS "Trafalgar" was the last ship to complete the successful "Caledonia" class.
Battle of Trafalgar
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. 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. 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.
Trafalgar Square
Nelson's Column is in the centre of the square, flanked by fountains designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens between 1937 and 1939 (replacements for two of Peterhead granite, now in Canada) and guarded by four monumental bronze lions sculpted by Sir Edwin Landseer. At the top of the column is a statue of Horatio Nelson, who commanded the British Navy at the Battle of Trafalgar.
Legacy of Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
The signing of the Triple Entente in 1904 led to a call for muted celebrations of the centenary of Trafalgar the following year to avoid offending the French. Some navy officers continued to emphasise the importance of Nelson, Jackie Fisher chose 21 October 1904 as the day to take up the office of First Sea Lord, and was fond of citing Nelson when implementing changes to the Navy. He also oversaw the naming of many navy ships after ships that had been at Trafalgar, or other Nelsonian battles, such as , and ; or after events or people in some way connected with him, such as and . In many ways Fisher was preparing for a second Trafalgar. He had even selected a new Nelson to lead the new Nelsonian style navy, John Jellicoe, of whom he wrote Sir John Jellicoe. Phenomenally young and junior. He will be Nelson at Cape St Vincent until he becomes "Boss" at Trafalgar when Armageddon comes along in 1915 or thereabouts - not sooner!
Battle of Trafalgar
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.
USCGC Eagle (WIX-327)
In 2005, as part of the Trafalgar 200 International Fleet Review in the Solent off southern England celebrating the 200 year anniversary of Admiral Horatio Nelson's victory at the Battle of Trafalgar, "Eagle" was one of a number of tall ships from several nations to be reviewed by Queen Elizabeth II, along with the U.S. Navy warship . Later that summer, "Eagle" returned to Bremerhaven for the first time since World War II and received an enthusiastic welcome.
Trafalgar Day
In Gibraltar, the Trafalgar Day service takes place at the Trafalgar Cemetery, where the senior Naval Commander reads an extract from the "Gibraltar Chronicle" newspaper, the first periodical to report on the battle. Some sailors died in Gibraltar of wounds received at Trafalgar; they are buried in Gibraltar. HMS "Victory", with Nelson's body on board, underwent repairs in Gibraltar prior to sailing for Britain.
Trafalgar-class submarine
The "Trafalgar" class were designed in the early 1970s during the Cold War as a refinement of the preceding "Swiftsure" class. Including , the "Trafalgar" class are the fifth class of nuclear-powered fleet submarines to enter service with the Royal Navy. The first of the class, HMS "Trafalgar", was ordered on 7 April 1977 and completed in 1983. The last, HMS "Triumph", was ordered on 3 January 1986 and completed in 1991. All seven boats of the class were built and completed by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering at the Barrow-in-Furness shipyard.
Blockade
British admiral Horatio Nelson applied a loose blockade at Cádiz in 1805. The Franco-Spanish fleet under Pierre-Charles Villeneuve then came out, resulting in the Battle of Trafalgar.
Trafalgar, Victoria
Trafalgar is a town in the West Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. The town lies on the Princes Highway and main Gippsland railway line about west of Moe. The town backs onto the foothills of the Strzelecki Ranges to the south. The township sits at approximately 70 metres above sea level. At the , Trafalgar had a population of 2685.
Sharpe's Trafalgar
Sharpe's Trafalgar is the fourth historical novel in the Richard Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell, first published in 2000. It is the first of the novels in the wars against Napoleon, putting the army ensign at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The novel is the first time that Sharpe encounters the Nock Gun, originally developed for the Navy and the later weapon of choice of Patrick Harper.
Trafalgar Dock
Trafalgar Dock was designed by Jesse Hartley, opened in 1836 and named after the Battle of Trafalgar.
HMS Caesar (1793)
The Battle of Cape Ortegal was the final action of the Trafalgar Campaign, and was fought between a squadron of the Royal Navy and a remnant of the fleet that had been destroyed several weeks earlier at the Battle of Trafalgar. It took place on 4 November 1805 off Cape Ortegal, in north-west Spain and saw a squadron under Captain Sir Richard Strachan in "Caesar" defeat and capture a French squadron under Rear-Admiral Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley.
Spanish ship Bahama (1784)
"Bahama" took part in the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805, under Commodore Dionisio Alcalá Galiano. She was part of the vanguard of the Franco-Spanish fleet, at the 6th position in the second division of the reconnaissance squadron under Admiral Gravina, and came under intense fire from British ships. "Bahama" suffered 75 killed and 65 wounded, among whom Galiano, who died from his wounds after a cannonball struck him.
HMS Agamemnon (1781)
On 21 October 1805 "Agamemnon" fought in the Battle of Trafalgar. "Agamemnon" was positioned eighth in Nelson's weather column, with ahead and astern. Once engaged, she was firing both batteries, eventually pounding the great Spanish four-decker "Santísima Trinidad" until that ship was dismasted and, with 216 of her complement dead, struck her colours. Before Berry could take possession of the prize, the enemy van division began bearing down on the British line, having previously been cut off from the battle by Nelson's line-breaking tactics. With Nelson already dying below decks on "Victory", Captain of the Fleet Thomas Hardy ordered "Agamemnon" and several other ships to intercept them. Three of the enemy ships broke off and ran for Cádiz; after briefly engaging "Intrépide" the British ships moved to try to cut off the fleeing ships. Over the course of the battle, "Agamemnon" suffered just two fatalities, and eight men were wounded.
Trafalgar Campaign
Calder then moved south to intercept, while Villeneuve assembled his force into the line of battle and began moving north. The two fleets moved slowly past each other, before Calder came about by tacking in succession and began to close on the enemy's rear. The action eventually began when the frigate , in the van of the British fleet, attempted to attack the French frigate "Siréne", trailing in the rear. Fearing the British were attempting to cut off his rear, Villeneuve brought his fleet about and the Spanish van opened fire on the leading British ships at about 5.30 pm. The action quickly became general, but in the failing light, mist and gunsmoke both fleets soon became scattered. By the time the action broke off at 9.30 pm, two Spanish ships had been isolated and captured. Both fleets were still scattered the following day. They continued to observe each other, but neither made an attempt to resume the action, and despite more favourable winds on 24 July, Calder declined to give battle. By 25 July the fleets had drifted out of sight of each other, at which point Villeneuve sailed south to Vigo, while Calder headed east. Both admirals claimed a victory, with Villeneuve assuring Napoleon that he intended to sail north to rendezvous with Allemand's force from Rochefort, before heading to the Channel.
Trafalgar Day
The village of Dervock in County Antrim (Northern Ireland) has the only known memorial which takes the form of a stained-glass window depicting Admiral Lord Nelson minutes before he was killed on board HMS "Victory" in 1805. It is believed that this is the only memorial on the island, Nelson's pillar in Dublin (the earliest memorial to Admiral Nelson) having been destroyed in 1966, and in 2015 residents organised their first ever "Trafalgar Day".
Fraddon
Just south of Fraddon is the settlement of Blue Anchor. The Blue Anchor Inn is alleged to have been the first stop the King's Messenger made on his journey to announce the victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805 .
Trafalgar Square
In 1826 the Commissioners of H.M. Woods, Forests and Land Revenues instructed John Nash to draw up plans for clearing a large area south of Kent's stable block, and as far east as St Martin's Lane. His plans left open the whole area of what became Trafalgar Square, except for a block in the centre, which he reserved for a new building for the Royal Academy. The plans included the demolition and redevelopment of buildings between St Martin's Lane and the Strand and the construction of a road (now called Duncannon Street) across the churchyard of St Martin-in-the-Fields. The Charing Cross Act was passed in 1826 and clearance started soon after. Nash died soon after construction started, impeding its progress. The square was to be named for William IV commemorating his ascent to the throne in 1830. Around 1835, it was decided that the square would be named after the Battle of Trafalgar as suggested by architect George Ledwell Taylor, commemorating Nelson's victory over the French and Spanish in 1805 during the Napoleonic Wars.
After the clearance, development progressed slowly. The National Gallery was built on the north side between 1832 and 1838 to a design by William Wilkins, and in 1837 the Treasury approved Wilkins' plan for the laying out of the square, but it was not put into effect. In April 1840, following Wilkins' death, new plans by Charles Barry were accepted, and construction started within weeks. For Barry, as for Wilkins, a major consideration was increasing the visual impact of the National Gallery, which had been widely criticised for its lack of grandeur. He dealt with the complex sloping site by excavating the main area to the level of the footway between Cockspur Street and the Strand, and constructing a high balustraded terrace with a roadway on the north side, and steps at each end leading to the main level. Wilkins had proposed a similar solution with a central flight of steps. Plinths were provided for sculpture and pedestals for lighting. All the stonework was of Aberdeen granite. In 1841 it was decided that two fountains should be included in the layout. The estimated budget, excluding paving and sculptures, was £11,000. The earth removed was used to level Green Park. The square was originally surfaced with tarmacadam, which was replaced with stone in the 1920s.
HMS Thunderer (1783)
Later that year she fought at the Battle of Trafalgar under the command of her First Lieutenant, John Stockham. The surgeon on board was Scotsman James Marr Brydone, who was the first of the main British battle fleet to sight the Franco-Spanish fleet. "Thunderer" signalled the "Victory" and three minutes later battle orders were signalled to the British fleet beginning the Battle of Trafalgar.
Battle of Trafalgar
On 15 August, Cornwallis decided to detach 20 ships of the line from the fleet guarding the English Channel and to have them sail southward to engage the enemy forces in Spain. This left the Channel drastically reduced of large vessels, with only 11 ships of the line present. This detached force formed the nucleus of the British fleet that would fight 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.