Who won the battle of Trafalgar?
Battle of Trafalgar
Despite the British victory over the Franco-Spanish navies, Trafalgar had negligible impact on the remainder of the War of the Third Coalition. Less than two months later, Napoleon decisively defeated the Third Coalition at the Battle of Austerlitz, knocking Austria out of the war and forcing the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire. Although Trafalgar meant France could no longer challenge Britain at sea, Napoleon proceeded to establish the Continental System in an attempt to deny Britain trade with the continent. The Napoleonic Wars continued for another ten years after Trafalgar.
Clan Strachan
In the 19th century, during the Napoleonic Wars, Admiral Sir Richard Strachan, 6th baronet from the direct line of the chieftainship of the Clan Strachan, commanded a squadron. On 2 November 1805, his squadron engaged four French battleships that had escaped from Lord Nelson's triumph at the Battle of Trafalgar. Sir Richard captured all four French vessels with little loss of British life. He was created a Knight of the Bath and in 1810 was granted freedom of the City of London. Sir Richard died in 1829 without male heir.
Spanish ship San Juan Nepomuceno
The Battle of Trafalgar is the historical feat in which she participated and of which we have the best account. In spite of being dismasted by Admiral Nelson's artillery on 21 October 1805, she achieved glory in this battle under the command of the commander Don Cosme Damian Churruca and constituted for the Spaniards a handsome example of the heroism of their nation and the bravery of their sailors.
Battle of Trafalgar
In 1905, there were events up and down the country to commemorate the centenary, although none were attended by any member of the Royal Family, apparently to avoid upsetting the French, with whom the United Kingdom had recently entered the "Entente cordiale". King Edward VII did support the "Nelson Centenary Memorial Fund" of the British and Foreign Sailors Society, which sold Trafalgar centenary souvenirs marked with the Royal cypher. A gala was held on 21 October at the Royal Albert Hall in aid of the fund, which included a specially commissioned film by Alfred John West entitled ""Our Navy"". The event ended with "God Save the King" and "La Marseillaise" The first performance of Sir Henry Wood's "Fantasia on British Sea Songs" occurred on the same day at a special Promenade Concert.
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.
HMS Tonnant
During the Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) she captured the 74-gun . "Tonnant" lost 26 officers and men killed and 50 officers and men wounded in the battle, with Tyler being among the wounded.
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.
Maritime history
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson was a British admiral famous for his participation in the Napoleonic Wars, most notably in the Battle of Trafalgar, a decisive British victory in the war, where he lost his life. Nelson was noted for his considerable ability to inspire and bring out the best in his men, to the point that it gained a name: "The Nelson Touch". His actions during these wars meant that before and after his death he was revered like few military figures have been throughout British history. Alexander Davison was a contemporary and close friend of Horatio Nelson. Davison is responsible for several acts that glorified Nelson's public image. These included the creation of a medal commemorating the victory at the Battle of the Nile and the creation of the Nelson Memorial at his estate at Swarland, Northumberland. As a close friend of the Admiral he acted as an intermediary when Nelson's marriage to his wife, Frances Nelson fell apart due in large part to his affair with Emma Hamilton.
Hyde Parker in 1778 was engaged in the Savannah expedition, and in the following year his ship was wrecked on the hostile Cuban coast. His men, however, entrenched themselves, and were in the end brought off safely. Parker was with his father at the Dogger Bank, and with Richard Howe in the two actions in the Straits of Gibraltar. In 1793, having just become rear admiral, he served under Samuel Hood at Toulon and in Corsica, and two years later, now a vice admiral, he took part, under Lord Hotham, in the indecisive fleet actions on 13 March 1795 and the 13 July 1795. From 1796 to 1800 he was in command at Jamaica and ably conducted the operations in the West Indies.
The Trafalgar Way
The Trafalgar Way is the name given to the historic route used to carry dispatches with the news of the Battle of Trafalgar overland from Falmouth to the Admiralty in London. The first messenger in November 1805 was Lieutenant John Richards Lapenotière, of , who reached Falmouth on 4 November after a hard voyage in bad weather. He then raced to London bearing the dispatches containing the momentous news of Lord Nelson's victory and death in the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805.
Action of 5 October 1804
Spain declared war on Great Britain on 14 December 1804, but suffered a catastrophic defeat less than a year later at the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805. Napoleon, having crowned himself Emperor on 2 December, gained Spain as an ally in his war against Britain.
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.
Battle of Trafalgar
In 2005 a series of events around the UK, part of the "Sea Britain" theme, marked the bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar. The 200th anniversary of the battle was also commemorated on six occasions in Portsmouth during June and July, at St Paul's Cathedral (where Nelson is entombed), in Trafalgar Square in London in October ("T Square 200"), and across the UK.
Trafalgar Campaign
Napoleon, increasingly dissatisfied with Villeneuve's performance, ordered Vice-Admiral François Rosily to go to Cádiz and take command of the fleet, sail it into the Mediterranean to land troops at Naples, before making port at Toulon. Villeneuve decided to sail the fleet out before his successor arrived. On 20 October the fleet was sighted making its way out of harbour by patrolling British frigates, and Nelson was informed that they appeared to be headed to the west. Nelson led his column of ships into battle aboard HMS "Victory", and succeeded in cutting the line and causing the pell-mell battle he desired to break out. After several hours of fighting 17 French and Spanish ships had been captured and another destroyed, without the loss of a single British ship. Nelson was among the 449 British dead, having been mortally wounded by a French sharpshooter during the battle. Nine of the prizes were later scuttled or sunk in a storm that blew up the following day. A sortie led by some of the ships that managed to escape under Julien Cosmao managed to recapture the Spanish
"Santa Ana", but in doing so he lost three more of his ships, wrecked in the gale, while a fourth was captured by the British, but later wrecked. The British fleet and the surviving French prizes put into Gibraltar over the next few days.
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.
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.
Colin White (historian)
Colin Saunders White (28 August 1951 – 25 December 2008) was a British military historian, director of the Royal Naval Museum from 2006 until his death and one of Britain's leading experts on Admiral Horatio Nelson and the Battle of Trafalgar.
Trafalgar Township
Named after Cape Trafalgar where Horatio Nelson led the English fleet to victory over the Spanish and French at the Battle of Trafalgar, the township was created in 1806. Trafalgar was one of three townships surveyed by Samuel Street Wilmot after the purchase of land from the Mississaugas in 1805.
Battle of Trafalgar
The Royal Navy proceeded to dominate the sea until the Second World War. Although the victory at Trafalgar was typically given as the reason at the time, modern historical analyses suggest that relative economic strength was an important underlying cause of British naval mastery.
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.
Atlantic campaign of 1806
The Atlantic campaign of 1806 was a complicated series of manoeuvrees and counter-manoeuveres conducted by squadrons of the French Navy and the British Royal Navy across the Atlantic Ocean during the spring and summer of 1806, as part of the Napoleonic Wars. The campaign followed directly from the Trafalgar campaign of the year before, in which the French Mediterranean fleet had crossed the Atlantic, returned to Europe and joined with the Spanish fleet. On 21 October 1805, this combined force was destroyed by a British fleet under Lord Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar, although the campaign did not end until the Battle of Cape Ortegal on 4 November 1805. Believing that the French Navy would not be capable of organised resistance at sea during the winter, the First Lord of the Admiralty Lord Barham withdrew the British blockade squadrons to harbour. Barham had miscalculated – the French Atlantic fleet, based at Brest, had not been involved in the Trafalgar campaign and was therefore at full strength. Taking advantage of the reduction in the British forces off the port, Napoleon ordered two heavy squadrons to sea, under instructions to raid British trade routes while avoiding contact with equivalent Royal Navy forces.
List of historical opera characters
Sir Thomas Hardy, 1st Baronet, British sea captain, commander of "HMS Victory" at the Battle of Trafalgar
HMS Africa (1781)
"Africa" was present at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 under the command of Captain Henry Digby. Having been separated from the main British fleet before the battle, the "Africa" arrived from a different direction without knowing the battle plan that Horatio Nelson had devised. As the rest of the fleet engaged the combined Franco-Spanish fleet in a pell-mell battle, Digby sailed the "Africa" down the line of enemy ships in a parallel fashion, exchanging broadsides.
Battle of Trafalgar
The plan had three principal advantages. First, the British fleet would close with the Franco-Spanish as quickly as possible, reducing the chance that they would be able to escape without fighting. Second, it would quickly bring on a mêlée and frantic battle by breaking the Franco-Spanish line and inducing a series of individual ship-to-ship actions, in which the British were likely to prevail. Nelson knew that the superior seamanship, faster gunnery and better morale of his crews were great advantages. Third, it would bring a decisive concentration on the rear of the Franco-Spanish fleet. The ships in the van of the enemy fleet would have to turn back to support the rear, which would take a long time. Additionally, once the Franco-Spanish line had been broken, their ships would be relatively defenceless against powerful broadsides from the British fleet, and it would take them a long time to reposition to return fire.
Battle of Trafalgar
Observing that some of the leewardmost of the prizes were escaping towards the Spanish coast, "Leviathan" asked for and was granted permission by Collingwood to try to retrieve the prizes and bring them to anchor. "Leviathan" chased "Monarca", but on 24 October she came across "Rayo", dismasted but still flying Spanish colours, at anchor off the shoals of Sanlúcar. At this point the 74-gun HMS "Donegal", en route from Gibraltar under Captain Pulteney Malcolm, was seen approaching from the south on the larboard tack with a moderate breeze from northwest-by-north and steered directly for the Spanish three-decker. At about ten o'clock, just as "Monarca" had got within little more than a mile of "Rayo", "Leviathan" fired a warning shot wide of "Monarca", to oblige her to drop anchor. The shot fell between "Monarca" and "Rayo". The latter, conceiving that it was probably intended for her, hauled down her colours, and was taken by HMS "Donegal", who anchored alongside and took off the prisoners. "Leviathan" resumed her pursuit of "Monarca", eventually catching up and forcing her to surrender. On boarding her, her British captors found that she was in a sinking state, and so removed the British prize crew, and nearly all of her original Spanish crew members. The nearly empty "Monarca" parted her cable and was wrecked during the night. Despite the efforts of her British prize crew, "Rayo" was driven onshore on 26 October and wrecked, with the loss of twenty-five men. The remainder of the prize crew were made prisoners by the Spanish.
El Escorial Conspiracy
This treaty was soon to lead to Spain's involvement in the War of the Third Coalition with Spanish and French forces against the Portuguese and English which culminated in the English naval victory at the Battle of Trafalgar. This defeat made many enemies at court for Godoy, among them the son of Charles IV, Ferdinand Prince of Asturias and Crown Prince of Spain. (later King Ferdinand VII).
William Pitt the Younger
The British Government began placing pressure on the French Emperor, Napoleon I. Thanks to Pitt's efforts, Britain joined the Third Coalition, an alliance that also involved Austria, Russia, and Sweden. In October 1805, the British Admiral, Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, won a crushing victory in the Battle of Trafalgar, ensuring British naval supremacy for the remainder of the war. At the annual Lord Mayor's Banquet toasting him as "the Saviour of Europe", Pitt responded In a few words that became the most famous speech of his life:
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.
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.
Maritime history of the United Kingdom
In 1793 France declared war on Britain. The next 12 years saw many battles such as that at Cape St. Vincent and at the Battle of the Nile, and short-lived truces such as the Treaty of Amiens. The height of the Royal Navy's achievements came on 21 October 1805 at the Battle of Trafalgar, where a numerically smaller but more experienced British fleet under the command of Lord Horatio Nelson decisively defeated a combined French and Spanish fleet.
Battle of Trafalgar
One Royal Marine officer was killed on board "Victory"; Captain Charles Adair. Royal Marine Lieutenant Lewis Buckle Reeve was seriously wounded and lay next to Nelson.
Battle of Trafalgar
Soon after leaving port, the wind shifted to west-southwest, raising a heavy sea with the result that most of the British prizes broke their tow ropes, and drifting far to leeward, were only partially resecured. The combined squadron came in sight at noon, causing Collingwood to summon his most battle-ready ships to meet the threat. In doing so, he ordered them to cast off towing their prizes. He had formed a defensive line of ten ships by three o'clock in the afternoon and approached the Franco-Spanish squadron, covering the remainder of their prizes which stood out to sea. The Franco-Spanish squadron, numerically inferior, chose not to approach within gunshot and then declined to attack. Collingwood also chose not to seek action, and in the confusion of the powerful storm, the French frigates managed to retake two Spanish ships of the line which had been cast off by their British captors, the 112-gun "Santa Ana" and 80-gun "Neptuno", taking them in tow and making for Cádiz. On being taken in tow, the Spanish crews rose up against their British prize crews, putting them to work as prisoners.
Jean Dupotet
Jean Henri Joseph Dupotet (17 December 1777, in Chaugey – 9 January 1852, in Paris) was a French navy commander known for the Battle of Trafalgar.
French ship Bucentaure
At the Battle of Trafalgar, on 21 October 1805, she was commanded by Captain Jean-Jacques Magendie. Admiral Nelson's HMS "Victory", leading the weather column of the British fleet, broke the French line just astern of "Bucentaure" and just ahead of "Redoutable". "Victory" raked her less-protected stern and the vessel lost 197 men and 85 were wounded (including Captain Magendie); Admiral Villeneuve was lucky to survive, but this effectively put "Bucentaure" out of most of the fight. After three hours of fighting, she surrendered to Captain James Atcherly of the Marines from HMS "Conqueror.
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.
Order of battle at the Battle of Trafalgar
Named officers marked '†', killed in action or died of wounds.
Raking fire
The effectiveness of this tactic was demonstrated at the Battle of Trafalgar. Admiral Nelson's HMS "Victory", leading the weather column of the British fleet, broke the French line just astern of the French flagship "Bucentaure", and just ahead of "Redoutable". "Victory" raked the "Bucentaure's" less protected stern, killing 197 and wounding a further 85, including the "Bucentaure's" captain, Jean-Jacques Magendie. Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve survived, and although he was not captured for three hours, the raking put "Bucentaure" out of the fight.
Emma, Lady Hamilton
On 21 October 1805, Nelson's fleet defeated a joint Franco-Spanish naval force at the Battle of Trafalgar. Nelson was seriously wounded during the battle and died three hours later. When the news of his death arrived in London, a messenger was sent to Merton Place to bring the news to Lady Hamilton. She later recalled, They brought me word, Mr Whitby from the Admiralty. 'Show him in directly,' I said. He came in, and with a pale countenance and faint voice, said, 'We have gained a great Victory.' – 'Never mind your Victory,' I said. 'My letters – give me my letters' – Captain Whitby was unable to speak – tears in his eyes and a deathly paleness over his face made me comprehend him. I believe I gave a scream and fell back, and for ten hours I could neither speak nor shed a tear.
Trafalgar Day
The victory is celebrated each year in the Australian town of Trafalgar, Victoria, in which the small town of 2,200 hold an annual Battle of Trafalgar Festival with the Trafalgar Day Ball held on the Friday or Saturday closest to 21 October each year.
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.
Lloyd's of London (film)
Lord Drayton, First Lord the Admiralty and Stacy's uncle, agrees to order half of Nelson's fleet to convoy the merchant ships. Before the order can be sent, Jonathan receives a letter from Nelson thanking him for his sacrifices and urging him "at all costs" to protect his fleet from being divided. Determined to buy Nelson more time, Jonathan secretly sends a false message from France reporting a victory by Nelson. Stacy, however, learns that Jonathan was in Calais on the day the message was sent and goes to Angerstein, who warns him that if he denounces Jonathan as a traitor, he himself will be ruined too, since unbeknown to Stacy, Elizabeth's fortune is tied up in the syndicate as well. Stacy finds Jonathan and Elizabeth in each other's arms and shoots his rival in the back. Jonathan, however, has bought enough time for Nelson to win the Battle of Trafalgar, although Nelson dies in the conflict. A recovering Jonathan watches sadly from the window as his childhood friend's funeral procession passes by."The New York Times" wrote, ""Lloyd's of London" ... is a pleasing photoplay, crammed with authentic detail of the Georgian England where its scene is laid ... threaded by a semi-fictional story of romance and business daring. Under the graphic direction of the veteran Henry King, a cast that is capable down to its merest fishmonger and chimney sweep brings alive to the screen the London of the waning years of the eighteenth century and the early years of the next ..."
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.
Age of Napoleon (board game)
Intending to simulate Britain's naval dominance after the Battle of Trafalgar, in which the French navy was severely damaged, dashing Napoleon's hopes of sea superiority and invading Britain, only the Coalition player may move forces by sea. Thus it is impossible for Britain to be invaded and ever be forced to surrender by France, just as it had become in history.
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.
Walter Burke (purser)
Walter Burke (1736 - 12 September 1815) was a purser in the Royal Navy. He is best known for serving aboard at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805, and was present at the death of Lord Nelson in the cockpit of the "Victory".
Battle of Trafalgar
It took most of 20 October for Villeneuve to get his fleet organised; it eventually set sail in three columns for the Straits of Gibraltar to the southeast. That same evening, "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 27 ships of the line and four frigates was spotted in pursuit from the northwest with the wind behind it. 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.
HMS Pickle (1800)
"Pickle" was the first ship to bring the news of Nelson's victory at Trafalgar to Great Britain, arriving at Falmouth on 4 November 1805, after a hard voyage in bad weather. Vice Admiral Collingwood, who had assumed command after the death of Nelson, chose her to carry his dispatches describing the battle and announcing Nelson's death. Collingwood sent "Pickle", captained by John Richards Lapenotière, back to Britain with the dispatches telling of the great victory. This was a signal honour for any junior officer, as it almost guaranteed promotion. After arriving in Falmouth, Lapenotière took a chaise to London to deliver the dispatches to the Admiralty, stopping 21 times to change horses. The Admiralty duly promoted him to Commander for this service, and the Committee of the Lloyd's Patriotic Fund gave him a sword worth 100 guineas and £500 in cash. The route that Lapenotière travelled is now known as The Trafalgar Way.
Battle of Trafalgar
At 13:55, Captain Lucas, of "Redoutable", with 99 fit men out of 643 and severely wounded himself, surrendered. The French "Bucentaure" was isolated by "Victory" and "Temeraire", and then engaged by HMS "Neptune", , and "Conqueror"; similarly, "Santísima Trinidad" was isolated and overwhelmed, surrendering after three hours.
Trafalgar Cemetery
The Trafalgar Cemetery is a cemetery in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. Formerly known as the Southport Ditch Cemetery, it occupies a small area of land just to the south of the city walls, in what had been a defensive ditch during the period of Spanish rule of Gibraltar. Although it is named for the Battle of Trafalgar of 21 October 1805, only two victims of the battle are buried there. The remainder of the interments are mostly of those killed in other sea battles or casualties of the yellow fever epidemics that swept Gibraltar between 1804 and 1814. In addition, tombstones were transferred to the Trafalgar Cemetery from St. Jago's Cemetery and Alameda Gardens. 
The cemetery is no longer used for burials and was abandoned for many years, but was restored in the 1980s. In 1992, a memorial to the Battle of Trafalgar was erected in the cemetery. The graveyard is the site of an annual commemorative ceremony on Trafalgar Day, the Sunday nearest to the anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar. Trafalgar Cemetery is listed with the Gibraltar Heritage Trust.
Battle of Trafalgar
Villeneuve returned from the Caribbean to Europe, intending to break the blockade at Brest, but after two of his Spanish ships were captured during the Battle of Cape Finisterre by a squadron under Vice-Admiral Sir Robert Calder, Villeneuve abandoned this plan and sailed back to Ferrol in northern Spain. There he received orders from Napoleon to return to Brest according to the main plan.
Trafalgar
Trafalgar is the name of a headland on the Atlantic coast of Spain, Cape Trafalgar, made famous by the 1805 naval Battle of Trafalgar. Derived terms may refer to:
Battle of Trafalgar
For 40 minutes, "Victory" was under fire from "Héros", "Santísima Trinidad", "Redoutable", and "Neptune"; although many shots went astray, others killed and wounded a number of her crew and shot her wheel away, so that she had to be steered from her tiller belowdecks. "Victory" could not yet respond. At 12:45, "Victory" cut the enemy line between Villeneuve's flagship "Bucentaure" and "Redoutable"; she came close to "Bucentaure", firing a devastating raking broadside through her stern which killed and wounded many on her gundecks. 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 "Victory" engaged the 74-gun "Redoutable"; "Bucentaure" was left to be dealt with by the next three ships of the British windward column: "Temeraire", "Conqueror", and .
A general mêlée ensued and, during that fight, "Victory" locked masts with the French "Redoutable". The crew of "Redoutable", which included a strong infantry corps (with three captains and four lieutenants), gathered for an attempt to board and seize "Victory". A musket bullet fired from the mizzentop of "Redoutable" struck Nelson in the left shoulder, passed through his spine at the sixth and seventh thoracic vertebrae, and lodged two inches below his right scapula in the muscles of his back. Nelson exclaimed, "They finally succeeded, I am dead." He was carried below decks.
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.
Enrique MacDonell
Enrique MacDonell, also spelled MacDonnell, was an Irish-Spanish navy admiral noted for his participation in several sea battles including the Battle of Trafalgar.
Battle of Trafalgar
Twenty-seven British ships of the line led by Admiral Lord Nelson aboard defeated thirty-three French and Spanish ships of the line under French Admiral Villeneuve. The battle took place in the Atlantic Ocean off the southwest coast of Spain, just west of Cape Trafalgar, near the town of Los Caños de Meca. The Franco-Spanish fleet lost twenty-two ships and the British lost none.
Napoleonic Wars
Napoleon, upon ascending to First Consul of France in 1799, had inherited a chaotic republic; he subsequently created a state with stable finances, a strong bureaucracy, and a well-trained army. In 1805, Austria and Russia waged war against France. In response, Napoleon defeated the allied Russo-Austrian army at Austerlitz in December 1805, which is considered his greatest victory. At sea, the British severely defeated the joint Franco-Spanish navy in the Battle of Trafalgar on October 1805. 
This victory secured British control of the seas and prevented the invasion of Britain itself. Prussian concerns about increasing French power led to a resumption of war in October 1806. Napoleon quickly defeated the Prussians, and defeated Russia in June 1807, bringing an uneasy peace to the continent. The peace failed, though, as war broke out in 1809, and a new coalition was soon defeated.
Charles Bullen
On 30 August, the "Britannia" joined the blockade of the Franco-Spanish fleet and so was present on 21 October for the battle of Trafalgar. On the day of the battle, "Britannia", "Prince" and "Dreadnought" being the slowest ships present, were ordered to "...take station as convenient". At this point Bullen and Northesk had a serious disagreement about the meaning of the order with Bullen refusing to shorten sail. "Britannia" fell in 5th behind HMS Victory and with no particular role allocated, attacked three ships including the "Bucentaure" and the 130 gun "Santissima Trinidad", before turning to pursue the enemy's flying van. After the battle, "Britannia" was still relatively undamaged despite having suffered 52 casualties, and so she was able to aid other more seriously damaged ships in the storm which followed. Bullen brought three ships back to England and received prize money in excess of £3000, along with the usual awards from the Lloyd's Patriotic Fund of the gold medal and sword given to Trafalgar captains. His ship was paid off on 20 June and Bullen spent the next 15 months on half pay.
Dean Street
Admiral Nelson stayed in Dean Street the day before setting sail for the Battle of Trafalgar. He spent the night drawing up his final battleplans, including the masterstroke of painting identifiable gold and black checks on the ships. He is said to have spent the early part of the evening at a nearby undertakers selecting the coffin he would like to be buried in were the battle not to go according to plan, which proved to be time well spent, for he died in the battle despite leading the British fleet to victory.
Battle of Trafalgar
On balance, the allied counter-attack achieved little. In forcing the British to suspend their repairs to defend themselves, it influenced Collingwood's decision to sink or set fire to the most damaged of his remaining prizes. Cosmao retook two Spanish ships of the line, but it cost him one French and two Spanish vessels to do so. Fearing their loss, the British burnt or sank "Santisima Trinidad", "Argonauta", "San Antonio" and "Intrepide". Only four of the British prizes, the French "Swiftsure" and the Spanish "Bahama", "San Ildefonso" and "San Juan Nepomuceno" survived to be taken to Britain. After the end of the battle and storm only nine ships of the line were left in Cádiz.
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.
British anti-invasion preparations of 1803–05
By the 1 September 1805 Napoleon's invasion camps were empty due to the Grande Armée marching against the Austrians. The Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October relieved British fears of invasion as Admiral Nelson destroyed the combined French-Spanish fleet. However the threat of invasion remained so long as Britain was at war with France. At Tilsit in July 1807 Napoleon and the Russian Tsar Alexander I agreed to combine the navies of Europe against Britain. The British responded with a pre-emptive attack on the Danish fleet at Battle of Copenhagen and they also made sure the French never secured the Portuguese fleet. Captain Edward Pelham Brenton in his "Naval History of Great Britain" noted that after Trafalgar "another French navy, as if by magic sprang forth from the forests to the seashore, manned by a maritime conscription exactly similar in principle to that edict by which the trees were appropriated to the building of ships". The First Lord of the Admiralty, Lord Melville, noted after the war that given time Napoleon would "have sent forth such powerful fleets that our navy must eventually have been destroyed, since we could never have kept pace with him in building ships nor equipped numbers sufficient to cope with the tremendous power he could have brought against us".
Battle of the Saintes
As a result of the battle, naval warfare changed along the tactical lines employed. The British used these tactics again in the all-important Battle of Trafalgar, where Admiral Horatio Nelson defeated Napoleon’s fleet using similar tactics.
Trafalgar Castle School
The castle was built by Nelson Gilbert Reynolds, Sheriff of Ontario County, as a private residence in 1859. Reynolds was named after Lord Nelson and named his castle Trafalgar in honour of the Battle of Trafalgar.
Federico Gravina
Battle of Trafalgar
1805 in the United Kingdom
Events from the year 1805 in the United Kingdom. This is the year of the Battle of Trafalgar.
John Scott (Royal Navy officer)
Scott served as purser of before transferring to "Victory" in May 1803, a transfer that Nelson specifically requested. They served together throughout the long campaign that culminated in the Battle of Trafalgar; a battle that claimed the lives of them both. Assisted by a small team of clerks, John Scott acted as Nelson's principal secretary, dealing with most of the public correspondence. Foreign and confidential mail was handled by "Victorys" chaplain, the Rev. Alexander Scott.
Order of battle at the Battle of Trafalgar
The table below shows the British vessels deployed during the battle. HMS "Africa" attacked the head of the Allied line (to the North of the Weather column), whilst the rest of the ships-of-the-line were divided into two columns, with the Weather column forming the northern flank and the Lee column the southern flank. They are listed in sailing order. The British fleet during the battle consisted of 33 warships, 27 of which were ships of the line.
HMS Moselle (1804)
After Admiral Lord Nelson defeated the French and Spanish fleets at the battle of Trafalgar on 21 October, "Moselle" was at the blockade of Cadiz. On 25 November, detained the Ragusan ship "Nemesis", which was sailing from Isle de France to Leghorn, Italy, with a cargo of spice, indigo dye, and other goods. "Moselle" shared the prize money with ten other British warships.
Robert Redmill
Captain Robert Redmill (c. 1765 – February 1819) was a British naval officer who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He commanded during the Battle of Trafalgar. Although he was late into the action, he gained much acclaim for saving the battered from sinking in the storm which followed the action.
Battle of Trafalgar
The same month, Nelson returned home to Britain after two years of duty at sea. He remained ashore for 25 days and was warmly received by his countrymen. Word reached Britain on 2 September about the combined French and Spanish fleet in Cadiz harbour. Nelson had to wait until 15 September before his ship, HMS "Victory", was ready to sail.
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.
Trafalgar Campaign
Though the combined fleet had been decisively crushed at Trafalgar, the final action of the campaign was fought nearly a fortnight later, on 4 November. Four French ships under Rear-Admiral Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley had escaped Trafalgar and headed north, hoping to reach Rochefort. On 2 November they came across the 36-gun frigate , some forty miles of Cape Ortegal. They gave chase, but the "Phoenix" lured them towards a squadron of five ships of the line under Captain Sir Richard Strachan. Strachan led his ships in pursuit, coming in range and opening the attack on 4 November, despite one of his ships of the line not being with the squadron. Using his frigates to harass and wear down the enemy while avoiding their broadsides, Strachan used his larger ships to attack the enemy's rear and centre. He was eventually able to surround the French ships, and after four hours of close fighting all of the French ships were forced to surrender.
James Clephan
James Clephan (1768–1851) was a lieutenant in the Royal Navy who took part in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. He rose from the ranks to become a Captain. A flag presented to him after the battle by the crew of the ship on which he served at Trafalgar was sold at auction for £384,000 on Trafalgar Day 2009.
Melee
Lord Nelson described his tactics for the Battle of Trafalgar as inducing a "pell mell battle" focused on engagements between individual ships where the superior morale and skill of the Royal Navy would prevail.
Nelson Memorial, Swarland
A relatively obscure memorial to Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, victor of the Battle of Trafalgar, is situated by the old A1 (the great road between Morpeth and Alnwick, according to an 1868 gazetteer, at Swarland in north Northumberland, England. The Nelson Memorial, Swarland is a white freestone obelisk erected in 1807, two years after Nelson's death, by his friend and sometime agent, Alexander Davison, who owned an estate centred on the now demolished Swarland Hall. It is a Grade II listed monument.
George Miller Bligh
Captain George Miller Bligh (1780–1834) was an officer of the Royal Navy, who saw service during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, eventually rising to the rank of Captain. He was present aboard at the Battle of Trafalgar, and was badly wounded during the action. He was taken below and was present in the cockpit during the death of Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson.
Battle of Trafalgar
At 5:40 a.m. on 21 October, the British were about 21 miles (34 km) to the northwest of Cape Trafalgar, with the Franco-Spanish fleet between the British and the Cape. At circa 6 a.m., Nelson gave the order to prepare for battle. At 8 am the British frigate "Euryalus", which had been keeping watch on the Combined Fleet overnight, observed the British fleet still "forming the lines" in which it would attack.
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.
Jonathon Band
In the Trafalgar 200 celebrations, celebrating the British victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, Band attended the ceremonies and the fleet review in the UK. In an interview, he stated:
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.
Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley
In 1805, he was in command of a division in the French fleet commanded by Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve. He took part in the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805, flying his flag on the "Formidable" and commanding the six-ship vanguard of the French fleet; cut off from most of the fighting, he gave the signal for his ships to flee the battle, and four of them did (although the Spanish "Valdes" defied the order and had rowboats tow him back into battle); Dumanoir was chased down and captured by a squadron under Richard Strachan at the Battle of Cape Ortegal on 3 November and reached England in disgrace.
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.
Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood
The combined fleet sailed from Cadiz in October 1805. The Battle of Trafalgar immediately followed. Villeneuve, the French admiral, drew up his fleet in the form of a crescent. The British fleet bore down in two separate lines, the one led by Nelson in the "Victory", and the other by Collingwood in the . The "Royal Sovereign" was the swifter sailer, mainly because its hull had been given a new layer of copper which lacked the friction of old, well used copper and thus was much faster. Having drawn considerably ahead of the rest of the fleet, it was the first engaged. "See", said Nelson, pointing to the "Royal Sovereign" as she penetrated the centre of the enemy's line, "see how that noble fellow Collingwood carries his ship into action!" Probably it was at the same moment that Collingwood, as if in response to the observation of his great commander, remarked to his captain, "What would Nelson give to be here?"
Action of 22 October 1793
Nelson remained with the Mediterranean Fleet for several years; he fought in "Agamemnon" at the Battle of Genoa in 1795, was instrumental in the defeat of the Spanish fleet at the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1797, and in 1798 led the British fleet which destroyed the French Mediterranean Fleet at the Battle of the Nile. In 1800, during the Siege of Malta, he encountered Perrée again at the Battle of the Malta Convoy, in which Perrée was killed in action and his ship captured by Nelson. Nelson himself was killed in action five years later at the Battle of Trafalgar, in which a combined French and Spanish fleet was destroyed. He is remembered as one of Britain's greatest and most successful naval commanders.
Dispatch boat
Once the Battle of Trafalgar had been decided in favor of the British in October 1805, the honor of delivering the news of the victory as well as the loss of Admiral Lord Nelson belonged to the dispatch boat which first brought the news to the Admiralty in London.
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.
Battle of Trafalgar
The battle progressed largely according to Nelson's plan. At 11:45, Nelson sent the famous flag signal, "England expects that every man will do his duty".
The term "England" was widely used at the time to refer to the United Kingdom; the British fleet included significant contingents from Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Unlike the photographic depiction (right), this signal would have been shown on the mizzen mast only and would have required 12 lifts.
William Pryce Cumby
Captain William Pryce Cumby (20 March 1771 – 27 September 1837) was an officer in the Royal Navy whose excellent service during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars was highlighted when he was thrust into the limelight following his service at the battle of Trafalgar. During the battle the French almost took his vessel, the ship of the line ("Billy Ruffian" to her crew), but despite mounting casualties, heavy bombardment and the death of his captain John Cooke, then Lieutenant Cumby ably took command, leading a charge that cleared his decks of boarders. He then captured the enemy ship from which the attack had come.
The Young Mr. Pitt
With the looming danger of invasion, the country once more turns to Pitt. Despite the warnings of his doctor, he becomes Prime Minister again. Even Fox offers to serve under him. The decisive British victory at the Battle of Trafalgar ends the danger.Bosley Crowther, critic for "The New York Times", felt "the nature of the historical period in which this film is set and the evident fidelity of the authors to the facts of Mr. Pitt's life conspire to prevent this picture from having a sharp dramatic impact."
Gibraltar Chronicle
The "Gibraltar Chronicle" published the news of the victory of Trafalgar on 23 October, i.e. only two days after the event, in English and French, and included a letter from Admiral Collingwood to the Governor of Gibraltar Henry Edward Fox, giving an account of the battle. It had received the news so quickly, because the British fleet had met a day after the battle with a fishing boat that brought a report from Admiral Collingwood to Gibraltar. Five days after the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805, Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood sent news of the victory also to Lieutenant Lapenotiere, commander of a small schooner "Pickle", which was en route to England. Prime Minister, William Pitt, and King George III did not have news of the victory until the early hours of 6 November, consequently delaying publication in "The Times" until 7 November.
Spanish ship Monarca (1794)
She took part in the battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805 under the command of Captain Teodoro Argumosa. She was attacked at close range by "Mars" and "Tonnant" as they first cut the Franco-Spanish line. The ship behind the "Tonnant", the "Bellerophon", slipped under her stern at 12:30 and fired two broadsides into her. She was heavily damaged, with 100 men killed and 150 wounded. A party of 55 Royal Marines captured the ship, but the night after the battle the surviving Spanish crew overpowered them and cast them adrift, leaving them to the mercy of the storm that night.
Battle of Trafalgar
The prevailing tactical orthodoxy at the time involved manoeuvring to approach the enemy fleet in a single line of battle and then engaging broadside in parallel lines. Before this time the fleets had usually been involved in a mixed mêlée. One reason for the development of the line of battle system was to facilitate control of the fleet: if all the ships were in line, signalling in battle became possible. The line also allowed either side to disengage by breaking away in formation; if the attacker chose to continue, their line would be broken as well. This often led to inconclusive battles, or allowed the losing side to minimise its losses; but Nelson wanted a conclusive action.
Frigate action of 29 May 1794
Captain Francis Laforey on "Carysfort" immediately attacked the larger ship and in an engagement lasting an hour and fifteen minutes successfully forced its captain to surrender, discovering a number of British prisoners of war below decks. "Castor" was subsequently taken back to Britain and an extended legal case ensued between the Admiralty and Captain Laforey over the amount of prize money that should be awarded for the victory. Ultimately Laforey was successful, in part due to testimony from the defeated French captain, proving his case and claiming the prize money. The lawsuit did not harm Laforey's career and he later served at the Battle of Trafalgar and became a prominent admiral.
HMS Phoebe (1795)
During the subsequent Battle of Trafalgar, "Phoebe" relayed Nelson's signals to the rest of fleet, and remained close to the action although she did not actually engage the enemy. In the gale that followed a few days later and "Phoebe" assisted two of the prizes, and "Bahama", with the result that they were saved.
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.
Barnaby Barford
The Battle of Trafalgar, OA Madrid, Spain (2010)
Battle of Trafalgar
During the period of blockade off the coast of Spain in October, Nelson instructed his captains, over two dinners aboard "Victory", on his plan for the approaching battle. The order of sailing, in which the fleet was arranged when the enemy was first sighted, was to be the order of the ensuing action so that no time would be wasted in forming a precise line. The attack was to be made in two lines. One, led by his second-in-command Vice-Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, was to sail into the rear of the enemy line, while the other, led by Nelson, was to sail into the centre and vanguard. The intention was to split the enemy line and engage in close quarter action, a form of combat in which, Nelson believed, the British fleet would have the advantage. In preparation for the battle, Nelson ordered the ships of his fleet to be painted in a distinctive yellow and black pattern (later known as the "Nelson Chequer") that would make them easy to distinguish from their opponents.
Atlantic campaign of 1806
On 21 October 1805, Villeneuve's combined Franco-Spanish fleet sailed from Cadiz and was intercepted by Nelson, resulting in the Battle of Trafalgar. Although Nelson was killed at the height of the battle, his squadron inflicted a devastating defeat on the combined fleet, capturing or destroying 17 French or Spanish ships, including Villeneuve's flagship. The battered remnants of the French Mediterranean and Spanish Atlantic fleets retreated to Cadiz, although four French ships fled north and were intercepted and captured at the Battle of Cape Ortegal two weeks later. In total, the campaign cost Napoleon 13 French and 12 Spanish ships, eliminating any possibility of even regional superiority at sea and therefore preventing the planned invasion of Britain, which had already been indefinitely postponed. The elimination of the French and Spanish fleets and the end of the threat of French invasion was widely celebrated in Britain, and seen by First Lord of the Admiralty Lord Barham, as an opportunity to reduce costs and damage to his ships by withdrawing the Atlantic blockade to Britain during the winter under the assumption that the battered French Navy would be unable and unwilling to operate at sea during the period. He wrote: "It is of little purpose now, to wear out our ships in a fruitless blockade during the winter."
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.
Battle of Trafalgar
Attribution:
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 .
England expects that every man will do his duty
"England expects that every man will do his duty" was a signal sent by 
Vice Admiral of the Royal Navy, Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, from his flagship as the Battle of Trafalgar was about to commence on 21 October 1805. Trafalgar was a decisive naval engagement of the Napoleonic Wars. It gave the United Kingdom control of the seas, removing all possibility of a French invasion and conquest of Britain. Although there was much confusion surrounding the wording of the signal in the aftermath of the battle, the significance of the victory and Nelson's death during the battle led to the phrase becoming embedded in the English psyche, and it has been regularly quoted, paraphrased and referenced up to the modern day.