The Battle of Trafalgar
21 OCTOBER 1805
THE BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR
It was the fifth year of Napoleon Bonaparte’s fifteen-year empire-building reign in France. Having already conquered Belgium, the Low Countries, Spain, and much of Italy, Napoleon’s next target was England. He planned a cross-channel invasion and by 1805 had assembled a 150,000-man army at Boulogne in Northern France. Blocking his way was the impenetrable “wooden wall” of the Royal Navy, whose grip on the English Channel Napoleon hoped to weaken by stirring up trouble in the British West Indies.
In March of 1805, French ADM Pierre Villeneuve slipped past the British blockade of Toulon and proceeded with 14 ships of the line to Martinique. As the French hoped, British ADM Lord Horatio Nelson followed, thus taking his fleet out of Continental waters. But when one of Nelson’s supply ships accidentally stumbled onto the French fleet escaping back to Europe, the British discerned the ruse. Thus, when Villeneuve scurried back across the Atlantic to support Napoleon’s Channel crossing, he was met by ADM Sir Robert Calder off Ferrol, Spain, and was forced to turn south to Vigo. Disheartened, Villeneuve abandoned the Channel operation on his own initiative and headed for the Mediterranean, landing on the way at Cadiz in southern Spain. Nelson, who had pressed sail and recrossed the Atlantic, took up a position off Cadiz and waited.
Napoleon was furious and relieved Villeneuve! Having been forewarned however, the French admiral put to sea on October 19th, ahead of Napoleon’s message, with a combined French/Spanish fleet numbering 33 of the line. This was the opportunity for which Nelson had long waited. Though he could muster only 26 of the line, he put his faith in superior English gunnery and set off in pursuit. By daylight on this day off Cape Trafalgar, Spain, the two fleets closed to within nine miles.
The Royal Navy of this day inviolately operated according to the “Permanent Fighting Instructions” that prescribed, without exception, how fleet commanders were to deploy their forces in battle. These Instructions were considered by the Admiralty as the surest means to victory, and captains who had deviated from them in the past had been court-martialed and executed. The Instructions required a “line-ahead” attack, cruising broadside-to-broadside with the enemy’s line. In actuality, this tactic usually served to bring opposing fleets to a sort of parity, ordaining that many engagements of this era ended as draws. Nelson, to his credit, appreciated the flaws of these Permanent Fighting Instructions and ordered his ships into two parallel columns that approached the French line perpendicularly, head-on. Nelson’s bows were vulnerable to French broadsides during the critical early moments of their approach. Regardless, Nelson led the northern column in HMS VICTORY, 100, while VADM Cuthbert Collingwood led the other in HMS ROYAL SOVEREIGN, 100.
Continued tomorrow…
Bennett, Geoffrey. Nelson the Commander. New York, NY: Charles Schribner’s Sons, 1972, pp. 209-59.
Callo, Joseph F. “Lasting Lessons of Trafalgar.” Naval History, Vol 19 (5), October 2005, pp. 16-22.
Herman, Arthur. To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the World. New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2004, pp. 360-94.
Nicolson, Adam. Seize the Fire: Heroism, Duty, and the Battle of Trafalgar. New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2005.
Potter, E.B. Sea Power: A Naval History,2nd ed. Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, 1981, pp. 74-79.
Ross, Steven T. European Diplomatic History 1789-1815: France Against Europe. Malabar, FL: Robert E. Krieger, 1981, pp. 244-48.
ADDITIONAL NOTES: The modern term “line Navy” originates from the classic line-ahead formation. Like a chain, the line-ahead formation is only as strong as its weakest warship. Should an enemy break the line, a general melee would ensue, for which the outcome was unpredictable. Thus, only the strongest and most powerful warships were granted a position in the line-ahead formation, with only the best crews manning them. The “line” Navy was the “business end” of an 18th century navy, separate and distinct from naval administration, that later became known as the “staff Navy.”
