battle of trafalgar facts

 

Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar ensured that Napoleon would never invade Britain. avoid engaging the numerically superior fleet in a battle of attrition. Three of these ships, one at 130 guns (Santisima Trinidad) and two at 112 guns (Príncipe de Asturias, Santa Ana), were much larger than anything under Nelson's command. Noun 1. battle of Trafalgar - a naval battle in 1805 off the southwest coast of Spain; the French and Spanish fleets were defeated by the English under... Battle of Trafalgar - definition of battle of Trafalgar by The Free Dictionary Visit HMS Victory at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, Nelson's Memorandum – battle plan – in the British Library, A. J. 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. 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. Nelson's plan was indeed a gamble, but a carefully calculated one. Battle of Trafalgar Nelson’s crushing defeat of the French and Spanish Navies on 21st October 1805, establishing Britain as the dominant world naval power for a century, but at the cost of Nelson’s life Battle of Trafalgar on 21st October 1805 during the Napoleonic Wars: picture by Nicholas Pocock He was brought below deck and died about three and a half hours later. A sailor in the Royal Navy in 1805 would have … [50], The battle progressed largely according to Nelson's plan. [35] Nelson hoped specifically to cut the line just in front of the French flagship, Bucentaure; the isolated ships in front of the break would not be able to see the flagship's signals, which he hoped would take them out of combat while they re-formed. Collingwood was born in Newcastle in 1748. Credit: dposte46 / Commons. 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 two lines. Lieutenant John Lapenotière's historic voyage in HMS Pickle bringing the news of the victory from the fleet to Falmouth and thence by post chaise to the Admiralty in London was commemorated by the inauguration of The Trafalgar Way and further highlighted by the New Trafalgar Dispatch celebrations from July to September in which an actor played the part of Lapenotière and re-enacted parts of the historic journey. On 21 October 1805 Nelson’s 27 battleships glided on a gentle breeze towards the 33 strong French and Spanish fleet. The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought on 21 October 1805 between the navies of France and Spain on one side, and Great Britain on the other. The strength of the Battle of Trafalgar was its flagrant partiality. Once Nelson realised that the French had crossed the Atlantic Ocean, he set off in pursuit. 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 Bucentaure's stern which killed and wounded many on her gundecks. The French Bucentaure was isolated by Victory and Temeraire, and then engaged by HMS Neptune, HMS Leviathan, and Conqueror; similarly, Santísima Trinidad was isolated and overwhelmed, surrendering after three hours. 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. On 16 September, Napoleon gave orders for the French and Spanish ships at Cádiz to put to sea at the first favourable opportunity, join with seven Spanish ships of the line then at Cartagena, go to Naples and land the soldiers they carried to reinforce his troops there, then fight decisively if they met a numerically inferior British fleet.[31]. To lessen the time the fleet was exposed to this danger, Nelson had his ships make all available sail (including stunsails), yet another departure from the norm. Military History, 24(6), 18. 50,000 men were involved in the fighting. [3] As part of an overall French plan to combine all French and allied fleets to take control of the English Channel and thus enable Napoleon's Grande Armée to invade England, French and Spanish fleets under French Admiral Villeneuve sailed from the port of Cádiz in the south of Spain on 18 October 1805. The inexperienced crews had difficulty with the changing conditions, and it took nearly an hour and a half for Villeneuve's order to be completed. The combined French and Spanish fleet under Villeneuve's command numbered 33 ships of the line. A column was erected to his memory in the newly named Trafalgar Square, and numerous streets were renamed in his honor. [79][page needed]. Under the command of Admiral Nelson, 27 ships engaged 33 vessels of both the French … The French ships were then seized by the Spanish forces and put into service against France. The French would later join this humanitarian agreement.[73]. Nelson could not immediately make out the French flagship as the French and Spanish were not flying command pennants. [69][incomplete short citation] 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. [86] 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. The Napoleonic Wars continued for another ten years after Trafalgar. [41] The first, 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. Battle of Trafalgar background. The crew of Algésiras rose up and managed to sail into Cádiz. Nelson's flagship, HMS Victory, captained by Thomas Masterman Hardy, was one of three 100-gun first rates in his fleet. On board Victory, Nelson pointed to Royal Sovereign and said, "See how that noble fellow Collingwood carries his ship into action!" Villeneuve's ships were also more than two thousand men short of the force needed to sail. The nearly empty Monarca parted her cable and was wrecked during the night. Around 270 boys aged between 10 & 14 went to help. Victory suffered terribly and Nelson was mortally wounded. On 21 October 1805, under the command of Admiral Nelson, a British fleet inflicted heavy losses on a combined French and Spanish fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar, just off the coast of Spain. Bucentaure is also fighting HMS Temeraire (on the left) and being fired into by HMS Victory (behind her). When Lord Nelson’s friend Henry Blackwood saw Temeraire coming up, he suggested to Nelson that he should let Temeraire take the lead to reduce the personal danger to his lordship. At Trafalgar, several officers, including Nelson’s third in command, Rear Admiral the Earl of Northesk, performed, according to the words of Edward Rotherham, Vice-Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood’s flag captain ‘notoriously ill’; and Vice Admiral John Duckworth never received the hereditary peerage he expected after the Battle of San Domingo. In a particularly fierce battle, 27 British ships of the line fought 33 French and Spanish ships of the line. The fleet included six aircraft carriers (modern capital ships): Charles De Gaulle, Illustrious, Invincible, Ocean, Príncipe de Asturias and Saipan. The Battle of Trafalgar is undoubtedly Nelson’s most famous battle – even though it turned out to be his last. Normally opposing fleets would form two lines … The result was a sprawling, uneven formation. The Battle of Trafalgar took place on 21 October 1805 during the Napoleonic War (1803–1815), as Napoleon Bonaparte and his armies tried to conquer Europe. Many descendants of people present at the battle, including members of Nelson's family, were at the ceremony. Battle of Trafalgar Signature Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood (26 September 1748 – 7 March 1810) was an admiral of the Royal Navy , notable as a partner with Lord Nelson in several of the British victories of the Napoleonic Wars , and frequently as Nelson's successor in commands. Stanfield shows the damaged Redoutable caught between Victory (foreground) and Temeraire (seen bow on). Ten facts about the Battle of Trafalgar: – The youngest sailor to fight at Trafalgar was just 8 years old. 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. Enrique MacDonell and Cosmao were of equal rank and both raised commodore's pennants before hoisting anchor. – The oldest was 68. Events Before the Battle The remaining 22 third-rates were 74-gun vessels, of which 14 were French and eight Spanish. Napoleon had already abandoned his plans of invasion before the battle and they were never revived. The Battle of Trafalgar was to witness both the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte's plans to invade Britain, and the death of Admiral Lord Nelson. It was subsequently repaired and served in the Baltic and Mediterranean. The day was first celebrated in Trafalgar Square in 1896. At first, Villeneuve was optimistic about returning to the Mediterranean, but soon had second thoughts. 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. On balance, the allied counter-attack achieved little. In five hours, the combined Franco-Spanish fleet of 33 ships surrendered 17 ships and one was sunk. "[36] In short, circumstances would dictate the execution, subject to the guiding rule that the enemy's rear was to be cut off and superior force concentrated on that part of the enemy's line. As the two fleets drew closer, anxiety began to build among officers and sailors; one British sailor described the approach thus: "During this momentous preparation, the human mind had ample time for meditation, for it was evident that the fate of England rested on this battle". [61] Both sets of mariners were determined to make an attempt to recapture some of the prizes. Horatio Nelson the son of a rector from Burnham Thorpe, England. It was built between 1840 and 1843 to commemorate Admiral Horatio Nelson’s death at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Credit: Elliott Brown / Commons. 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. The famous square... 2. Against Nelson, Vice-Admiral Villeneuve fielded 33 ships-of-the-line, including some of the largest in the world at the time. [87] The event ended with God Save the King and La Marseillaise[88] The first performance of Sir Henry Wood's Fantasia on British Sea Songs occurred on the same day at a special Promenade Concert.[89]. [48] At 8 a.m., 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.[49]. He surprised the Austrians at Ulm … Three of these ships, one at 136 guns (Santisima Trinidad) and two at 112 guns (Principe de Asturias, Santa Ana), were much larger tha… Credit: Clarkson Stanfield / Commons. Credit: Henry Howard / Commons. On the actual anniversary day, 21 October, naval manoeuvres were conducted in Trafalgar Bay near Cádiz involving a combined fleet from Britain, Spain, and France. Everything you need to know about the Battle of Trafalgar in 90 seconds. of the re-enactment of the Battle of Trafalgar off Portsmouth on 28 June 2005, The London Gazette Extraordinary, 6 November 1805, English folk song about the Battle of Trafalgar, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Trafalgar&oldid=1017336750, Battles of the War of the Third Coalition, Napoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom, Naval battles involving the United Kingdom, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from February 2012, Short description is different from Wikidata, All articles with broken links to citations, Articles needing additional references from October 2017, All articles needing additional references, Articles with unsourced statements from April 2021, Articles with incomplete citations from April 2021, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from April 2021, Articles with incomplete citations from February 2012, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference, Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 12 April 2021, at 06:09. [16] 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. He was standing on deck, as was the tradition for officers in this age of naval combat, and was hit in the spine by a French sharpshooter. The Britannia Monument in Great Yarmouth was raised by 1819. How Significant Was the Battle of Waterloo? On this day in 1805, the British fleet defeated the French and Spanish allies west of Cape Trafalgar. [33] 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. From shore, the allied commanders could see an opportunity for a rescue mission. The seriously wounded Admiral Gravina passed command of the remainder of the fleet over to Commodore Julien Cosmao on 23 October. Nelson also had four frigates of 38 or 36 guns, a 12-gun schooner and a 10-gun cutter. However, within minutes giant British battleships were arriving one after the other and the enemy was terribly outgunned and their crews slaughtered. [citation needed] At the time Indomptable had 1,200 men on board, but no more than 100 were saved. At approximately the same moment, Collingwood remarked to his captain, Edward Rotheram, "What would Nelson give to be here?"[57]. Nelson’s unorthodox naval tactics helped him to victory at Trafalgar, but it wasn’t the only time he broke the rules. Unlike the photographic depiction above, this signal would have been shown on the mizzen mast only and would have required 12 lifts. Around the base are the names of his major victories: Aboukir (1798), Copenhagen (1801) and Trafalgar (1805). The second ship in the British lee column, Belleisle, was engaged by L'Aigle, Achille, Neptune, and Fougueux; she was soon completely dismasted, unable to manoeuvre and largely unable to fight, as her sails blinded her batteries, but kept flying her flag for 45 minutes until the following British ships came to her rescue. [28][citation not found]. Nelson’s Column depicts his most famous victories in War; the Battle of the Nile, the Battle of Copenhagen, the Battle of Cape St Vincent and his death at the Battle of Trafalgar. [10], Vice-Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve had taken command of the French Mediterranean fleet following the death of Latouche Treville. Add your details below if you wish to be kept updated about The Trafalgar Way or make an enquiry. The battle took place near Cape Trafalgar (a cape is a piece of land sticking out into the sea), which is in southwest Spain. Ships of the line, large warships well-armed with guns down each side but vulnerable on bow and stern, would be arranged in line to stand and fight the enemy’s line by firing broadsides. The men involved in the battle weren't very old, some weren't even men! 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. A general mêlée ensued. [60], Only eleven ships escaped to Cádiz, and, of those, only five were considered seaworthy. The Battle of Trafalgar was a major sea battle between Britain and the combined French and Spanish navies during the Napoleonic Wars. [37] 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 knew they were likely to prevail. [5] During the course of the war, the British imposed a naval blockade on France, which affected trade and kept the French from fully mobilising their naval resources. Nelson commenced a search of the Mediterranean, supposing that the French intended to make for Egypt, but Villeneuve instead took his fleet through the Strait of Gibraltar, rendezvoused with the Spanish fleet, and sailed as planned for the Caribbean. Library Journal, 130(13), 101-102. [30], Admiral Villeneuve himself expressed his belief that Nelson would use some sort of unorthodox attack, presciently speculating that Nelson would drive right at his line. Collingwood wrote to his children that he had written a song for his dog:if(typeof __ez_fad_position != 'undefined'){__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-historyhit_com-banner-1-0')}; Tell the children that Bounce is very well and very fat, yet he seems not to be content, and sighs so piteously these long evenings, that I am obliged to sing him to sleep, and have sent them the song: Sigh no more, Bouncey, sigh no more,Dogs were deceivers never;Though ne’er you put one foot on shore,True to your master ever.Then sigh not so, but let us go,Where dinner’s daily ready,Converting all the sounds of woeTo heigh phiddy diddy. It then became a receiving ship followed by duty as a victualling depot in 1829, its fighting days long past. Britain became the dominant naval power for most of the rest of the 19th century. Designing Trafalgar Square. He served at some of the most famous battles of this period, including The Glorious First of June in 1794 and The Battle of Cape St. Vincent in 1797. [12], Napoleon's naval plan in 1805 was for the French and Spanish fleets in the Mediterranean and Cádiz to break through the blockade and join forces in the Caribbean. 4,000 troops, including riflemen from the Tyrol, were posted in small detachments through the French and Spanish Fleets.. On 16 September 1805 Villeneuve received orders from Napoleon to sail the Combined Fleet from Cádiz to Naples. However Victory engaged the 74-gun Redoutable; Bucentaure was left to the next three ships of the British windward column: Temeraire, Conqueror, and HMS Neptune. The Battle of Trafalgar was the only fleet action that Temeraire ever saw. The victory confirmed the naval supremacy Britain had established during the course of the eighteenth century, and was achieved in part through Nelson's departure from prevailing naval tactical orthodoxy. Kennedy Hickman is a historian, museum director, and curator who specializes in military and naval history. The daring tactics employed by Nelson were to ensure a strategically decisive result. When Villeneuve set sail from Ferrol on 10 August, he was under orders from Napoleon to sail northward toward Brest. Nelson then said, “Now I am satisfied. [39] He was also well aware that French and Spanish gunners were ill-trained and would have difficulty firing accurately from a moving gun platform. [65] 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. The sudden change was prompted by a letter Villeneuve had received on 18 October, informing him that Vice-Admiral François Rosily had arrived in Madrid with orders to take command of the Combined Fleet. Credit: J. M. W. Turner (oil on canvas, 1806–1808) / Commons. The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815). This is the story of the Battle of Trafalgar. Battle lines. [14] There he received orders from Napoleon to return to Brest according to the main plan.[15]. The force watching the harbour was led by Captain Blackwood, commanding HMS Euryalus. Many of the injured crew were taken ashore at Gibraltar and treated in the Naval Hospital. The Trafalgar Companion: A Guide to History's Most Famous Sea Battle and the Life of Admiral Lord Nelson. The Trafalgar Way is an initiative of The 1805 Club, a charity registered in England and Wales (No 1071871), supported by a 2017 LIBOR grant from the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The battle did not mean, however, that the French naval challenge to Britain was over. The Battle of Trafalgar was fought in October 1805 between the British and the combined French and Spanish navies. The French crews included few experienced sailors, and, as most of the crew had to be taught the elements of seamanship on the few occasions when they got to sea, gunnery was neglected. On 21 October, Admiral Nelson had 27 ships of the line under his command. The battle ended with a clear victory for the British forces. [56] 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. In summer this coincides with the one o'clock gun being fired. The ships in the van of the enemy fleet would have to turn back to support the rear, which would take a long time. The Battle of Trafalgar, which cost Nelson his life, is still celebrated to this day. The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought on 21 October 1805 between the navies of France and Spain on one side, and Great Britain on the other. The combined squadron came in sight at noon, causing Collingwood to summon his most battle-ready ships to meet the threat. He entered the Royal Navy aged 12. [63][64] The Franco-Spanish squadron, numerically inferior, chose not to approach within gunshot and then declined to attack. Trafalgar. [7], When the Third Coalition declared war on France, after the short-lived Peace of Amiens, Napoleon renewed his determination to invade Britain. [6] Despite several successful evasions of the blockade by the French navy, it failed to inflict a major defeat upon the British, who were able to attack French interests at home and abroad with relative ease. This slowed the progress of the fleet leaving the harbour, giving the British plenty of warning. Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson, commanding the British fleet, devised an ambitious plan of attack, which involved ambushing the Franco-Spanish fleet off the Cape of Trafalgar, in south-west Spain. “Not really,” suggests Willis. Read Scott’s Full Bio. Its final duty was as a training ship until it was sold in 1838 and broken up. This effort was largely successful, but did not end the French threat as Napoleon instituted a large-scale shipbuilding programme that had produced a fleet of 80 ships of the line at the time of his fall from power in 1814, with more under construction. The Franco-Spanish fleet also had six more ships of the line, and so could more readily combine their fire. Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood (26 September 1748 – 7 March 1810) was an admiral of the Royal Navy, notable as a partner with Horatio Nelson in several of the British victories of the Napoleonic Wars, and frequently as Nelson’s second in commands. British prize crews were captured and given good treatment. 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