Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleon Bonaparte, to many people one of the greatest military leaders of all time, had led France from the turmoil of revolution into being the most powerful nation on the continent. It seemed simply a matter of time before the French invaded their greatest enemy, Britain. Politically there could not be two more diverse nations, France was Libertarian and, to a point. democratic while Britain remained firmly in the grasp of powerful landowners. Despite this the common man in Britain was still prepared to fight to repel the French under the 'Corsican Ogre'.

The natural barrier to any invasion of Britain is of course the English Channel and before Napoleon could dare land the eagles of his legions on British soil he would have to tame the finest navy in the world, the Royal Navy.

Napoleon ordered a combined fleet of French and Spanish warships, the King of Spain being little more than a French puppet, commanded by Admiral Villeneuve to seek out the British fleet and destroy it.

In fact it was the British who came to find Villeneuve, the British fleet being commanded by a certain Admiral Horatio Nelson. Just off the coast from the important Spanish port of Cadiz, Cape Trafalgar would be the location for the battle.

Admiral Horatio Nelson

Both Admirals knew that this was not a battle of taking 'prizes' (capturing enemy vessels) and that ultimately the invasion of Britain was at stake. Villeneuve had been severely criticised by his Emperor for not engaging the British earlier and it was certain that he would desire to blow the Royal Navy out of the sea.

Nelson was already a legend. He had won the Battle of the Nile, he had tamed the Danish fleet at the Battle of Copenhagen and had shown himself to be both single-minded and brave. Having lost an arm and one eye many lesser men would have considered a desk job at the Admiralty, and why not?, but not Nelson - the sea was in his blood.

It says something of Nelson's boldness that he was prepared to introduce a new tactic for the battle. The general style of naval combat between fleets at this time involved the two sides facing each other side on and battering each other with a variety of shot. Nelson decided to split his fleet into two squadrons and to cut through the familiar line of enemy ships. Following the British passing through the line they were to turn and attack the enemy from 'behind'. The main drawback, and there had to be one, was that before the British ships passed through the French line they would be subjected to cannonade after cannonade from the enemy ships. Nelson's captains were concerned to say the least but then this was Nelson and who better for them to follow than he.

The northern squadron was led by Nelson in HMS Victory while the southern squadron was led by HMS Royal Sovereign under Admiral Collingwood. The signal was sent from the Victory to the rest of the fleet: 'England expects that every man will do his duty'.

The Victory would head for the enemy centre while the Royal Sovereign led the southern squadron to the enemy rear. The Royal Sovereign deliberately headed for the Spanish flagship the Santa Anna. Firing a broadside into the painted warship the Royal Sovereign became the first British ship to engage the enemy.
Nelson aboard the Victory led the northern squadron on a series of moves that were designed to keep the enemy guessing at his point of attack.

At noon the British broke through the enemy line, and began to encircle them.

The Victory then led the northern squadron into the centre of the enemy line.

It was close combat at its bloodiest. Shot and splinter flew as the canons roared their venomous fire from point-blank range into the wooden hulls of the opposing ships. The smoke and flame that enwrapped the scene adding to the fearfulness of the sight. With the Royal Navy firing at a superior rate to that of the French and Spanish the battle was soon decided.

The French fleet had been surprised by Nelson's manoeuvre and their ships had been devastated by the British gunfire. It is well documented how Nelson was shot by a French sniper who had taken position in the rigging of the French ship the Redoubtable. The hero of the battle that had saved Britain from invasion was dying.