Trafalgar

Context

The camp of Boulogne had been struck in August 1805: the plan to land in England was already dead, for want of clearing the Channel. Villeneuve, sheltering at Cadiz after a failed campaign in the West Indies, received express orders from Paris to sail for the Mediterranean. He knew he was to be relieved of his command; he put to sea on 19 October.

Forces

Combined fleet: 33 French and Spanish ships of the line, including the four-decked Santísima Trinidad, with poorly trained crews weakened by months of blockade.

Royal Navy: 27 ships under Nelson, with seasoned crews and a far higher rate of fire.

Course of the battle

Nelson gave up the parallel line of battle and bore down on the combined fleet in two perpendicular columns, accepting fire without reply during the approach. The columns cut the enemy line into three parts; Dumanoir's rear division, to leeward, could not come back in time.

The action was then settled ship against ship, at point-blank range, where British gunnery prevailed. Nelson was hit by a marksman from the Redoutable and died aboard the Victory. Eighteen ships were taken; a storm destroyed several more in the following days.

Consequences

The Royal Navy held the seas unchallenged for the rest of the Napoleonic wars. Unable to beat England on water, Napoleon decreed the Continental Blockade a year later — a decision that would draw in Portugal, Spain and then Russia. Villeneuve, captured and released, killed himself at Rennes in April 1806. The Moniteur announced Austerlitz six weeks later and did not dwell on Trafalgar.