The Battle Of Trafalgar
Part One – The Foundations are laid
'We must destroy the English monarchy, or expect ourselves to be destroyed by these intriguing and enterprising islanders... Let us concentrate all our efforts on the navy and annihilate England. That done, Europe is at our feet.”
Napoleon Bonaparte
The 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar fell in 2005 on October 21st. It was, without doubt, a significant event in naval history cementing British supremacy on the world’s oceans till the mid-1930’s. In Britain, the anniversary was celebrated enthusiastically throughout the country. The Royal Navy gave a fleet review, there were many Napoleonic re-enactments and as far away as Australia in the small Victorian Gippsland town of Trafalgar, the local Community Development Association used the event as a theme for the year’s spring festival. Representatives of the Royal Australian Navy attended and a statue of Nelson was unveiled.
So what was the Battle of Trafalgar? Why was it so significant?
The battle itself was a culmination of a two and a half year campaign waged by the British to prevent a French invasion of England. There is no doubt that had Napoleon been able to disembark the Grand Armee on the beaches of southern England then defeat of Great Britain would have followed very quickly after. Up to that point, on the field of battle Napoleon had reigned supreme, but on the world’s oceans, the Royal Navy had yet to be decisively beaten.
For a hundred years after the battle, the admirals of this campaign were household names. Men like Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, a brilliant sailor and an extraordinary leader who remained at sea with scarcely a break for 45 years. Sir William Cornwallis, the man that kept the Royal Navy at sea throughout the Napoleonic wars, an administrative genius. Admiral Sir Charles Middleton – First Lord of the Admiralty. At the time of his appointment, a man who was an energetic 78 years old but whose detached insight into the intentions of Napoleon was instrumental in maintaining a naval blockade across Europe, protecting English beaches from the Grand Armee. And then there’s Nelson. Nelson of the Nile, Viscount Horatio Nelson, the Duke of Bronte. In the annals of British history, his fame and reputation are unique amongst the distinguished assembly of great naval leaders.
In 1805 Europe was embroiled in the Napoleonic Wars, so called because the French revolutionary usurper, Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was determined to create a united Europe and defeat all of the enemies of France. This included most of Europe’s major powers and their elite families - the Austrian Royal Family, the Russian Monarchy, the Prussian King, a smattering of German Princes and arch enemy, the English. One of Napoleon’s few allies was Spain. A traditional enemy of the English since the days of the Elizabeth 1st. In 1805 Spain’s fleet was the third largest in Europe.
The Napoleonic Wars would rage for 22 years from 1793 to late 1815, and its battles would take place right across Europe, all the way from southern Spain to the streets of Moscow. However, midway through the wars, in 1805, a decisive clash took place that guaranteed British ascendancy in all of the world’s oceans right up until the opening days of World War 2. Its implications were so profound that it represents a turning point in the these French Revolutionary Wars.
In order to defeat the English decisively, Napoleon knew that he had to invade England. But before this was possible a strong, well-trained fleet would have to engage the Royal Navy and force the English Channel. Already, about this time 200 years ago, 130,000 troops which were being prepared for embarkation, an invasion of England. Nearly two and a half thousand transport craft had been assembled between the French ports of Boulogne and Dunkirk but were unable to move due to an English naval blockade, a blockade which had been in place for several years.
In response, Napoleon had gathered a combined French and Spanish fleet to sweep the English Channel clear of the Royal Navy. But each of the major concentrations of his fleet, spread across French and Spanish ports was blockaded by English battleships. Napoleon’s admiral, a nervous French nobleman named Villeneuve was ordered to run Nelson’s blockade outside of Mediterranean port of Toulon and strike for the West Indies. Napoleon desperately wanted some of the major units of his battle fleet to disappear to put fear and uncertainty into the minds of his enemy. Seeking to avoid a premature battle he hoped that by creating mischief amongst British possessions in the Caribbean the Royal Navy would be forced to turn and chase the Combined Fleet halfway across the world, weakening the blockades.
Once the Royal Navy was in pursuit Villeneuve was to retrace his steps and set sail for the English Channel, appearing, as if by magic, to attack the blockading English and link up with even more French battleships and frigates. “I only need the English Channel for six hours,” said Napoleon “to put an end to the British”
But why should the English pursue him? Surely they wouldn’t be so foolish?
The revenue from British overseas possessions was critical to the men and institutions financing both the war against the French and the industrial revolution then sweeping England. The malevolent threat of the Combined Fleet to the British convoys, the critical revenue streams, could panic the financiers, and if any of the important convoys were destroyed seriously damage the economy. Even just sitting astride the shipping lanes the Combined Fleet could create mischief simply by being at large. But Napoleon knew that it would take more than a threat to lure a major portion of the Royal Navy away from the blockades and the western approaches to the English Channel. So Villeneuve was ordered to attack and re-take the colony of Martinique and as many English islands as he could lay his hands on. Napoleon was convinced that once news reached London of the demise of the West Indian sugar plantations and the destruction of these Carribean convoys the panic would be politically too strong to resist.
This was Nelson’s fear and the nightmare of His Majesty’s Government.
And on March 26th, in the dead of night, Villeneuve set sail with eleven battleships and eight cruisers, avoided Nelson’s blockading fleet and vanished
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