The Battle of Trafalgar.
Part Five - The Tide Turns.
When the Combined Fleet slid over the horizon, one of only two escorts to the doomed sugar convoy was a small English 16 gun schooner named the Netley. The ships young captain knew that the convoy was too slow to outrun the enemy and while his orders were to protect his charges against all comers, he also knew that resistance against 18 battleships would be an exercise in futility. He had no alternative but to turn away and abandon the convoy to its fate but conscious of his prior duty he resolved to shadow the enemy as long as he could to determine their intentions. After each of the convoy’s ships were captured Villeneuve and his fleet, now 32 strong, sailed away to the northeast on a course that looked suspiciously like they were returning to Europe. This was a momentous turn of events. HMS Netley immediately made for Antigua carrying the news that Villeneuve was going home. Nelson had to be told. And quickly.
Pierre-Charles Villeneuve
On June 12th Nelson arrived in Antigua to discover he was 4 days too late. He’d missed the enemy again and he was forced, on the basis of a few fragments of evidence to make a decision that involved not only his career but the very existence of his country. If the enemy had gone to Jamaica, and he did not pursue them then England’s richest and best colony was lost. If, on the other hand, they had turned home then the place for him and his ships was in the western approaches safeguarding the Channel.
Just as he was about to return south to Dominica news was received of French troops being disembarked at Guadeloupe, which convinced Nelson that Jamaica was not Villeneuve’s immediate destination. The decision was sealed when HMS Netley arrived with news of the attack on the sugar convoy.
Almost immediately Nelson dispatched a fast frigate to England to warn of the impending arrival of the Combined Fleet. With her superior speed, some fair weather and good luck HMS Curieux would arrive in England a full week before the French could menace the approaches to the channel. At midday the next day, after a little over a week in the West Indies Nelson himself set sail for Gibralter.
Back in Europe the Austrians and the Russians were creaking slowly towards war. The Austrian Army at full strength could put into the field over 200,000 men, the Russians half as much again. The British were urging their allies to hasten, offering arms, munitions and financial support in place of men and horses. With almost the entire Grande Armee poised on the northern coast for the invasion of England the eastern frontiers of France were particularly exposed. Napoleon knew that time was not an ally of France so he urgently dispatched orders for his fleet blockaded at Rochefort to break out, make a demonstration off the west coast of Ireland, turn south and meet Villeneuve off Ferrol. He then urged his invasion fleet, equipped with enough boats for 150,000 men, to make another demonstration off the coast of Holland and distract English attention away from the impending threat to the western approaches. He sensed that Villeneuve was on his way home and he wrote directly to his admirals.
“Every moment presses. There is no longer an instant to lose”
On June 19th HMS Curieux overtook the French and Spanish Fleet and sighted them on a course that suggested that the enemy was bound for the Bay of Biscay. Captain Bettesworth believed they were en route to challenge the blockade at Brest where 21 newly completed French battleships, each equipped with huge 30 pounder cannons were ready to be released. Bettesworth knew that If Villeneuve succeeded, and joined up with the fleet at Brest he would have at his disposal 41 battleships and could challenge the Royal Navy on roughly equal terms. HMS Curieux finally made Portsmouth on July 8 and his dispatches made such an impression that by 9am the next morning the First Lord ordered his fleet at Rochefort to join Admiral Calder blockading another 14 Spanish battleships off Ferrol.
“Time” the dispatch said “is everything”
Both the British and the French knew that the climax to the events of the past few months was fast approaching. If Villeneuve held his nerve, chased the blockades away and joined with the remaining capital ships of Spain and France then King, country and the Royal Navy was in real danger. If on the other hand Villeneuve could be met by the Royal Navy and defeated at sea before he reached Europe then the threat of invasion would end, the Mediterranean operations could continue and the Third Coalition, god willing, would eventually prevail.
To this end on July 15th Cornwallis abandoned his blockade at Brest and went hunting for the enemy, heading west across the bay and into the Atlantic. He deployed his frigates like a cloud, searching out for the approaching French fleet.
In Brest news of the departure of the English was so sudden that the blockaded French fleet was paralysed with indecision. Admiral Ganteaume suspected a trap and guessed that somewhere beyond the horizon lurked the peril of superior strength. For a week, despite being ordered to sea by Napoleon he did nothing. And then one morning, about a week later, Cornwallis reappeared. Unsuccessful in his hunt for Villeneuve he had dutifully returned to resume his station.
It was a telling moment of the campaign. Had Ganteaume let his new battleships off the leash it may have turned the tide and given the French the confidence that only tremendous strength can bring. But Ganteaume had a vivid imagination. Like most men, he feared overwhelming defeat and haunted by the ghosts of the Spanish Armada, vanquished by the English 250 years before he did not feel that this was the time to set sail with an undefeated enemy fleet in his rear.
On July 17 Nelson made landfall at Cape St Vincent, having crossed the Atlantic a fortnight quicker than Villeneuve. But of news of the Combined Fleet, there was none. Still cursing the false report that had sent him to Trinidad, Nelson for the first time in two years stepped on solid ground and went ashore. On July 25 he read a report carried in a Lisbon newspaper which told of Bettesworth’s mid-Atlantic encounter with the Combined Fleet, news which sent him into a fury. With the wind freshening behind him, it is said that he departed for the western approaches with such haste that he left his washing behind, blowing in the breeze. He could not know that two days before the Combined Fleet had finally materialised and been met in a heavy mist by an English Fleet commanded by Admiral Bobby Calder.
The Battle Of Finisterre was an intercepting action that was a missed opportunity for both sides. The Combined Fleet outnumbered the English 20 battleships to 15. But burdened with sick and disabled sailors they were unable to take advantage of their greater numbers and lost two ships during the battle. The English ships were crewed by better sailors and were far better shots but the weather was so heavy no true advantage could be pressed. But Calder did temporarily bar the way to Ferrol, forcing Villeneuve to seek shelter into Vigo Bay. However, two days later taking advantage of a southwesterly storm Villeneuve slipped out of Vigo and on August 2 sailed into Ferrol, part completing his mission and joining up with 14 more Spanish battleships.
Just as he was about to return south to Dominica news was received of French troops being disembarked at Guadeloupe, which convinced Nelson that Jamaica was not Villeneuve’s immediate destination. The decision was sealed when HMS Netley arrived with news of the attack on the sugar convoy.
Almost immediately Nelson dispatched a fast frigate to England to warn of the impending arrival of the Combined Fleet. With her superior speed, some fair weather and good luck HMS Curieux would arrive in England a full week before the French could menace the approaches to the channel. At midday the next day, after a little over a week in the West Indies Nelson himself set sail for Gibralter.
HMS 'Curieux' Captures 'Dame Ernouf', 8 February 1805
Back in Europe the Austrians and the Russians were creaking slowly towards war. The Austrian Army at full strength could put into the field over 200,000 men, the Russians half as much again. The British were urging their allies to hasten, offering arms, munitions and financial support in place of men and horses. With almost the entire Grande Armee poised on the northern coast for the invasion of England the eastern frontiers of France were particularly exposed. Napoleon knew that time was not an ally of France so he urgently dispatched orders for his fleet blockaded at Rochefort to break out, make a demonstration off the west coast of Ireland, turn south and meet Villeneuve off Ferrol. He then urged his invasion fleet, equipped with enough boats for 150,000 men, to make another demonstration off the coast of Holland and distract English attention away from the impending threat to the western approaches. He sensed that Villeneuve was on his way home and he wrote directly to his admirals.
“Every moment presses. There is no longer an instant to lose”
On June 19th HMS Curieux overtook the French and Spanish Fleet and sighted them on a course that suggested that the enemy was bound for the Bay of Biscay. Captain Bettesworth believed they were en route to challenge the blockade at Brest where 21 newly completed French battleships, each equipped with huge 30 pounder cannons were ready to be released. Bettesworth knew that If Villeneuve succeeded, and joined up with the fleet at Brest he would have at his disposal 41 battleships and could challenge the Royal Navy on roughly equal terms. HMS Curieux finally made Portsmouth on July 8 and his dispatches made such an impression that by 9am the next morning the First Lord ordered his fleet at Rochefort to join Admiral Calder blockading another 14 Spanish battleships off Ferrol.
“Time” the dispatch said “is everything”
Both the British and the French knew that the climax to the events of the past few months was fast approaching. If Villeneuve held his nerve, chased the blockades away and joined with the remaining capital ships of Spain and France then King, country and the Royal Navy was in real danger. If on the other hand Villeneuve could be met by the Royal Navy and defeated at sea before he reached Europe then the threat of invasion would end, the Mediterranean operations could continue and the Third Coalition, god willing, would eventually prevail.
To this end on July 15th Cornwallis abandoned his blockade at Brest and went hunting for the enemy, heading west across the bay and into the Atlantic. He deployed his frigates like a cloud, searching out for the approaching French fleet.
In Brest news of the departure of the English was so sudden that the blockaded French fleet was paralysed with indecision. Admiral Ganteaume suspected a trap and guessed that somewhere beyond the horizon lurked the peril of superior strength. For a week, despite being ordered to sea by Napoleon he did nothing. And then one morning, about a week later, Cornwallis reappeared. Unsuccessful in his hunt for Villeneuve he had dutifully returned to resume his station.
It was a telling moment of the campaign. Had Ganteaume let his new battleships off the leash it may have turned the tide and given the French the confidence that only tremendous strength can bring. But Ganteaume had a vivid imagination. Like most men, he feared overwhelming defeat and haunted by the ghosts of the Spanish Armada, vanquished by the English 250 years before he did not feel that this was the time to set sail with an undefeated enemy fleet in his rear.
On July 17 Nelson made landfall at Cape St Vincent, having crossed the Atlantic a fortnight quicker than Villeneuve. But of news of the Combined Fleet, there was none. Still cursing the false report that had sent him to Trinidad, Nelson for the first time in two years stepped on solid ground and went ashore. On July 25 he read a report carried in a Lisbon newspaper which told of Bettesworth’s mid-Atlantic encounter with the Combined Fleet, news which sent him into a fury. With the wind freshening behind him, it is said that he departed for the western approaches with such haste that he left his washing behind, blowing in the breeze. He could not know that two days before the Combined Fleet had finally materialised and been met in a heavy mist by an English Fleet commanded by Admiral Bobby Calder.
The Battle Of Finisterre was an intercepting action that was a missed opportunity for both sides. The Combined Fleet outnumbered the English 20 battleships to 15. But burdened with sick and disabled sailors they were unable to take advantage of their greater numbers and lost two ships during the battle. The English ships were crewed by better sailors and were far better shots but the weather was so heavy no true advantage could be pressed. But Calder did temporarily bar the way to Ferrol, forcing Villeneuve to seek shelter into Vigo Bay. However, two days later taking advantage of a southwesterly storm Villeneuve slipped out of Vigo and on August 2 sailed into Ferrol, part completing his mission and joining up with 14 more Spanish battleships.
On hearing the news of Villeneuve's return Napoleon urged his admiral to keep in sight the big picture and continue north all the way to Brest.
“Never,” he wrote “did a fleet face danger for a grander object; never did sailors and soldiers risk their lives for a nobler end. If we destroy the power which has for six centuries oppressed France then we can all die without regret”.
But his words were received with deep anguish by the French Admiral who was being tortured by his sense of humanity and a deep-seated fear of failure. After a journey of many months and many thousands of miles Villeneuve crews were still ill-trained for the task, sick, starving and exhausted.
He wrote back “I will not venture to describe our condition’ he said. “It is frightful”
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