October 21, 1805 during the naval battle of Trafalgar , the British fleet led by Admiral Nelson defeats the Franco-Spanish coalition commanded by Admiral Villeneuve. This decisive confrontation took place off the cape of Trafalgar , in the south of Spain near Cadiz, opposing eighteen French and fifteen Spanish ships to twenty-seven British ships. The British victory put a stop to Napoleon's plans to invade England. Underestimated by Napoleon, it definitively establishes the naval domination of the United Kingdom and its determination to defeat the Emperor.
The Battle of Trafalgar
Against the French Empire a third coalition is formed between England, Russia and Austria. To invade England, Napoleon, established in the camp of Boulogne, brought together 200,000 men along the Channel and had 7,000 transport barges built. But it is necessary to draw aside the English fleet by the junction of the French squadrons. The largest, commanded by Vice Admiral Villeneuve, was blocked in the Spanish port of Cadiz by Admiral Horatio Nelson and his lieutenant Collingwood. Napoleon, who had had to give up his plans to invade England, ordered Admiral Villeneuve - who had proved unable to unblock Rochefort's fleet - to reach the Mediterranean to attack Naples.
Villeneuve obeyed, although he was aware of his inferiority in front of Nelson. At dawn on October 21, two days after leaving port, the French fleet and the Spanish fleet, which came as reinforcements, were intercepted by the English. With 33 vessels, the Franco-Spanish squadron, which had formed along the classic line of file, was attacked by Nelson, who had divided his fleet of 27 vessels into two columns which cut off the center and the left of the fleet. ally; the latter lost 17 ships out of 33, and on November 4, four ships of the right, which had escaped with Dumanoir, were taken in their turn by the English.
A victory that establishes British maritime supremacy
These numbered around 1,500 casualties, including Nelson, who was killed in battle on the deck of his ship, the Victory, while the allies lost 7,000 men and twenty ships of the Franco-Spanish fleet. De Villeneuve was taken prisoner on board the Bucentaure. The unfortunate French admiral will end his life shortly after being freed by the English.
The British victory, which definitively put an end to Napoleon's plans to invade England, assured Britain, for a century, of mastery of the sea. As for the French navy, which had nevertheless known its hour of glory under Louis XVI during the American war of independence against the Royal Navy, it will never again have the opportunity to shine in the conflicts to come... October 21 was celebrated throughout the British Empire as “Trafalgar Day” during the 19th and early 20th centuries, but today this holiday is little known.
The later famous phrase "trafalgar coup" refers to the unexpected and confusing strategy employed by Nelson in this battle.
Bibliography
- Trafalgar:The vagaries of Napoleon's naval strategy by Michèle Battesti. 2004.
- Nelson against Napoleon:From Aboukir to Trafalgar by Anne Pons. Perrin, 2005.
- The Battle of Trafalgar by Rémi Monaque. Tallandier, 2005.
- Dictionary of Napoleon's Battles:1796-1815 by Alain Pigeard. Tallandier, 2004.