568 



State of Public Affairs in December^ 1805. [Jan. 1, 



lift fii al! the enemy's fleet which were in 

 the af^ion, and how they are difpofed of, 

 which 1 believe, is perfedliy correft. 



I informed you in my letter of the zSth, 

 that the remnant of the enemy's fleet came 

 cut a fecond time to endeavour, in the bad 

 weather, to cut off fome of the hullcs, when 

 the Rayo was difmatted, and fell into our 

 hands ; flie afterwards parted her cable, went 

 on /hore, and was wrecked. The Indomp- 

 table, one of the fame fquadron, was alio 

 driven on fliore, wrecked, and her crew pe- 

 rilhed. 



The Santa Ana and Algeziras being driven 

 near the fliore of Cadiz, got fuch afliftance 

 aj has enabled them to get in j b^it the ruin 

 of their fleet is as complete as could be ex- 

 pefted, under the circuniftances of fighting 

 them clofe to their own ftiore. Had the bat- 

 tle been on the ocean, fiill fewer would have 

 efcaped. Twenty fail of the line «re taken 

 or deftroyed; and of thofe which got in not 

 more than three are in a repairable ftate for a 

 length of time. 



Rear-Admiral Louis, in the Canopus, who 

 had been detached witi; the JJuren, Spencer, 

 and Tigre, to complete the water, &c. of 

 thefe Clips, and to fee the convoy in fafety a 

 certain diftance up the Mediterranean, joined 

 xae on the 30th. 



In clearing the captured fhip; of prifoners, 

 I found fo many wounded men, thjt to alle- 

 viate hu-Tian mifery as much as was in my 

 power, I ffnt to the Marquis de Solana, Go- 

 %;rnor-General of Andalufu, to offer him 

 the wounded to the tare of their country, 

 on receipts being given : a propofal which 

 •was received with the greateft thankfulnefs, 

 Eot only by the governor, but the whole 

 country refounds with expreiTions of grati- 

 tude. Two French frigates were fent out to 

 receive them, with a proper officer to give 

 receipts, bringing with them all the Englifli 

 ■who had been wrecked in feVeral of the fhips, 

 and an cfi^:r from the Marquis de Solana of 

 the ufe of their hofpitals for our wounded, 

 pledging the honour of Spain for their being 

 carefully attended. 



1 have ordered moft of the Spanifh pri- 

 foners to be releafed ; the officers on parole; 

 the men for receipts given, and a condition 

 that they do not ferve in war, by fea or land, 

 until exchanged. 



By my correfpondence with the Marquis, 

 1 found that Vice-Admiral D'AIava was not 

 dead, but dangeroufly wounded, and I wrote 

 to him a letter claiming him ss a ptifoner of 

 war: a copy of which I enclofe, together 

 with a ftate of the flag oilicers of the com- 

 bined fleet. lam, &c. 



C. CoLLINGWOOD. 



Here follows a lift of the combined 

 fleets of France and Spain, in the aiRion 

 of the 21 ft of Oftober, confifling of 33 

 iail of the line, Hiowing \\\ what manner 



4 

 16 



each was difpofed of. It will be fuffi- 

 cient for our readers if we give the foU 

 lowing 



ABSTRACT. 



At Gibraltar 



Deftroyed 



In Cadiz, wrecks 6 7 



In Cadiz, ferviceable 35 ' ° | 



Efcaped to Southward • 4 



Total - - 3J 



A Lifl of the Nair.es and Rank of the Flag 



Officers of the Combined Fleet of France and 



Spain, ;"o the aiiion of the 7,lji of OBobert 



1805. 

 Admiral Villeneuve, Commander in Chiefj 



Bucentaur — Taken. 

 Admiral Don Frederico Gravina ; Principe 



d'Afturias— Efcaped in Cadiz, wounded in 



the arm. 

 Vice-Admiral Don Ignatio Maria D'AIava ; 



Santa Ana— Wounded feverely in the head, 



taken, but vfas driven into Cadiz in the 



Santa Ana. 

 Rear-Admiral Don Baltazar Hidalgo Clfneros; 



Santiffinia Trinidad—Taken. 

 Rear-Admiral Magon ; Algefiras— Killed, 

 Rcar-.\dniiral Duincinoir j Forriiidable— Ef- 



capcd. 



Euryahs, off Cadi%^ 

 My Lord Marquis, 0,57. 17, 1805. 

 A great number of Spanifli fubjedls having 

 been wounded in the late artlon between the 

 Britifti and the combined fleets of Spain and 

 France, on the iift inftant, humanity and 

 my defite to alleviate the fuffcrings of thefe 

 wounded men, diftate to me to oftpr to your 

 Excellency their enlargement, that they 

 may be taken proper care of in the hofpitals 

 on fliore, provided your Excellency will fend 

 boat: to convey them, with a proper olficer 

 to give receipts for the number, and acknow- 

 ledge them in your Excellency's anfwer to 

 this letter to be prifoners of war, to be ex- 

 changed before they ferve again. 



I beg to afl^ure your Excellency of my higl^ 

 conlideration, and that 1 am, &;c. 



(Signed) C, Collingwood. 

 Jo his Excellency the Marquis de Solana, 

 Caftain-General of Andalujta, Gover- 

 nor, £fc. C^f. Cadia. 



Conditions on ivhich the Spanijh tuounded Pri- 

 Jontrs luere releafed, and Jent on Jhote to thi 

 Hojpital. 



I Guilleme Valverde, having been autlio- 

 rifed and empowered bythe Marquis de So- 

 lana, Governor- General of Andalufia and 

 of Cadiz, to receive from tlie Englilh fquad- 

 ron the wounded prifoners, and fuch perfons 

 as may be neceflary to their care, which re- 

 leafe and enlargement of the wounded, &c. 

 is agreed to, on the part of the Commander 

 in Chief of the Britifti fquadron, on the po- 

 fitive condition^ that none of the faid pii- 



fcne.'s 



