234 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1805. 



a reinforcement of seven sail of the 

 line, from England, hesitated not, 

 as a means to induce the combined 

 fleet to put to sea, to detach admiral 

 Louis and six shi))s of the line, being 

 a fourth of his tlicn force, upon a 

 particular service, and that, in so 

 open a manner, and so undisgnised- 

 ly, ihat it became immediately 

 known to the enemy, and decided 

 his conduct. 



Admiral Villeneuve, deceived by 

 this bold manoeuvre, and believing 

 that (he English fleet was now re- 

 duced to twenty-one sail ol the line, 

 •^vhiI^t that of France and Spain, 

 thoroughly equipped and refitted, 

 consisted of thirty-three, resolved to 

 take advantage of this great suj)eri- 

 ority of strength, and make one 

 ■vast eflTort to humble the naval 

 force of Great Britain. There were 

 also, it is said, personal motives 

 ■which led the French admiral to this 

 resolution. Since his return from 

 the West Indies, the French official 

 paper, the Moniteur, had severely 

 glanced at his conduct in that trans- 

 aciion ! Bonaparte had also spoken 

 sarcastically of him : — he was up- 

 braided by the Spaniards for his not 

 having supported <hem better in the 

 action oft" Cajje Finisterre, where 

 ♦ he brunt of ihe fight was borne by 

 them ; and finally, it was generally 

 understood that his command was 

 about to he taken from him, and 

 conferred on admiral Rosily, then 

 actually on his road from Paris for 

 that purpose. Stung and mortified 

 by all these circumstance^: united, 

 he determined, contrary, it is said, to 

 the wish of the Spaniards to give 

 battle to lord Nelson. A victory 

 over the greatest naval character of 

 the age would redeem his character, 

 and cover him with glory, while a 

 defeat couidadd but little additional 

 . disgrace to his preseat state of hu- 

 uiiliatiou. 



Accordingly, on the 19th day of 

 October, the French and Spanish 

 combined fleet, to the number of 

 thirty-three sail of the line, eighteen 

 of which were French and fifteen 

 Spanish, sailed from Cadiz, with 

 light winds, westerly ; which being 

 communicated to lord Nelson, his 

 lordship, with the British fleet, 

 having received the expected re- 

 inforcement, and therefore consisted 

 of twenty-seven ships of the line, 

 three of which were of sixty-four 

 guns, conceiving tltc Mediterranean 

 to be the course of the enemy, im. 

 mediately made all sail for the 

 Straits, where he was informed, by 

 the frigJite stationed there, that the 

 enemy had not yet passed them. 



On Monday, at day-brcak, the 

 21st of October, 1805, a day which 

 will be for over memorable in the 

 British annals, the combined fleet 

 was descried about six or seven miles 

 to the eastward, Cape Trafalgar 

 bearing E. by S. about seven leagues, 

 there being very little wind, and that ' 

 westerly. The connnaiider in chief 

 immediately made the signal for the 

 fleet to bear up in two columns, as 

 they formed in the order of sailing, 

 to avoid the inconvenience and de- 

 lay in forming a line of battle in the 

 usual manner, a mode of attack his 

 lordship had j)reviously communicat- 

 ed to his officers, as that alone calcu- 

 lated "to make the business decisive," 

 in the last order she ever gave. They 

 were dated on the 10th of October, 

 in contemplation of the event which 

 we are about to detail, and which ex- 

 hibit, in the strongest manner, the 

 conii>rcheusive mind of this great 

 man, and his profound knowledge 

 of his profession. Lord Nelson, in 

 the Victory, led the weather co- 

 lumn, and the Royal Sovereign, ad- 

 miral Collingwood, the lee. 



It had originally been the inten- 

 tion of admiral Villeneuve, in the 

 2 belief 



