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THE ENEMY AT 
 TRAFALGAR 
 
 AN ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLE 
 FROM EYE-WITNESSES^ NARRATIVES 
 AND LETTERS AND DESPATCHES FROM 
 THE FRENCH AND SPANISH FLEETS 
 
 BY 
 
 EDWARD FRASER 
 
 AUTHOR OF "FAJIOUS FIGHTERS OF THE FLEET " 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 • * 
 
 ■» » 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 E. P. DUTTON & CO. 
 
 31 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET 
 
^5 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 Printed in 1906 by W. Brendon and Son, Limited, 
 West Hoe, Plymouth, England 
 
 : :•: 
 
PREFACE 
 
 rpHE idea of this book is to render tribute to 
 -^ the gallant men at whose expense our own 
 Nelson achieved his crowning fame. Conversely, 
 it should serve as the highest kind of tribute to 
 Nelson himself, and those who helped him to win 
 the day. Fair play to the enemy involves no 
 disloyalty to the memory of our own peerless chief 
 and his gallant comrades in arms. Nothing can 
 detract from Nelson's renown as the ablest, the 
 most brilliant, the most heroic leader the world 
 has known in war at sea : — 
 
 In freta dum fluvii current, dum montibus umbrae 
 Lustrabunt convexa, polus dum sidera pascet. 
 Semper honos, nomenque tuum, laudesque manebunt. 
 
 Least of all a book such as this, which purports to 
 relate incidents of Trafalgar as witnessed from the 
 side of the enemy. 
 
 Throughout, what took place in the battle is 
 described from the enemy's point of view ; and, as 
 far as possible, in the words of the officers and 
 men — from Admiral Villeneuve himself, the 
 
 239931 
 
iv THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 enemy's commander-in-chief, downwards — whose 
 personal experiences supply the basis of the 
 narrative. 
 
 We have all heard of what happened on our 
 own side, and of the heroism that so many of our 
 officers and men displayed. The incidents of 
 Trafalgar on the enemy's side offer a situation 
 that will be new to most of us, and should prove 
 interesting, particularly at the present time. There 
 were many fine fellows in the Franco-Spanish 
 Fleet on the 21st of October, 1805, and they did 
 their duty to the utmost of their power. We, for 
 our part, had Nelson, " the greatest sailor since the 
 world began," to lead us ; our captains had wider 
 experience, and our sailors were better trained at 
 the guns than those opposed to them : that made 
 the deciding difference to the fate of the day. 
 
 This should be remembered. At Trafalgar the 
 antagonists were hardly a match, in spite of the 
 fact that the Combined Fleet counted six ships 
 more than the British. The enemy were in no 
 condition to give battle, as they themselves knew 
 well and said before they put to sea. The Com- 
 bined Fleet was made up from two navies, each 
 trained in its own way, and differing markedly in 
 efficiency ; belonging also to nationalities hardly at 
 one in political sympathy. The Combined Franco- 
 Spanish Fleet sailed to fight a decisive battle with 
 their ships for the most part inefficiently equipped. 
 
PREFACE V 
 
 partly owing to local difficulties at the port of de- 
 parture, the result of international jealousy and 
 friction; also with quite half the Spanish ships 
 manned only by raw landsmen and soldiers. Ad- 
 miral Villeneuve, brave and talented and pains- 
 taking an officer as he was, had in fact a practically 
 impossible task set him to perform. There was 
 no cordiality between the French and Spanish 
 officers — openly expressed dislike rather, on both 
 sides. The French Commander-in-Chief had little 
 confidence in his own officers, and, for their part, 
 the majority of them were not in accord with him. 
 His indecision at earlier stages of the campaign 
 had turned many against him. Admiral Ville- 
 neuve sailed, conscious that success was practically 
 impossible ; and, in addition, weighed down with 
 the knowledge of Napoleon's attitude towards 
 himself for what had taken place previously in the 
 campaign. Only a few hours before he sailed he 
 had accidentally learned, moreover, that another 
 admiral had been appointed to supersede him and 
 was on his way to do so, travelling with post haste. 
 All, however, said and done, whatever Admiral 
 Villeneuve's personal defects of temperament may 
 have been, no French admiral, with such a fleet as 
 Villeneuve had under his orders, not even a Tour- 
 ville or a SufFren, could have averted defeat at 
 Trafalgar. 
 
vi THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 That the fortune of war went against France 
 and Spain on that day takes nothing from the 
 heroism and devoted gallantry which so many 
 officers and men on the losing side displayed. One 
 side must get the worst of it in a battle. Nelson 
 himself, we are told, as he approached the enemy 
 that morning, " frequently remarked that they put 
 a good face upon it." Captain Blackwood, who 
 was on the quarter-deck of the " Victory " as the 
 fleets neared one another, drew Nelson's attention 
 to "the handsome way in which the Battle was 
 offered by the Enemy, their apparent determina- 
 tion for a fair trial of strength." " The Enemy," 
 wrote Blackwood also, in a letter home, " awaited 
 the attack of the British with a coolness I was 
 sorry to witness, and they fought in a way that 
 must do them honour." An officer of the " Vic- 
 tory," recording his impressions, says : " They 
 appeared to seek the action with as much con- 
 fidence as ourselves." Said CoUingwood : " It 
 was a severe action; no dodging or manoeuvring. 
 They formed their line with nicety, and waited 
 our attack with great composure, nor did they fire 
 a gun until we were close to them." CoUingwood 
 also said: "The enemy's ships were fought with 
 a gallantry highly honourable to their officers." 
 "All our enemies," notes an officer of the "Prince," 
 " fought with the greatest obstinacy." 
 
PREFACE vii 
 
 Great Britain, France, and Spain alike, at the 
 present time, happily, can recall Trafalgar in a 
 spirit impossible heretofore. One can hardly con- 
 ceive, indeed, nowadays the state of feeling that 
 was the most natural thing in the world to our 
 grandfathers of " eighteen hundred and war time"; 
 the temper, for instance, in which, during the 
 period of Wellington's Army of Occupation, 
 British subalterns used to swagger about the 
 streets in the towns of Northern France, and in 
 and out of the cafds, humming, in the hearing of 
 everybody, a peculiarly offensive camp-song of the 
 hour, the refrain of which ran — 
 
 Lewis Dix Weet ! Lewis Dix Weet ! 
 
 We've wallop'd your army and lick'd all your fleet ! 
 
 We have another standpoint to-day : we take in 
 things from another point of view. As the then 
 Prime Minister — Mr. Balfour — finely said at the 
 historic dejeuner to the officers of the French Fleet 
 in Westminster Hall, touching on the historical 
 associations of the place and the old-time conflicts 
 between England and France: "After all, what 
 the two nations forget is the cause of their differ- 
 ences, and what they remember are the great 
 deeds of heroism which have rendered both 
 countries illustrious." There we are on common 
 ground, Briton and Frenchman and Spaniard alike; 
 each has personal deeds of heroism to remember 
 
viii THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 in common — and particularly in regard to Trafal- 
 gar. The bitterness is now long since past; of 
 laurel, not of cypress, are our memorial wreaths — 
 
 ... no dirge's plaintive moan ; 
 Our heroes claim far loftier tone — 
 Oh, proudly should the war-song swell. 
 Recording how the mighty fell ! 
 
 Special recognition, indeed, is due from us of 
 these days to the memory of the enemy at Trafal- 
 gar — as a point of honour. The example was set 
 us from the other side, by the gallant successors 
 of those who in fair fight faced Nelson and his 
 captains that October Monday afternoon a hun- 
 dred years ago, and did all that brave men could 
 for the credit of their service and their flag. 
 Who that witnessed it can ever forget that touch- 
 ing display of chivalry on the afternoon of the 
 10th of August, 1905, when Admiral Caillard and 
 the captains of the French Fleet, then at Ports- 
 mouth, passed through Trafalgar Square on their 
 way to be the guests of the City of London in 
 the Guildhall? As each French officer came abreast 
 of the base of the Nelson Monument he turned to- 
 wards it and, raising a gloved hand to his cocked 
 hat, gravely, and with the finest courtesy, saluted 
 the national memorial to Britain's sailor hero. It 
 was done very simply, very quietly, very tactfully ; 
 and the next moment the column had been passed. 
 
PREFACE ix 
 
 One grey-headed French officer, in addition to 
 saluting, rose from his seat in one of the carriages 
 as he passed the monument, and, glancing upward 
 at the statue of Lord Nelson, raised his hat with 
 a courtly bow. 
 
 The British Empire can appreciate such an act, 
 and knows how to requite it in kind. Where 
 chivalrous bearing is in point the nation does not 
 allow itself to be outdone. On the day of the 
 Nelson centenary celebration there was hardly a 
 hamlet throughout the length and breadth of 
 England, hardly a colonial township in any part of 
 the world, where the French and Spanish national 
 flags, one or other, often both, were not flown 
 side by side with our own flag. Wreaths tied 
 in the national colours of France and Spain and 
 inscribed to the memory of those who fought on 
 the other side — " To the memory of the gallant 
 officers and men of France and Spain who died for 
 their country at Trafalgar," ran the legend on one 
 wreath — had places allotted to them at the base of 
 the Nelson Monument in Trafalgar Square in the 
 display of memorial tributes in honour of our own 
 chief. Among the wreaths to the memory of 
 those who fell at their posts facing us at Trafalgar 
 was one that had come all the way from New 
 Zealand. And on that night when the officers of 
 the " Victory " at Portsmouth met at their own 
 
 a 2 
 
X THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 commemorative banquet, the toast given was " To 
 the memory of those who fought and fell, whether 
 friend or foe, in the glorious battle of a hundred 
 years ago!" All rose and stood with bowed heads, 
 while the " Victory's " buglers sounded the " Last 
 Post," and then the toast was drunk in solemn 
 silence. 
 
 This book offers itself as a tribute in its way to 
 the memory of those who fought against us at 
 Trafalgar, whose descendants and successors in the 
 navies of France and Spain are our good friends 
 to-day. As has been said, we ourselves have a 
 special interest in what is told of the devotion 
 and heroism displayed on the side of the enemy in 
 the battle. The men who met and faced Nelson 
 on the 21st of October, 1805, proved themselves in 
 fair fight foemen worthy of our steel ; and not only 
 as a complement to the story of the battle from 
 our side, of which every one knows something, 
 should the telling of their gallantry under fire, of 
 what they did and endured, prove acceptable to 
 English readers, but also as redounding to the 
 credit of those — our own forefathers — who got the 
 better of such valiant antagonists. 
 
 My plan has been, as far as possible, to describe 
 the enemy's part at Trafalgar in the words of eye- 
 witnesses and participants in the battle on their 
 side. As to that, I think I am justified in saying 
 
PREFACE xi 
 
 that the subject is dealt with fairly and fully, 
 if not, indeed, exhaustively. 
 
 The first three chapters are introductory in then- 
 nature, explanatory of the events that led up to 
 Trafalgar; utilizing largely the information con- 
 veyed in the despatches that passed between 
 Napoleon and his Minister of Marine and Admiral 
 Villeneuve. They describe how the enemy came 
 to be there ; Admiral Villeneuve's difficulties and 
 arrangements for the battle ; and the circum- 
 stances in which his plans were made. Something 
 then follows as to the personality of the admirals 
 and captains who faced Nelson on the occasion ; 
 what kind of men they were, and what their 
 countrymen thought of them. Next, we see the 
 enemy's fleet leaving port to give battle, and what 
 passed on their side during that Sunday night 
 at sea between Cape Trafalgar and the Straits of 
 Gibraltar. 
 
 Then we have the fleets in presence on Monday 
 morning: Nelson heading for the enemy; Ville- 
 neuve attempting to regain Cadiz harbour. A 
 series of chapters follow, describing what took 
 place in the battle, under fire, on board those of 
 the French ships from which we have personal 
 accounts ; presenting these accounts in the words 
 (closely translated) of the officers who wrote them, 
 as eye-witnesses of the events. 
 
xii THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 Admiral Villeneuve's Trafalgar despatch — which 
 Napoleon suppressed — ^relating the French Com- 
 mander-in-Chief's personal experiences up to the 
 moment of his capture, appears here for English 
 readers for the first time. Two official narratives — 
 vigorously told and full of striking detail — follow, 
 from the officers of the " Redoutable," the " Vic- 
 tory's" special antagonist at Trafalgar; and, in 
 addition, the stories — related personally — of " The 
 man who shot Nelson," and of " The Avenger of 
 Nelson." The experiences of French officers on 
 board other ships are given, each describing what 
 his own ship did and went through. 
 
 The Spanish accounts of Trafalgar are dealt 
 with in exactly the same way, the idea throughout 
 being to relate events, wherever it can be done, as 
 personal experiences. 
 
 On that comes the story of what happened in 
 the storm after the battle, and the fate of the cap- 
 tured ships, as told by some of those who sur- 
 vived ; also — from contemporary letters — what 
 people at Cadiz saw of the battle, and the scenes 
 that followed in that city and along the coast. A 
 chapter describes how the Trafalgar despatches 
 reached London at midnight, and the reception of 
 the news there and throughout England : and also 
 how Napoleon and France and Spain learned of 
 what had taken place. Lastly, something is said 
 
PREFACE xiii 
 
 about the Trafalgar prisoners in England ; and the 
 tragic story of the hapless Admiral Villeneuve's 
 fate one April night at an inn at Rennes, accord- 
 ing to the ProceS'Verbal drawn up for Fouche, 
 Napoleon's Minister of Police. 
 
 Among the illustrations are portraits of the 
 leaders of the enemy at Trafalgar, Admirals Ville- 
 neuve and Gravina, and of others of the admirals 
 and some of the hardest-lighting of the captains ; 
 also a set of views of the battle drawn for Captain 
 Lucas of the " Redoutable," which have been 
 photographed by permission for this book at the 
 Louvre. Other views are given, and pictures of 
 incidents of the battle from the Spanish side, 
 reproduced from paintings on the walls of the 
 naval gallery at Madrid, together with representa- 
 tions of various personal mementos and relics of 
 officers who met their fate in the battle, and a 
 sketch of Cape Trafalgar as it now is. 
 
 The three Appendices comprise documents of 
 peculiar historic interest from the archives of the 
 Ministry of Marine in Paris, copied from the 
 originals for this book, by special permission of 
 the Minister of Marine. They comprise Admiral 
 Villeneuve's "Fighting Instructions" to his cap- 
 tains ; the exact and complete text of Villeneuve's 
 " Compte Rendu,'' or official report on Trafalgar, 
 written by him while on the way to England 
 
xiv THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 as a prisoner of war ; and the French official plan 
 of Trafalgar, drawn by the captain of the French 
 flagship " Bucentaure " three days after the battle, 
 a document of special historic interest and value in 
 reference to the recent controversy on " Nelson's 
 Tactics at Trafalgar." 
 
 I desire to express my thanks, for assistance 
 cordially given, to M. Thomson, the present 
 Minister of Marine in France, and to M. Destrem, 
 the Curator of the Musee de la Marine at the 
 Louvre, for his most kind offices on my behalf; 
 also to M. Marc Dormoy, for his tireless and 
 invaluable help. 
 
 In conclusion I would say that I have considered 
 the writing of this story of Trafalgar from the 
 other side a privilege, as offering an opportunity 
 of rendering homage on the part of an English- 
 man to the gallantry and devotion of valiant 
 and worthy foes, and I trust that, whatever the 
 shortcomings of my attempt may be, the book will 
 be found acceptable by all into whose hands it 
 
 may come. 
 
 E.F. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 I. Why the French Fleet went to Cadiz 
 
 PACE 
 
 1 
 
 II. Coming Events cast their Shadows before . 23 
 
 III. The Council of War and the Order to weigh 
 
 Anchor . . . . . 45 
 
 IV. Admirals and Captains of the Combined Fleet . 68 
 
 V. The Night before the Battle 
 VI. Nelson in Sight — Monday Morning 
 VII. The Eagle of the "Bucentaure" 
 VIII. How THE Battle shaped Itself 
 IX. Villeneuve's Trafalgar Despatch 
 X. Final Scenes on board the "Bucentaure" 
 
 . 81 
 . 97 
 . 114 
 . 118 
 . 128 
 . 136 
 
 XI. How the "Redoutable" fought to a Finish . 145 
 
 XII. "The Man who shot Nelson" 
 XIII. Admiral Magon and his Fate 
 
 . 179 
 . 184 
 
 XIV. How THE "Intrepide" turned back to save the 
 
 Admiral . . ... 189 
 
xvi THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XV. Others that deserved well of France . . 202 
 
 XVI. A Master-at-Arms' Experiences . . .211 
 
 XVII. Jeannette of the "Achille" . . .219 
 
 XVIII. H.M.S. "Implacable" . . . . 228 
 
 XIX. Gravina and Alava and their Flagships . 242 
 
 XX. The "Santisima Trinidad" at Bay . . 260 
 
 XXI. How "El Gran Churruca" faced his Fate . 274 
 
 XXII. Captains whom Spain remembers with Pride . 287 
 
 XXIII. The Victims of the Storm . . . 297 
 
 XXIV. The Last Hours of the "Santisima Trinidad" 314 
 XXV. What they heard and saw at Cadiz . . 325 
 
 XXVI. How the News reached England — and Napoleon 342 
 
 XXVII. \m Victis: — The Hulks and the Tragedy of 
 
 Rennes . . . . . 376 
 
 XXVIII. Since Trafalgar . . . . 408 
 
 APPENDICES 
 
 A. Admiral Villeneuve's Memorandum . .417 
 
 B. Admiral Villeneuve's Official Report . . 420 
 
 C. Captain Magendie's Plans of Trafalgar . 426 
 
 Index . . . ... 433 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 At Portsmouth : August, 1905. The " Victory " welcoming the 
 
 Frontispiece 
 
 French flagship 
 
 Camp of the Grand Army at Boulogne 
 
 Boulogne harbour and the invasion flotilla 
 
 Vice-Admiral Villeneuve . 
 
 Admiral Gravina 
 
 Cosmao-Kerjulien of the ** Pluton " 
 
 Cayetano Valdez of the "Neptuno" 
 
 Captain Blackwood of the "Euryalus" 
 
 Nelson 
 
 Opening of the attack at Trafalgar 
 
 The ♦♦ Bucentaure" and " Redoutable" firing on the "Victory" 
 The '* Redoutable" grappled by the "Victory" 
 The " Redoutable " on the evening before she went down . 
 The "Redoutable" fighting the "Victory" and the "T^m^raire 
 Captain Lucas of the " Redoutable " . . . 
 
 Rear-Admiral Magon ..... 
 H.M.S. "Defiance" dealing the French 74 "L'Aigle" her coup- 
 de-grace .... 
 The last hours of the "Santisima Trinidad" 
 Our only Trafalgar prize left— H. M.S. " Implacable " at Devonport 228 
 The "Santa Ana" at bay . . ... 252 
 
 Model of the Trafalgar " Santa Ana" at the Museo Naval, Madrid ib. 
 
 PACING PAGB 
 6 
 
 ib. 
 40 
 ib. 
 74 
 ib. 
 84 
 ib. 
 112 
 
 150 
 ib. 
 ib. 
 164 
 176 
 ib. 
 
 206 
 214 
 
XVlll 
 
 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 Rear- Admiral Cisneros 
 Vice-Admiral de Alava . 
 Commodore Galiano • 
 
 Commodore Churruca 
 Prison hulks at Portsmouth in 1806 
 Dartmoor war prison gateway 
 
 FACING PAGE 
 
 258 
 ib. 
 
 ib. 
 
 392 
 
 ib. 
 
 IN THE TEXT 
 
 Map — Opening moves of the Trafalgar campaign, 1 805 facing page 
 Indiamen moored across the Thames below Gravesend to bar the 
 
 approach to London .... 
 Napoleon's medal to commemorate the Conquest of England 
 Arms of Villeneuve .... 
 
 Captain : French Navy, 1805 
 Captain : Spanish Navy, 1805 
 On board the •' Redoutable": French 36-poundcr on the lower deck 
 Plan of the attack at Trafalgar, enclosed with Collingwood's 
 
 despatches . 
 
 Spanish plans of the opening attack at 
 
 development of the battle 
 Signature of Admiral Villeneuve 
 The Trafalgar trophy swords 
 Signature of Captain Magendie 
 Midshipman : French Navy, 1805 . 
 Signature of Captain Lucas 
 Captain Lucas' seal 
 Signature of Captain Infernet 
 Signature of Captain Cosmao 
 French man-of-war's man, 1805 
 Captain Hardy's pencil case 
 
 Trafalgar and after 
 
 75 
 
 79 
 
 107 
 
 125 
 133 
 143 
 144 
 163 
 173 
 177 
 190 
 202 
 215 
 232 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS xix 
 
 Signature of Admiral Gravina . . ... 94S 
 
 Admiral Gravina's Trafalgar sword and cocked hat . . . 248 
 
 Signature of Admiral Alava . . ... 257 
 
 36-pounder bar-shot, fired by the "Santisima Trinidad" into the 
 
 "Victory" . . . . ... 267 
 
 Signature of Commodore Churruca . . ... 275 
 
 Signature of Conmiodore Galiano . . ... 288 
 
 Signature of Captain Valdez . . ... 291 
 
 Cape Trafalgar . . . . ... 336 
 
 Torre de Castilobo . . . ... 337 
 
 Lieut Lapenoti^re . ... 349 
 
 Gravina's tomb in the Panteon de Marines lUustres . . .411 
 
 Appendix 
 
 Plan showing how the " Bucentaure " was cut oflF 
 Captain Lucas' plan of the attack 
 Captain Magendie's plan of Nelson's advance 
 Plan from ** Nelson : The Centenary of Trafalgar " 
 
'A 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 WHY THE FRENCH FLEET WENT 
 TO CADIZ 
 
 rpHIS is a general summary of the events that 
 -*- led up to Trafalgar : — how the battle came to 
 be fought. 
 
 Trafalgar was Great Britain's answer to the 
 challenge of Napoleon's great invasion scheme 
 and the "Armee d'Angleterre " ; Great Britain's 
 retort and counterstroke. 
 
 Napoleon, in point of fact, of course, had broken 
 up his camp on the heights above Boulogne and 
 marched his soldiers off for the Austrian frontier 
 seven weeks before that fateful Monday afternoon 
 off Cape Trafalgar ; but the idea of trying again 
 at another time had not passed from his mind. 
 His plan of campaign had miscarried for the 
 present, that was all ; there were other years to 
 come. He left the Chateau at Pont-de-Briques 
 on the 1st of September, 1805, confidently ex- 
 pecting to return there another time. He left 
 strict orders for the vessels of the invasion-flotilla 
 to be looked after carefully, and in the same 
 memorandum stated explicitly that the great 
 
2 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 scheme would be taken up again. Just before 
 this he had written to Eugene : " Je vais donner 
 une bonne le^on a FAutriche, et apres, je revien- 
 drai a mes projets." Less than a week before 
 Trafalgar was fought, as the last of his out- 
 lying divisions swung into line and linked up 
 with the rest to close in on the doomed Austrian 
 army at Ulm, Napoleon declared in an order of 
 the day: "Soldats, sans cette armee que vous 
 avez devant vous, nous serions aujourd'hui a 
 Londres; nous eussions venge six siecles d'out- 
 rages, et rendu la liberte aux mers." "I want 
 nothing further on the Continent," he said to 
 the Austrian generals, when they came to sur- 
 render their swords to him on that Sunday morn- 
 ing before the gates of Ulm, on the very day 
 before Trafalgar, " I want nothing further on the 
 Continent: I want ships, colonies, and com- 
 merce ! " His only way to what he wanted lay 
 along the London Road, past the homesteads of 
 Kent and Sussex ; and the only chance Napoleon 
 had of setting foot across the Channel was bound 
 up with the fortunes of the fleet that met Nelson 
 off Trafalgar. The hope for the one went down 
 with the fate of the other. The grenadiers of 
 Austerlitz might well have passed the summer 
 of 1806 under canvas at Boulogne, had it not been 
 for Trafalgar. The naval force that Nelson shat- 
 tered at Trafalgar had been designed as the starting 
 lever, as it were, the mainspring of Napoleon's 
 
ALL DEPENDED ON VILLENEUVE 3 
 
 whole combination. On it Napoleon had relied 
 to give him that command of the sea which was 
 " all he wanted," so he himself said, " to decide 
 the fate of Great Britain for ever." It was "in 
 being" until the fate of the day at Trafalgar 
 had been decided. With its defeat, everything 
 fell to pieces irrecoverably. Trafalgar destroyed 
 the instrument by the aid of which Napoleon had 
 designed to accomplish his purpose, his only avail- 
 able means for the attempt. C alder frightened 
 the snake and bruised it after a fashion ; Nelson 
 killed it outright. To put the situation in a 
 homely way: the mad dog was still about the 
 village — Nelson shot it dead. 
 
 The entire position turned on the arrival of 
 Admiral Villeneuve, at the head of forty and 
 more sail of the line, made up of the French 
 Toulon and Rochefort fleets and some other ships 
 at Corunna, with the pick of the Spanish navy 
 from Cartagena, Cadiz, and Ferrol, in the English 
 Channel in August, 1805. His advent was to be 
 a surprise, after — as Napoleon confidently antici- 
 pated — great part of the British Fleet in European 
 waters had been drawn off elsewhere to search for 
 him, owing to the general alarm that, the Emperor 
 calculated, Villeneuve's departure from Toulon and 
 disappearance into the Atlantic must inevitably 
 cause. Villeneuve was to plan things, in the first 
 place, so as to give Nelson the slip and pass the 
 Straits of Gibraltar unobserved. Then he was 
 
 I 
 
4 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 to cross the ocean to the West Indies, join the 
 Rochefort squadron there, and raid certain of the 
 islands.^ Returning suddenly, he would concen- 
 trate quietly off Ferrol and then head north in 
 force to raise the blockade of Brest and join hands 
 with the powerful fleet of twenty-two sail of the 
 line there — six three-deckers, nine eighty-gun ships, 
 and seven seventy -fours. After that Admiral 
 Villeneuve with the united armada in resistless 
 array was to " balayer la Manche " (Napoleon's 
 own phrase) and make for the Straits of Dover; 
 to stand on guard there while Napoleon himself, 
 with Soult and Ney, Murat, Massena, Davout, 
 Lannes, and Marmont, and six army corps, 160,000 
 men of all arms, Imperial Guard, infantry, 12,000 
 cavalry, and 8,000 dragoons (to be mounted in 
 England), 15,000 horses, and 450 guns, crossed 
 over from Boulogne to the coast of Kent in the 
 2,280 odd "praams" and armed transports that had 
 been specially built and equipped along the coast 
 between Dieppe and Dunkirk, for the passage 
 
 ^ He was to " do the English all the harm he could " in the West 
 Indies. " Let him take St. Vincent, Antigua, Grenada, and why not 
 Barbados.'*" wrote Napoleon to Decres. "I leave it to you to send 
 orders to retake Tobago and Trinidad." He would thus, the Emperor 
 anticipated, '' keep the English in perpetual alarm and strike them 
 unexpected blows." At the same time a false alarm about India was to 
 be spread. " Let it be inserted in the ' Moniteur,' " added Napoleon, 
 "that great news has arrived from India, that the despatches have 
 been forwarded to the Emperor, that the contents have not transpired, 
 but that everything goes badly for the English." Five thousand troops 
 of all arms were on board the French Fleet, and there were Spanish 
 troops on board the Spanish ships. 
 
«IF WE HAVE THE POWER OF CROSSING!" 5 
 
 over. " The English," said Napoleon, " know not 
 what awaits them ! If we have the power of 
 crossing but for twelve hours, Great Britain is 
 no more ! " " Votre passage seul nous rends, sans 
 chances, maitres de I'Angleterre," he wrote, in 
 a letter sent to await Admiral Villeneuve's ar- 
 rival at Brest. " If you run up here, if only for 
 twenty-four hours, your mission will be accom- 
 plished. The English are not so numerous as you 
 think. They are ever5rNvhere detained by the wind. 
 Never will a squadron have run a few risks for 
 so great an end, and never will our soldiers have 
 had the chance on land or sea of shedding their 
 blood for a grander or nobler result. For the 
 great object of aiding a descent on the power 
 which for six centuries has oppressed France, we 
 ought all to die without regret 1" Admiral Decr^s, 
 the Minister of Marine and a very old friend of 
 Villeneuve's, added what incitement he could. 
 " On your success in arriving before Boulogne, the 
 destiny of the world depends. Happy the ad- 
 miral who shall have the glory of so memorable 
 an achievement attached to his name." 
 
 All was ready. Napoleon only waited for Ville- 
 neuve to arrive. According to the news that 
 reached London in the second week of August, 
 1805, the " Grand Army " at Boulogne was daily 
 rehearsing the details of its proposed descent. Its 
 powder and shot, artillery and commissariat stores, 
 and other war-munitions of every sort — to quote 
 
6 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 Jomini's figures ; 14,000,000 cartridges, 90,000 
 rounds for the artillery, 32,000 reserve muskets, 
 1,300,000 musket flints, 1,500,000 rations of bis- 
 cuit, 30,000 details of engineer equipment, 11,000 
 spare saddles and sets of harness — had for some 
 time past, it was stated, been stowed on board 
 the vessels of the invasion flotilla. Every bat- 
 talion, every company, had been allotted to its 
 boats, and the soldiers, to the drummer boys, told 
 off to the very seats in each transport, or " flat- 
 bottom," that they were to occupy. In such de- 
 tail, according to the reports that reached the 
 British Government from Pitt's secret - service 
 agents abroad, were the rehearsal parades being 
 carried out, that the troops marched on board 
 every time with all the exultation of men actually 
 on the way to the front, believing as they cheered 
 "Vive I'Empereur!" that the appointed moment 
 had really come for the "Descente en Angleterre"! 
 Not one detail was omitted. First, there was the 
 signal gun for all to " fall in "; then a second gun, 
 for generals and the staff* to take post ; then the 
 third gun, " Prepare to embark " ; finally, the gim 
 to march on board and take seats. It had been 
 found possible, it was reported, to ship the ad- 
 vance-guard of 25,000 picked men in less than 
 ten and a half minutes ; and it had taken less 
 than thirteen to disembark them all in the attack 
 formation in which they were to land on Walmer 
 beach. Within an hour and a half from the beat- 
 
THREE WEEKS WOULD SUFFICE 7 
 
 ing of the Generate, every man and horse was on 
 board. Bonaparte himself was on the spot from 
 noon to night, riding about on his famous charger, 
 Marengo, inflaming the zeal of every corps in turn, 
 Voltigeurs and smart Chasseurs, Premiere Legere, 
 Garde Imperiale, and the rest. He "only wanted," 
 declared Napoleon, " to be master of the sea for 
 six hours to terminate the existence of England." 
 After that, all he asked for was "trois semaines 
 pour operer la descente, entrer dans Londres, miner 
 les chantiers, et detruire les arsenaux de Ports- 
 mouth et Plymouth." A three weeks' stay in 
 England would suffice, the Emperor reckoned, 
 for all he wanted to do. Then he would recross 
 the Straits, and march on Vienna. " Bah ! " said 
 Massena curtly, when in later years somebody 
 questioned in the old marshal's presence whether 
 Napoleon had seriously intended the conquest of 
 Great Britain ; " Bah ! la conquerir — personne n'y 
 songea : il s'agissait seulement de la miner ; de la 
 laissait dans un etat tel que personne n'en aurait 
 convoite la possession ! " 
 
 At Boulogne, all through that month of August, 
 1805, look-out men watched by day and night 
 for the coming of the French Fleet; as others 
 were doing from forty signal-stations along the 
 coast between Havre and the Texel. Morning 
 after morning. Napoleon himself rode off* from 
 his " barraque " beside the Tour de I'Ordre, along 
 the cliffs to northward of Boulogne, or along 
 
8 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 the sands, to scan the seaward horizon with his 
 spyglass for the gUnt of Villeneuve's topsails in 
 the south-west. 
 
 On this side the Channel at the same time the 
 excitement was at fever heat. All England was 
 on tenter -hooks of anxiety and expectation. 
 Great Britain, during August, 1805, was one vast 
 camp: — regulars, yeomanry, and mihtia under 
 
 INDIASIEN MOORED ACROSS THE THAMES BELOW 6RAVESEND 
 
 TO BAR THE APPROACH TO LONDON 
 
 IFrom a print of 1805] 
 
 canvas near the coast ; volunteers inland, nearly 
 four hundred thousand of them. Every little 
 country town, every village, had its "Armed 
 Association," who kept their arms — Government 
 muskets, or often only pikes — during the week 
 in the old church tower, and zealously drilled 
 every Sunday after service. Across the mouth 
 of the Thames a number of old ships, India- 
 men, were turned into "floating batteries" with 
 twenty-four-pounders mounted on one broadside, 
 
ALL ENGLAND UNDER ARMS 9 
 
 and anchored near Tilbury, to form a barrier 
 against an enemy working up towards London 
 by river. 
 
 Heavily armed flanking batteries were thrown 
 up on either side of the river to assist in the 
 defence; while wide military roads were constructed 
 north and south of the Thames between Tilbury 
 and the two great camps on Warley Common in 
 Essex and at Coxheath near Maidstone, to faciUtate 
 the rapid concentration of troops in the neighbour- 
 hood. Along the South Coast, between seventy 
 and eighty martello towers — some of which are still 
 standing — were being hastened on with and nearing 
 completion ; each tower being built to carry one 
 heavy gun, mounted so as to fire in any direction. 
 In Romney Marsh an army of labourers was at 
 work, digging out the zigzags of the still existing 
 military canal from Hythe to Rye; which, with its 
 covering earthworks and bastions and redoubts, was 
 to form an integral part of the grand scheme of 
 national defence. Every little seaport had its local 
 detachment of Sea Fencibles, fishermen enrolled 
 for coast defence, in improvised gunboats — their 
 own craft with a six-pounder mounted in the bows. 
 
 Throughout the seaboard counties from the 
 Tamar to the Tyne, within twenty miles of the 
 sea, the farm carts were everywhere allotted for 
 carrying the women and children under nine, and 
 the infirm and aged, inland on the landing of the 
 enemy. Benches and seats were kept stacked in 
 
IQ THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 farm buildings near at hand to the places of 
 rendezvous, ready to be fixed in the carts ; and 
 the village constables and beadles were told off to 
 collect the people at the first alarm. Horses and 
 cattle and sheep were to be driven inland, or have 
 their throats cut. The local clergy had instructions 
 to see the carts with the people start ; after which 
 they were to go round and see to the destruction 
 of all property in their parishes that could not be 
 removed. Most of the churches in the Kent and 
 Sussex Weald had fire cressets set up on their 
 towers, as local alarm and rallying centres. Huge 
 beacons were set up on every headland along the 
 coast; with corresponding beacons on the higher 
 hills inland, to carry the news of a landing quickly 
 throughout the country. " The day signal for an 
 enemy," says a newspaper paragraph, "is an amazing 
 large heap of rubbish to smoke when set on fire ; 
 and the night signal is faggot to blaze." During 
 August, 1805, few people went to bed without first 
 pulling aside the bhnds and casting an anxious glance 
 in the direction of the nearest beacon. At the same 
 time, in certain out-of-the-way parts along the coast, 
 to strike a light within sight of the sea after dark 
 was an indictable offence — lest by that means a 
 signal might be made to an enemy in the offing.^ 
 
 1 Both in London and Paris, during the summer and autumn of 
 1806, it is a little curious by the way, the most popular entertain- 
 ments were panoramas of the Camp of Boulogne. That in London 
 was painted by Serres and on show in Spring Gardens ; that in Paris 
 was by MM. Hue and Prevot, and its details, we are told, were so 
 life-like "qu'ils firent courir tout Paris." 
 
HELD IN CHECK 11 
 
 There are people still alive in some of the remoter 
 districts of Kent and Sussex who can remember 
 having heard their parents describe in all serious- 
 ness the intense anxiety that the mere mention of 
 the name "Boney" would arouse all over the 
 countryside among young and old alike ; and there 
 are many parts of the country, both in the Southern 
 counties and along the East Coast, where to this 
 day one comes across strangely sounding place- 
 names such as "Beacon Hill," or "The Beacon," 
 "Barrack Field," or "Barrack Lane," "The Butts," 
 "Camp Field," "Artillery Lane," "Magazine 
 Field," and so on, which owe their origin to the 
 invasion menace of 1805. 
 
 To hold the enemy in check at the danger point 
 and keep watch and ward over the invasion-flotilla 
 and its movements in the Narrow Seas, a spe- 
 cially constituted home-guard force, "the Downs 
 Squadron," patrolled the coast of Holland and 
 France between Ostend and the mouth of the 
 Seine. It comprised four ships of the line, five 
 fifty-gun ships, nine frigates, twelve sloops, and 
 twelve bomb-vessels, besides eight or ten gun- 
 brigs and some armed cutters and luggers. 
 Whenever the French "praams" and light craft 
 came out and tried to creep along coastwise, under 
 cover of the shore batteries, towards their various 
 rendezvous or points of concentration, they had to 
 fight their way ; and for the most part were either 
 
12 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 turned back or forced to run ashore and blow 
 themselves up. The Channel Fleet, meanwhile, 
 under Admu*al Comwallis, held the powerful 
 Brest Fleet fast m port, unable to stir, unable 
 in effect to show a bowsprit outside St. Matthew's 
 Point, or to send even a boat beyond gunshot 
 of the batteries above Bertheaume Bay. Atlantic 
 storms might burst in all their fury on the ships of 
 the blockading fleet ; imperturbable and ever tire- 
 less, CornwalHs stolidly worked off seaward for 
 a few leagues, so as to keep well clear of Ushant 
 and the outlying islets that fringe the Breton main- 
 land; after which, as the wind came easterly 
 again, his ships would reappear and resume their 
 dogged beat to and fro off Black Rocks, on 
 sentry-go by night and day, week after week, 
 until the next storm. Evasion was impossible: 
 Admiral Ganteaume and his twenty odd sail of 
 the line had to remain where they were, with 
 anchors down. 
 
 Villeneuve's business was to set the Brest Fleet 
 free, to raise the blockade and join hands with 
 Admiral Ganteaume. That he could only do by 
 appearing off the port in force and compelling 
 Comwallis to withdraw. 
 
 At the critical moment, however, Admiral 
 Villeneuve, to whose hands, as Napoleon said, 
 " the destiny of France " had been committed, 
 declined to take the supreme risk. At the outset 
 he had managed to evade Nelson in the Mediter- 
 
''SIMPLY COURTING DESTRUCTION" 13 
 
 ranean, and had brought out successfully most 
 of the Spanish Fleet at Cadiz. After that 
 Villeneuve had crossed the Atlantic to the West 
 Indies without needing to fire a shot, and had 
 returned thence off the north coast of Spain ; 
 carrying out his part of the general scheme so 
 far according to his orders. He had next to 
 enter the danger zone : but at that point he held 
 back. The tremendous risk of the venture 
 immediately ahead proved too much for him. 
 After an indecisive engagement off Cape Finis- 
 terre with a force detached from the Channel 
 Fleet under Admiral Calder, in which he lost two 
 ships, and a brief stay at Vigo and Corunna, 
 Villeneuve turned off south. That the British 
 Admiralty had not done what Napoleon antici- 
 pated, had not scattered their squadrons, and that 
 they had retained an ample force to deal with 
 Villeneuve between Finisterre and Brest, is another 
 matter: — Admiral Villeneuve, for reasons of his 
 own, did not think it advisable to go north. 
 
 It seemed to him, in the circumstances, simply 
 courting destruction. His command, he reported 
 to Paris from Vigo, was absolutely incapable of 
 making the attempt. He had met with bad 
 weather in recrossing the Atlantic, he wrote, con- 
 trary winds and storms, and the ships of the 
 Combined Fleet had suffered severely. His own 
 flagship, the " Bucentaure," had been struck by 
 lightning, and had been badly damaged. The 
 
14 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 Toulon ships, he complained, had been sent to sea 
 with " bad masts, bad sails, bad rigging." Those 
 of his allies ought never to have left Cadiz. In 
 the state in which they had been sent to sea they 
 added nothing to his strength. Sickness — scurvy 
 and dysentery — was rife : there was not a ship 
 in the fleet that had fewer than sixty sick on 
 board. Most of them had more. The "Argo- 
 naute " had a hundred and fifty sick; the "Achille," 
 two hundred. Only his extreme necessity — " une 
 necessite imperieuse et irresistible" — had forced 
 him into Vigo, and there he found his hands tied 
 by the Emperor's own orders. Vigo had no re- 
 sources of use to a fleet, and he was expressly 
 forbidden to go to Ferrol dockyard, because the 
 port there was a difficult one, except with the 
 wind in a particular quarter, to get away from. 
 At Corunna, whither he was ordered to proceed 
 instead, there was nothing: not even faciUty for 
 landing the sick. Never, wrote Villeneuve bitterly, 
 had an admiral to deal with such a situation — " il 
 est affreux ! " He had done all he could, he said, 
 and was doing so, but he was hopeless of success. 
 Admiral Gravina, his Spanish coadjutor, gave him 
 every assistance in his power ; but he agreed as to 
 their prospects. Villeneuve had also to find fault 
 with his captains. They were, he said, far from 
 being really efficient. They were brave and 
 willing, but without any training in the kind of 
 fighting they had to expect. They could form an 
 order of battle in the ordinary regulation way. 
 
NO TIME FOR TACTICS OR GUNNERY 15 
 
 single line ahead, and keep station ; but that was 
 all most of them were capable of. The French 
 system of naval tactics, indeed, was out of date, it 
 simply played into the hands of the enemy ; and 
 he had neither the means nor the time to teach 
 his officers other tactics.^ As to that, Admiral 
 Villeneuve's complaints might seem also to tell 
 against himself, to cut both ways. He had had 
 most of the French ships then in his fleet, under 
 his orders for upwards of ten months. But in all 
 that time he had had, as a fact, next to no oppor- 
 tunities of exercising the fleet. At Toulon at 
 the outset, held fast in port by Nelson's ceaseless 
 patrol outside, nothing had been possible beyond 
 spar and sail drill at anchor and gun drill with 
 blank cartridge. His cruise to the West Indies 
 had been a race against time. In the West Indies 
 there had been much to do, with everybody on 
 tenter-hooks as to Nelson's appearance in pursuit. 
 The return voyage had been made under full sail, 
 looking anxiously astern every hour for the enemy's 
 topsails on the horizon. Having to husband his 
 
 ^ The French captains^ of course, were to a large extent the victims 
 of fate, victims of the fortune of war. Blockaded in port everywhere, 
 from year's end to year's end, by the superior forces at all points of the 
 British Navy, they could at best be only, as Villeneuve himself put it, 
 "harbour trained." They were then called to face men "trained to 
 storms," inured to sea-keeping in all weathers, matchless in their 
 knowledge of practical seacraft under all conditions. The British 
 Navy had in effect carried out the plan that Pericles of old laid down 
 for dealing with the enemies of Athens : " If they are kept off the 
 sea by our superior strength, their want of practice will make them 
 unskilful and their want of skill, timid." 
 
16 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 ammunition against the expected day of battle 
 had effectually prevented gunnery practice at sea. 
 Such was the position in which the French admiral 
 found himself It was one that might well have 
 daunted a stronger man than Admiral Villeneuve. 
 In closing his letter to the Minister of Marine 
 on the 7th of August, ViUeneuve announced his 
 intention of taking with him the five French ships 
 that since the war began had been lying blockaded 
 at Ferrol, with the Spanish Ferrol squadron of 
 seven or nine ships, and then making an attempt 
 to reach Brest direct. He hoped, he said, to pick 
 up the squadron from Rochefort at sea, off Cape 
 Ortegal, and had sent out a fast frigate to meet 
 them and guide them to his rendezvous.^ If he 
 found it impossible to get to Brest, he would then 
 make for a point to southward of the Lizard and 
 push on thence up the English Channel. Finally, 
 he said, should he find that course impracticable — 
 and he had reason, unfortunately, to fear that the 
 enemy were concentrating to northward of him in 
 very superior force — he would have to go to Cadiz, 
 refit there, and then watch his chance, and, as he 
 hoped, try again. So Admiral Villeneuve salved his 
 
 1 The "Didon" was the frigate in question. On her way to find 
 the Rochefort ships her captain let himself be led astray into attacking 
 a smaller British frigate, the '' Phoenix/' forgetful of his first duty, to 
 deliver his all-important despatches. He caught a Tartar, however, 
 was badly hammered and had to surrender at discretion, with the 
 result that Admiral Villeneuve missed the Rochefort ships, with other 
 consequences. 
 
"I KNOW NOT WHAT I SHALL DO!" 17 
 
 conscience. It was not the first time that Ville- 
 neuve had mentioned Cadiz. He had before that 
 hinted at the possibility of his having to use that 
 port. It was within his discretion to put in there. 
 Permission to go to Cadiz, " as a final resort in un- 
 foreseen circumstances," had been sent to Admiral 
 Villeneuve in writing some time before ; but he had 
 been expUcitly warned at the same time that the 
 Emperor would hear of his doing so with "extreme 
 regret."^ 
 
 This is what Villeneuve wrote to Decres four 
 days later, on the 11th, after he had given the 
 order to weigh and make sail. " I am about to set 
 out, but I know not what I shall do. Eight 
 vessels are in view on the coast at a few leagues 
 distance. They will follow us, but I shall not be 
 able to avoid them, and then they will go and join 
 the other squadrons before Brest or Cadiz, accord- 
 ing as 1 make my way to one or other of these 
 ports. I am far from being in a position, I deeply 
 
 ^ Troude, " Batailles Navales de France," vol. Ill, p. 551 : also 
 " Precis des Evenemens Militaires," vol. XI, p. 250, where the text of 
 the instructions drawn up by Napoleon for Villeneuve on the 8th of 
 May is given at length. Apparently these orders were sent out to 
 Villeneuve by the frigate " Didon," which joined him at Martinique. 
 
 Villeneuve was to pick up the Rochefort and Ferrol squadrons, 
 go to Cadiz, and there be joined by the Cartagena ships (which had 
 not been ready when he left the Mediterranean), then, after refitting 
 at Cadiz, hold the Straits of Gibraltar in force, clear Gibraltar Bay of 
 shipping, and the town of Gibraltar of its stores and provisions, and, 
 after that, steer once more, at the head of between forty and fifty sail, 
 for the Channel, for Brest or direct for Boulogne, as the circum- 
 stances of the hour rendered advisable. 
 
18 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 regret to say it, in leaving this place with twenty- 
 nine ships, to be able to engage a similar number 
 of the enemy. I do not fear to tell you, indeed, 
 that I should be hard put to it if 1 met with 
 twenty/ 
 
 Everybody in the Combined Fleet understood 
 that he was going north. General Lauriston, who 
 was on board the "Bucentaure" as commanding 
 the division of troops in the fleet, by one of the 
 last shore boats from the " Bucentaure," sent off 
 a despatch for Napoleon, in which he said they 
 were " coming at last " ! 
 
 Two days after leaving Corunna, acting on a 
 false report from a passing neutral merchantman, 
 to the effect that an overpowering British force 
 was close by ahead. Admiral Villeneuve, when off* 
 Cape Finisterre, gave orders for the Combined 
 Fleet to go about and make for Cadiz. " The 
 reunion of the forces of the enemy," he said, in the 
 despatch to the Minister of Marine in Paris which 
 he wrote while on the way to Cadiz, " and their 
 knowledge of all my proceedings since my arrival 
 on the coast of Spain, has left me with no hope of 
 being able to carry out the great object for which 
 the fleet was destined." He had himself seen from 
 the quarter-deck of the " Bucentaure," both on the 
 previous afternoon and on that very morning, a 
 number of strange sail on the horizon, that looked 
 very like men-of-war. The Danish skipper's story, 
 
 1 Thiers, "Consulate and Empire," vol. V, p. 240. 
 
I 
 
 THE SPECTRE OF NELSON 19 
 
 circumstantial in all its details as it was, coincided 
 with other information he had received, and con- 
 firmed his suspicions about the enemy's movements. 
 It forced the conclusion on his mind that it was 
 useless for him to try to go on/ 
 
 "Admiral Villeneuve," according to an officer 
 on board the *' Bucentaure," " was haunted by the 
 spectre of Nelson." He had never been able to 
 get over "le souvenir d'Aboukir." That after- 
 noon the wind changed. It had been southerly 
 since he left Corunna ; now it chopped round with- 
 in a few points of due north and headed him. 
 Admiral Villeneuve accepted the omen. Now, 
 he considered, he could not help himself. He 
 had no choice now, except to steer for Cadiz. 
 Continuing to beat up against the wind as long 
 as daylight lasted, at nightfall, as soon as it was 
 dusk, he made the signal to his astonished fleet 
 to wear together and stand to the south. The 
 
 ^ The intelligence was entirely false. The Danish skipper had been 
 stopped a few hours before by a British man-of-war, whose captain, 
 anticipating that the Dane would come across some of Admiral 
 Villeneuve^s fleet off Corunna, had concocted the tale and gulled the 
 Dane with it. His idea and hope was that it might make the Com- 
 bined Fleet stay where it was until Admiral Calder with a reinforced 
 fleet returned to the neighbourhood. As a fact at that moment there 
 were no British men-of-war, except stray cruisers, nearer than Brest. 
 Nelson was just joining Cornwallis after returning from the West 
 Indies, and was himself going to Merton for a few weeks' leave, leaving 
 most of his ships with the Channel P^leet ; while Calder had already 
 rejoined Cornwallis and would not part company again for another 
 week. There was thus, actually, at that moment nothing to bar 
 Villeneuve's passage north within three hundred and eighty miles of 
 him. 
 
20 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 Combined Fleet went on its way, and kept well 
 out of sight of land until Cape St. Vincent had 
 been passed. 
 
 On the very day that Admiral Villeneuve turned 
 back, the entire Grand Army at Boulogne paraded 
 in review order on the sands — "nine miles of 
 soldiers" — under the eyes of Napoleon himself 
 and eight marshals. It was to be the last muster 
 before the army crossed the Straits. 
 
 NAPOLEON S MEDAL TO COMMEMORATE THE CONQUEST 
 OF ENGLAND 
 
 [Four trial-proofs of the medal, which was intended to be issued on the capture 
 of London, are said to have been struck for Napoleon's approval, and are now in 
 existence. One is at the British Museum.] 
 
 The Combined Fleet entered Cadiz harbour on 
 the 22nd of August. Napoleon that same day 
 sent off his last letter to Admiral Villeneuve from 
 Boulogne, by special courier charged to deliver it 
 on board the "Bucentaure" in Brest roads. "Vice- 
 Admiral," he wrote, " I trust you have arrived at 
 Brest. Make a start. Lose not a moment and 
 come into the Channel, bringing our united squad- 
 rons, and England is ours. We are all ready; 
 ever)rthing is embarked. Be here but for twenty- 
 
HOW COLLINGWOOD PLAYED HIS GAME 21 
 
 four hours, and all is ended; six centuries of shame 
 and insult will be avenged."^ "At the very 
 moment," says Napoleon's aide-de-camp, De Segur, 
 bitterly, " when the advent of this unhappy Ville- 
 neuve was more than ever hoped for and expected 
 before Brest and in the Channel, the admiral was 
 turning his back upon us. He was entering into 
 Cadiz, where he allowed himself to be blocked up 
 by six of the enemy's sail, thus rendering useless 
 his fleet, our flotilla, the Emperor himself, and the 
 whole expedition which was vainly expecting him 
 at Brest, at Boulogne, and at the Texel ! " 
 
 Immediately Admiral Villeneuve let go anchor 
 at Cadiz, CoUingwood's small squadron,^ which had 
 withdrawn towards the Straits during the fore- 
 noon, as the Combined Fleet approached, turned 
 
 1 Thiers, " Consulate and Empire/' vol. V, p. 246. 
 
 That same day Napoleon sent Talleyrand in Paris a letter in which 
 he said : " My fleets were lost sight of from the heights of Cape 
 Ortegal on the 14th of August. If they come into the Channel there 
 is time yet. I embark, and I attempt the descent ; I go to London 
 and there cut the knot of all coalitions." In the same letter Napoleon 
 outlined his alternative plan of campaign. Should the naval combina- 
 tion fail he would raise his camps and march for Vienna. According 
 to M. Thiers it was on the 22nd of August that the Ferrol despatches 
 reached the Emperor, on which he called in Daru and dictated to that 
 amazed official detailed instructions for the campaign that ended at 
 Austerlitz. Alison gives the date as the 11th of August, but Thiers' 
 date is the more probable. Five days later — on the 27th — the order 
 was issued for the Grand Army to strike camp and set out for the 
 Rhine. Napoleon himself did not leave Boulogne until tlie 1st of 
 September, the day on which the news of Villeneuve's arrival at Cadiz 
 reached London. 
 
 ^ CoUingwood, with from four to six ships of the line, a detachment 
 from the Channel Fleet sent off when Nelson crossed the Atlantic, had 
 been cruising off Cadiz and the Straits of Gibraltar since June. 
 
22 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 back and showed itself off the port. For eight 
 days it stood to and fro close off the harbour 
 mouth, constantly making a display of signals to 
 imaginary consorts beyond the horizon and out 
 of sight from Cadiz, a piece of make-believe de- 
 signed by CoUingwood to lead the enemy to think 
 that his four ships were only an inshore squadron 
 detached from a large fleet cruising to seaward, 
 to whom they were making reports. How far 
 Admiral Villeneuve suspected a ruse in this daily 
 signalling, or whether indeed he had any suspicions 
 at all, does not appear. The trick, however, was 
 an easily played one, and one that should have 
 been quickly obvious. It had been had recourse 
 to on other occasions, as every admiral must have 
 known. At any rate, he took no steps to drive 
 off the ships outside the port and prove if there 
 was really a fleet beyond, although he had ample 
 force of fast vessels at his command to do so 
 at any moment during the first week. It suited 
 his convenience better, perhaps, to refrain from 
 doing that. He had his hands more than full at 
 Cadiz, as we shall see. 
 
 Calder, coming down from the north at the head 
 of nineteen sail of the line, joined CoUingwood on 
 the 30th of August, and the two, with an addi- 
 tional reinforcement from Gibraltar under Admiral 
 Bickerton, effectively blockaded Cadiz until, on the 
 29th of September, Nelson arrived to take up the 
 supreme command. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 COMING EVENTS CAST THEIR 
 SHADOWS BEFORE 
 
 THE situation of the enemy at Cadiz during 
 September and the first fortnight of October, 
 1805, can only excite our pity; in particular for 
 the French admiral, as a gallant and well-meaning 
 man helplessly struggling in the toils of an ad- 
 verse fate. Every conceivable difficulty hampered 
 Admiral Villeneuve at Cadiz: — alienated and 
 angry allies ; a deficiency of everything that his 
 fleet stood most in need of; unwilling subordi- 
 nates, between whom and himself there was a 
 mutual lack of confidence. The hopelessness of 
 the plan of campaign entrusted to him. Admiral 
 Villeneuve had foreseen from the first, and now 
 that the breakdown of the scheme was patent, he 
 lived in daily dread of the arrival of the inevitable 
 courier from Paris with Napoleon's letters. 
 
 Villeneuve reached Cadiz on the 22nd of August. 
 
 He arrived to find that there he was little better 
 off than before ; if not, indeed, worse. His former 
 difficulties still confronted him, with a number of 
 fresh troubles added. The greatest scarcity pre- 
 
 23 
 
24 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 vailed at Cadiz. The city and the neighbouring 
 districts had not yet recovered from a deadly 
 epidemic that had ravaged half Andalusia during 
 the past spring and summer. There were next to 
 no food supplies available ; the dockyard was in a 
 state of disorganization ; stores for the refit of the 
 fleet were almost entirely lacking. What there 
 were, moreover, the Spanish authorities refused to 
 let the French make use of without orders from 
 Madrid. The news of the action with Calder had 
 reached Cadiz in advance of Villeneuve, and the 
 fact that the two ships lost in the battle had both 
 been Spanish, had caused a bitter feeling of resent- 
 ment among all classes. Their ships — they had 
 also been manned at Cadiz, and belonged to the port 
 — had been " deserted in action and sacrificed " by 
 their alHes, said the Spaniards. The officials 
 showed their resentment by taking every oppor- 
 tunity of thwarting the French Commander-in- 
 Chief. The Combined Fleet arrived short of 
 nearly everything — sea-stores, provisions, details 
 of dockyard equipment, down to gratings and 
 handspikes, — and with an empty treasure-chest. 
 
 The French admiral, finding his indents on the 
 port authorities for three months' supplies flatly 
 refused, sent off* urgent representations to General 
 Beumonville, the French Ambassador at Madrid. 
 The ambassador had an interview with Godoy, the 
 " Prince of Peace," Prime Minister and " General- 
 issimo of the Spanish Navy," which resulted in 
 
"THE PRINCE OF PEACE" 25 
 
 instructions being sent to Cadiz for everjrthing that 
 the French Fleet demanded to be granted them at 
 once ; but the Cadiz authorities still demurred. 
 They declined, they said, to part with anything 
 unless the French paid cash down. They declined, 
 they said, to take French paper money or the drafts 
 on Paris that were offered. Once more Villeneuve 
 wrote to Beurnonville, who again saw the " Prince 
 of Peace." Admiral Gravina, who had accompanied 
 the French to the West Indies and back in charge 
 of the Spanish Division of the Combined Fleet, and 
 as Second-in-Command generally, was in Madrid at 
 that moment. He had taken leave of absence to 
 see Godoy personally and ask to be permitted to 
 strike his own flag. As a Spaniard, said Gravina, 
 he could not pass over the incident of the two lost 
 ships, which had been attached to his own squadron. 
 Their fate, he said, affected him on the point of 
 honour. Godoy, having the fear of Napoleon be- 
 fore his eyes, sent off a strongly worded reprimand 
 to Cadiz, in reply to General Beurnonville, requir- 
 ing implicit obedience to his instructions, cash or 
 no cash. To Gravina, the " Prince of Peace " ex- 
 pressed himself as personally sympathetic, but 
 Spain, he went on, was politically bound to France, 
 and it was quite impossible at that moment to 
 accept his resignation, He suggested, however, in 
 strict confidence, that in the next battle it might 
 be as well to let the French bear the brunt of the 
 fighting themselves. He urged on the admiral to 
 
26 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 return to Cadiz forthwith and do his utmost loyally 
 to assist the French Commander-in-Chief. Gravina 
 waived his personal views and agreed to do so. 
 The port authorities at Cadiz, for their part, on 
 receipt of the second rescript from Madrid, had to 
 obey, but they did so very reluctantly. While 
 complying outwardly, they raised difficulties and 
 objections of detail at every step, procrastinating 
 and retarding the delivery of everything that they 
 safely could. 
 
 To add to Villeneuve's anxieties at the outset, 
 the temper of both the officers and men of the 
 Spanish Fleet and of the populace at Cadiz showed 
 itself openly hostile to the officers and men of the 
 French Fleet. Letters from the Spanish Fleet, 
 sent from Ferrol three weeks before, detailing 
 incidents of the fight with Calder and commenting 
 in indignant terms on the conduct of their allies 
 in letting the two Spanish ships be taken, were 
 handed about at private gatherings and even in the 
 wine-shops. Colonel le Roy, the French Consul- 
 General at Cadiz, had to make a protest to the 
 Captain-General and Governor, the Marquis de la 
 Solana, laying stress on the bad effect that that 
 sort of thing was having. A casual remark, attri- 
 buted to one of the French captains, that the 
 Spanish officers were " a sorry lot," and that " their 
 gross incompetence and blundering had thrown the 
 two ships away," was also reported all over Cadiz, 
 and did no good. 
 
ASSASSINATIONS AND SNEERS 27 
 
 Some of the Spanish officers, by way of re- 
 joinder, talked openly of the French admiral's 
 "treachery" in the fight off Finisterre. Other 
 trouble then disclosed itself. The ill-feeling to- 
 wards the French Fleet among the populace 
 showed itself next in a very sinister way. Leave 
 ashore, which had been granted on the fleet 
 arrived to practically all officers, and certain of 
 the men, had to be stopped owing to personal 
 insults to various officers in places of public 
 resort, and worse still in consequence of a number 
 of assassinations of French seamen after dark.^ 
 
 With all this. Admiral Villeneuve had to face 
 discontent and ill-will towards himself in his own 
 fleet. The prevailing tone among the majority of 
 the French officers had become severely critical 
 towards their admiral, if not actually scornful and 
 sneering. They were not disposed to make 
 allowances for him, nor to admit their own de- 
 ficiencies to any extent. To his other sins in their 
 eyes — in particular, his failure with twenty-two 
 
 ^ This was the state of things at Cadiz during the first half of 
 September, according to a letter from that place, which reached 
 England in October, and appeared in the Times of the 11th of October : 
 ''Cadiz, Sept. 14. — The scarcity occasioned by the arrival of the 
 Combined Fleet continues to be severely felt ; recourse has been had 
 to Seville, and a supply of corn, wine, etc., demanded ; even the 
 fountains at Puerta Santa Maria have been put in requisition for the 
 use of the fleets. Our Admiral Gravina loudly accuses Villeneuve 
 of treachery in the late action, and has solicited leave to resign. 
 Between the sailors animosities have arisen to the' highest pitch, and 
 scarce a night passes but the dead bodies of assassinated Frenchmen 
 are found in our streets." 
 
28 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 ships to defeat Calder with fifteen, his non-renewal 
 of that action next day, when the weather was 
 clearer and he had the wind in his favour, and his 
 final turning away from Brest after that — to his 
 previous shortcomings. Admiral Villeneuve had 
 added another, quite recently. Why on earth, 
 said the French officers to one another, had he let 
 Collingwood escape him off Cadiz? He had, they 
 said, plenty of ships fast enough to catch up and 
 destroy the small British detachment, that was 
 all then off the port, had he chosen to try. It 
 had been just like that before, recalled some of 
 the French officers also. In much the same way, 
 they reminded one another, Admiral Villeneuve, 
 when he first came out of the Mediterranean 
 in May, had let another British squadron cruis- 
 ing off Cadiz slip through his hands. Something 
 of these murmurings, as we are told, reached 
 Villeneuve's ears. He was personally, it would 
 appear, not on very cordial terms with either 
 of his flag-officers. Rear -Admiral Magon and 
 Rear- Admiral Dumanoir. Magon was too hot- 
 headed to get on with a man of Villeneuve's 
 temperament ; Dumanoir had felt sore from the 
 first, at the way Villeneuve had been brought 
 in over his head, as he considered, at Toulon, a 
 twelvemonth before. 
 
 In spite of all his personal trials, however, 
 the French admiral persevered steadily in his 
 efforts to get the Combined Fleet expeditiously 
 
HOPING FOR HELP FROM OUTSIDE 29 
 
 refitted, and in due course, progress to that end 
 was reported. It fell considerably short of his 
 requirements, but it was all that could be done 
 at Cadiz. All the time also, Admiral Villeneuve 
 was expecting that he would receive material 
 reinforcements from outside. There was AUemand 
 with the Rochefort squadron, which was known to 
 be at sea, and Salcedo with the Spanish Cartagena 
 squadron, which had had orders from Madrid to 
 try to run the blockade. Rear -Admiral AUe- 
 mand was a reliable and energetic officer, who 
 would prove, Villeneuve anticipated, a helpful sup- 
 porter for himself; and his flagship, the splendid 
 three-decker *' Majestueux," would be an immense 
 acquisition to the fleet. According to a message 
 from Lisbon received at the end of September, 
 the Rochefort ships had been sighted coming 
 down the Portuguese coast. In anticipation of 
 the early arrival of either or both squadrons, 
 Villeneuve, within ten days of his arrival at Cadiz, 
 moved a number of his most efficient and fastest 
 ships from the inner port, down to just within the 
 harbour mouth, to act as a squadron of observation 
 for particular service. Rear- Admiral Magon, who 
 had charge, was given orders to be prepared to 
 slip cables at any moment, night or day, and go 
 out to help the new-comers to fight their way in. 
 At the same time, instructions were issued for the 
 lighthouse at San Sebastian's, at the entrance to 
 Cadiz Bay, to be regularly lighted up every night. 
 
30 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 It had been kept extinguished hitherto, ever since 
 the beginning of the war. Salcedo's ships, how- 
 ever, dawdled and hung back, loath to leave their 
 moorings: AUemand and "I'Escadre invisible" 
 remained invisible still. ^ 
 
 Do what he would to occupy himself, however, 
 the hapless French admiral could not succeed in 
 freeing his mind from the one overmastering 
 thought. Day after day, and with ever-increasing 
 anxiety as time went on. Admiral Villeneuve 
 watched for the post from Paris. How would 
 Napoleon take the news that he was there ? What 
 would the Emperor say when he learned that the 
 fleet, on whose presence in the English Channel 
 all his plans hinged, had drawn back at the last 
 and taken shelter at Cadiz? All his local diffi- 
 culties weighed as dust in the balance with 
 Admiral Villeneuve, when he thought of that. 
 His letters to Admiral Decres, the Minister of 
 Marine in Paris, at this time, are in existence. 
 
 Immediately his fleet let go anchor at Cadiz, 
 
 1 Admiral AUemand and his squadron (comprising a 120-gun ship, 
 four 80's, a 74, and two frigates) had found easier work oflF the 
 Portuguese coast than trying to force the blockade of Cadiz vi et armis. 
 They had turned aside to chevy a British convoy for the Mediterranean 
 that they ran into unexpectedly ; making a haul of store-ships and 
 merchantmen, but letting the two escorting men-of-war (the ''Aga- 
 memnon " and the frigate '' I'Aimable ") get away. 
 
 " The mountain sheep are sweeter. 
 But the valley sheep are fatter ; 
 We therefore deemed it meeter. 
 To carry oflF the latter "— 
 
 in the words of "ITie War Song of Diuas Vawr." 
 
"THE LAUGHING-STOCK OF EUROPE" 31 
 
 Admiral Villeneuve hastened off a courier for 
 Paris with a despatch for Decres. Owing, he said, 
 to the apparent concentration to northward of him 
 of the various British fleets in home waters, and 
 the knowledge of his movements they undoubtedly 
 had, he had found it hopeless to attempt to fulfil 
 his allotted mission. The general situation, he 
 considered, had entirely altered since he received 
 his original orders, and, having the option of doing 
 so, he had withdrawn to Cadiz. Personally, 
 Villeneuve went on, he was " in despair," " horror- 
 stricken " over the situation and its consequences ; 
 at his sheer inabiUty to carry out his part in " the 
 grand design." It was pitiable, he confessed : he 
 and his fleet had made themselves "the laughing- 
 stock of Europe" ("le fable de I'Europe!"); but 
 the position was inevitable as things were. For 
 himself, wrote Villeneuve, in closing the letter, he 
 felt plunged "dans un abime de malheur." Five 
 days afterwards he wrote to Decres again, and 
 again a week after that. In his letter of the 2nd 
 of September he said he was obUged with much 
 regret to inform the Minister that his fleet was 
 over two thousand men short of its strength. 
 There were 1,731 in hospital, and in the six months 
 since he left Toulon, the fleet had lost 311 men by 
 desertions. He was hourly expecting letters, he 
 said ; indeed, he had not had a line since his 
 return to Europe. Cadiz was destitute of supplies, 
 and also he had no money. The EngUsh off the 
 
32 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 port were increasing in numbers : Admiral Bicker- 
 ton was joining Collingwood from Gibraltar, and 
 Calder's fleet was reported coming down the 
 Portuguese coast. 
 
 Villeneuve wrote again on the 5th of September. 
 He was extremely anxious to hear from Paris, he 
 said ; he was awaiting Decres' next despatch " avec 
 la plus grande anxiete I " 
 
 The first set of despatches from Decres arrived 
 on the night of the 15th of September. They 
 were dated "Boulogne, 1st Sept.," and dealt 
 only with the action with Admiral Calder and the 
 putting in of the Combined Fleet to Vigo. As 
 Villeneuve anticipated, nothing could exceed the 
 wrath of the Emperor, — even though, when the 
 despatch was sent off. Napoleon had not yet 
 learned the sequel, the retirement to Cadiz. 
 Decres, in conveying the sense of Napoleon's 
 comments, had, for the sake of his old shipmate's 
 feelings, put things as mildly as he could, but it 
 was easy to read beween the lines. Admiral Ville- 
 neuve posted back his reply early next morning. 
 Nothing, he declared, could console him for the 
 reproaches of His Majesty. He sincerely deplored 
 the situation, but he had done all that could be 
 done. The dense fog in which the battle had 
 been fought had prevented him manceuvring at 
 all, he said : he could not see his ships ; it was all 
 the fleet could manage to keep line. He deeply 
 regretted that the Emperor had formed an un- 
 
ENTIRELY NEW ORDERS 83 
 
 favourable opinion of him, and he could only hope 
 that Decres would be able to represent matters to 
 His Majesty in a better light. 
 
 Eight days after that Villeneuve wrote to Paris 
 to announce that he had now received on board the 
 six months' provisions asked for from the Spanish 
 authorities, and that the fleet was under orders to 
 keep ready to weigh anchor on the signal going 
 up. Two Spanish three-deckers, the "Santa Ana" 
 and the " Rayo," were not quite ready for sea, but 
 rather than delay he would go out at the first fair 
 wind without them, and use his best endeavours 
 to fulfil the Emperor's orders. 
 
 This letter was sent off on the 24th of Septem- 
 ber. Four days later the dreaded despatch, in reply 
 to his letter announcing his arrival at Cadiz, was 
 placed in Admiral Villeneuve's hands. It was dated 
 the 16th of the month — from Paris. By it Ville- 
 neuve's previous instructions were cancelled at one 
 stroke. In their stead was enclosed a totally new set 
 of orders, signed by Napoleon's own hand. He was 
 to leave Cadiz forthwith, taking the whole Spanish 
 fleet with him, pass the Straits of Gibraltar, and 
 pick up Admiral Salcedo's squadron at Cartagena. 
 Then he would cross to the Bay of Naples and land 
 the four thousand French soldiers he had in the 
 fleet at Cadiz, to join General St. Cyr's army at 
 Tarentum, snap up a British seventy -four, the 
 "Excellent," which Nelson had left as guardship 
 off Naples earlier in the year, and finally, carrying 
 
34. THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 all the Spanish ships with him, he was to return 
 to Toulon and report his arrival there to Paris. 
 "L'audace," wrote Napoleon, "et la plus grande 
 activite," were to be his watchwords. "Attack 
 wherever you find the enemy in inferior force ; 
 attack without hesitation, and make a decisive 
 affair of it." 
 
 The imperial rebuke that Villeneuve had been 
 anxiously expecting, did not accompany the des- 
 patch. Admiral Decres, in his covering letter, 
 wrote very gravely to the effect that the Emperor 
 had "reproached him very severely, and that he 
 had much to do to regain His Majesty's confi- 
 dence," but he refrained from going into details. 
 Not a word came from Napoleon. It was certainly 
 as well that Decres kept to himself what he knew. 
 In his unrestrained fury at the news. Napoleon had 
 said the very harshest and cruellest things of 
 Admiral Villeneuve, as well as, incidentally, of 
 Decres himself, and indeed, everybody concerned 
 with the Imperial Navy. Admiral Decres' letter 
 to the Emperor, when forwarding Villeneuve's 
 first despatch from Cadiz, provoked the outburst. 
 The Minister of Marine, desirous of shielding his 
 old friend as far as he might, had ventured in that 
 covering letter to suggest that Napoleon ought 
 really to consider it providential that Villeneuve's 
 fleet had gone to Cadiz. " It is," wrote Decres, 
 " an act of Destiny that preserves your Majesty's 
 fleet for other operations." Owing to the British 
 
"A COWARD AND A TRAITOR!" 35 
 
 preponderance in the Channel, urged Decres, it 
 had all along been hopeless for Villeneuve to try 
 to break through northward. He himself, as well 
 as Ganteaume and Gravina, was of opinion, 
 Decres ventured to add, that disaster must have 
 attended Villeneuve's effort. It would have been 
 suicide to have run the gauntlet. He implored 
 Napoleon to give up the idea once for all. 
 " France," concluded Decres, with a frankness 
 that made Napoleon savage, "would do better, 
 in maritime matters, to return to principles of 
 warfare better suited to her resources." In reply, 
 the Minister of Marine, as he, no doubt, quite 
 anticipated, received a letter of raging abuse. 
 It designated himself and everybody connected 
 with the navy as " incapables." "Les Anglais 
 deviendront bien petits quand La France aura 
 deux ou trois amiraux qui veuillent mourir," was 
 one cruelly false and unjust thing that the Em- 
 peror said. As for himself. Admiral Decres had 
 better not dare to write again like that. As for 
 Ganteaume, he was a dullard. Gravina was an 
 ass. Admiral Villeneuve was a " coward and 
 a traitor." " Villeneuve," Napoleon went on, 
 " is a wretch who ought to be ignominiously 
 cashiered. He has no plan, no courage, no in- 
 sight ; he would sacrifice everything to save his 
 own skin. Until you find something plausible to 
 say, I beg you will not speak to me of an affair 
 so humiliating, nor remind me of a person so 
 
S6 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 cowardly." Napoleon's letter was dated the 4th 
 of September. Ten days later he forwarded Ville- 
 neuve's new plan of campaign to the Minister 
 of Marine. Next day Napoleon wrote again: 
 " Send off a special courier to Villeneuve to order 
 him to execute this plan of campaign." In a post- 
 script to the same letter the Emperor ordered 
 Admiral Villeneuve to be superseded. "As his 
 pusillanimity," proceeded Napoleon, " will prevent 
 his undertaking the plan, you will despatch Ad- 
 miral Rosily to take the command of the fleet, 
 and giVe him letters directing Villeneuve to return 
 to France forthwith and account to me for his 
 conduct."^ Decres, in his note to Villeneuve, said 
 nothing of all this. The Minister of Marine's 
 holograph draft of the order, dated the 17th of 
 September, directing Admiral Villeneuve to strike 
 his flag and return to Paris, is still in existence, 
 kept among the archives of the Ministry of Marine 
 in Paris. Admiral Rosily, who would start on 
 the 24th, was to take it with him and hand it 
 himself to his predecessor on arrival at Cadiz. 
 Decres, to the last, would spare, all he could, the 
 susceptibilities of his old messmate. The existing 
 holograph draft of the order tells its own tale. 
 " He wrote the draft of the order of recall," 
 describes Jurien de la Graviere, "with a trembling 
 
 ^ ^'Comme son excessive pusillanimite Tempecliera de I'entre- 
 prendre, vous enverrez, pour le remplacer, Tamiral Rosily, qui sera 
 porteur de lettres qui enjoindront a ramiral Villeneuve de se rendre 
 en France pour rendre compte de sa conduite." 
 
''WITH THE FIRST FAIR WIND" 37 
 
 hand. He, whose pen was so ready, whose style 
 was so clear and flowing, now blotted and altered 
 twenty times the five or six lines by which he in- 
 formed that unhappy officer of his recall, and the 
 Emperor's intentions." 
 
 To the despatch conveying Napoleon's new 
 orders for the fleet at Cadiz, Admiral Villeneuve 
 repUed that the soldiers, who had been landed on 
 the arrival of the fleet to recuperate on shore, 
 would re-embark at once. After that the whole 
 fleet should sail with the first fair wind. He would 
 do his best, he said, and in the altered conditions 
 their prospects were brighter, it might be. "S'il 
 ne manque k la Marine Imperiale," he wrote to 
 Decr^s, "que du caractere et de I'audace, je crois 
 pouvoir assurer votre Excellence que la mission 
 actuelle sera couronn^ d'un brillant succes." Ad- 
 miral Villeneuve appended the latest return of 
 the state of his (French) crews, showing a total 
 deficiency of 2,207 men. His total force fit for duty 
 he returned at 9,733 ; seamen ratings and officers. 
 The two senior officers of the troops, Generals 
 Lauriston and Reille, set off with Villeneuve's 
 courier on their way for Napoleon's headquarters 
 in Germany, leaving Brigadier De Contamine in 
 command of the soldiers in the fleet. Lauriston 
 and Reille joined Napoleon's entourage on the field 
 of AusterUtz two hours after the firing had begun, 
 to be warmly congratulated and to learn within 
 the first five minutes what had happened to the 
 fleet they had so opportunely left. 
 
38 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 His change of orders, all said and done, must 
 have come with a sense of relief on Admiral 
 Villeneuve. At the outset he had accepted the 
 leadership of the fleet, now at Cadiz, against his 
 own better judgment. From the very first he 
 had seen the vital defect in Napoleon's plan of 
 campaign. He had had misgivings all along that 
 the combination the Emperor had devised was a 
 practical impossibility. So too, indeed. Admiral 
 Villeneuve had said in effect to Decres when the 
 command was first offered him, at an interview 
 with the Minister of Marine in Paris. But he had 
 let himself be talked over into accepting it; had 
 been induced to accept it, apparently,^ by the 
 tempting offer made him by the Minister of Marine 
 of special promotion to Vice- Admiral, and the 
 ribbon of a " Grand Officier." " Sire," wrote Decres 
 to Napoleon at Boulogne in August, 1804, report- 
 ing what passed at the interview, " Vice- Admiral 
 Villeneuve and Rear- Admiral Missiessy are here. 
 I have laid before the former the grand project. 
 He listened to it coldly and remained silent for 
 some moments. Then, with a quiet smile (un 
 sourire tres calme), he said to me, 'I expected 
 something of that sort.' Proceeding he said, ' To 
 meet with approval such projects need first to 
 have achieved success.'" [Villeneuve's actual words 
 were a quotation from Racine : — 
 
 Mais pour etre approuves^ 
 De semblables projets out besoia d'etre acheves.] 
 
HOW VILLENEUVE WAS WON OVER 39 
 
 "I write to Your Majesty," continued Deeres, 
 " word for word his exact reply, as uttered in the 
 course of a confidential interview, so that Your 
 Majesty may realize, better than my own descrip- 
 tion could convey, the first effect produced on him 
 by the proposals." Villeneuve's besetting defect, 
 however, infirmity of purpose, got the better of 
 his common sense before he left the room. The 
 arguments and inducements offered by his old 
 shipmate won him over completely within half an 
 hour. " On further consideration," wrote the 
 Minister of Marine, "the risks to be run did not 
 of themselves seem to him insuperable ; and in 
 the end his advancement to the rank of Grand 
 Officer and Vice- Admiral seemed to make another 
 man of him (un homme tout nouveau). All 
 thoughts of the difficulties attending the scheme 
 seemed to be laid aside, effaced by the hopes of 
 glory. He ended, indeed, by saying to me, ' I fall 
 in with it entirely ' (Je me livre tout entier)." 
 
 On the face of things the appointment was as 
 good a one as could have been made, now that 
 La Touche Treville was no more. Admiral Ville- 
 neuve was "undoubtedly," to use the words of 
 Jurien de la Graviere, "the most accomplished 
 officer, the most able tactician, whatever people 
 may say, though not the most resolute man, that 
 the French navy then possessed." ^ Unfortunately, 
 
 ^ "Sketches of the Last Naval War." Jurien de la Graviere 
 (Plunkett's translation), p. 231. The "Sketches" appeared originally 
 
40 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 as the situation that the new Vice- Admiral had to 
 deal with developed, decision of character proved 
 to be wanted even more than tactics. 
 
 In the Spanish division of the Combined Fleet, 
 meanwhile, the return of Admiral Gravina from 
 Madrid had galvanized everybody into making 
 at least a show of bustling activity. But the 
 materials available were of the poorest quality. 
 There were sufficient Spanish ships in the port 
 to bring the Combined Fleet up to forty sail of 
 the line all told, most of which were in good 
 condition and admirable vessels in themselves ; 
 but there was a serious lack of equipment for 
 them, while the general resources of the dockyard 
 were in a deplorably inefficient state. Worse still, 
 really, was the terrible want of seamen at Cadiz. 
 The crews that Gravina had brought back with 
 him after his cruise across the Atlantic in company 
 with Admiral Villeneuve, were themselves sickly 
 and in bad order. There had, indeed, been more 
 desertions at Cadiz during September, from the 
 Spanish ships of the Combined Fleet, than from 
 the French. With hardly enough men at his 
 disposal to go round in the ships already in 
 commission, what was Gravina to do about 
 manning the others, the fresh ships lying without 
 any crews at all in Cadiz harbour ? Admiral 
 
 some sixty years ago in the '' Revue des Deux Mondes," as a series of 
 articles; a British naval officer, Captain the Hon. E. Plunkett, r.n., 
 collected them and translated them in one volume. 
 
c c c c 
 
 ' r ' f 
 € < t 
 
A TERRIBLE LACK OF MEN 41 
 
 Gravina addressed himself to the problem with 
 all his energy, and he was as energetic a man 
 as Spain possessed at that day ; but with all his 
 resourcefulness he could not make men. The 
 seafaring classes of Cadiz, and the fisherfolk of 
 the Andalusian coast, had been practically deci- 
 mated by yellow fever during the previous spring 
 and summer, and most of those who had been 
 spared were already serving on board the fleet. To 
 fill the gaps and complete the complements of the 
 men-of-war, a public appeal was made for volun- 
 teers, while press-gangs swept the streets of the 
 city every night. The results, however, were no 
 real gain. "II est bien penible," wrote Admiral 
 Villeneuve, in one of his despatches to Decr^s, 
 "de voir des vaisseaux aussi beaux et aussi forts 
 armes par des patres et des mendiants, et de 
 n'avoir qu'un aussi petit nombre de matelots." 
 
 After the press-gangs had done their utmost, it 
 was not found possible to man more than fifteen 
 Spanish ships at the most. With the French 
 eighteen, they would bring the Combined Fleet 
 up to a grand total of thirty-three sail of the line. 
 In order to make the best of the situation, the 
 slowest and least effective of the Spanish ships 
 already in the fleet were paid off" and sent into 
 the dockyard, in exchange for the best of the 
 recently fitted out vessels, to make up the 
 fifteen. 
 
 To stiffen the new crews, and man the upper- 
 
42 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 deck guns and supply the musketry, and also to 
 leave what trained seamen there were available, 
 free for their own special work aloft, strong drafts 
 of soldiers were shipped. They were drawn, 
 some from the garrison of Cadiz, but mostly from 
 the Spanish " camp of observation " at San Roque, 
 facing Gibraltar, and comprised a battalion of the 
 Regimiento de Cordoba (now the 10th of the 
 Line), on board the "Santisima Trinidad" and 
 the " Argonauta " ; a battalion of the Rto. de 
 Soria (9th) ; the 2nd battalion of the Rto. de 
 Africa (7th) ; a battalion of the Rto. del Corona 
 (6th), divided between the "San Juan Nepo- 
 muceno," the " Neptuno," and the " San Francisco 
 de Asis"; the Rto. de Burgos (now the 36th of 
 the Line), on board the flagship "Principe de 
 Asturias," with some men in the " San Francisco 
 de Asis " ; also detachments of the Rto. de America 
 (now the 44th of the Line under the style of the 
 Rto. de San Marcial) ; and the 2nd battalion of 
 the Voluntarios de Cataluna (now the 1st Caza- 
 dores). The Africa and Soria regiments had been 
 with Gravina throughout, and had made the cruise 
 to the West Indies as part of the proposed expedi- 
 tion against Trinidad ; together with other troops 
 left at Ferrol. The other Spanish corps named 
 were shipped at Cadiz during September ; mostly 
 for the newly commissioned ships, or to take the 
 places on board certain of the others, of trained 
 seamen transferred from their original ships to 
 
ALL PREPARED TO DO THEIR BEST 43 
 
 serve as nucleus crews in the newly fitted out 
 vessels.^ 
 
 Whatever his personal feelings were, Admiral 
 Villeneuve spared himself no exertions. He did all 
 he could do on the spot to increase the fighting 
 efficiency of his ships and hasten forward their pre- 
 parations for battle. His officers, most of them, 
 supported him loyally in that — for their own 
 credit sake. They might think unfavourably of 
 their leader, but the day of battle was at hand. 
 Each officer then would have to acquit himself as 
 best he could, on his own account. Each captain 
 would have to answer to the Emperor for his own 
 ship. A battle at the closest quarters was looked 
 forward to by most of the French captains — fully 
 aware of the inferiority of the fleet in manoeuvring 
 and tactical power, and as September drew to its 
 last week every effort was made to practise their 
 crews in hand-to-hand fighting and boarding exer- 
 
 ^ Some of these were among the historic regiments of Old Spain, 
 and two of them, by a coincidence, having regard to the place in 
 history of the battle of Trafalgar, were the direct descendants in un- 
 broken succession of two famous Spanish corps which served on board 
 the Spanish Armada. The Regimiento de Africa, under its earlier 
 name of the Tercio de Sicilia, had one wing on board the " Nuestra 
 Senora del Rosario," which Drake brought to action and captured oiF 
 Torbay in so dramatic a fashion, and the rest of the corps was on board 
 Medina Sidonia's flagship, the "San Martin." The Regimiento de 
 Soria (in 1688 the '^Tercio" of the same name) went on board the 
 Armada three thousand strong, and left a depot company of a hundred 
 men behind on shore. Every single man of the three thousand perished 
 in galleons that went down off the Irish coast, and the depot company 
 at home was made the nucleus for a new corps, the Regimiento de 
 Soria, that in due course went through other experiences at Trafalgar. 
 
44 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 cises of every kind. To take two instances. 
 Captain Lucas of the " Redoutable " notes that 
 he drilled his men personally at pistol and bayonet 
 exercise, and also had dummy hand-grenades made 
 which he trained his topmen to fling, two at a 
 time, at the same time drilling picked gangs 
 with grappling-irons. Admiral Magon, to encour- 
 age those in his flagship, displayed on his quarter- 
 deck a handsome and costly silver-mounted belt, 
 very massive and of elaborate workmanship, which 
 had been presented to him some time before by 
 the directors of the Compagnie des Philippines, as 
 a mark of their appreciation for having safely 
 escorted home to France two very richly freighted 
 Indiamen from the Far East. He had set great 
 store by the presentation and had said he would 
 make it an heirloom in his family. Now Magon 
 turned all hands up and announced : " The first 
 man to board an enemy shall have the belt " ! 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 THE COUNCIL OF WAR AND THE 
 ORDER TO WEIGH ANCHOR 
 
 ADMIRAL VILLENEUVE began his final 
 -^ preparations for sea on the 1st of October. 
 During that day and the next the four thousand 
 French soldiers on shore were taken back on board 
 ship. They had been originally shipped at Toulon 
 to form part of an expedition against the British 
 West Indies, but time had not sufficed for its 
 getting to work, and the troops had returned on 
 board the fleet. They comprised a battalion each 
 of the 2nd of the Line and the 16th of the Line 
 (the 93rd in the modern French Army) ; two 
 battaUons of the 67th (now the 25th) ; a battalion 
 each of the 70th and the 79th of the Line ; with 
 details of the 1st Swiss Regiment, the 6th Depot 
 Coloniale, and the 41st Demi-Brigade, brought 
 fi'om Martinique, two companies of the 4th Artil- 
 lerie a pied, and two troops (without horses) of 
 Chasseurs.^ The soldiers were distributed through- 
 
 1 Upwards of 6,000 troops were embarked at Toulon, but 800 of 
 these were left in garrison at Martinique. Field guns with limbers 
 and equipment complete were found by us on board the captured ships 
 
 45 
 
46 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 out the fleet and told off to fire from the tops and 
 along the upper decks in their various ships. All 
 were on board by evening of the 2nd of October. 
 
 In the course of that afternoon Admiral Gravina 
 came on board the "Bucentaure" with two important 
 messages that had just reached him by courier from 
 Lisbon. One confirmed the other. Nelson, the 
 messages said, was coming out from England to 
 command the blockading fleet. He was on his way 
 already, and had four sail of the line with him. 
 There was also reason to believe that a great in- 
 cendiary project had been planned by the British 
 Admiralty to destroy the Combined Fleet at its 
 anchorage. Nelson would probably attempt it. 
 Such was the tenor of Gravina's information. 
 
 after Trafalgar. Each regiment of French infantry at this time, 
 it may be added, comprised four battalions. Napoleon had four 
 regiments of Swiss infantry, uniformed in red coats. The Foot 
 Artillery comprised nine regiments, each of two battalions, made 
 up of eleven companies to each battalion. Also, as has been 
 mentioned in the case of certain of the Spanish regiments in 
 the fleet, some of these French regiments at Trafalgar had filled 
 a similar role in previous battles at sea against British fleets in 
 the days of the Monarchy. The old representatives of the corps 
 numbered in 1805 as the 16th of the Line, for instance, had fought as 
 the Regiment de Conde, on board the French fleet that met Admiral 
 Keppel off Ushant, seven-and-twenty years before. The 67th had a 
 sea-service record going back to the time when Richelieu first raised the 
 corps for duty as musketeers on board the ships of his " new " navy, 
 under the name of the " Regiment ' La Marine,' " the rank and file 
 of which, as a fact, had themselves been drafted from the ancient 
 ''Admiral's regiment" of old-time France, which the great Huguenot 
 hero Coligny had himself commanded. This same regimen^:, under its 
 later territorial name of "I'Auxerrois" had fought in the fleets of 
 De Guichen and De Grasse against Rodney in the West Indies. 
 
VILLENEUVE REFUSES TO DELAY 47 
 
 Meanwhile, the wind continued westerly, making 
 it practically impossible for Villeneuve to get away. 
 
 Bad weather, too, was at hand, as the unsteady 
 barometer portended. The Spanish officers, who 
 knew from lifelong experience what the readings 
 of the glass meant at that time of year on the 
 Andalusian coast, were strongly opposed to the 
 sailing of the fleet for the present, even should the 
 wind come favourably. Delay, they urged person- 
 ally on Admiral Villeneuve in addition, was to the 
 general advantage. Neither the " Santa Ana " nor 
 the "Rayo," both three-deckers, was quite ready 
 for sea, nor was the *' San Justo "; and the Spanish 
 fleet, as a whole, wanted at least another three 
 weeks at Cadiz for their raw crews to settle down 
 on board and learn something of man-of-war work. 
 The French Commander-in-Chief, however, de- 
 clined to alter his decision. He insisted that he 
 would go out the instant the wind changed, at all 
 risks. It did change, to due east, on the morning 
 of the 7th. At once the " Bucentaure " ran up the 
 signal flags for the Combined Fleet to prepare to 
 weigh. But before anchors could be broken out of 
 the ground, the wind had changed back again and 
 blew steadily from the old quarter — dead foul for 
 leaving port. 
 
 It was cruelly provoking for Admiral Villeneuve; 
 but he could not help himself. There he was and 
 there he must stay. The occasion, however, offered 
 an opportunity that he made use of. Before send- 
 
48 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 ing off his next despatch to Paris he would hold a 
 full Council of War and place on record its opinion 
 as to an early departure and the general circum- 
 stances in which the Combined Fleet found itself. 
 That he would forward for the Emperor's own 
 perusal. 
 
 The Council of War met next day — the 8th of 
 October— on board the flagship " Bucentaure." It 
 comprised seven French and six Spanish officers : — 
 Admiral Villeneuve himself with his two flag 
 officers, Dumanoir and Magon and Captains 
 Cosmao, Maistral, Villegris, and Prigny, on the 
 French side ; Admiral Gravina and his flag officers, 
 Alava, Escano, and Cisneros, and the two senior 
 Spanish Commodores, Galiano and Churruca. 
 
 Admiral Villeneuve, as Commander-in-Chief, 
 opened the proceedings. He gave a summary of 
 his new sailing orders, and declared as his own 
 opinion that the fleet must put to sea at the very 
 first opportunity. Objections and murmurs rose 
 at once from the Spanish side of the table. One 
 after another the Spaniards protested, politely but 
 firmly, and begged leave to dissent from the view 
 of his Excellency the French admiral. Stormy 
 weather was coming up from the westward, said 
 one: the "Santa Ana" and "Rayo" could not 
 possibly be left behind, said another. Delay was 
 all in favour of the Combined Fleet, a third de- 
 clared, quoting a former opinion of Villeneuve's 
 own to the effect that the British Fleet could 
 
AN EXCITED AND ANGRY SCENE 49 
 
 hardly remain where it was much longer, if only 
 for want of supplies. There was a consensus of 
 opinion on the Spanish side that another fort- 
 night's stay in port, at the least, was absolutely 
 imperative, owing to the backward state of the 
 new levies on board the Spanish Fleet. To that, 
 certain of the French officers answered back sar- 
 castically, and somebody — Admiral Magon — used 
 a phrase which to Spanish susceptibilities seemed 
 to convey a reflection on the honour of the Spanish 
 officers. The suggestion instantly provoked a scene. 
 One of the Spaniards, Commodore Galiano, leapt 
 angrily to his feet. He laid his hand on his sword- 
 hilt, and with flashing eyes turned on the French 
 rear-admiral as though about to offer him personal 
 violence. Only with great difficulty, it is said, 
 was Galiano kept back from challenging Magon to 
 a duel on the spot. 
 
 The Council then quieted down, after which 
 Admiral Villeneuve, who, we are told, "seemed 
 much put out," was proceeding next to deal 
 with matters of procedure, when he let fall some 
 allusion to the Spanish Navy that the Spaniards 
 took exception to, as a reflection on their service. 
 This time the even-tempered Gravina himself took 
 up the cudgels and championed his brother officers. 
 He replied point blank to the Commander-in-Chief, 
 assuming a lofty and dignified air of rebuke. Only 
 a madman, he said in effect, would think of sail- 
 ing at that time. " Do you not see, sir, that the 
 
50 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 barometer is falling ? " " It is not the glass," inter- 
 jected Admiral Villeneuve, "but the courage of 
 certain persons that is falling." The sneer was too 
 much even for the courtly Gravina. "Admiral," 
 he said, looking straight at Admiral Villeneuve, 
 " whenever the Spanish fleet has gone into action, 
 side by side with allies, as has often happened, it 
 has ever borne its part valiantly and led the way, 
 the foremost under fire. This, sir, as you yourself 
 must admit, we fully proved to you at the recent 
 battle off Finisterre." ["Senor almirante, siem- 
 pre que los espanoles han operado con escuadras 
 combinadas han sido los primeros a entrar en fuego ; 
 y esto lo hemos probado recientemente en Finis- 
 terre."] Gravina wound up his reply by declaring, 
 on behalf of himself and all his officers : " Manana, 
 al mar ! " (" To-morrow, to sea 1 "). 
 
 Resuming business once more. Commodore 
 Churruca, a man of very high reputation as a 
 scientific seaman, rose and adduced his arguments 
 against an early departure. The falling of the 
 barometer, he pointed out, at that time of year 
 invariably heralded the approach of the October 
 gales. After them the British Fleet would be 
 scattered, and the Combined Fleet would have 
 its opportunity. Churruca, after advancing other 
 practical objections, then changed his tone and 
 proceeded to say hard things about his allies. He 
 frankly declared himself opposed to the Spanish 
 Fleet acting with the French at all. After what 
 
WHAT WAS DECIDED ON 51 
 
 had occurred, he said, he was strongly against the 
 Spanish Fleet leaving Cadiz in company with the 
 French. What, indeed, was the worth of the sup- 
 port that their so-called allies were likely to give 
 them in the hour of battle, after what they had 
 seen ? " Have we not all seen," exclaimed Chur- 
 ruca heatedly and raising his voice, " in the recent 
 battle off Cape Finisterre, the French Fleet stand- 
 ing by, passive spectators of the capture of our 
 'San Rafael' and *Firme,' doing nothing, and 
 making no serious attempt at rescue ? " This 
 naturally made the French officers angry, and 
 then there was another scene. When order was 
 restored, Churruca, who had remained standing 
 all the time, wound up by outlining an elaborate 
 plan of campaign of his own for making the 
 British Fleet wear itself out all over the world 
 while the French and Spanish fleets remained 
 snugly in port awaiting events and their final 
 opportunity. 
 
 The situation was then discussed more calmly, 
 and the Council in the end decided to adopt a 
 middle course between Admiral Villeneuve's pro- 
 posal and the Spanish view. It was agreed not 
 to sail at once, but to move down to the mouth 
 of the harbour and keep the Combined Fleet all 
 ready for sailing until after the bad weather was 
 over. Then they would watch for the enemy 
 dividing his forces, which the British Fleet would 
 have to do very soon for service reasons and in 
 
52 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 connexion with convoy arrangements, and forth- 
 with put to sea and carry out their new orders. 
 The Council of War unanimously declared that 
 they wished to place on record "that the vessels 
 of both nations were for the most part badly 
 equipped, that a portion of the crews had never 
 been trained at sea, and that, in short, the fleet 
 was not in a state to perform the services ap- 
 pointed to it." "Tel etait cependant le devoue- 
 ment de tous ces hommes de coeur," says Jurien de 
 la Graviere, "que, malgrd ces sinistres pressenti- 
 ments, ils s'inclinerent tous, comme autrefois les 
 vaillants capitaines de Tourville devant cet argu- 
 ment sans replique — ' Ordre du Roi d'attaquer.' " 
 The Council then broke up, the Spanish officers, 
 we are told, as one by one they passed out, bowing 
 to the French Commander-in-Chief with a resigned 
 demeanour, like gladiators of old Rome making 
 their salute in the arena : "Ave, Caesar, morituri 
 te salutanti" 
 
 Villeneuve forwarded the decision of the Coun- 
 cil of War to Decr^s. He added as his personal 
 opinion that the Spaniards were "quite incapable 
 of meeting the enemy." All the same, he said, 
 he intended to sail with the first fair wind : " ne 
 consultant ni la force de I'ennemi, ni la situation 
 de la plupart des vaisseaux de Tarmee combinee." 
 If the coming battle proved a defeat, which in the 
 circumstances, unfortunately, it seemed practically 
 certain to be, the event would at least prove that 
 
ADMIRAL VILLENEUVE'S PLAN 53 
 
 he had been right from the first in desiring to 
 avoid the risk of a battle. 
 
 Next day the Combined Fleet began to move 
 down from the inner harbour of Cadiz to the road- 
 stead, so as to be in readiness to pass out at the 
 first opportunity. The Spanish officers proved 
 true prophets about the weather. On the 10th it 
 came on to blow hard, and the gale lasted, on and 
 off*, all the following week. 
 
 Admiral Villeneuve had already held two cap- 
 tains' meetings {seances) of his own officers, in order 
 to explain to them, viva voce, how he proposed to 
 fight the coming battle. What passed discloses 
 for us one very remarkable circumstance. The 
 French admiral foresaw and foretold, practically 
 exactly, the general method of attack that Nelson 
 had himself actually informed his captains he 
 designed to deliver. It was based, no doubt, on 
 Villeneuve's previous experience of Nelson's 
 methods, inspired by his " souvenir d'Aboukir " to 
 a considerable extent. On their own side, he said, 
 the main battle-squadron of the Combined Fleet, 
 the Corps de bataille, would number twenty-one 
 sail. His remaining twelve ships the Commander- 
 in-Chief proposed to dispose of as a " Squadron of 
 observation " or Corps de reserve, under Admirals 
 Gravina and Magon, with orders to act indepen- 
 dently, or take post with the main body of the 
 fleet, as circumstances might require. He then 
 proceeded to deal with the enemy's probable tactics 
 
54 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 in the action. " The British Fleet," he said, " will 
 not be formed in a line of battle parallel with the 
 Combined Fleet, according to the usage of former 
 days. Nelson, assuming him to be, as reported, 
 really in command, will seek to break our line, 
 envelop our rear, and overpower with groups of 
 his ships as many of ours as he can isolate or cut 
 off." That, in fact, was very much the kind of 
 attack that Nelson really contemplated. Admiral 
 Villeneuve, however, went no further. The idea 
 of meeting Nelson with a scheme of counter 
 tactics did not commend itself to him. Such a 
 thing would only puzzle his officers. He contented 
 himself, "for reasons of prudence," as Villeneuve 
 put it to Decres, with an order of battle accord- 
 ing to the drill-book. That, everybody could 
 understand. If the Combined Fleet found itself 
 to windward, it was to bear down and engage ship 
 to ship, each vessel picking out her "opposite 
 number." If the Combined Fleet was to leeward, 
 it would form in close line ahead, await the attack, 
 and do its best to beat it off. Once the battle 
 opened, every captain must look out for himself, 
 and trust to his own exertions and personal desire 
 for glory. " All your efforts," Villeneuve went on, 
 "must be to assist one another, and, as far as 
 possible, follow the movements of your admiral. 
 You must be careful not to waste ammunition by 
 long-range firing: wait and fight only at close 
 quarters. At the same time you must, each captain. 
 
''RELY ON YOUR OWN COURAGE!" 55 
 
 rely rather on your own courage and ardour for 
 glory than on the admiral's signals. In the smoke 
 and turmoil of battle an admiral can see very little 
 himself; often he cannot make any signals at all."^ 
 Admiral Villeneuve's words were a quotation 
 from his " Ordre pour I'Armee " issued on taking 
 up the command of the fleet at Toulon [see 
 Appendix A], a memo, as to which had within 
 the past few days been issued to the captains.^ 
 
 ^ This is from the pen of a Spanish admiral of the time, an officer of 
 high professional eminence and character. It is in point here in 
 regard to its criticism of his own brother officers and their French 
 comrades-in-arms in action, and comparison of their general adherence 
 to regulation and want of initiative, with the spirit in which the British 
 captains bore themselves in similar circumstances : 
 
 " An Englishman enters a naval action witli a firm conviction that 
 his duty is to hurt his enemies, and help his friends and allies, without 
 looking out for directions in the midst of the fight ; and while he thus 
 clears his mind of all subsidiary distractions, he rests in confidence on 
 the certainty that his comrades, actuated by the same principles as 
 himself, will be bound by the sacred and priceless law of mutual sup- 
 port. Accordingly, both he and all his fellows fix their minds on 
 acting with zeal and judgment upon the spur of the moment, and with 
 the certainty that they will not be deserted. Experience shows, on 
 the contrary, that a Frenchman or a Spaniard, working under a system 
 which leans to formality and strict order being maintained in battle, 
 has no feeling for mutual support, and goes into action with hesita- 
 tion, preoccupied with the anxiety of seeing or hearing the com- 
 mander-in-chief's signals for such and such manoeuvres .... Thus 
 they can never make up their minds to seize any favourable oppor- 
 tunity that may present itself. They are fettered by the strict rule to 
 keep station, which is enforced upon them in both navies ; and the 
 usual result is that in one place ten of their ships may be firing upon 
 four, while in another four of their comrades may be receiving the fire 
 of ten of the enemy. Worst of all, they are denied the confidence in- 
 spired by mutual support, which is as surely maintained by the English 
 as it is neglected by us." 
 
 ^ "Some days before we left Cadiz," says Captain Lucas of the 
 
56 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 These were the admiral's words in the Toulon 
 circular : " L' ennemi ne se bornera pas a se former 
 sur une ligne de bataille parallele a la notre et a 
 venir nous livrer un combat d'artillerie, dont le 
 succes appartient souvent au plus habile, mais 
 toujours au plus heureux ; il cherchera a entourer 
 notre arriere-garde, a nous traverser, et a porter 
 sur ceux de nos vaisseaux qu'il aurait desunis des 
 pelotons des siens pour les envelopper et les reduire. 
 Dans ce cas, c'est bien plus de son courage et de 
 son amour de la gloire qu'un capitaine-commandant 
 doit prendre conseil que les signaux de I'amiral 
 qui, engage lui-meme dans le combat, et enveloppe 
 dans la fumee, n'a pent etre plus la facilite d'en 
 faire." Villeneuve concluded by reiterating this, 
 from the "Ordre pour I'Armee." It was to be 
 the Order of the Day for the Combined Fleet 
 for the coming battle: "Tout capitaine qui ne 
 serait pas dans le feu ne serait pas a son poste . . . 
 et un signal pour Vy rappeler serait pour lui une 
 tache deshonorante ! " 
 
 " Redoutable," " every captain received from the admiral an order in 
 writing to hold himself in readiness to make sail. The same order 
 drew the captains' attention to the circular letter the admiral had 
 addressed to them before leaving Toulon, in which he informed them 
 of what he intended to do on meeting the enemy, and what every ship 
 was to do. Thus far in advance, it would seem, did the admiral foresee 
 the manner in which we were actually attacked in the battle. Had his 
 dispositions been generally followed, twenty or twenty-two ships of the 
 Combined Fleet would not have had to contend with the whole 
 English fleet of twenty-seven (including seven three-deckers), and 
 some of ours would not have had to succumb as they did in spite of 
 prodigies of valour and the most stubborn resistance.'' 
 
THE LINE OF BATTLE 
 
 57 
 
 The "Line of Battle," as finally drawn up by 
 Admirals Villeneuve and Gravina, was promulgated 
 to the flag officers and captains throughout the 
 Combined Fleet on the 16th of October. It was 
 in the following form. 
 
 Van. 
 
 Names. 
 Pluton 
 
 Monarca 
 Fougueux . 
 
 Santa Ana . 
 
 Indomptable 
 San Justo . 
 Intr^pide . 
 
 Centre. 
 Redoutable 
 
 San Leandro 
 Neptune 
 
 Bucentaure 
 
 Santisima Trinidad 
 
 H^ros 
 
 San Agustin 
 
 LINE OF BATTLE. 
 
 2nd Squadron. Vice-Admiral Alava. 
 
 Guns. Commanders. 
 
 . 74 Commodore Julien M. Cosmao- 
 
 Kerjulien. 
 . 74 Captain Don Teodoro Argumosa. 
 . 74 Captain Louis Alexis Baudoin 
 
 Vice-Admiral Don Ign. Maria 
 . 112 . de Alava. 
 
 Captain Don Jose Gardoqui. 
 . 80 Commodore Jean Joseph Hubert. 
 . 74 Captain Don Miguel Gaston. 
 . 74 Commodore Louis Antoine Cy- 
 prian Infemet. 
 
 \st Squadron. 
 
 . 74 
 
 64 
 84 
 
 m 
 
 136 
 
 74 
 74 
 
 Vke- Admiral Villeneuve. 
 
 Captain Jean Jaques Etienne 
 
 Lucas. 
 Captain Don Jos6 Quevedo. 
 Commodore Esprit Tranquille 
 
 Maistral. 
 
 rVice-Admiral Pierre Charles 
 I Jean Baptiste Sylvestre Ville- 
 
 Ineuve. 
 Captain Jean Jaques Magendie. 
 
 Rear- Admiral Don Baltasar Hi- 
 dalgo Cisneros 
 
 Commodore Don Francisco X. 
 de Uriarte 
 
 Captain Jean B. J. Remi Poulain. 
 Captain Don Felipe Xado Cagi- 
 gal. 
 
58 
 
 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 Rear. 
 Mont Blanc 
 
 3rd Squadron. 
 
 . 74 
 
 San Francisco de Asis 
 Duguay Trouin 
 
 . 74 
 . 74 
 
 Formidable 
 
 . 
 
 . 80 
 
 Rayo 
 
 • 
 
 . 100 
 
 Scipion 
 Neptuno 
 
 . 
 
 . 74 
 . 80 
 
 Rear-Admiral Dumanoir. 
 Commodore G. J. Noel La Vil- 
 
 legris. 
 Captain Don Luis de Flores. 
 Captain Claude Touffet. 
 TRear-Admiral P. R. M. E. 
 -j Dumanoir Le Pelley. 
 [ Captain Jean Marie Letellier. 
 Commodore Don Enrique Mac- 
 
 donel. 
 Captain Charles Bellanger. 
 Commodore Don H. Cayetano 
 Valdez. 
 
 Squadron of Observation.^ 
 
 San Juan Nepomuceno . 74 
 
 Berwick ^ 
 
 74 
 
 Admiral Gravina, 
 Commodore Don Cosme Damian 
 
 de Churruca. 
 Commodore Jean Gilles Filhol- 
 
 Camas. 
 
 {Admiral Don Federico Gravina. 
 Rear-Admiral Don Antonio 
 Escano. 
 Captain Gabriel Denieport. 
 Commodore Don Jose de Vargas. 
 Captain Jaques Epron. 
 Captain C. E. L'Hopitalier 
 
 Villemadrin. 
 Captain Don Antonio Pareja. 
 -Admiral Charles Magon 
 Clos Dor^. 
 lin C. Letourneur. 
 Captain Don Jose Alcedo. 
 Captain Pierre Paul Gourr^ge. 
 Commodore Don Dionisio Alcala 
 Galiano. 
 1 '' We do not find any documents which show clearly the nature 
 of the command exercised by Admiral Gravina when the Combined 
 Fleet left Cadiz. In his correspondence with the minister before 
 putting to sea Admiral Villeneuve does not mention the Squadron of 
 Observation. This makes its appearance for the first time in the 
 despatch written after the battle of October 21st. There is room for 
 supposing that Admiral Gravina had independent command of the 
 Squadron of Observation." — Histoire de la Marine Fran^aise sous le 
 Consulat et VEmpire, p. 228. By Captaiu E. Chevalier. 
 '^ Formerly British men-of-war. 
 
 Achille 
 San Ildefonso 
 Argonaute . 
 Swiftsure^ . 
 
 . 74 
 . 74 
 
 . 74 
 . 74 
 
 Argonauta . 
 
 . 80 
 
 Alg69iras . 
 
 . 74 
 
 Montanez . 
 
 Aigle 
 
 Bahama 
 
 . 74 
 
 . 74 
 . 74 
 
 {Rear-A 
 deC 
 Captaii 
 
TACTICS FOR THE BATTLE 
 
 59 
 
 Frigates and Corvettes 
 
 . 
 
 
 Rhin 
 
 40 
 
 Captain Chesneau. 
 
 Hortense . 
 
 40 
 
 Captain La Marre La Meillerie. 
 
 Com6Ue . 
 
 40 
 
 Captain De Martinenque. 
 
 Themis 
 
 40 
 
 Captain Jugan. 
 
 Hermione 
 
 40 
 
 Captain Mahe. 
 
 Furet 
 
 18 
 
 Lieutenant Dnmay. 
 
 Argus 
 
 16 
 
 Lieutenant Taillard. 
 
 Admiral Villeneuve fixed the numerical strengh 
 of his battle squadron, the Corps de bataille, at 
 twenty-one ships. That, according to his latest 
 intelligence, was the strength of the British Fleet 
 then off Cadiz. It allowed also for withdrawals 
 to Gibraltar for water and stores of various ships 
 from time to time. Gravina's twelve ships, the 
 so-called Corps de reserve^ or Squadron of Observa- 
 tion, was to be kept as an independent body up to 
 the moment of joining battle. Its station was 
 to be to windward of the rest of the fleet. It 
 would thus be available to reinforce any part of 
 the battle-squadron line that might be hard pressed ; 
 to parry a threatened blow, or to strike a counter- 
 stroke. The tactical formation was in itself an 
 excellent one, and had been greatly favoured by 
 admirals like D'Orvilliers and De Guichen, the 
 fine fleur of the tacticians of the American War 
 time, when at the head of the great Franco- 
 Spanish combined fleets that, in those dark days 
 for England, rode for three summers in succession 
 masters of the Channel. To make efficient use 
 of the formation, however, better-trained officers 
 
60 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 and crews were needed than Admiral Villeneuve 
 had at his disposal. As will appear also, Admiral 
 Gravina himself, on the morning of the battle, 
 upset the whole scheme, by, at the last moment, 
 throwing away the advantage of the windward 
 berth, and linking up with the rest of the fleet, in 
 prolongation of the main battle-line. As to the 
 intermingling of the French and Spanish ships, 
 that was not an innovation. Exactly the same 
 thing had been done in the Combined Fleet under 
 the admirals named, during their Channel cruises 
 in the American War. There is no real reason 
 to impute a sinister motive to Admiral Ville- 
 neuve — as has been done — in so arranging the 
 component units of his command. 
 
 In all, the Combined Fleet numbered thirty- 
 three sail of the Line. They comprised : — one 
 four-decker, the "Santisima Trinidad," of 131 
 guns (really a gigantic three-decker, with a fourth 
 tier of guns mounted along her gangways) ; three 
 other Spanish first-rates, three-deckers, two ships 
 of 112 guns each, and one ship of 100 guns ; six 
 80-gun ships, two-deckers of the largest size, of 
 which four were French and two Spanish ; twenty- 
 two 74's, fourteen French and eight Spanish ; and 
 one Spanish 64-gun ship, also, of course, a two- 
 decker. Eighteen of the total were French, and 
 fifteen Spanish.. All told, there were 21,580 
 officers and men under Admiral Villeneuve's 
 orders, and the Combined Fleet mounted 2,626 
 
STATE OF THE FRENCH FLEET 6l 
 
 broadside guns, not taking carronades into 
 account.! 
 
 As to the ships of the Combined Fleet. Accord- 
 ing to Admiral Villeneuve's report on them to the 
 Minister of Marine, many of the French ships 
 were in indifferent trim and badly wanted docking; 
 notably the "Formidable," the "Mont Blanc," 
 the "Fougueux," and the "Swiftsure" (a 74 
 captured from the British Navy some four years 
 before). Others, such as the " Scipion " and the 
 "Aigle," wanted re-rigging entirely before they 
 could be called efficient. The "Pluton" and 
 "H^ros" were, he said, slow and unhandy. Others, 
 such as the "Algd^iras" (Rear- Admiral Magon's 
 flagship), the " Indomptable," "Achille," and "Ber- 
 wick" (another capture by France from the British 
 Navy), although they had weak crews, were them- 
 selves in a satisfactory state. The rest, particularly 
 his own flagship, the "Bucentaure" (a new 80- 
 gun ship), the " Neptune," " Argonaute," " Duguay 
 Trouin" and the " Redoutable," Villeneuve re- 
 turned as "good ships and crews, fit for anything." 
 
 Except for the "Santa Ana," "Kayo," and 
 
 ^ There were twenty-seven ships of the Line in Lord Nelson's 
 battle-fleet on Friday afternoon, the 18th of October, 1805. They 
 comprised seven three-deckers, and twenty two-deckers : or, classified 
 in another way, three first-rates, each of 100 guns; four second- 
 rates, each of 98 guns ; and twenty third-rates, one ship of 
 80 guns, sixteen 74's and three 64^s. Besides these, of ships " under 
 the Line," there were four frigates, a schooner and a cutter. In 
 round numbers. Nelson's fleet was manned by 16,820 oflficers and 
 men, and mounted 2,148 broadside guns (exclusive of carronades). 
 
62 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 "San Justo," which according to the Spaniards 
 had been hastened out of the dockyard before 
 their refit was complete, the Spanish ships were, 
 as a whole, in fair order, although their gunnery 
 arrangements were reported in some cases to be 
 defective. They had collected sufficient men ; but 
 barely 10 per cent were seamen. The "Principe 
 de Asturias," for one, bore 1,113 all told on her 
 books ; the " Santa Ana," 1,188 ; the " Santisima 
 Trinidad," 1,048. Of other ships, the "Rayo" 
 carried 830, the "Neptuno" 800, the "Argonauta" 
 798, and so on ; down to the little San Leandro 
 with over 600 of all ranks and ratings. 
 
 Events began to move quickly as the middle of 
 the month was reached. On the 15th of October, 
 the day before he issued his "Line of Battle," 
 Villeneuve got his first inkling of the coming of 
 Admiral Rosily. The intelligence came in quite 
 an unofficial way, by private letters from Bayonne. 
 He took the news very calmly. Apparently he 
 did not at all realize its serious import for himself. 
 This is what Villeneuve said to Decres about it, 
 writing that same afternoon: — "Des lettres par- 
 ticuli^res de Bayonne nous annoncent I'arrivee 
 du Vice-amiral Rosily, charge d'une mission pour 
 Cadix. Rien ne pouvait m'etre plus agreable 
 que cette nouvelle. Je suis au ddsespoir d'etre tou- 
 jours seul a correspondre avec Votre Excellence 
 sur des objets aussi d^licats. L'experience et les 
 lumieres du Vice-amiral Rosily viendront bien a 
 
ADMIRAL ROSILY 63 
 
 propos a mon aide, et lorsqu'il aura vu, je ne crain- 
 drai nuUement son jugement et sur le present et 
 sur le passe I " 
 
 Admiral Rosily was at the top of the Vice- 
 Admirals' list. He had not been afloat for twelve 
 or fourteen years, and was understood in naval 
 circles in France to have given up the idea of 
 hoisting his flag again, although his name was still 
 on the active list. For the past ten years scope 
 had been found for his well-known administrative 
 talents on various special "missions," to use 
 Admiral Villeneuve's word, and as Inspector- 
 General of naval arsenals and dockyards, also in 
 departmental work at the Ministry of Marine 
 connected with scientific and hydrographic matters. 
 Thus, on the face of things, there was little about 
 the sending of Admiral Rosily to Cadiz, to make 
 Villeneuve uneasy for his own position. 
 
 Not many hours later, however, further news 
 came to hand that put another complexion on 
 the affair. A private letter from Madrid was 
 sent to Villeneuve. Admiral Rosily, said the 
 letter, had just arrived there. He was travelling 
 post, hastening with extraordinary despatch for 
 Cadiz. Not a word could be gleaned as to what 
 he was to do when he got there; but, said the 
 writer, he would probably be delayed in Madrid 
 for a day or two, owing to a breakdown to his 
 travelling carriage just outside the capital. Now 
 a suspicion crossed Villeneuve's mind. It dawned 
 
64 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 on him that something was kept back. There 
 was also, it would appear, a persistent rumour 
 in Cadiz that the Commander-in-Chief was to be 
 superseded. He, the officer in supreme authority 
 at Cadiz, had not had a line from Paris in regard 
 to the matter, had not heard a word from his own 
 immediate superior, the Minister of Marine, to 
 advise him of the coming of Rosily. Why all 
 this secrecy? Why this haste? What was be- 
 hind it all? What did it forebode to himself? 
 With his mind full of anxiety. Admiral Villeneuve 
 expressed his deep concern to the Minister of 
 Marine. " I shall be happy," wrote Villeneuve, " to 
 yield the first place to Rosily, if I am allowed to 
 have the second ; but it will be too hard to have to 
 give up all hope of being vouchsafed the oppor- 
 tunity of proving that I am worthy of a better 
 fate." 
 
 His plans were made — if only the wind would 
 change out of the west and afford a chance of put- 
 ting them in execution. What he had wanted to do 
 first of all, wrote Villeneuve to Decres, was to try 
 to run out to sea for two hundred leagues. 
 Then he would double back and make for the 
 Straits. An east wind would take them out, 
 and the impending gale from the south-west, when 
 it came on, would be to their advantage and 
 carry the Combined Fleet back and through into 
 the Mediterranean. Yet, even if the wind favoured 
 him, he feared the enemy's watch on Cadiz was 
 
HIS ONLY CHANCE 65 
 
 too close to give him an opportunity of getting 
 away unseen. As he wrote, said Villeneuve, 
 there were five English frigates, a brig, and a 
 schooner, to be counted in the offing. A sortie 
 might be attempted at night, but there was no 
 moon just now. It was hopeless for such a fleet 
 as his to try to go out of harbour in the dark. 
 Besides all that, half his ships sailed so badly, 
 were such slow craft, that, even supposing he did 
 get clear off* to sea, he would assuredly be over- 
 taken and brought to battle before he had got far. 
 The alternative was to attempt to make coast- 
 wise for the Straits, and take their chance of 
 the consequences. With a fleet like that, how- 
 ever, upwards of a third of it slow ships and 
 manned by raw Spanish landsmen, the risk was 
 enormous. They would almost certainly be caught 
 half way, and annihilation must follow. " To leave 
 Cadiz," said Villeneuve, "without being sure of 
 passing the Straits within a few hours will mean 
 the certainty of being brought to action by a 
 superior enemy and the loss of ever)rthing. I 
 cannot believe," he added, " that it is His Imperial 
 Majesty's intention to expose so large a portion of 
 his naval forces to such a risk, and one that does 
 not offer any chance of acquiring glory." To make 
 for the Straits along the coast was, all the same, 
 the only plan for him to adopt. He had direct 
 orders from the Emperor himself to go out without 
 further delay, and go out he must and would. 
 
66 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 He only waited now for the wind to change 
 and render exit possible. As soon as the wind did 
 change, Rear- Admiral Magon, with part of the 
 French Third Squadron, would sally out, sweep 
 back the English cruisers, and make a bold recon- 
 naissance seaward to ascertain Nelson's exact 
 strength. While that was being done, the re- 
 mainder of the Combined Fleet would be working 
 out of harbour, and he trusted that within twenty- 
 four hours all would be able to get out and be 
 fairly on their way. The wind must change soon. 
 It had blown from the west for upwards of ten 
 days without shifting once. 
 
 The wind began to show signs of change during 
 the evening of the 17th. It backed and fell 
 away fitfully to light and variable airs until the 
 afternoon of the following day, when it seemed 
 likely to freshen from the eastward, fair for leaving 
 Cadiz. It was Admiral Villeneuve's wished-for 
 opportunity, and, as things happened, he had had 
 offered him that same morning, in addition, a new 
 and powerful incentive for seizing it. An official 
 message came up the coast from Tarifa and Alge- 
 c^iras, signalled along the line of Spanish look-out 
 posts, to the effect that six British men-of-war, 
 apparently detached from the enemy's main fleet, 
 had been sighted passing through the Straits for 
 Gibraltar.^ That meant, according to Villeneuve's 
 
 ^ The news was strangely belated. Admiral Louis's squadron had 
 parted company with Nelson more than a fortnight before. 
 
"PREPARE TO MAKE SAIL!" 67 
 
 calculations, a temporary reduction of his op- 
 ponent's strength by a fifth of what he believed 
 it to be. He had, of course, no means of know- 
 ing that fresh ships to an equal number had recently 
 joined Nelson from England. It afforded also a 
 reason for leaving port exactly in accordance with 
 the recommendations of the Council of War, and 
 effectively met one of the principal Spanish ob- 
 jections to sailing, as raised at the Council. Ville- 
 neuve made up his mind to quit Cadiz forthwith. 
 
 He signalled to the Spanish flagship for Admiral 
 Gravina, second-in-command of the Combined 
 Fleet, to come on board the French flagship 
 " Bucentaure " at once. The Spanish admiral 
 came. In reply to Villeneuve, he expressed his 
 readiness to sail that afternoon. He was prepared, 
 Gravina said, to follow the movements of the Im- 
 perial Navy in everything. Those were his instruc- 
 tions from Madrid. That was all that passed, and 
 it was enough. Gravina went down the side of 
 the "Bucentaure" into his boat, and Villeneuve 
 forthwith ran up the general signal, " Prepare to 
 make sail." He intended to try to get out of 
 harbour by sunset. But once more, at the last 
 moment, the wind failed him. It dropped after 
 four o'clock, and died away to almost a dead calm. 
 
 Disappointed as he was. Admiral Villeneuve de- 
 termined to persevere. Orders were sent round 
 for the whole fleet to be ready to weigh anchor 
 and put to sea at daybreak next morning. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 ADMIRALS AND CAPTAINS OF THE 
 COMBINED FLEET 
 
 THESE were some of the men who were to 
 lead the Combined Fleet on the coming day 
 of battle. There were many gallant and high- 
 spirited officers on board both the French and 
 Spanish ships, and some of them were men of 
 reputation among their countrymen for daring 
 and resource. 
 
 Concerning Admiral Villeneuve, apart from 
 what has been already said, there are other in- 
 teresting details of which some mention should 
 be made. He was originally an officer of the 
 Royal Navy of France, one of the few members 
 of the noblesse in the sea-service who did not 
 throw up their commissions and quit the country 
 at the Revolution. As a young "garde de pavilion" 
 he had served with the famous Bailli de SufFren in 
 his "beaux combats de ITnde," as the French Navy 
 to this day calls the battles of De Suffren's heroi- 
 cally contested campaign during the years 1782 
 and 1783. The Revolution gave him his captaincy, 
 
 68 
 
"A LUCKY MAN" 
 
 69 
 
 and he had hoisted his flag as rear-admiral in 1796, 
 before he was thirty-three. Everybody looked on 
 Rear- Admiral Villeneuve (he dropped the "de" 
 before his name after 1793) as a very keen and 
 able officer, of a studious turn, exceptionally well 
 informed on all professional topics, and a versatile 
 and clever tactician. 
 Napoleon met him first 
 at the siege of Toulon 
 in 1793, and after that 
 saw something more of 
 him during the expedi- 
 tion to Egypt. Ville- 
 neuve was junior flag- 
 officer in Brueys' fleet, 
 and he was the only 
 French admiral who got 
 away after the battle of 
 the Nile. That escape, 
 early on the morning 
 after the disaster — 
 though it was hardly 
 a feat of arms to take 
 much pride in — Nap- 
 oleon thought very 
 highly of, and he long afterwards spoke of Ville- 
 neuve as "a lucky man." To Napoleon's belief 
 in his " luck," indeed, Villeneuve owed his present 
 command. Personally, Admiral Villeneuve was 
 a gentleman in the best sense of the word ; well 
 
 ARMS OF VILLENEUVE 
 
 [Gules : sem^e of escutcheons or. Six lances in 
 saltire of ^ the second. An inescutcheon azure, 
 charged with a fleur de Its or.] 
 
70 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 bred and courteous, very quiet and reserved in 
 manner, of unblemished character as a man of 
 honour, and devotedly attached to his home. His 
 personal courage was above question. That was 
 in his blood. His ancestry itself forbade the 
 thought of anything else. The Villeneuves did 
 not beget cowards. One Villeneuve fell, sword 
 in hand, at the side of Roland in the pass of 
 Roncesvalles. Another charged side by side with 
 our own Coeur de Lion in Palestine, and left his 
 bones out there. A descendant of the famous 
 Villeneuve "Riche d'Honneur," leader of the 
 Lances of Aragon, Bayard's friend and trusty 
 comrade in arms, of Raymond de Villeneuve, 
 hardly less renowned in arms, and of that grand 
 old Romee, the historic Seneschal de Provence, 
 whom Dante met in Paradise — 
 
 Luce la luce di Romeo di cui 
 
 Fu I'opra grande e bella mal gradita. 
 
 ' Shines Romeo's light, whose goodly deed and fair. 
 Met ill acceptance.' 
 
 — a knight of Malta himself, the ninety-first 
 Villeneuve (counting in Grand Master H^lion) 
 that the family had sent into the Order, could 
 hardly be a coward. Poltron de tete^ in the words 
 of Napoleon's bitter sneer, as the French leader 
 may, in regard to the very exceptional circum- 
 stances of that campaign, have seemed in some 
 degree, none, as the hour of battle drew on, could 
 speak of Admiral Villeneuve as Poltron de cceur. 
 
THE SECOND IN COMMAND 71 
 
 Admiral Villeneuve went forth to meet his fate at 
 Trafalgar with a silent prayer on his lips to the 
 good Sainte Roseleyne of his House, and a farewell 
 thought at heart for that dear wife far away in 
 their home among the pinewoods of Bargemon in 
 Provence, whom he never more should see in life, 
 braced up to meet his doom in a spirit in keeping 
 with the traditions of his line.^ 
 
 Of Rear-Admiral Dumanoir le Pelley, the 
 second-in-command of the French Fleet, very 
 little is on record. He was a young officer, only 
 in his thirty-fifth year (eight years younger than 
 Admiral Villeneuve). Dumanoir, like his chief, 
 had worn the King's uniform in the navy of the 
 anden regime, which he first entered eighteen years 
 before. He, too, had good blood in his veins. The 
 family of Du Manoir le Pelle, as the young " garde 
 de pavilion " wrote his name when he took up his 
 first commission, was among the oldest and 
 wealthiest among the Seigneurie of the Cotentin, 
 owning large estates ; and one that had already 
 given two admirals to the navy of France. It was 
 
 * They hold Admiral Villeneuve's memory in very affectionate regard 
 at Bargemon, and the visitor from England who is so fortunate as to 
 be accorded the entree to the ancestral home of the Villeueuves, will 
 see there to-day a portrait in oils of the admiral, and round the walls 
 of the schoolroom some cleverly executed water-colour sketches of 
 ships he served in before he got his flag, done by him and sent home. 
 At Trafalgar, Admiral Villeneuve had a young nephew, a midshipman, 
 serving as one of his aides-de-camp on board the " Bucentaure." That 
 officer's great-grandson is a lieutenant de vaisseau in the French Navy 
 of our own time. 
 
72 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 said that he owed his promotion to flag rank to 
 Murat's private influence with Napoleon. Captain 
 Dumanoir commanded the frigate in which Murat 
 made his escape from Egypt, together with 
 Marmont and Lannes, at the same time that 
 Napoleon himself got safely away in another 
 vessel. Very soon afterwards he hoisted his flag. 
 Dumanoir had already had experience as second- 
 in-command in battle, with Admiral Linois in the 
 action of Alge9iras. 
 
 The third-in-command, Rear-Admiral Magon, 
 was another sort of man. He was of the same 
 age as Admiral Villeneuve, like whom he was of 
 noble birth, and had had his early training as an 
 officer of the Navy of the anden regime, De 
 Magon de Clos-Dor^ was his full name; his 
 family belonging to the old Breton noblesse, to 
 one of the junior branches of an illustrious twelfth- 
 century house, the head of which was the Marquis 
 de Gervaisais. As a young " garde de pavilion " on 
 board the Comte d'Orvillier's flagship in his battle 
 with Admiral Keppel off* Ushant, Magon had had 
 his baptism of fire as a boy of fourteen. After 
 that he witnessed De Guichen's three drawn 
 battles with Rodney in the West Indies in 1781. 
 The ship he was in, the " Caton," was sent out of 
 the fleet to repair damages, and so missed the 
 great battle of the 12th of April, 1782, in which 
 the Comte De Grasse experienced disaster, but 
 a pursuing British squadron intercepted the " Caton" 
 
HAD MAGON BEEN THE LEADER 73 
 
 on her way to port, and young Magon ended his 
 first war as a prisoner in England. After that 
 many things had happened, Magon, however, 
 always showing himself a bold and resolute officer. 
 In 1804 Napoleon had selected him to have charge 
 of the advance guard of gunboats to lead the 
 invasion-flotilla across to Deal ; but circumstances 
 had removed Magon thence and sent him to join 
 Villeneuve in the West Indies. He returned with 
 the Combined Fleet, and so found himself at Cadiz 
 on the eve of great events. 
 
 Whether, indeed, Rear-Admiral Magon might 
 not have proved a better man than his chief for 
 Napoleon's purposes during the campaign before 
 Trafalgar, is a question. "From my own know- 
 ledge of Magon, with whom I had been brought 
 into relation in various missions," says De S^gur, 
 Napoleon's aide-de-camp, "I believe with Laur- 
 iston, that had he been in Villeneuve's place, the 
 orders of the Emperor would have been obeyed, 
 the invasion probably effected, and the face of the 
 world altered." Magon, continues De Sdgur, 
 was " a daring and impetuous fellow," and had 
 been so angered over the result of the encounter 
 with Admiral Calder (off Cape Finisterre in the 
 previous July, which led to Villeneuve's retirement 
 to Cadiz), that he quite forgot his position and 
 gave, before everybody on his own quarter-deck, an 
 amazing display of insubordination. " I have it 
 from Lauriston, afterwards a marshal and peer of 
 
74 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 France, then aide-de-camp to Napoleon, who was 
 in Villeneuve's fleet," relates De Segur further, 
 "that on the day after this battle. Rear- Admiral 
 Magon was a prey to such violent indignation 
 when the first signal was given by the admiral to 
 let the English Fleet go, that he stamped and 
 foamed at the mouth, and that whilst he was 
 furiously pacing his own ship, as that of the 
 admiral passed in its retreat, he gave vent to 
 furious exclamations, and flung at him in his rage 
 whatever happened to be at hand, including his 
 field-glass and even his wig, both of which fell 
 into the sea ; but Villeneuve was not only too far 
 off for these missiles to reach him, but was entirely 
 out of hearing." Magon had a touch of reckless- 
 ness which Villeneuve's more placid temperament 
 lacked, that possibly might have shaped things 
 somewhat differently up to a certain point. What 
 the ultimate issue would have been is quite another 
 matter — with Nelson at large, and tough old 
 Cornwallis ready for all comers off* Ushant. 
 
 Of the French captains, " Va de Bon Coeur " 
 Cosmao was as good a man as any in the French 
 Navy. " Va de Bon Cceur" was his men's name for 
 the cheery commander of the "Pluton," who, as 
 the senior captain, led Admiral Villeneuve's main 
 battle-squadron. A burly, sturdy Breton, "avec 
 le physique de son emploi," and with seamanship 
 in every detail at his finger-tips, was Cosmao- 
 Kerjulien,' "I'habile et intr^pide Cosmao." Begin- 
 
' J > 3 
 
 
 i-'s.MAo-KJ-.KK i.ii'.N wi- iiih PLUTON 
 
 CAYETANO VALDEZ OF THE '* NEPTUNO " 
 
 To face p. 74 
 
TWO OF THE BEST 75 
 
 ning life by running away to sea at the age of 
 twelve, before he was twenty he had been in 
 action, it was said, a dozen times. Cosmao it was 
 who had carried out the attack on Diamond Rock, 
 Martinique, in the pre- 
 vious May; and in the 
 fight with Calder he had 
 won credit for two brave 
 efforts to rescue the 
 Spanish ships that were 
 lost, after which he did 
 actually save a third ship, 
 the French "Atlas," from 
 sharing their fate. An- 
 other fine fellow, who 
 knew his business, was 
 Infemet, of the " Intrd- 
 pide." He also had seen 
 his first war service in the 
 Old Navy of the Monar- 
 chy, and in one battle, as 
 a boy " mousse " (powder 
 monkey), had undergone 
 the somewhat unusual 
 
 • PU • U1 captain: FRENCH NAVY, 1805 
 
 expenence of bemg blown ^ 
 
 up with his ship. Infernet was in the " Cesar " in 
 Rodney's battle. Dropping clear of the ring of 
 sharks that beset the burning vessel,^ the young 
 
 1 See " Famous Fighters of the Fleet, ' Rodney's Ship on Rodney's 
 Day/ " pp. 163-7. 
 
76 THE ENEMY AT TRAPALGAR 
 
 Infernet was taken out of the water by an 
 English boat, and so had lived to fight on 
 another day. That is one account. According to 
 a second, he swam off just as the ship blew up. 
 A Proven9al by birth, he was a near relative of 
 the famous Marshal Massena, "the spoilt child 
 of victory," of whom in earlier years he had seen 
 a good deal, and whom he was said to resemble in 
 appearance and his rough-and-ready ways. Two 
 other men that Admiral Villeneuve could rely on 
 in an emergency, were Captains Gourrege of the 
 "Aigle" and Maistral of the "Neptune." The 
 former was a rough-and-ready old Breton mer- 
 cantile skipper, one of those brought into the 
 French Navy at the Revolution in place of emigre 
 officers of the old regime, to command on the 
 quarter-deck in the " National " marine. Maistral, 
 on the other hand, like Villeneuve, Magon, and 
 Cosmao, had been once a dashing young wearer 
 of the Bleu de Roi, and like them also had been 
 half a score of times under fire before he was out 
 of his teens. Captain Lucas of the *'Redoutable" 
 was a painstaking and determined officer of humble 
 origin, with a service experience that went back to 
 the days of the Bailli de Suffren. Capable men, 
 too, for fighting work were Hubert of the " In- 
 domptable" and Baudoin of the "Fougueux."^ 
 
 1 A considerable number of the French officers who fought at 
 Trafalgar are represented by direct descendants or collaterally in the 
 French Navy of to-day. There are four Villeneuves, one of whom 
 
ADMIRAL GRAVINA'S RECORD 77 
 
 This is what is on record about those to whom 
 was entrusted the honour of the Spanish flag. In 
 the Spanish Navy no officer's reputation stood 
 higher than that of Don Federico Gravina, a 
 courtly Caballero of Old Spain, a grandee of the 
 First Class, with the right to put his hat on in 
 the Presence Chamber of the Catholic King. He 
 was a man of forty-nine, and had been a sailor 
 since he was twelve. Gravina's experiences of 
 war service went back to the days of the great 
 siege of Gibraltar, where he had commanded one 
 of the " invulnerable " battering ships in the final 
 grand attack. The "San Christoval," however, 
 Uke her consorts, proved unable to stand red-hot 
 shot, and after the catastrophe Gravina was pro- 
 moted from his burned-out vessel to the great 
 "Santisima Trinidad," in which he was present 
 at the fight between Lord Howe's " Grand Fleet" 
 and the Franco-Spanish Armada off Cape Spartel 
 in 1782. As second-in-command of the Spanish 
 fleet that co-operated with Lord Hood's fleet in 
 occupying Toulon in 1793, Gravina had received 
 the special thanks of his sovereign, and through- 
 out the war since then he had been in continuous 
 employment in various capacities, mostly diplo- 
 matic. As a naval leader his reputation stood 
 
 was in the fleet that visited Portsmouth last summer and attended 
 the Guildhall luncheon^ on the way to which he paid a chivalrous 
 salute to the Nelson monument. Among other officers there are 
 three Dumanoirs, two Lucases, one Cosmao Kerjulien, one Hubert, 
 one Infernet, all serving afloat at the present time. 
 
78 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 very high indeed in official circles throughout 
 France and Spain. He was said to have owed 
 his present command to Napoleon's suggestion. 
 
 Vice-Admiral Alava, who held the post of 
 Spanish second-in-command, had had thirty-nine 
 years' service in the navy. He was in his fifty- 
 second year. Like Gravina, he had seen service at 
 the siege of Gibraltar, where he had command of 
 a frigate, and his fame as a sea-officer stood among 
 his countrymen second only to that of Gravina 
 himself. The Spanish third-in-command, Rear- 
 Admiral Don Baltazar Hidalgo Cisneros, an officer 
 of thirty-five years' standing in the service, had 
 commanded the " San Pablo " in the battle off Cape 
 St. Vincent. 
 
 To support the flag were some of Spain's best 
 captains ; in particular, Churruca of the " San 
 Juan Nepomuceno," a member of a noble family 
 of Guipuscoa, and Galiano of the " Bahama," " in- 
 clito Galiano"; both high-spirited gentlemen of 
 the best Spanish type, and highly trained officers. 
 Don Cayetano Valdez, of a family that had for 
 centuries given many gallant sons to the Spanish 
 Marine, commanded the " Neptuno." He entered 
 the navy as " guardia marina," at the age of thir- 
 teen, and had served afloat almost continuously 
 ever since. Like " Va de Bon Cceur " Cosmao in 
 the French Fleet, no officer was more personally 
 popular on the Spanish side than Valdez ; for one 
 incident of his career ui particular, which all Spain 
 
VALDEZ OF THE "PELAYO" 
 
 79 
 
 had heard of. No Spaniard could forget how 
 Valdez, in the battle off Cape St. Vincent, in his 
 ship, the " Pelayo," had gone to the rescue of the 
 great "Santisima Trinidad," when in extreme peril. 
 "Salvemos al Trinidad 6 perez- 
 camos todos ! " were the words 
 with which Valdez addressed his 
 men as the "Pelayo" headed 
 round to succour the " Glory of 
 Spain " ; to which his brave fellows 
 responded with a thundering shout 
 of "Viva el Rey!"^ Valdez was 
 a young man for a captain — under 
 thirty-five. Alcedo of the " Mon- 
 tanez " and Pareja of the " Argo- 
 nauta," the last-named officer, Uke 
 Valdez, belonging to one of the 
 most distinguished naval families 
 of Old Spain,^ and the two flag- 
 captains — Don Antonio Escano, 
 Admiral Gravina's right - hand 
 man in the "Principe de As- 
 turias," and Don Jos^ Gardoqui 
 of the " Santa Ana," Alava's flag- 
 captain — were also highly trained 
 men, of mark in the Spanish Navy 
 for services rendered in action. 
 
 * A picture of the exploit was specially painted for the King of 
 Spain. It is now in the naval gallery at Madrid. 
 
 2 He was a descendant of Philip IV's admiral, Don Adrian Pulido 
 Pareja, whose portrait by Velasquez is one of the glories of our 
 National Gallery. 
 
 CAPTAIN 
 
 SPANISH NAVY, 
 1805 
 
80 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 One of Gravina's captains was an Irishman, born 
 in Ireland of Irish parents, Don Enrique (Henry) 
 Macdonell, in command of the three-decker 
 " Rayo." Leaving Ireland as a boy of sixteen, at 
 the time of the European coalition against Great 
 Britain during the American War, in order to 
 take arms against England, Macdonell had first 
 held a commission in the Regimiento de Hibernia, 
 then at the siege of Gibraltar, a corps originally 
 raised from Jacobite refugees to Spain three- 
 quarters of a century before. Tiring of the 
 barrack-square after the war, he got himself trans- 
 ferred to the Spanish Navy, from which he had 
 retired as a captain some time previously. Hear- 
 ing of Gravina's plight for officers. Commodore 
 Macdonell volunteered his services, and so he came 
 to be in command on board the *' Rayo." 
 
 Among the officers of lower rank in the Spanish 
 Trafalgar fleet were to be found representatives of 
 many a family that, in the days when Spain was 
 in her prime, had done something towards making 
 history — a Bobadilla, a Castanos, a Francis Xavier 
 de UUoa, a Medina Sidonia, a Pedro Nunez, besides 
 Calderons, and Sotomayers and Mendozas, and a 
 Manuel Diaz. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 THE NIGHT BEFORE THE BATTLE 
 
 AT six on the morning of the 19th the "Bucen- 
 -^ taure " ran up the signal, " Make sail and 
 proceed." 
 
 The weather was perfect, brilliantly fine; but 
 the wind was light, and having to move out in 
 sailing-ship fashion, one vessel at a time, made the 
 process of getting the whole fleet clear a lengthy 
 one. Cadiz harbour was not an easy place to get 
 out of, owing to the cross-currents, certain reefs, 
 and the set of the tides. Not many years before 
 it had taken a smarter French fleet than the 
 present one, and comprising fewer ships, three 
 whole days to get to sea. By midday, indeed, 
 only nine of Villeneuve's ships were outside ; and 
 after that the wind died away to almost a dead 
 calm. That in itself was not an auspicious open- 
 ing for the Combined Fleet. They could see 
 meanwhile the British look-out frigates, busily 
 signalling the news along the chain of ships that 
 stretched away across the horizon to the main 
 British Fleet out of sight. The ships that got out 
 
 G 81 
 
82 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 stood along the coast to northward for a short 
 distance, and then dropped anchor to wait for the 
 rest. 
 
 All could see what the British frigates were 
 doing ; and all were well aware of what it meant. 
 
 Within two hours of the opening move by the 
 Combined Fleet on Saturday morning, it was 
 known in Nelson's fleet, fifty miles away. At six 
 that morning the ships at Cadiz were first observed 
 hoisting topsails, and the British look-out ships 
 closed in nearer. Then they were seen unmooring 
 and beginning to drift down towards the open sea/ 
 Blackwood, the captain of the "Euryalus," in 
 command of the frigates, waited to assure himself 
 that the move was general. That made clear, the 
 signal -flags, which had been lying on deck, bent 
 to the halyards, went swiftly up. They made 
 "No. 390" in the signal-book: meaning — "The 
 enemy's ships are coming out of port." The 
 message was passed to the main fleet along the 
 line of " repeating " ships which for the past three 
 weeks had been cruising to windward, waiting for 
 that moment. One beyond the other they stretched 
 away across the horizon to westward, each ship 
 
 ^ " The morning of the 19th of October," says Midshipman Hercules 
 Robinson of the *' Euryalus," ''saw us so close to Cadiz as to see the 
 ripple of the beach and catch the morning fragrance which came out 
 of the land, and then as the sun rose over the Trocadero with what joy 
 we saw the fleet inside let fall and hoist their topsails and one after 
 another slowly emerge from the harbour mouth.'' 
 
KEEPING NELSON IN TOUCH 83 
 
 keeping just within signalling distance — from mast- 
 head to masthead — of the next to her ; all together 
 linking Blackwood to Nelson as by a chain or line 
 of telegraph posts. The message was sent off at 
 twenty minutes past seven : it was received on 
 board the "Victory" before half-past nine. 
 
 At eleven the " Euryalus " signalled to the fleet: 
 " Nineteen under sail. All the rest have topyards 
 hoisted except Spanish rear-admiral and one line- 
 of-battle ship." Following on that the message was 
 sent : *' Little wind in harbour, two of the enemy 
 are at anchor." At noon Blackwood signalled: 
 " Notwithstanding httle wind, Enemy persevere to 
 get outward, the rest except one line ready yards 
 hoisted." Just before two Blackwood signalled 
 again, "Enemy persevering to work outward. 
 Seven of line already without and two frigates." 
 
 Captain Blackwood himself, during the forenoon, 
 sat down in his cabin and wrote a letter to his wife, 
 or, rather, began it, for he had not time then to 
 pen more than the opening sentences 
 
 " What think you, my own dearest love ? At 
 this moment the enemy are coming out and as if 
 determined to have a fair fight; all night they 
 have been making signals, and morning showed 
 them to be getting under sail. They have 34 sail 
 of the Line, and five frigates. Lord Nelson has 
 but 27 sail of the Line with him, the rest are 
 at Gibraltar getting water. Not that he has not 
 enough to bring them to close action, but I want 
 
84 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 him to have so many as to make this the most 
 decisive battle that was ever fought, and which 
 may bring us lasting peace, and all its blessings. 
 Within two hours, though our fleet was sixteen 
 leagues off, I have let Lord Nelson know of their 
 coming out, and have been enabled to send a 
 vessel to Gibraltar, which will bring Admiral 
 Louis and the ships there. At this moment 
 (happy sight ! ) we are within four miles of the 
 enemy, and talking to Lord Nelson by means of 
 Sir H. Popham's signals, though so distant, but 
 reached along by the rest of the frigates of the 
 squadron. You see, dearest, I have time to write to 
 you and to assure you that to the latest moment of 
 my breath, I shall be as much attached to you as 
 man can be. It is odd how I have been dreaming 
 all night of carrying home despatches. God send 
 me such good luck ! The day is fine, and the sight 
 magnificently beautiful. I expect before this hour 
 to-morrow to carry General Decres on board the 
 Victory in my barge, which I have just painted 
 nicely for him."^ 
 
 Every effort was made during Saturday evening 
 and the first part of the night to tow or warp as 
 
 * According to the London newspapers, brought by one of the last- 
 joined ships, the Minister of Marine himself, who was well known to be 
 a hard fighting officer, had superseded Admiral Villeneuve. So, too, 
 apparently. Nelson thought. '' I would give a good deal," he had said, 
 a day or two before, ''for a copy of the French Admiral's orders. 
 Report says it is Decres, as he fought the ' Guillaume Tell ' well." 
 
CAITAIN r.I.ACKWOOD OK THF. "EUKYAl.US 
 
 NELSON 
 
 [From the last portrait of him ever made— at Merton, September 5th, 1805, 
 nine days before he left England] 
 
 To face p. 84 
 
HALF CADIZ ON ITS KNERS 85 
 
 many as possible of the ships in Cadiz harbour 
 down towards the sea, so as to catch the early 
 morning breeze off the land when it came. In that 
 they were successful. Towards morning on the 
 20th — Sunday — the breeze freshened, coming 
 briskly from the south-east. Taking advantage 
 of it, Admiral Villeneuve was able to work his 
 entire fleet out, with the result that all were at sea 
 and under sail by noon. 
 
 Crowds of people watched the departure ; lining 
 the walls of Cadiz at every point whence a view of 
 the harbour might be obtained. Every church in 
 the city was thronged all day with anxious wor- 
 shippers, fathers and mothers and sisters, most of 
 them in teafs. At the Iglesia del Carmen, in 
 particular, the old mariners' church of Cadiz, the 
 crowds were so great that the people had to be 
 admitted in relays. Archbishop Utrera himself, 
 "Dignisimo Obispo de Cadiz y Alege^iras" pleaded 
 with Heaven all day for the safety of their dear 
 ones on board ship, on his knees before the High 
 Altar of the Oratorio de San Felipe Neri. 
 
 Fortune at the outset seemed to favour the 
 Combined Fleet. Hardly had they got clear 
 of the bay when the wind veered to the south- 
 west, blowing right into the harbour, and the 
 weather came on thick and squally, with drizzling 
 rain. Admiral Villeneuve, being now fairly at sea, 
 signalled for the fleet to tack to the southward 
 and form in five columns, line ahead. Towards 
 
86 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 four in the afternoon the weather cleared up and 
 the wind veered again to the north-west. It was, 
 however, very hght, and the progress of the fleet 
 was in consequence very slow. The Combined 
 Fleet was now in the two separate divisions 
 designated in Villeneuve's " Line of Battle." The 
 larger division, consisting of twenty-one sail of 
 the line, formed the Corps de bataille under Ad- 
 miral Villeneuve's direct supervision. It was sub- 
 divided into three squadrons of seven ships each, 
 of which the centre was led by Villeneuve himself, 
 the van by Vice- Admiral Alava, and the rear by 
 Rear- Admiral Dumanoir. The second division, 
 the Squadron of Observation, or Corps de reserve^ 
 was in two squadrons of six ships each ; the first 
 under the orders of Admiral Gravina, the second 
 under Rear- Admiral Magon. 
 
 As the Combined Fleet came out during Sun- 
 day forenoon, its composition and numbers were 
 reported to Nelson by the watching frigates. Ville- 
 neuve, owing to circumstances, was not so well 
 served. 
 
 Nothing was seen of the main British Fleet; 
 nothing whatever, beyond two of those ever- 
 present frigates on the horizon, the consorts of 
 the " Euryalus " — Nelson's watch - dogs. They 
 were chased, but they merely moved off else- 
 where and maintained their watch as before. 
 Admiral Villeneuve only got his first reliable 
 news of the strength of the British Fleet about 
 
VILLENEUVE SENDS HIS LAST DESPATCH 87 
 
 eight o'clock on Sunday evening, when the 
 "Argus," a brig, came alongside the "Bucen- 
 taure" with a message from Gravina that the 
 "Achille" had just reported eighteen sail of the 
 line away to the south -south -west. That was 
 just as Villeneuve was sitting down in the cabin 
 of the " Bucentaure " to finish a despatch to the 
 Minister of Marine in Paris begun in the fore- 
 noon. "They have signalled to me," he wrote, 
 " that eighteen of the enemy are in sight. ... In 
 leaving port I have only consulted my anxious 
 desire to conform to the wishes of His Majesty, 
 and to do everything in my power to remove that 
 feeling of dissatisfaction with which he has re- 
 garded the events of my previous cruise." ["Je 
 n'ai consults dans ce depart, que le d^sir ardent 
 de me conformer aux intentions de Sa Majeste 
 et de faire tons mes efforts pour detruire les 
 m^contentments dont elle a ^te penetree des ev^ne- 
 ments de la derni^re campagne."] He was just 
 ending his despatch and other letters, to be sent 
 into Cadiz that night, when, between eight and 
 nine o'clock, one of his frigates, the "Themis," 
 brought in the report that, as far as could be 
 made out, the enemy numbered twenty sail. 
 
 With nightfall, as it would seem, a general feel- 
 ing of unrest and anxiety, almost, indeed, of 
 nervousness, set in throughout the Combined 
 Fleet. That they were being kept closely under 
 observation, in spite of the darkness, all were but 
 
88 THE EKEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 too well aware. For the past two hours, ever 
 since it became dark, they had both heard and 
 seen signals, "we cannot understand," as Ville- 
 neuve put it. They were the signals of the British 
 look-out ships. "Lights," says a French officer, 
 "were continuously seen at various points of the 
 horizon. They were the signals of the English 
 Fleet and the look-out ships that felt the way for 
 them. The reports of cannon, repeated from time 
 to time, and blue lights casting a bright and sud- 
 den glare in the midst of profound darkness, were 
 soon added to the earlier signals, and convinced 
 Admiral Villeneuve that he would vainly attempt 
 to conceal his course from his active foes." 
 
 Then came a sudden alarm. A little after nine 
 o'clock Admiral Gravina, who, with the "Squadron 
 of Observation," was ahead of the battle-squadron, 
 suddenly flashed a signal that the enemy were "less 
 than two miles off." It seemed impossible. Surely 
 there was an error in signalling? Admiral Ville- 
 neuve could hardly credit it ; but at the same time. 
 Nelson's night attack at the Nile, his own "souvenir 
 d'Aboukir," came to mind. To meet the emergency 
 he made the general signal for the whole fleet to 
 form in line of battle at once, without regard to 
 the stations of individual ships. The two wind- 
 ward columns of the battle squadron were to drop 
 to leeward and form on the third column. At the 
 same time the Squadron of Observation would form 
 up ahead of the line. A few seconds later the 
 
'^ CLEAR FOR ACTION!" 
 
 89 
 
 signal lamps of the "Bucentaure" again flashed 
 out. It was the order, "General Quarters!" or, 
 " Clear for action ! " — " Branle-bas-de-combat ! " as 
 the French Navy called it — replied to on board 
 each ship by the drums striking up the sharp rantan 
 
 OK BOARD THE " REDOUTABLE : FRENCH 36-POUNDER 
 ON THE LOWER DECK 
 
 of the Generale, with its opening ruffle, ''Prend 
 ton sac ! — Prend ton sac ! — Prend ton sac / " as the 
 French put words to the tune. 
 
 Forming line in the dark, however, was not an 
 easy task, and it was not effected satisfactorily. 
 As one French captain said, there was a good deal 
 too much noise and hailing, while the ships 
 groped about here and there, trying to keep clear 
 of one another and find a berth for themselves. 
 
90 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 An admirable personal narrative of Sunday's 
 doings, with some incidents that passed in the 
 Combined Fleet on the night before the battle, 
 was sent to Admiral Decres at the Ministry of 
 Marine by one of the French captains, Lucas of 
 the " Redoutable." "On the 28th Vendemiaire 
 An XIV (20th October, 1805)' the Combmed Fleet 
 got under sail to leave Cadiz Bay. The wind was 
 southerly; light at first, afterwards fresh. The fleet 
 comprised thirty-three sail of the Line, of which 
 eighteen were French, fifteen Spanish ; with five 
 frigates and two brigs, French. We were hardly 
 outside when the wind shifted to the south-west and 
 came on to blow strong. The admiral then ordered 
 the fleet to reef sail, which was done, though 
 some of the Spanish ships were so slow over it that 
 they fell considerably to leeward. Some time was 
 lost by that, but at length all worked back again, 
 and then the fleet stood on, in no regular for- 
 mation, heading to the west-north-west. The 
 Redoutable was next astern to the Bucentaure, 
 and a short distance off, when, towards noon, the 
 flagship suddenly signalled * Man overboard I ' I 
 brought to at once, lowered a boat, picked the man 
 up, and regained my station. 
 
 " An hour after midday the wind shifted to the 
 
 1 The last day of December, 1806 (10th Nivose An XIV), saw the 
 last of the Revolution Calendar, invented by Fabre d'Eglantine and 
 Gilbert Romme. By order of Napoleon the Gregorian Calendar was 
 restored on and after the 1st of January, 1806. 
 
HOW CAPTAIN LUCAS SPENT THE NIGHT 91 
 
 west, and the fleet went about all together. As 
 soon as that was done, the Bucentaure signalled 
 for the battle-squadron to form in three columns 
 on the starboard tack, flagships in the centre of 
 their divisions. In this order of sailing the 
 Redoutable, as leader {chef de file) of the first 
 division, should have been at the head of her 
 column, and I manoeuvred the ship to take that 
 post.^ All the afternoon, however, was spent 
 without the fleet being able to get into the forma- 
 tion designated, although the admiral kept signal- 
 ling repeatedly to ships to take station. 
 
 "Towards seven in the evening the wind went 
 down a little ; but the sea was still rough, with a 
 swell setting in from the south-west. The fleet 
 was now steering to the south-south-west. I 
 signalled at this time to the admiral that I could 
 make out a fleet or squadron of the enemy to 
 windward. They did not, to me, seem very far 
 off. The ships of this squadron, as the evening 
 went on, made a great many signals, showing for 
 their purpose quite a remarkable display of coloured 
 fires. 
 
 " About nine o'clock at night the flagship made 
 
 * According to the squadronal division of the French Fleet, the 
 '^ Redoutable " belonged to Admiral Villeneuve's own group, which 
 comprised the *' Bucentaure," " Neptune," " Redoutable," ^' Indomp- 
 table," and " Heros." Dumanoir's group comprised the " Formidable," 
 "Scipion," "Intrepide," "Duguay Trouin," and ''Mont Blanc." 
 Magon's group was formed of the " Alge9iras," " Achille," " Argo- 
 nauta,'' " Aigle," and " Fougueux,'^ the fastest of the French ships ; 
 with the "Pluton," "Swiftsure," and "Berwick" added. 
 
92 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 the general signal to the fleet to form in the order 
 of battle at once {promptement), without regard to 
 the stations of individual ships. To carry out this 
 evolution those ships most to leeward ought to 
 have shown a light at each masthead, so as to 
 mark their positions. Whether this was done I do 
 not know: at any rate 1 was unable to see such 
 lights. At that moment, indeed, we were all 
 widely scattered. The ships of the battle squadron 
 and those of the squadron of observation were all 
 mixed up. Another cause of confusion was this. 
 Nearly all the ships had answered the admiral's 
 signals with flares, which made it impossible to tell 
 which was the flagship. All I could do was to 
 follow the motions of other ships near me which 
 were closing on some to leeward. 
 
 "Towards eleven I discovered myself close to 
 Admiral Gravina, who, with four or five ships, was 
 beginning to form his own line of battle. I was 
 challenged and our name demanded, whereupon 
 the Spanish admiral ordered me to take post in his 
 line. I asked leave to lead it and he assented, 
 whereupon I stood into station. The wind was 
 in direction and force as before, and we were all 
 still on the starboard tack. 
 
 " The whole fleet was at this time cleared for 
 action, in accordance with orders signalled from 
 the Bucentaure earher in the night. In the 
 Redoutable we had, however, cleared for action 
 immediately after leaving Cadiz, and everything 
 
A REPORT FROM GRAVINA'S FLAGSHIP 93 
 
 had been kept since in readiness to go to quarters 
 instantly. With the certainty of a battle next 
 day, I retained but few men on deck during the 
 night. I sent the greater number of the officers 
 and crew to he down, so that they might be as 
 fresh as possible for the approaching fight." 
 
 A report from Admiral Gravina's flagship also 
 describes the doings of Sunday and Sunday night. 
 " On the morning of the 19th some of the French 
 and Spanish set sail in obedience to the signal 
 made by Admiral Villeneuve. In consequence, 
 however, of the wind shifting to the S.E., we 
 could not all succeed in doing so until the 20th, 
 when the wind got round again to the E.S.E. 
 Scarcely was the Combined Fleet clear of the 
 harbour mouth, when the wind came to S.S.E., 
 blowing so strongly, and with such a threaten- 
 ing appearance, that one of the first signals 
 made by the Bucentaur, the flagship of Admiral 
 Villeneuve, was to set double-reefed topsails. 
 This change of wind also necessarily caused 
 a considerable dispersal of the fleet, until two 
 o'clock in the afternoon. Then, fortunately, 
 the wind veered to the S.E., and the horizon be- 
 coming clear and unobscured, signal was made to 
 form five columns, and afterwards for all to close. 
 An advanced frigate signalled eighteen sail of the 
 enemy in sight, in consequence of which news 
 we cleared for Action, and sailed in fighting order. 
 At three we all tacked and stood for the Straits, 
 
94 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 still preserving the same disposition of five 
 Columns in w^hich we had been before the last 
 evolution. After having so done, we descried 
 four of the Enemy's Frigates, to which, by order of 
 Admiral Villeneuve, we gave chase. Signal was 
 made, at the same time, from our ship, for the 
 Achille, Alge^iras, and San Juan, attached to 
 the 'Squadron of Observation,' to reinforce the 
 ships sent in chase. They had orders to rejoin the 
 main body of the Fleet before nightfall. At half- 
 past six o'clock a French ship informed us that 
 they had made out eighteen of the enemy, all in 
 line of battle ; and shortly afterwards we ourselves 
 began to observe, at no great distance, gleams of 
 light. They could only be from the enemy's 
 frigates, which were stationed midway between 
 the two fleets. At nine o'clock the English 
 squadron made signals by firing guns, and, from 
 the interval which elapsed between the flash and 
 report, they must have been about two miles from 
 us. We informed the French Admiral by signal- 
 lanterns that it was expedient to lose no time in 
 forming line of battle on the leeward ships, on 
 which an order to that effect was immediately 
 given by the Commander-in-Chief. In this situa- 
 tion we beheld the dawn of the 21st, with the 
 Enemy in sight, consisting of twenty-eight Ships — 
 eight of which were three-deckers — all to wind- 
 ward of us, and in Line of Battle on the opposite 
 tack." 
 
WHAT THE BRITISH FRIGATES SAW 95 
 
 On the British side, all through that Sunday 
 night, Blackwood in the " Euryalus," with Nelson's 
 frigate squadron and two or three men-of-war 
 from the main fleet, kept watch on the enemy 
 hour after hour ; sailing at about half-gunshot dis- 
 tance from them most of the time, and to wind- 
 ward. The task was one that the enemy's lights, 
 showing " like a well lit up street " six miles long, 
 rendered not difficult ; although at times some of 
 the British ships got rather close. This is from a 
 British officer in one of the watching ships. " Our 
 situation on board the 'Defence' during the 
 whole night after the enemy had come without 
 their harbour, was both critical and interesting. 
 The absence of the moon, and the cloudy state of 
 the weather, rendered it exceedingly dark, so that 
 we came very near the Combined Fleet without 
 their being able to discern us. While we con- 
 cealed every light, they continued to exhibit such 
 profusions of theirs, and to make night signals in 
 such abundance, that we seemed at times in the 
 jaws of a mighty host ready to swallow us up. 
 We, however, felt no alarm, being confident that 
 we could fight our way or fly, as occasion required. 
 The former was certainly more congenial to all our 
 feelings: yet, in the face of the enemy's whole fleet, 
 we did not regret that our ship was a fast sailer." 
 
 On board the " Euryalus "^ they had the con- 
 
 * There could hardly perhaps have been an apter name for Black- 
 wood's dashing frigate on the present occasion than that she bore^ 
 
96 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 sciousness of duty well done. They had done 
 all that was possible ; they could leave the rest to 
 the course of events. " For two days," said Mid- 
 shipman Hercules Robinson, of the "Euryalus," 
 "there was not a movement that we did not 
 communicate, till I thought that Blackwood who 
 gave the orders, and Bruce our signal mid, and 
 Soper our signalman, who executed them, must 
 have died of it ; and when we had brought the 
 two fleets fairly together, we took our place 
 between the two lines of lights, as a cab might 
 in Regent Street, the watch was called, and 
 Blackwood turned in quietly to wait for the 
 morning." 
 
 commemorating as it did the gallant '' Dardan Boy " of the days of 
 old King Priam and the ten years' war of Troy : — 
 
 *' To watch the movements of the Daunian host. 
 With him '' Euryalus '' sustains the post : 
 No lovelier mien adornM the ranks of Troy, 
 And beardless bloom yet graced the gallant boy ; 
 Though few the seasons of his youthful life. 
 As yet a novice in the martial strife, 
 'Twas his, with beauty, valour's gifts to share, 
 A soul heroic as his form was fair." 
 
 The parallel may be pressed yet closer home. No smarter or more 
 handsome British frigate, perhaps, ever sailed the seas than Captain 
 Blackwood's '^ flyer," the '' Euryalus,'^ now, too, with her first fight 
 in front of her ; nor was it long since that bright June Monday 
 morning when the pride of Buckler's Hard slid down the ways to the 
 sound of cheering and merry music into the placid waters of the 
 Beaulieu River, carrying with her the best workmanship that old 
 Henry Adams' Hampshire "maties" could put into the beautiful 
 craft. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 NELSON IN SIGHT— MONDAY MORNING 
 
 ON the side of the Combined Fleet, the morning 
 opened with the warning signal from the 
 frigate "Hermione" at half- past six: "The 
 enemy in sight to windward." Admiral Villeneuve 
 replied by ordering the frigates to reconnoitre and 
 report the enemy's numbers. 
 
 At seven o'clock the French admiral repeated 
 his signals of the previous night: to form line 
 of battle on the starboard tack, and " Branle-bas- 
 de-combat ! " — " Clear for action I " On that, we 
 are told, the drums again struck up the rappel 
 and beat the Generale throughout the fleet ; the 
 captains on board most of the ships, when all had 
 been reported clear, going round the decks and 
 through the batteries, each attended by his first 
 lieutenant and suite, and preceded by the drums and 
 fifes, to be enthusiastically greeted with shouts and 
 cheers of " Vive I'Empereur ! " " Vive I'Armde ! " 
 "Vive le Commandant!" The sight of the 
 enemy, indeed, it is related, had a marvellous 
 effect on the spirits of everybody throughout the 
 
 H 97 
 
98 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 Combined Fleet. All the dull depression that 
 had hung like a nightmare so heavily over almost 
 everybody since the battle with Admiral Calder, 
 cleared off and vanished. A marked exaltation 
 of spirits took its place, with universal activity 
 and eagerness to come to close quarters with the 
 enemy. 
 
 They were, we know, equally jubilant in the 
 British Fleet. One officer writes how " the joyful 
 acclamations of the watch on deck . . . announced 
 that we were near the enemy, who were in line 
 under easy sail a few miles to leeward." " As the 
 day dawned," says another, " the horizon appeared 
 covered with ships. The whole force of the enemy 
 was discovered standing to the southward, distant 
 about nine miles, between us and the coast near 
 Trafalgar. I was awakened by the cheers of the 
 crew and by their rushing up the hatchways to get 
 a glimpse of the hostile fleet. The delight mani- 
 fested exceeded anything I ever witnessed ; sur- 
 passing even those gratulations when our native 
 cliffs are descried after a long period of distant 
 service." 
 
 Between ten minutes and a quarter past seven 
 the " Hermione " made her second signal : " The 
 enemy number twenty-seven sail of the line." 
 
 That was followed, at twenty minutes past seven, 
 by an order from Admiral Villeneuve for the fleet 
 
UNABLE TO RE-FORM LINE 99 
 
 to close up to a cable's interval between ships. 
 The Squadron of Observation were making every 
 effort to get in station. The leading ship of all 
 was now Admiral Gravina's flagship, the "Principe 
 de Asturias." 
 
 Then, once more. Admiral Villeneuve changed 
 his plans. At eight o'clock he ran up a signal for 
 the whole fleet to go about, ship by ship, each 
 wearing in her station. This would bring them 
 in line on the port tack. In the very light breeze 
 it was plainly impossible to reach the Straits of 
 Gibraltar without a battle; and, as a matter of 
 prudence, whichever way things might go, with 
 stormy weather also approaching, Villeneuve con- 
 sidered it advisable to have Cadiz harbour under 
 the lee for ships crippled in action to find a ready 
 shelter. 
 
 Reversing the order of the fleet, however, proved 
 hard work. What with the light wind and strong 
 ground swell, the unskilfulness of some of the officers 
 and want of sea-training among the men, it took over 
 two hours before anything in the nature of a line 
 could be re-formed. It was long past ten o'clock, 
 indeed, before an order of battle had been arrived 
 at, and then the new line was very irregular. Here 
 there were clumps of ships crowded together two 
 or three deep, and more or less abreast of one 
 another ; there, wide gaps with one or two ships 
 straggling across. The whole array sagged away 
 to leeward in the centre, in a deep curve or 
 crescent formation. 
 
100 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 A number of ships were out of station ; either 
 ahead or abreast of the consorts they should 
 have been sailing close astern of. Between the 
 "Neptuno," which now led the van, and the 
 " H^ros," there were nine ships crowded together ; 
 although five would, with ordinary intervals, have 
 been quite sufficient to fill the space. The 
 "H^ros," "Santisima Trinidad," and "Bucen- 
 taure," which followed, were in their proper places 
 and kept good station. The two next ships in 
 order, the "Neptune" (French) and "San Leandro," 
 were out of their places and to leeward. Then 
 came the " Redoutable," which at the last pushed 
 up on her own account to " second " the " Bucen- 
 taure." Again there was a gap ; the " San Justo " 
 and " Indomptable " were out of their places and 
 to leeward. From the "Santa Ana" to the 
 "Argonauta," the next four kept a good line. 
 Then again, the "Montanez" and the "Argo- 
 nauta " were out of station and to leeward. The 
 five ships astern of all, if somewhat to leeward of 
 their proper places, kept a fair line; except the 
 " Achille," which had got crowded quite out and 
 sailed nearly abreast of the "San Ildefonso." 
 Admiral Gravina, in his flagship the " Principe de 
 Asturias," was in rear of all. 
 
 Now it was that a serious false move on the 
 enemy's side was made. "The squadron of 
 Gravina, which, as a squadron of observation, 
 
GRAVINA'S FALSE MOVE 101 
 
 ought to have kept its station to the windward of 
 the line, where it would have covered the centre. 
 Instead it moved to the rear to prolong the line, 
 without having been signalled to do so."^ Ap- 
 parently Gravina had independent authority in 
 some degree, as he acted on his own initiative. 
 Also, he paid no heed, later in the morning, 
 to a signal from Admiral Villeneuve desiring 
 him to get into his allotted station. Says Flag- 
 Captain Prigny in his official report, "At 11.30, 
 the breeze being light, a signal was made to 
 the Squadron of Observation (Gravina), which 
 was then in the rear, and was bearing away to 
 take station in the wake of the fleet, to keep 
 its luff, in order to be able to proceed to re- 
 inforce the centre of the line against the attack 
 of the enemy who was bearing down on it in two 
 columns." 
 
 Gravina's move upset the Commander-in-Chief's 
 plan of action, in which the presence of a compact 
 and powerful force to windward of the general 
 line at the outset, had been an essential feature. 
 To that end some of the smartest ships in the 
 Combined Fleet had been placed under Gravina's 
 orders. It deprived Villeneuve of the means he 
 had provided for making a counter move which 
 might have, at least, made success more costly to 
 the victors. 
 
 1 Report of the Court of Inquiry on Admiral Dumanoir. 
 
102 
 
 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 The Mgates were to leeward, distributed along 
 the hne to repeat signals : the " Hortense," abreast 
 of the " Bucentaure " ; the "Themis," abreast of 
 Gravina ; the " Rhin," abreast of the " Santa 
 Ana"; and the "Comeille" and "Hermione," 
 abreast respectively of Rear- Admirals Dumanoir 
 and Magon. 
 
 This, from all accounts, was the order that the 
 Combined Fleet had assumed, and in which it 
 found itself when firing began. Little was left 
 now, as will be seen, of the original "Line of 
 Battle " that Admiral Villeneuve elaborated before 
 he quitted Cadiz. 
 
 Ships. 
 
 Nationality. 
 
 Guns. 
 
 1. Neptuno 
 
 . Spanish 
 
 80 
 
 2. Scipion 
 
 French 
 
 74 
 
 3. Intr^pide . 
 
 i> 
 
 74 
 
 4. Formidable 
 
 „ . . . 
 
 80 
 
 5. Rayo . 
 
 Spanish 
 
 100 
 
 6. Duguay-Trouin 
 
 French 
 
 74 
 
 7. Mont Blanc 
 
 „ . . . 
 
 74 
 
 8. San Francisco dc 
 
 Asis 
 
 '1 Spanish 
 
 74 
 
 9. San Agustino 
 
 » . 
 
 74 
 
 10. Heros 
 
 French 
 
 74 
 
 11. Santisima . 
 Trinidad 
 
 1 Spanish 
 
 180 
 
 12. Bucentaure 
 
 French 
 
 80 
 
 IS. Neptune 
 
 ff . . . 
 
 80 
 
 14. Redoutable 
 
 if 
 
 74 
 
 15. San Leandro 
 
 Spanish 
 
 64 
 
 16. San Justo . 
 
 ,f , , , 
 
 74 
 
 17. Indomptable 
 
 French 
 
 80 
 
 18. Santa Ana . 
 
 Spanish 
 
 112 
 
A WIDE GAP IN THE CENTRE 
 
 103 
 
 Ships. 
 
 19. Fougueux . 
 
 20. Monarca 
 
 21. Pluton 
 
 22. AIge9iras 
 
 23. Bahama 
 
 24. Aigle . 
 
 25. Swiftsure 
 
 26. Argonaute . 
 
 27. Montanez . 
 
 28. Argonauta . 
 
 29. Berwick 
 
 30. San Juan Nepo 
 
 muceno 
 
 31. San Ildefonso 
 
 32. Achilla 
 
 33. Principe de As- 
 
 turias 
 
 Nationality. 
 
 Guns 
 
 . French 
 
 74 
 
 . Spanish 
 
 74 
 
 . French 
 
 74 
 
 f> 
 
 74 
 
 . Spanish 
 
 74 
 
 . French 
 
 74 
 
 „ 
 
 74 
 
 „ 
 
 74 
 
 . Spanish 
 
 74 
 
 „ 
 
 80 
 
 . French 
 
 74 
 
 ~ > Spanish 
 
 74 
 
 „ 
 
 74 
 
 French 
 
 74 
 
 \ Spanish 
 
 112 
 
 Throughout the morning both Villeneuve and 
 Gravina kept signalling incessantly to various 
 ships to get into station, and in the result at the 
 actual moment of opening fire things had improved 
 somewhat. The van, by carrying more sail, had 
 taken open order, and the ships elsewhere had 
 distributed themselves somewhat more evenly ; but 
 the line was still far from being regularly formed. 
 In the centre, there remained to the last a wide 
 gap astern of the " Bucentaure " ; some five of the 
 ships that should have been between the flagship 
 and the " Santa Ana " were out of station and to 
 leeward.^ 
 
 1 An officer of one of Nelson's ships, the " Conqueror/' gives us 
 incidentally a clear view of the tactical disposition of the enemy's 
 
J 04 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 Admiral Villeneuve, for his part, fully realized 
 what Nelson's advance in two columns meant to a 
 
 fleet, as it appeared to lookers-on from the British side ; suggesting at 
 the same time how it came ahout. 
 
 "The Combined Fleet, after veering from the starboard to the 
 larboard tack, gradually fell into the form of an irregular crescent, in 
 which they remained to the moment of attack. Many have considered 
 that the French Admiral intended this formation of the line of battle ; 
 but from the information I obtained after the action, connected with 
 some documents found on board the ' Bucentaure,' I believe it was the 
 intention to have formed a line ahead, consisting of twenty-one sail, 
 the supposed force of the British Fleet ; and a squadron of observation, 
 composed of twelve sail of the line, under Admiral Gravina, intended 
 to act according to circumstances after the British Fleet were engaged. 
 By waring together, the enemy's line became inverted, and the light 
 squadron, which had been advanced in the van on the starboard tack, 
 was left in the rear after waring, and the ships were subsequently 
 mingled with the rear of the main body. The wind being light, with 
 a heavy swell, and the fleet lying with their main topsails to the mast, 
 it was impossible for the ships to preserve their exact stations in the 
 line, consequently scarce any ship was immediately ahead or astern of 
 her second. The fleet had then the appearance, generally, of having 
 formed in two lines, thus : — 
 
 SO that the ships to leeward seemed to be opposite the space left be- 
 tween two in the weather-line. In the rear the line was in some places 
 trebled. . . . All these positions I believe to have been merely acci- 
 dental, and to accident alone I attribute the concave circle of the fleet, 
 or crescent line of battle. The wind shifted to the westward as the 
 morning advanced ; and, of course, the enemy's ships came up with the 
 wind, forming a bow-and-quarter line. The ships were therefore 
 obliged to edge away to keep in the wake of their leaders, and this 
 manoeuvre, from the lightness of the wind, the unmanageable state 
 of the ships in a heavy swell, and, we may add, the inexperience of 
 the enemy, not being performed with facility and dexterity, un- 
 designedly threw the combined fleets into a position perhaps the best 
 that could have been planned had it been supported by the skilful 
 manoeuvring of individual ships and with efficient practice in gunnery.'' 
 
HOW THE BRITISH FLEET CAME ON 105 
 
 fleet situated and arranged as his : but in the cir- 
 cumstances he could do little beyond awaiting 
 attack. The French admiral, when a prisoner on 
 board the " Euryalus " three or four days after the 
 battle, said, in conversation with Captain Black- 
 wood, " he never saw anything like the irresistible 
 line of our ships. That of the ' Victory,' sup- 
 ported by the ' Neptune ' and ' T^meraire,' was 
 what he could not have formed any judgment of."^ 
 
 The British Fleet came on, approximately in 
 this order: advancing in two separate divisions, 
 or columns, about a mile apart. They were head- 
 ing: Nelson's column for about the tenth or twelfth 
 ship from the van of the Combined Fleet ; Colling- 
 wood's column almost directly for the centre. 
 WEATHER DIVISION. 
 
 Ships. 
 
 Guns. 
 
 Commanders. 
 Vice-Admiral Lord Viscount 
 
 Victory . 
 
 100 
 
 Nelson. 
 Captain T. M. Hardy. 
 
 T^meraire 
 
 98 
 
 Eliab Harvey. 
 
 Neptune 2 
 
 98 
 
 T. F. Fremantle. 
 
 Leviathan 
 
 74 
 
 H. W. Bayntun. 
 
 1 The French have ever since paid to Nelson's mode of attack 
 at Trafalgar the highest tribute. '^On y lit la defaite presque in- 
 evitable de toute flotte qui n'opposera a cette attaque d'un genre 
 nouveau que les moyens de defense ordinaires. En considerant Tetat 
 de la science navale a cette epoque^ on ne peut guere s'empecher 
 de penser, avec les Anglais, que cette attaque etait irresistible." 
 
 2 There were three ^' Neptunes " at Trafalgar : a British 98-gun 
 ship, a French 80, and a Spanish 74, and their several fates ex- 
 emplified the fortune of the day. The last was taken, the second fled, 
 the first remained among the victors of the " stricken field " ; bearing 
 out, moreover, the point of the lines from Virgil that the master 
 carver of Deptford Dockyard — so an old newspaper paragraph relates — 
 
106 
 
 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 Names. 
 
 Guns. 
 
 Commanders. 
 
 Conqueror 
 
 74 
 
 Israel Pellew. 
 f Rear -Admiral the Earl of 
 
 Britannia 
 
 100 
 
 4 Northesk. 
 
 [ Capt. Chas. BuUen. 
 
 Agamemnon 
 
 64 
 
 Sir Edward Berry. 
 
 Ajax 
 
 74 
 
 Lieut. J. Pilfold (acting). 
 
 Orion 
 
 74 
 
 Edw. Codrington. 
 
 Minotaur 
 
 74 
 
 C. J. M. Mansfield. 
 
 Spartiate 
 
 74 
 
 Sir F. Laforey, Bart. 
 
 Africa . 
 
 64 
 
 Henry Digby. 
 
 
 LEE DIVISION. 
 
 Royal Sovereign 
 
 100 
 
 / Vice-Admiral Collingwood. 
 \ Capt. E. Rotherham. 
 
 Belleisle 
 
 74 
 
 William Hargood. 
 
 Mars 
 
 74 
 
 George Duff. 
 
 Tonnant 
 
 80 
 
 Charles Tyler. 
 
 Bellerophon 
 
 74 
 
 John Cooke. 
 
 Colossus . 
 
 74 
 
 J. N. Morris. 
 
 Achille . 
 
 74 
 
 Richard King. 
 
 Dreadnought 
 
 98 
 
 J. Conn. 
 
 Polyphemus 
 
 64 
 
 Robert Redmill. 
 
 Revenge 
 
 74 
 
 R. Moorsom. 
 
 Swiftsure 
 
 74 
 
 W. G. Rutherford. 
 
 Defiance 
 
 74 
 
 P. C. Durham. 
 
 Thunderer 
 
 74 
 
 Lieut. J. Stockham (acting) 
 
 Defence 
 
 74 
 
 George Hope. 
 
 Prince . 
 
 98 
 
 R. Grindall. 
 
 cut beneath the effigy of the God of the Sea which the British 
 '' Neptune " at Trafalgar bore for figure-head : — 
 
 Non illi imperium pelagi^ ssevumque tridentem, 
 Sed mihi sorte datum. 
 
 The fate of the three " Neptunes *' is also recorded in this verse from 
 a letter written home after the battle by a sailor on board one of the 
 British men-of-war : — 
 
 The British " Neptune," as of yore, 
 
 Proved master of the day ; 
 The Spanish ''Neptune'' is no more. 
 The French one ran away. 
 
 There were also two '* Swiftsures " and two ''Achilles ** in the battle. 
 
Tasitum ofttu Sraufi FUet t&,2)AyligH. en. ike %i "cfOWifcS 
 
 ^^ V . ^ ^ ^ ^ 
 
 9 i 
 
 3'^Jbtiiion at ScClotk . ^ 
 
 .)"'Am(u>/i or ucChdi axViion 
 
 
 
 AthJlt # 
 
 '^ 
 
 
 ipanuk tcUe* 
 
 PLAN OF THE ATTACK AT TRAFALGAR, ENCLOSED WITH 
 COLLINGWOOD's DESPATCHES 
 
 [The original, signed by Villeneuve's Flag-Captain Magendie, as answering for the 
 general disposition of the Combined Fleet at the outset of the battle, was found 
 among the papers of Lord Barham, First Lord of the Admiralty in November, 1805, 
 by Professor J. K. Laughton, r.n., who considers the position assigned to part at 
 least of the British Fleet, as "impossible." Compare Magendie's own map, sent to 
 the Ministry of Marine in Paris : Appendix C] 
 
108 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 Ranged along the two lines, to repeat signals 
 and assist crippled ships, were the British frigates 
 and small craft. 
 
 Ships. 
 
 Guns. 
 
 Commanders. 
 
 Euryalus 
 
 36 
 
 Hon. H. Blackwood. 
 
 Sirius . 
 
 36 
 
 William Prowse. 
 
 Phoebe 
 
 36 
 
 Hon. T. B. Capel. 
 
 Naiad 
 
 38 
 
 T. Dundas. 
 
 Pickle 
 
 8 
 
 Lieut. J. R. Lapenotiere 
 
 Entreprenante 
 
 12 
 
 Lieut. R. B. Young. 
 
 The van of Lord Nelson's line was the stronger 
 of the two. It comprised the three three-deckers, 
 " Victory," " Temeraire," and " Neptune" ; with the 
 old "Britannia," a first-rate, coming up a little 
 astern of them. ColUngwood, leading in the 
 " Royal Sovereign," had only two-deckers at hand 
 to support him ; although the three first of these, 
 the " Belleisle," " Mars," and " Tonnant " were ex- 
 ceptionally powerful ships. There were two three- 
 deckers in the British lee column, the "Dread- 
 nought" and the "Prince," both 98's; but both 
 were some way back. The " Prince," indeed, was 
 last ship of the whole fleet ; at the extreme rear 
 of CoUingwood's line. 
 
 Nelson had designedly concentrated his heavier 
 ships in the van of his own line, the better to 
 assist CoUingwood by threatening and holding 
 the enemy's van in check and preventing it, when 
 the British main attack was delivered by the lee 
 line, from doubling back to reinforce the centre 
 and rear. 
 
''A BEAUTIFUL SIGHT" 109 
 
 A British officer, Midshipman Badcock, of the 
 British "Neptune," afterwards wrote down his 
 recollection of the scene as the fleets neared. 
 " It was a beautiful sight," he says, " when their 
 line was completed, their broadsides turned to- 
 wards us, showing their iron teeth, and now and 
 then trying the range of a shot to ascertain the 
 distance, that they might, the moment we came 
 within point blank (about six hundred yards), open 
 their fire upon our van ships, — no doubt with the 
 hope of dismasting some of our leading vessels 
 before they could close and break their line. Some 
 of the enemy's ships were painted like ourselves, — 
 with double yellow sides, some with a broad single 
 red or yellow streak, others all black, and the 
 noble 'Santissima Trinidada' (138) with four 
 distinct lines of red, with a white ribbon between 
 them, made her seem to be a superb man-of-war, 
 which, indeed, she was. Her appearance was 
 imposing, her head splendidly ornamented with 
 a colossal group of figures, painted white, re- 
 presenting the Holy Trinity from which she took 
 her name." Vice- Admiral Alava's flagship, the 
 three-decker " Santa Ana," had an immense effigy 
 of the mother of the Virgin, garbed in red, for 
 her figure-head. As a badge of her nationality, 
 every French ship bore on her stem a lozenge- 
 shaped escutcheon, painted in three horizontal 
 bands of blue, white, and red. As in the British 
 Fleet, so in the Combined Fleet, several of the 
 
110 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 captains went into battle with extra colours lashed 
 in the rigging, in addition to ship's ensign at the 
 gaff. " Va de Bon Coeur " Cosmao of the " Pluton," 
 and Valdez of the " Neptuno," had each, we are 
 told, three colours flying. 
 
 Here is Admiral Villeneuve's account of events 
 on that morning [Compte Rendu: Appendix B]: — 
 
 "We sighted the enemy, as soon as it was 
 daylight, to the west, to the number of thirty- 
 three sail in all, and about two leagues and a half 
 off. Cape Trafalgar was made at the same time : 
 — to the east-south-east, about four leagues off. I 
 signalled to the frigates to reconnoitre the enemy 
 and to the fleet to form line of battle on the 
 starboard tack, officers in command leading their 
 divisions. Admiral Gravina simultaneously sig- 
 nalled to the Squadron of Observation to take post 
 in line at the head of the Combined Fleet. The 
 wind was very light from the west, with a heavy 
 swell on. 
 
 "The enemy's fleet, which was counted as 
 twenty-seven ships of the line, seemed to be head- 
 ing en masse for my rear squadron ; with the double 
 object, apparently, of engaging in greatly superior 
 force and on cutting the Combined Fleet off from 
 Cadiz. I therefore signalled for the fleet to wear 
 all together, and form line of battle in the reverse 
 order. My main idea was to secure the rear 
 squadron from being overpowered by the enemy's 
 
"NOT REALLY A DISADVANTAGE" 111 
 
 attack in force. Through this new disposition the 
 third squadron, under Rear- Admiral Dumanoir, 
 became the advance guard, with the Neptune, 
 commanded by Don Gaetano Valdez, as squadron 
 leader. I myself was in the centre of the fleet, in 
 the Bucentaure, and Vice- Admiral Alava followed 
 me with the second squadron. The Squadron of 
 Observation, under the orders of Admiral Gravina, 
 formed the rear guard, with, as second-in-com- 
 mand. Rear- Admiral Magon in the Alge^iras. 
 
 " The enemy continued to steer for us under all 
 sail, and at nine o'clock I was able to make out 
 that their fleet was formed in two columns, of 
 which one was heading directly for my flagship 
 and the other towards the rear of the Combined 
 Fleet. The wind was very light, the sea with 
 a swell on, owing to which our formation in line 
 was rendered very difficult to effect ; but in the 
 circumstances, considering the nature of the attack 
 that I foresaw the enemy were about to make, the 
 irregularity of our order did not seem a dis- 
 advantage, if each ship could have continued to 
 keep to the wind, and close upon the ship next 
 ahead. [" Notre formation s'effectuait avec beau- 
 coup de peine ; mais dans le genre d'attaque que 
 je prevoyais que I'ennemi allait nous faire, cette 
 irregularite meme dans notre ligne ne me paraissait 
 pas un inconvenient."] 
 
 " I made a signal to the leading ships to keep 
 as close as possible to the wind and to make all 
 
112 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 sail possible. At eleven o'clock I signalled to the 
 rear squadron to keep closer to the wind and 
 support the centre, which appeared to be the point 
 on which the enemy now appeared to be directing 
 his main attack. The enemy meanwhile came 
 steadily on, though the wind was very light. 
 They had their most powerful ships at the head of 
 the columns. That to the north had four three- 
 deckers." 
 
 We have also this from the report on the doings 
 of his ship at Trafalgar forwarded by Captain 
 Lucas of the "Redoutable" to the Ministry of 
 Marine : — 
 
 "On the 29th Vendemiaire, at daybreak, the 
 enemy were sighted to windward ; that is to the 
 west-south-west or south-west. The wind was 
 very light and there was still a heavy sea running. 
 The Combined Fleet was spread out from south- 
 east to north-west ; the ships being much scattered, 
 and not forming any apparent order. The enemy 
 also were not in any order, but their ships were 
 fast manoeuvring to close. Their force was now 
 reconnoitred and reported exactly. It comprised 
 twenty-seven sail of the line, of which seven were 
 three-deckers, besides four frigates and a schooner. 
 
 " About seven in the morning the admiral again 
 signalled for the whole fleet to form in line of 
 battle ' dans I'ordre naturel ' ; flag-officers at the 
 head of their divisions, on the starboard tack. I 
 

A PUSH FOR THE POST OF HONOUR 113 
 
 then left the place I had been in for the latter part 
 of the night and put about to rejoin the chief and 
 take post in the station assigned me in the line of 
 battle. I was, though, some distance from it, and 
 it was half-past eight before I succeeded in placing 
 my ship in her station. 
 
 "By nine o'clock the enemy had formed up in two 
 columns (pelotons). They were under all sail — they 
 even had studding sails out — and heading directly 
 for our fleet, before a light breeze from the west- 
 south-west. Admiral Villeneuve, being of the 
 opinion, apparently, that they were intending to 
 make an attack on our rear, tacked the fleet all 
 together. In this new order the Redoutable's 
 place was third ship astern of the flagship Bucen- 
 taure. I at once made every effort to take 
 station in the wake of the flagship, leaving be- 
 tween her and myself the space necessary for my 
 two immediate leaders. One of them was not 
 very far out of its station, but the other showed 
 no signs of trying to take post. That ship was at 
 some distance to leeward of the line, which was 
 now beginning to form ahead of the admiral. 
 
 " Towards eleven o'clock the two columns of the 
 enemy were drawing near us. One was led by a 
 three-decker, the Royal Sovereign, and headed 
 towards our present rear squadron. The other, 
 led by the Victory and the Temeraire, was 
 manoeuvring as if to attack our centre, the Corps 
 de bataille" 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE EAGLE OF THE "BUCENTAURE'' 
 
 AT half-past eleven Admiral Villeneuve ran up 
 - the general signal, "No. 242: — Open Fire!" 
 Three-quarters of an hour later, the " Bueentaure " 
 hoisted at the fore yet another signal, reiterating, 
 in effect, what Villeneuve had enjoined on his 
 captains at Cadiz : — " Tout capitaine qui n'est pas 
 dans le feu n'est pas a son poste ! " 
 
 As the first shot went off — it was fired by the 
 "Fougueux" (next astern of the "Santa Ana") and 
 aimed at the " Royal Sovereign," then a little more 
 than a quarter of a mile distant, the Combined 
 Fleet hoisted their colours in unison — " the drums 
 and fifes playing and the soldiers presenting arms." 
 Every Spanish ship, in addition, showed a large 
 wooden cross, swung from the boom-end over the 
 taffrail. The crosses had been solemnly blessed by 
 the various padres, or chaplains, on board ship, and 
 were meant as " fetic^as " to ward off disaster from 
 the vessels. 
 
 "At a quarter past eleven," says the captain 
 of the Redoutable (whose watch seems to have 
 
 1x4 
 
"PREPARED TO SACRIFICE MY SHIP" 115 
 
 been slow), "the ships of our rear division 
 began firing on the Royal Sovereign. That ship 
 in reply fired at us also, but from too far off, and I 
 did not fire back. I was all the time following in the 
 wake of the commander-in-chief, but there was 
 still a wide gap between him and myself which 
 had not been filled by the two ships that ought to 
 have been ahead of me. One of the two was now 
 too far to leeward to be able to take her post. The 
 other, which, I have already said, was not far off and 
 was coming up, turned aside to fire at the Royal 
 Sovereign, which had come nearly within half gun- 
 shot range of her. The column led by Admiral 
 Nelson was nearing our Corps de bataille, and the 
 two three-deckers that headed the British were 
 manoeuvring with the evident intention of isolating 
 and doubUng on the French admiral's flagship. 
 
 " One of the two was making to pass close astern 
 of the Bucentaure. I soon saw that, and being 
 now convinced that my two immediate leaders 
 were not going to take up their allotted posts, I 
 pushed on ahead and closed on the flagship, so 
 as, in effect, to keep the Redoutable's bowsprit 
 almost touching the tafFrail of the Bucentaure. 
 I made up my mind to sacrifice my ship, if neces- 
 sary, in defence of the flagship. So also I told my 
 officers and men, who answered me with shouts 
 and cheers, repeated over and over again. 'Vive 
 I'Empereur 1 ' * Vive FAmiral I ' ' Vive le Command- 
 ant!' Preceded by the drums and fifes, I then 
 
116 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 went, accompanied by the officers of my personal 
 suite, round the decks and batteries throughout 
 the ship. Everywhere I found my brave fellows 
 burning with impatience to begin. Many, as I 
 passed along called out to me: 'Commandant, 
 n'oubliez pas I'abordage!' ('Captain, don't forget 
 to board 1 ')" 
 
 A French admiral (Jurien de la Graviere) is 
 responsible for the following extraordinary story 
 of Admiral Villeneuve on board the " Bucentaure " 
 at the outset of the battle. Describing the group- 
 ing of the French and Spanish ships round the 
 admiral at the moment that Nelson was nearing 
 the line, he says — 
 
 "The Redoutable's bowsprit had touched several 
 times the tafFrail of the Bucentaure, so close 
 was she. The Santisima Trinidad was almost 
 lying to, just ahead of the Bucentaure. The 
 Neptune was closed up near by to leeward, 
 A collision (with the Victory as she came on) 
 appeared inevitable. At that moment Villeneuve 
 seized the eagle of his ship ^ and displayed it to the 
 sailors who surrounded him. *My friends,' he 
 called out, ' I am going to throw this on board the 
 English ship. We will go and fetch it back or die!' 
 
 ^ " Tous les vaisseaux,'' says M. Brun in his " Guerres Maritimes 
 de France," '' etaient gratifies d'une aigle et d'un drapeau a leur nom, 
 donnes par I'Empereur a son couronnement, ou avaient assiste et prete 
 serment des deputations du port et de I'armee navale : chaque vaisseau 
 avait envoye sa deputation, composee de trois officiers, trois officiers 
 mariniers et quatre gabiers ou matelots." Although what became of 
 
"LA REPRENDRE OU MOURIR!" 117 
 
 (*Mes amis, je vais la jeter a bord du vaisseau 
 anglais. Nous irons la reprendre ou mourir ! ') Our 
 seamen responded to these noble words by their 
 acclamations. 
 
 " Full of hope for the issue of a combat fought 
 hand to hand, Villeneuve, before the smoke of 
 battle blotted out the Bucentaure from the view 
 of the fleet, made a last signal to his ships. 
 ' Every ship,' he signalled, ' which is not in action 
 is not at its post, and must take station to bring 
 herself as speedily as possible under fire.' ('Tout 
 vaisseau qui ne combat point, n'est pas a son poste, 
 et doit prendre une position quelconque le reporte 
 le plus promptement au feu.') His i^ole of admiral 
 was finished. It only remained for him to show 
 himself personally the bravest of his captains." 
 
 the Eagle of the " Bucentaure " is unknown, and no eagle belonging 
 to a ship of war was ever taken by us, one is still in existence. It 
 is in the Museo Naval at Madrid, and belonged to the ''Atlas," a 
 French 74 left by Villeneuve at Ferrol. It was captured in 1808 when 
 Spain rose against Napoleon and seized all the French men-of-war 
 then sheltering in Spanish ports. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 HOW THE BATTLE SHAPED ITSELF 
 
 rpHE general course of events at Trafalgar makes 
 -*- up a tale that is common knowledge. There 
 is no need to do more than outline here how 
 things shaped themselves. 
 
 The long straggUng array of the Combined 
 Fleet — extending, when the battle opened, over 
 five miles of sea from end to end — broke up, before 
 the close of the first hour's fighting, into three 
 separate clusters or groups of ships. 
 
 The largest group of the three comprised the 
 flagship "Santa Ana" and most of the ships 
 astern of the point at which Colhngwood broke 
 through, away to Gravina in the " Principe," the 
 rearmost ship of all. They were attacked at 
 several points almost simultaneously ; the ships of 
 Collingwood's division for the most part heading 
 for them en Echelon, or slantwise, " in line of bear- 
 ing." Gravina's blimder earlier in the day in quit- 
 ting his station to windward and tailing on the 
 Squadron of Observation in wake of the battle 
 squadron, made things easier for some of Colling- 
 
 ii8 
 
THE VAN SQUADRON STANDS ON II9 
 
 wood's ships than perhaps they might have been. 
 As has been said, it deprived Admiral Villeneuve 
 of the mobile division that he had proposed to 
 keep as an emergency force, or for a counter 
 stroke. 
 
 A considerable gap separated the " Santa Ana " 
 from the centre group to northward, the ships 
 next ahead of Alava. There, a small body of 
 ships were fighting at bay, outnumbered and 
 isolated from the rest of the Combined Fleet. 
 The " Bucentaure " herself, and the " Santisima 
 Trinidad," were among them, with the "Re- 
 doutable," the French " Neptune," and the " Fou- 
 gueux," which moved up from the rear group to 
 join them some little time after the battle had 
 begun. Cut off from their consorts on either 
 hand, and roughly handled by the leading ships of 
 Nelson's column, as these, coming up close astern 
 of one another, attacked them in succession, the 
 fate of the centre group was only a question of 
 time. The van squadron, meanwhile, had made 
 no sign at all of coming round to the rescue of 
 their sorely pressed admiral. 
 
 The ten ships of Admiral Dumanoir's division 
 were still standing stolidly ahead, having as yet 
 hardly fired a shot. Nearly three-quarters of a 
 mile of clear sea separated the rearmost ship of 
 these, the " H^ros," from the stubbornly resisting 
 " Santisima Trinidad " and " Bucentaure." Head- 
 ing slowly northward, Admiral Dumanoir's group 
 
120 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 drew away farther and farther, and increased the 
 gap, ignoring the signal to turn back that the 
 "Bueentaure" made as the battle was opening, 
 and the frigate " Hermione " repeated on Admiral 
 Villeneuve's behalf. 
 
 What that inaction meant, and its result, has 
 been set forth with admirable lucidity by a French 
 officer of the present time, the most distinguished 
 French naval historian of our day. 
 
 "At 12.10 p.m.," says Captain Chevalier "the 
 Royal Sovereign passed through the line astern of 
 the Santa Ana. A little later the Bucentaure and 
 the Santisima Trinidad opened fire on the Victory. 
 At that time it was impossible to be under any 
 misapprehension concerning the mode of attack 
 adopted by the enemy. At 12.30, just as the 
 Victory passed astern of the Bucentaure, Admiral 
 Villeneuve ordered every ship which was not 
 engaged to get into action. It must be supposed 
 that Admiral Dumanoir Le Pelley did not con- 
 sider this signal to be addressed to the ships he 
 commanded, as he made no movement in response. 
 Admiral Villeneuve, however, took no notice of 
 his inaction. By not making a fresh signal, direct- 
 ing the van to get into action instantly. Admiral 
 Villeneuve appeared to approve of the conduct of 
 his subordinate. At the same time the rear- 
 admiral, by intimating at one o'clock that the van 
 had no opponents to engage, plainly showed that 
 
DUMANOIR'S "SERIOUS ERROR" 121 
 
 he had no intention of takuig the initiative in any 
 step that might alter the original disposition of 
 the fleet. Instead of acting on his own account, 
 he asked for orders. Vice- Admiral Villeneuve did 
 not give him any: or rather, he gave them too late. 
 It was not until 1.50 that the Bucentaure signalled 
 to the van to go about and get into action.^ By 
 that time the centre was no longer able to offer 
 any serious resistance to the enemy. It was, there- 
 fore, quite too late. 
 
 "This, of course, does not exculpate Admiral 
 Dumanoir. On the contrary, one has to look 
 the more closely into the nature of the responsi- 
 bility which rested on him. What, in fact, is to 
 be said of the behaviour of the leader of the van 
 who, when the fate of the action was hanging in 
 the balance, waited so long for orders to do 
 what he knew was a matter of urgency? Those 
 orders also he himself asked for. Rear- Admiral 
 Dumanoir, undoubtedly, committed a serious error 
 in not leading the division he commanded, on his 
 own responsibility, to the assistance of the 
 Bucentaure, as soon as that ship was seen to be 
 surrounded. 
 
 "It would seem as if a fatality clung to the 
 movements of our van. When, after having been 
 
 * " L'armee navale Fran9aise, combattant au vent ou sous le vent, 
 ordre aux vaisseaux, qui, par leur position actuelle ne combattent pas, 
 d'en prendre une quelconque, qui les reporte le plus promptement 
 au feu." 
 
122 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 too long inactive, it did turn towards the scene of 
 the fighting, it spht up. As a compact force, it 
 might have done something ; as a divided one, it 
 actually invited the blows of the foe. If Rear- 
 Admiral Dumanoir had been followed by the 
 whole of the van squadron, it is quite conceivable 
 that he might have fallen upon the ships which 
 surrounded the Bucentaure and the Santisima 
 Trinidad. Ten ships which had as yet been 
 scarcely engaged, suddenly coming on the scene 
 at the centre of action, if they could not, perhaps, 
 have changed the issue of the day, must certainly 
 have inflicted severe losses on the enemy ; yet, as 
 a fact, we lost the San Agustin, the Neptuno, and 
 the Intrepide, as one result of the move. Also, 
 these three ships were captured separately. The 
 two last-named covered themselves with glory, no 
 doubt, but it is to be regretted all the more that 
 gallant officers like Captains Valdez and Infernet 
 did not understand the necessity for the ships of 
 the van to keep together. Such a result could 
 only have been secured by following Rear- Admiral 
 Dumanoir. 
 
 "'I had good right,' wrote the commander of 
 the van division, ' to complain in my despatch of 
 having been followed in the Formidable by three 
 ships only. The Intrepide, while putting about in 
 answer to the signal, fell on board the Mont Blanc, 
 and tore out that ship's foremast. She then, to- 
 gether with four other ships, kept away, running 
 
WITH ONLY FOUR SHIPS LEFT 123 
 
 with the wind on the quarter to join the vessels of 
 the Combined Fleet to leeward ; but, as she sailed 
 very badly, it was not long before she was over- 
 hauled by the enemy, after which she made that 
 splendid defence of which Captain Infemet is 
 entitled to feel proud. As for the Neptuno, Cap- 
 tain Valdez, she was the leading ship of the fleet, 
 and was to windward. After having put about, 
 she remained to windward ; kept away ; came to 
 the wind again ; manoeuvring throughout with the 
 greatest lack of decision. Finally, but very late 
 in the day, she made up her mind to follow me. I 
 was well past the Admiral (the Bucentaure) when 
 she fell into my wake. Up to that moment she 
 had kept her luflf, having never drawn as close to 
 the enemy as we did.' With only four ships," 
 says Captain Chevalier, " Dumanoir did not dare 
 to bear up towards the foe." 
 
 He turned away and stood off to the westward, 
 between four and five in the afternoon ; about the 
 same time that Gravina, having rallied what other 
 ships were left fighting here and there, eleven in 
 all, also quitted the scene of battle, making for 
 Cadiz. 
 
 Once battle was joined, every British ship as 
 she came up closed the first of the enemy she 
 came across and engaged yard-arm to yard-arm, to 
 fight it out "entour^ de feu et de fumee." The ships 
 of Nelson's own column, for the most part follow- 
 
134 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 ing in the track of the " Victory " at the outset, 
 found their work to hand in dealing with the 
 "Bucentaure" and "Santisima Trinidad" and certain 
 other ships in that quarter. After that they moved 
 northward and brought to action the ships of the 
 van division of the Combined Fleet which first 
 turned back into the battle. CoUingwood's ships, 
 attacking more or less in a slantwise formation, 
 broke through the straggling centre and rear 
 divisions of the Combined Fleet, to all intents 
 simultaneously. [See the Captain of the Bucen- 
 taure's plan of the attack: Appendix C] The 
 majority attacked the first of the enemy that they 
 came alongside, and after a brisk set-to, ship to 
 ship, passed on, leaving consorts near by or astern 
 to continue the fighting. In this way most of the 
 ships of the Combined Fleet found themselves 
 either beset by an overpowering force from the 
 first, or faced in rapid succession by a series of 
 antagonists, with equally disastrous results. 
 
 " The mode of attack adopted with such success 
 in the Trafalgar action," wrote a British officer 
 who saw the battle from the quarter-deck of the 
 "Conqueror," "appears to me to have succeeded 
 from the enthusiasm inspired throughout the 
 British Fleet; from their being commanded by 
 their beloved Nelson ; from the gallant conduct of 
 the leaders of the two divisions ; from the indi- 
 vidual exertions of each ship after the attack com- 
 menced, and the superior practice of the guns in 
 
''A SUCCESSION OF SINGLE FIGHTS" 125 
 
 the English Fleet. It was successful also from 
 the consternation spread through the combined 
 fleet on finding the British so much stronger than 
 was expected ; from the astonishing and rapid de- 
 struction which followed the attack of the leaders, 
 witnessed by the whole of the hostile fleets, inspir- 
 ing the one and dispiriting the other, and from the 
 loss of the Admiral's ship early in the action." 
 Said a Spanish letter from the Combined Fleet 
 
 ^^ ^ 
 
 w ^ 
 
 KnrJWi. En«ll-h. 
 
 SPANISH PLAKS OF THE OPENING ATTACK AT TRAFALGAR 
 AND AFTER-DEVELOPMENT OF THE BATTLE 
 
 From a contemporary MS. official report, among the Egerton Papers at the 
 British Museum 
 
 as to the trend of events after the opening 
 attacks by the " Royal Sovereign " and the " Vic- 
 tory": "The other Ships of both the Enemy's 
 Columns kept deploying upon the Combined 
 Fleet, whose Une was broken by the dismasting of 
 some Vessels, the flight and the shipwreck of 
 others ; so that the Action was no longer a general 
 one, but a succession of single fights." ^ 
 
 1 Egerton MSS. 382, f. 23. Translated in Sir N. H. Nicolas' 
 " Despatches and Letters of Lord Nelson," vol. VII, p. 288. 
 
126 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 This time-table shows approximately how the 
 fortune of the day went from hour to hour on 
 the side of the Combined Fleet. As will be seen, 
 the battle had been practically decided by a little 
 after three o'clock. 
 
 12.10. " Fougueux " fired first shot. 
 
 12.20. Collingwood broke the enemy's line. 
 
 12.40. Nelson broke through. 
 
 1.20. Nelson wounded. 
 
 1.30. " Redoutable " surrendered. 
 
 1.50. " Fougueux " boarded and taken. 
 
 Between 2 and 3 o'clock the following ships 
 struck their colours; — 
 
 " Bucentaure " (Admiral Villeneuve's flagship). 
 " Santa Ana " (Admiral Alava's flagship). 
 " Santisima Trinidad " (Rear- Admiral Cisneros). 
 "Algecjiras" (Rear- Admiral Magon's flagship — 
 
 boarded and taken). 
 "San Juan Nepomuceno" (Commodore Chur- 
 
 ruca). 
 " Bahama " (Commodore Galiano). 
 " Monarca." 
 « Aigle." 
 Fr. " Swiftsure." 
 
 Thus within three hours of CoUingwood's opening 
 of the attack, eleven of the enemy out of thirty- 
 three had surrendered — a third of the Combined 
 Fleet. 
 
SEVEN MORE ACCOUNTED FOR 127 
 
 Between 3.15 and 4.30 these surrendered : — 
 
 " Argonauta." 
 
 " San Agustin." 
 
 " San lldefonso." 
 
 *' Berwick." 
 
 " Achille " was on fire and had ceased resistance. 
 
 Before 4.30, when Nelson died, eleven of the 
 enemy had run out of the battle and were in full 
 flight for Cadiz under Admiral Gravina. Four 
 others, under Rear- Admiral Dumanoir, were out 
 of range and standing to westward to escape. 
 
 At five o'clock, or a few minutes afterwards, the 
 last two of the enemy to make a stand, surrendered. 
 
 " Intrepide " (Captain Infemet). 
 
 "Neptuno" (Commodore Valdez). 
 
 What happened on board individual ships on 
 the enemy's side, as related by some of those who 
 went through the day at Trafalgar ; how most of 
 them faced their fate gallantly for the honour of 
 their flag, and yielded only when further resistance 
 was hopeless : is now to be told. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 VILLENEUVE'S TRAFALGAR DESPATCH 
 
 ADMIRAL VILI>ENEUVE'S Trafalgar des- 
 -^^ patch to the Minister of Marine in Paris was 
 written while the French Commander-in-Chief 
 was a prisoner of war on board the British frigate 
 "Euryalus," on the 15th of November. It was 
 forwarded after his arrival in England. 
 
 An expression of extreme regret at the position 
 in which the French admiral found himself opens 
 the narrative. Then, after outlining the events of 
 Sunday the 30th of October, after the Combined 
 Fleet was at sea, and the earlier events of Monday 
 morning, it proceeds to relate what happened 
 during the battle within Admiral Villeneuve's 
 personal knowledge. [The text of Villeneuve's 
 " Compte Rendu " forms Appendix B.] 
 
 "At midday I signalled to the fleet to begin 
 firing as soon as the enemy was within range and 
 at a quarter past twelve the opening shots were 
 fired by the Fougueux and the Santa Ana — at 
 the Royal Sovereign, which led the enemy's star- 
 board column, with the flag of Admiral Colling- 
 wood. The firing broke off for a brief interval, 
 
 128 
 
HOW THE "VICTORY" ATTACKED 129 
 
 after which it reopened fiercely from all the ships 
 within range. It could not, however, prevent the 
 enemy from breaking the line astern of the Santa 
 Ana. 
 
 " The port column, led by the Victory, with the 
 flag of Admiral Nelson, came on in much the same 
 way. She appeared as if she was aiming to break 
 the Une between the Santisima Trinidad and the 
 bows of the Bucentaure. Whether, however, 
 they found our line too well closed up at that 
 point, or from some other reason, when they were 
 almost within half pistol-shot — while we, for our 
 part, prepared to board and had our grappling-irons 
 ready for throwing — they swung off to starboard 
 and passed astern of the Bucentaure. The Re- 
 doutable had the station of the Neptune, which had 
 fallen to leeward, and she heroically fulfiilled the 
 duties of the second astern to the flagship. She 
 ran on board the Victory, but the lightness of 
 the wind had not prevented the Victory passing 
 close under the stem of the Bucentaure and 
 firing into us as she passed several treble-shotted 
 broadsides, with eflfects that were murderous and 
 destructive.^ At that moment I made the signal, 
 'All ships not engaged owing to their stations, 
 are to get into action as soon as possible I ' It was 
 
 1 '* It was Lord Nelson's intention," says a letter from the British 
 Fleet, '^ to have begun the action by passing ahead of the Bucentaure 
 (Villeneuve's ship), that the Victory might be ahead of her and astern 
 of the Santissima Trinidada. But the Bucentaure shooting ahead, his 
 lordship was obliged to go under her stern, raked her, and luffed up 
 
 K 
 
130 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 impossible for me to see how things were going in 
 the centre and rear of the fleet because of the 
 dense smoke which enveloped us. 
 
 " To the Victory succeeded two others of the 
 enemy, three-deckers, and several seventy-fours. 
 These one after the other came up and filed by, 
 slowly past the stern of the Bucentaure. I had 
 just made the signal to the van to put about when 
 the main and mizen masts both came down. The 
 English ships which had passed through astern 
 of us were attacking us from leeward, but, un- 
 fortunately, without suffering any serious loss in 
 return from our batteries. The greater part of our 
 guns were already dismounted and others were 
 disabled or masked by the fall of the masts and 
 rigging. Now, for one moment, the smoke-fog 
 cleared and I saw that all the centre and rear had 
 given way. I found, also, that my flagship was 
 the most to windward of all. Our foremast was 
 still standing, however. It offered a means for 
 our making sail to get to leeward to join a group 
 of ships at a little distance which did not seem 
 much damaged: but immediately afterwards the 
 foremast came down like the others. I had had 
 my barge kept ready, so that in the event of the 
 Bucentaure being dismasted, I might be able to 
 
 on her starboard side. The Bucentaure fired four broadsides at the 
 Victory before his lordship ordered the ports to be opened, when the 
 whole broadside, which was double-shotted, was fired into her, and 
 the discharge made such a tremendous crash that the Bucentaure was 
 seen to heel." 
 
"I HAD TO YIELD TO MY DESTINY!" 131 
 
 go on board some other ship, and rehoist my 
 flag there. When the mainmast came down I 
 gave orders for it to be cleared for launching, 
 but it was found to be unserviceable, damaged 
 irreparably, either from shot or crushed in the fall 
 of the masts.^ Then I had the Santisima Trini- 
 dad hailed — she was just ahead of us — and asked 
 them either to send a boat or take us in tow. 
 But there was no answer to the hail. The 
 Trinidad at that moment was hotly engaged. 
 A three-decker was attacking her on the quarter 
 astern, and another enemy was on the beam 
 to leeward. Being now without any means of 
 repelling my antagonists, the whole of the upper 
 deck and the twenty-four-pounder batteries on the 
 main deck having had to be abandoned, heaped 
 up with dead and wounded, with the ship isolated 
 in the midst of the enemy and unable to move, 
 1 had to yield to my destiny. It remained only to 
 stop further bloodshed. That, already immense, 
 could only have been in vain.^ 
 
 1 "The admiral/' said Mag-Captain Prigny, in his official report to 
 Decres, " on being told that the boat he had had prepared to take him 
 in case of emergency to another ship, had been crushed under the 
 wreckage, complained bitterly that Fate had spared his life ; that amid 
 the slaughter all round there seemed not to be one bullet for him." 
 Says a British naval officer of the day : " Villeneuve's conduct in this 
 action . . . has been acknowledged by all present to have been 
 that of a distinguished sea officer ; and the state of the ' Bucentaure ' 
 showed that he had no consideration for his own person." (Captain 
 Brenton : "Naval History," vol. II, p. 73.) 
 
 ^ Captain Magendie of the "Bucentaure" states, in an official 
 report to the Minister of Marine, that all the men at the upper-deck 
 guns were either killed or wounded ; the 24-pounder battery was 
 
132 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 "All the fleet astern of the Bucentaure was, 
 as I have said, broken up. Many ships were dis- 
 masted ; others were still fighting, in retreat to- 
 wards a body of ships to the east. Some of 
 Rear- Admiral Dumanoir's squadron attempted to 
 rally on the vessels to leeward, while five others 
 kept to windward and exchanged shots with the 
 enemy in passing, but only at long range. The 
 rearmost of the five, I believe the Neptuno, a 
 Spanish ship, which was a little to leeward of the 
 others, had to surrender. 
 
 " From the nature of the attack that the enemy 
 delivered there could not help resulting a pele-mele 
 battle, and the series of ship-to-ship actions that 
 ensued were fought out with the most noble de- 
 votion. The enemy had the advantage of us, owing 
 to his powerful ships, seven of which were three- 
 deckers, the smallest mounting 114 guns {sic), in 
 weight of metal of his heavy guns and carronades ; 
 and in the smartness with which his ships were 
 handled, due to three years' experience at sea — a 
 form of training which, of course, had been im- 
 possible for the Combined Fleet. The courage and 
 the devotion to France and the Emperor, shown 
 by the officers and men, could not be surpassed. 
 It had evinced itself on our first putting to sea, 
 
 " entirely dismounted and heaped up with dead and wounded." The 
 whole starboard side of the ship on the upper deck was, he said, 
 "blocked with wreckage from aloft so that it was impossible to fire 
 again." Surrender, Magendie said, was imperative, to avoid the use- 
 less sacrifice of the survivors. [Report to Decres 5^ Brum. An 14.] 
 
"I OFFER MYSELF A VICTIM!" I3S 
 
 and also in preparing for battle, by the cheers 
 and shouts of ' Vive TEmpereur 1 ' with which the 
 flagship's signals were received. I did not see a 
 single man blench at the sight of the enemy's for- 
 midable column of attack, headed by four three- 
 deckers, which came down on the Bucentaure. 
 
 " I have no doubt, Monseigneur, that you have 
 already received accounts of the instances of valour 
 and devotion that were displayed elsewhere, from 
 other officers who have found themselves in a 
 position to forward them. So much courage and 
 devotion merited a better fate, but the moment 
 has not yet come for France to celebrate successes 
 on sea as she has been able to do with regard to 
 her victories on the Continent. As for myself, 
 Monseigneur, overwhelmed by the extent of my 
 misfortune and the responsibility for so great a 
 disaster, I desire only, and as soon as possible, to 
 offer at the feet of His Majesty either the justifi- 
 cation of my conduct, or a victim to be sacrificed, 
 not to the honour of the flag, which I venture to 
 affirm has remained intact, but to the shades of 
 those who may have perished through my impru- 
 dence, want of caution, or forgetfulness of certain 
 of my duties." 
 
 %a 
 
 i/^h^^jk^^^ 
 
134 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 Admiral Villeneuve added in a postscript that 
 he, with Captain Magendie, Adjutant-Commandant 
 Contamine, a Heutenant and a midshipman A.D.C., 
 were the officers on board the " Euryalus." Captain 
 Magendie, Chef d'Etat- Major (Flag - Captain) 
 Prigny, and two lieutenants of the " Bucentaure," 
 he added, were wounded. Almost every officer and 
 man, indeed, on the quarter-deck of the " Bucen- 
 taure," said Villeneuve, had been either killed or 
 wounded. 
 
 It may be noted that Admiral Villeneuve did 
 not mention the fact that he himself had been 
 wounded. It was not serious, but he said nothing 
 about it, and it is not noted in the " Bucentaure's " 
 official list of casualties. The flagship's total 
 casualty list was two hundred and nine of all ranks 
 and ratings hors de combat (a hundred and thirty- 
 eight killed), a heavier loss than any of the British 
 ships experienced.^ 
 
 Major-General de Contamine, " Commandant 
 en Chef par interim," as he describes himself, adds 
 these details, in the course of his military report to 
 Napoleon, as to the soldiers on board the fleet : — 
 
 " It was impossible to meet the Victory as she 
 came on with our broadside, because the Santisima 
 Trinidad, which in the light breeze would not 
 answer her helm, was to leeward of us, almost 
 
 * For the position of the " Bucentaure " at various stages of the 
 battle up to the moment of surrender^ see Captain Magendie's four 
 plans (Appendix C). 
 
BEYOND REACH OF RESCUE 135 
 
 touching us. Indeed we received several broadsides 
 from the enemy without power of reply. 
 
 "The Victory, Temeraire, and Neptune, three- 
 deckers, took post, one on our quarter, and the 
 other two astern. They fired into us for nearly 
 two hours at half pistol-shot. By 3 o'clock the 
 Bucentaure had received the fire of 11 English 
 ships, most of which passed by and raked us ahead 
 and astern. The ship was dismasted, * ras comme 
 un ponton,' and the masts and sails fell over to 
 starboard, blocking up the batteries and rendering 
 it impossible to fire at a single point. Indeed it 
 was impossible to move. The 24-pounder battery 
 was left without a man at the guns ; only nine men 
 were left on the forecastle and the poop. With 
 about 400 killed and wounded, beyond reach of 
 assistance or rescue, surrounded by the enemy, the 
 admiral had to order the flag to be lowered." 
 
 General De Contamine concludes his report with 
 these words : " Je crois pouvoir dire que le combat 
 du cap Trafalgar doit etre regarde comme celui qui 
 (abstraction faite des malheurs purement acci- 
 dentels qui en sont resultes) fait le plus d'honneur 
 a la marine Fran^aise et Espagnole, et montre ce 
 que la premiere fera un jour."^ 
 
 1 An interesting report of the doings and fate of the " Bucentaure/' 
 dated Cadiz, 24th November, 1806, by Lieutenant de vaisseau Fournier 
 of the '' Bucentaure " (an ancestor of the present Admiral-in-Chief of 
 the French Navy), is in existence among the archives of the Ministry 
 of Marine in Paris. [Vol. BB^ 237, fol. 12.] 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 FINAL SCENES ON BOARD THE " BUCENTAURE'^ 
 
 AN officer on board the " Bucentaure " describes 
 ■^^ how Admiral Villeneuve tried to get away 
 and failed, and then had to order his flag to be 
 hauled down in surrender. 
 
 " By now the upper decks and gangways of the 
 Bucentaure, heaped with dead and the wreckage 
 from overhead, presented an appalling spectacle. All 
 this time, amid all this scene of disaster. Admiral 
 Villeneuve, who from the first had displayed the 
 calmest courage, continued tranquilly pacing up 
 and down the quarter-deck. At length he saw his 
 ship totally dismasted, and no hope of succour 
 coming from any quarter. With bitter sorrow he 
 exclaimed, 'The Bucentaure has played her 
 part ; mine is not yet over.' " [' Le Bucentaure a 
 rempli sa tache; la mienne n'est pas encore 
 achevee.'] He gave orders for his boat to be got 
 ready at once to take him with his flag on board 
 one of the ships of the van squadron. He still 
 cherished the hope that he might be able, with the 
 ten fresh ships of the van, to make a supreme 
 effort, and even yet snatch victory from the enemy. 
 
 136 
 
SPARED IN THE MIDST OF SLAUGHTER 137 
 
 But the unfortunate admiral's illusion did not 
 last long. Word was soon brought him that his 
 barge, which before the battle had been got ready 
 against this very possibility, had early in the action 
 had several holes made in it by the enemy's 
 shot; and, as a finale, had been crushed to 
 pieces under a mass of fallen spars and rigging. 
 Every single one of the ship's other boats had 
 also been destroyed. On that they hailed from 
 the Bucentaure across to the Santisima Trinidad 
 for them to send a boat, but no reply was made 
 and no boat was sent. Bitterly did Admiral Ville- 
 neuve realize his desperate position, and the hard 
 fate that was in store for him ! He saw himself 
 imprisoned on board a ship that was unable to 
 defend herself, and this too, while great part of his 
 fleet was in action and fighting hard. He cursed 
 the destiny that had spared him in the midst of 
 all the slaughter round about. Compelled by 
 force of circumstances to think no more about his 
 fleet, he had now only to think of the ship he was 
 in. All he could do now was to see after the lives 
 of the handful of brave men left fighting with 
 him. Humanity forbade him to allow them to be 
 shot down without means of defending themselves. 
 Villeneuve looked away and allowed the captain 
 of the Bucentaure to lower the colours." 
 
 No attempt was made by the " Bucentaure's " 
 "repeating frigate," whose duty it was to assist 
 the flagship in case of need, to go to the rescue 
 
138 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 of her chief and at least attempt to take the 
 "Bucentaure" in tow. "Now it was for one or 
 other of the French frigates to have risked the 
 perils of the battle and stood in to carry a tow 
 rope to the Bucentaure, in pursuance of the 
 honourable duty that the admiral expected of 
 his frigates. In particular was this the duty of 
 the captain of the frigate Hortense, the flag- 
 ship's own ' repeating frigate.' It is hard to think 
 that the captain of the Hortense — although he 
 had already shown an excessive prudence — had 
 not the courage to attempt the rehef of his ad- 
 miral : one must look for some other motive. The 
 Hortense, with the other frigates, had committed 
 the blunder of posting themselves too far off from 
 the fighting line, and it may have been that seeing 
 it was practically impossible, in the very light 
 breeze, for the Hortense to get up with the 
 admiral, the captain of the Hortense did not 
 attempt to do so. Impossible, however, if the 
 task was, the captain of the Hortense should 
 at least have tried." 
 
 So one of the officers on board the "Bucentaure" 
 said. On the other hand, the frigates were away to 
 leeward, and all the smoke from the firing line 
 rolled heavily down on them, blotting out all view 
 of the battle. " A une heure," reported Captain 
 Jugan, of the " Hermione," "le combat ^tant devenu 
 g^n^ral, j'ai perdu de vue dans la fum^e tout ce 
 qui s'y est pass^." And, as he adds, he never got 
 
WHAT A BRITISH MIDSHIPMAN SAW 139 
 
 another clear view of the battle to the end ; only 
 an occasional glimpse in a rift in the smoke of 
 one or two ships here and there. 
 
 The French flagship hauled down her colours 
 to a British 74, named, by something of a coin- 
 cidence, the " Conqueror." According to an ac- 
 count from that ship, the " Bucentaure " had then 
 her masts standing. A young officer of that 
 ship. Midshipman William Hicks, describing in 
 a letter home the incidents of the closing scene, 
 as witnessed from the " Conqueror's " quarter-deck, 
 adds these details. He was one of Captain Pellew's 
 aides-de-camp, and presumably in an excellent 
 position to observe what passed. "We engaged 
 her single-handed for an hour, and she struck to us ; 
 after her colours were hauled down two guns from 
 her starboard quarter began to play on us. Sir 
 Israel Pellew, thinking that they were disposed to 
 renew the fight, ordered the guns which could bear 
 on her foremast to knock it away, and her masts 
 were cut away successfully in a few minutes. The 
 officers of the French ship waving their handker- 
 chiefs in sign of surrender, we sent a cutter and 
 took possession of the Bucentaure. Then we 
 moved on." 
 
 The " Conqueror's " log records the surrender in 
 these words : "At 2, shot away the Bucentaure's 
 main and mizen masts. . . . Shot away the Bucen- 
 taure's foremast. At 2.5, the Bucentaure struck. 
 Sent a boat on board her to take possession." 
 
140 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 An officer of the "Britannia" (Second Lieutenant 
 L. B. Halloran, Royal Marines) also claims for 
 his ship the credit of having made the " Bucen- 
 taure " surrender. " In passing we poured a most 
 destructive fire (the guns being double-shotted) 
 into the Bucentaur, which ship had already re- 
 ceived the first fire of the Victory and Nep- 
 tune. Her masts were at once swept away, and 
 her galleries and stern broken to pieces; her colours 
 being shot away, someone waved a white handker- 
 chief from the remains of the larboard gallery in 
 token of surrender." 
 
 The " Conqueror's " right to the honour of the 
 capture is, however, beyond dispute, and her 
 cutter was sent off to take possession of the prize, 
 and did so. The officer deputed by Captain Pellew 
 to receive the surrender, carried out his in- 
 structions in circumstances that proved intensely 
 dramatic. 
 
 At the moment of the " Bucentaure's " submis- 
 sion. Captain Pellew, as it happened, was unable 
 to spare Lieutenant Couch, his first lieutenant, 
 to whom, in ordinary circumstances, the duty of 
 boarding the prize would have fallen. Being un- 
 aware, owing to the absence of Villeneuve's flag 
 from the "Bucentaure's" masthead, that the 
 enemy's Commander-in-Chief had surrendered to 
 him, he told off Captain James Atcherley, of the 
 "Conqueror's" marines, to go in the first lieu- 
 tenant's place and take possession of the vessel, 
 whose name also, it would seem, they did not 
 
VILLENEUVE PRESENTS HIS SWORD 141 
 
 know. Captain Atcherley went off with two sea- 
 men and a corporal and two marines. He was 
 pulled alongside and clambered on board the big 
 two-decker, little dreaming whom he was going to 
 meet, and the reception in store for him. This is 
 what then took place. 
 
 As Atcherley gained the *' Bucentaure's " upper 
 deck and the British officer's red coat showed 
 itself on the quarter-deck of the French flagship, 
 four French officers of rank stepped forward, all 
 bowing and presenting their swords. One was a 
 tall, thin man of about forty-two, in a French 
 admiral's full dress. It was Villeneuve himself The 
 second was a French captain — Captain Magendie, 
 in command of the " Bucentaure." The third 
 was Flag-Captain Prigny, Villeneuve's right- 
 hand man. The fourth was a soldier, in the 
 brilliant uniform — somewhat begrimed by powder- 
 smoke — of a brigadier of the Grand Army, 
 General de Contamine, the officer in charge of the 
 four thousand troops serving on board the French 
 Fleet that day. 
 
 " To whom," asked Admiral Villeneuve, in good 
 English, " have I the honour of surrendering ? " 
 
 " To Captain Pellew of the Conqueror." 
 
 " I am glad to have struck to the fortunate Sir 
 Edward Pellew." 
 
 " It is his brother, sir," said Captain Atcherley. 
 
 ** His brother ! What ! are there two of them ? 
 HelasI" 
 
142 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 " Fortune de la guerre," said Captain Magendie 
 with a shrug of his wide shoulders as he became a 
 prisoner of war to the British Navy for the third 
 time in his life. Prigny and de Contamine said 
 nothing, as far as we know. 
 
 Captain Atcherley politely suggested that the 
 swords of such high officers had better be handed 
 to an officer of superior rank to himself — to Captain 
 Pellew. He then went below to secure the maga- 
 zines, passing between decks amid an awful scene 
 of carnage and destruction. " The dead, thrown 
 back as they fell, lay along the middle of the decks 
 in heaps, and the shot, passing through these, had 
 frightfully mangled the bodies. . . . More than 
 four hundred had been killed and wounded, of 
 whom an extraordinary proportion had lost their 
 heads. A raking shot, which entered in the lower 
 deck, had glanced along the beams and through the 
 thickest of the people, and a French officer declared 
 that this shot alone had killed or disabled nearly 
 forty men." 
 
 Atcherley locked up the magazines and put the 
 keys in his pocket, posted his two marines as 
 sentries at the doors of the admiral's and flag- 
 captain's cabins, and then, returning on deck, he 
 conducted Villeneuve, Magendie, and Flag-Captain 
 Prigny down the side into his little boat, which 
 rowed off in search of the " Conqueror." That 
 ship, however, had ranged ahead to engage another 
 enemy, and as her whereabouts could not be dis- 
 
COLLINGWOOD'S IMPRESSION OF VILLENEUVE 143 
 
 covered in the smoke, the prisoners were tem- 
 porarily placed on board the nearest British ship, 
 which happened to be the " Mars." There Admiral 
 Villeneuve's sword was received by Lieutenant 
 Hennah, the senior surviving officer of the ship 
 (the gallant captain of the " Mars," George DufF, 
 had fallen a short time before), who sent it after 
 the battle to Collingwood. 
 
 THE TRAFALGAR TROPHY SWORDS 
 
 The uppermost sword is that of Vice- Admiral Villeneuve. That in the centre is 
 the sword of Rear- Admiral Cisneros of the " Santisima Trinidad." The third sword is 
 that delivered personally to Collingwood by Don Francisco Riquelme of the " Sapta 
 Ana" on behalf of Vice- Admiral Alava. Admiral Villeneuve's sword is now on view 
 at the Royal United Service Institution Museum in Whitehall, to which it has been 
 loaned by its present possessor, together with the sword of Rear- Admiral Cisneros. 
 The two swords were in the possession of the Collingwood family down to July, 1899, 
 when they came under the hammer at Christie's, together with the sword of the 
 Spanish officer who notified the surrender of the " Santa Ana." 
 
 Collingwood met Villeneuve three days after the 
 battle, when the storm had moderated sufficiently 
 to permit of his being transhipped to the sur- 
 viving British Commander-in-Chief's temporary 
 flagship, the frigate **Euryalus." This is what 
 Collingwood thought of him and wrote home: 
 "Admiral Villeneuve is a well-bred man, and I 
 believe a very good officer : he has nothing in his 
 manner of the offensive vapouring and boasting 
 which we, perhaps too often, attribute to French- 
 men." 
 
144 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 Says Hercules Robinson of the " Euryalus " : — 
 "How well I remember our receiving Villeneuve 
 on board the Euryalus, and the Captain of the 
 Fleet, Majendie, to convey them to England. 
 Villeneuve was a thinnish, tall man, a very tran- 
 quil, placid, English-looking Frenchman ; he wore 
 a long-tailed uniform coat, high and flat collar, 
 corduroy pantaloons of a greenish colour, with 
 stripes two inches wide, half-boots with sharp toes, 
 and a watch-chain with long gold links. Majendie 
 was a short fat jocular sailor, who found a cure for 
 all ills in the Frenchman's philosophy, ' Fortune de 
 guerre' (though this was the third time the god- 
 dess had brought him to England as prisoner)." 
 
 Captain Magendie was exchanged in the follow- 
 ing January. He returned to France with a warm 
 recommendation from Villeneuve to Decr^s, in 
 
 ^^ 
 
 
 SIGNATURE OF CAPTAIN MAGENDIE 
 
 regard to his " intelligence and capacity." He was 
 appointed A.D.C. to the Minister of Marine, and 
 held the post until the fall of the Empire. Two 
 reports on Trafalgar by Magendie are now among 
 the archives of the Ministry of Marine in Paris ; 
 also two plans of the battle prepared by him for 
 Decr^s. [See Appendix C] 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 HOW THE "REDOUTABLE" FOUGHT TO 
 A FINISH 
 
 NO more brilliant defence, no nobler fight in 
 battle, perhaps, was ever made by the French, 
 on sea or land, than that by the " Redoutable " at 
 Trafalgar. One " crack " regiment of the Line in 
 the French Army of to-day commemorates the 
 bravest deed in its annals by the legend on 
 its colours: "Rosny, 1814: — Un contre Huitl" 
 Another, similarly, recalls the finest feat of arms 
 in its history, by the legend : " Un contre Dix : — 
 Gratz, 1809 1 " But the feat achieved in either of 
 these cases can hardly compare with the deter- 
 mined and enduring valour of the stand that the 
 two-decker "Redoutable" made at Trafalgar, 
 single-handed, against the two British three- 
 deckers "Victory" and "Tdmeraire." "Le Re- 
 doutable," to use the words of a distinguished 
 Frenchman, "ne setait rendu qu'apres le combat 
 peut etre le plus sanglant et le plus opiniatre de 
 tous ceux qui ont honore le valeur des Fran^ais." 
 
 Also, the personal heroism displayed by Captain 
 Lucas, the captain of the ship, deserves to 
 
 L 145 
 
146 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 rank with the classic instances of the gallantry 
 of D'Assas, captain in the famous regiment 
 " d'Auvergne," of the army of the old regime, 
 whose magnificent act of self-sacrifice on the 
 battlefield, the modern French cruiser " D'Assas " 
 exists to recall to-day ; or the grand display of the 
 "First Grenadier of France, — dead on the field 
 of honour " ; with even the dauntlessness of the 
 " bravest of the brave," Marshal Ney himself. 
 
 The chances of the day at Trafalgar, in one 
 sense, no doubt, favoured the "Redoutable." Com- 
 paratively small ship as she was, — a 74 of the 
 smallest class in the French Navy, — she was 
 one of the most efficiently officered and manned 
 vessels of all under Admiral Villeneuve's orders. 
 Also, as things iturned out, her crew for months 
 past had been trained by their captain with unre- 
 mitting care for exactly the kind of fighting that 
 fell to their lot at Trafalgar. So Captain Lucas 
 himself has left on record : — 
 
 "After the Redoutable was commissioned," he 
 described to Admiral Decres, "nothing was omitted 
 on board to instruct the ship's company in every 
 kind of exercise. My thoughts ever turned on 
 boarding my enemy in any action I fought, and 
 I so counted on finding my opportunity that I 
 made that form of attack part of our daily ex- 
 ercises, so as to ensure success when the hour 
 arrived. I had canvas cartridge-cases made for 
 
HAND GRENADES AND BAYONETS 147 
 
 each of the captains of the guns, to hold two 
 grenades apiece; with, attached to the shoulder- 
 belts of the cartridge-cases in each case, a tube of 
 tin holding a piece of quick-match. At all our 
 drills on board ship I practised the men at flinging 
 dummy hand-grenades made of pasteboard, to 
 ensure rapidity and expertness, and while at Toulon 
 also I often landed parties to practise with iron 
 grenades. By that means, in the end, they had so 
 acquired the art of flinging the grenades that on 
 the day of battle my topmen were able to fling 
 two grenades at a time. I had a hundred muskets, 
 fitted with long bayonets, sent on board also. 
 The picked men to whom these were served out 
 were specially trained at musketry and stationed 
 in the shrouds. All the men with cutlasses and 
 pistols were regularly trained af sword exercise, 
 and the pistol became with them a very familiar 
 weapon. My men also learnt to throw grappling 
 irons with such skill that we could count on being 
 able to grapple an enemy's ship before her sides 
 had actually touched ours. On the drums beating 
 branle-bas de combat before Trafalgar, every man 
 went to his post fully accoutred, and with his 
 weapon loaded, and they placed them at hand by 
 their guns, in racks between the gun ports. My 
 ship's company, indeed, had themselves learned to 
 have such confidence in the mode of fighting that 
 I proposed for the Redoutable that they, several 
 times before the battle, asked me, of their own 
 
148 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 accord, to lay the ship alongside of the first enemy 
 we met." 
 
 STATEMENT BY THE SURVIVING OFFICERS OF 
 THE SHIP 
 
 Two official statements detailing what passed on 
 board the " Redoutable " at Trafalgar are extant 
 among the archives of the Ministry of Marine in 
 Paris. The earlier one was drawn up immediately 
 after the surrender of the ship, while Captain 
 Lucas and his surviving officers were prisoners on 
 board the British " Swiftsure," and still off Cadiz. 
 It is entitled : " Proces verbal de la perte du 
 vaisseau de S. M. I. et R. Le Redoutable, Com- 
 mande par M. Lucas, Capitaine de Vaisseau, 
 Officier de la Legion d'Honneur. 
 
 "This day, V'' de Brumaire, An XIV (the 
 23rd of October), we, the undersigned, E. Lucas, 
 Captain and Officer of the Legion of Honour, 
 
 The following is a transcript of the original first- 
 draft of the Proces Verbal, as committed to paper 
 and signed on board the " Swiftsure." The original 
 document is now in the possession of Mme. 
 Merienne Lucas Jobard, of Passy. A copy of it, 
 made by M. Destrem, the Conservateur, was 
 recently presented to the Musde de la Marine at 
 the Louvre, on the walls of which it is now ex- 
 hibited. There is also the fair-written document, 
 actually presented to Decr^s, that is in the archives 
 of the Ministry of Marine. 
 
 "Proces verbal de la perte du V. de S. M. I. & R. le 
 Redoutable, commande par M. Lucas, cap® de V. officier de 
 la Leg. d'honneur. 
 
REASONS AND CIRCUMSTANCES 149 
 
 having the command of His Majesty's ship Le 
 Redoutable, together with the officers of the Etat 
 Major (commissioned officers), imder-officers, etc., 
 finding ourselves brought together on board the 
 English ship Swiftsure, and having survived the 
 loss of our own ship, have drawn up the following 
 report, containing the reasons and circumstances 
 which occasioned the loss of the Redoutable. 
 
 "On the 21st of October (29th Vendemiaire), 
 at half- past eleven, the Combined Fleet found 
 itself to windward of the enemy, forming in line 
 of battle. The Redoutable, according to the 
 order of seniority, was third ship astern of the 
 admiral's flagship, the Bucentaure. The two 
 intermediate ships, in the course of an evolution, 
 owing to want of wind, were out of station 
 
 " Aujourd'hui 1®"" brumaire an 14, Nous, Cap® de V. off. 
 de la Legion d'honneur, command* le V. S. M. I. R. le 
 Redoutable, officiers composant Tetat major, aspiran,ts et 
 premiers maitres, qui avons survecu a la perte du dit V. nous 
 trouvant reunis a bord du V. anglais le Swift-Sure, avons 
 dresse le present proces verbal, pour constater les causes et 
 circonstances qui ont occasionne la perte du V. qui nous 
 etait confie. 
 
 "Le 29 Vendemiaire, an 14, a 11^ J du matin, Tarmee 
 combinee se trouvant sous le vent de Tennemi, cherchait k se 
 former en bataille, les amures k babord ; le vent etait faible : 
 cependant les vaisseaux pouvaient manoeuvrer et gouvemaient 
 bien. Le Redoutable, d'apres Tordre signale, devait se 
 trouver le 3™® V. dans les eaux du V. amiral le Bucentaure ; 
 mais les 2 V. qui nous precedaient ayant arrive sous le vent 
 et la ligne qui commen9ait a se former, laissaient par cette 
 
150 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 and left the admiral's ship exposed just at the 
 moment when the enemy had made his disposi- 
 tions for attacking our centre. The Victory, 
 of 110 guns, under Admiral Nelson, and the 
 Tdmeraire, of the same rate, were at the head of 
 the division which bore down upon the admiral's 
 ship to cut it off and surround it. Captain Lucas, 
 soon perceiving the enemy's design, immediately 
 took measures to take post close up in wake of 
 the Bucentaure, in which he happily succeeded. 
 Although the flag-captain from on board that 
 ship hailed us several times to shorten sail, we 
 kept close astern. We had all unanimously deter- 
 mined rather to lose our own ship than witness the 
 capture of our admiral. 
 
 "At a quarter before twelve firing opened on 
 
 manoeuvre le V. amiral entierement k decouvert, a Tinstant 
 surtout ou Tun des deux pelotons sur lesquels etait formee 
 rarmee ennemie manoeuvrait ostensiblement pour attaquer 
 notre corps de bataille. Les vaisseaux Le Victory de 110 
 canons, monte par Tamiral Nelson, et le Temeraire, aussi de 
 110 canons, qui precedaient le dit peloton, gouvemaient 
 sur le V. amiral qui etait en panne, pour Tenvelopper ; Tun 
 d'eux cherchait k lui passer a poupe : le Cap. Lucas ayant 
 juge rintention de I'ennemi manceuvra sur le champ pour 
 mettre le beaupre du Redoutable sur la poupe du Bucentaure. 
 Nous y parvinmes tellement que le commandant de ce 
 vaisseau nous helld'''* [sic] "plusieurs fois que nous allions 
 Taborder. Nous ^tions tous decides k nous ensevelir sous 
 les debris de notre V. plutot que de laisser enlever celui de 
 Pamiral. 
 
 " A ll^f les vaisseaux des deux armees, qui se sont trouves 
 
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 £mL -;^T^ 
 
 
 
 ^$ 
 
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 gjiiff* 
 
 
 THE "BUCENTAURE" AND " REDOUTABLE " FIRING ON THE "VICTORY" 
 AT THE OPENING OF THE BATTLE 
 
 [Collingwood is shown in the centre of the picture (in the background) making his attack] 
 
 THF. " RFDOU 1 AHI.i: •■ (IRAI'l'LED BY THE "VICTORY": JUST HFFORF THE 
 •*TEMERAIRE" CLOSED ALONGSIDE 
 
 THF " RFDGUTAIJLI 
 
 HE EVENING BEFORE SHE WENT DOWN 
 
 (The original drawings here shown were made by an officer of the "Redoutable" for 
 Captain Lucas. They are now in possession of Captain Lucas's granddaughter, who 
 allowed copies to be made for the Ahisee de la Marine at the Louvre, whence these 
 are reproduced] 
 
 To face p. 153 
 
ALL READY TO BOARD 151 
 
 both sides between the ships that were within gun- 
 shot. The enemy's two three-deckers directed all 
 their efforts to forcing in our line in wake of the 
 Bucentaure, and to drive the Redoutable foul 
 of her, so as to make our admiral's ship cease 
 firing. They were, however, unable to move us. 
 We determined to range ourselves alongside the 
 enemy's admiral, and in that situation we gave and 
 received a number of broadsides. The enemy, 
 however, could not prevent us from lashing our- 
 selves fast to the Victory. Our captain then 
 gave orders to board, whereupon our brave crew, 
 with their officers at their head, instantly made 
 ready for the onset. The conflict was begun with 
 small arms, and upwards of two hundred hand 
 grenades were flung on board the Victory. 
 
 k portee ont commences le feu ; les deux V. ennemis, a 3 ponts, 
 persistant audacieusement de passer a poupe du Bucentaure 
 mena^aient d"'aborder le Redoutable pour le forcer d'arriver 
 et faciliter leur passage ; mais n''ayant pas reussir a nous faire 
 ployer, Tamiral Nelson nous a abordes par babord et nous 
 nous sommes reciproquement tire plusieurs bordees a bout 
 touchant; le carnage qui en est resulte ne nous a point 
 empeches de lancer nos grappins a bord du Victory, et le 
 commandant a, sur le champ, ordonne Tabordage. Aussitot 
 les braves composant Tequipage, avec une intrepidite au 
 dessus de tout eloge, conduits par leurs officiers, se sont 
 precipites sur les bastinguages et dans les haubans pour 
 sauter k bord de Tennemi. Alors s''est engage un combat de 
 mousqueterie. Plus de 200 grenades ont ete jetteis" [sic] 
 " a bord du Victory : I'amiral Nelson combattait a la tete de 
 son equipage. Notre feu etait tellement superieur qu'en 
 
152 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 Admiral Nelson fought at the head of his crew 
 (lamiral Nelson combattait a la tete de son 
 equipage), but still, as our fire was much more 
 vigorous than that of the English, we silenced 
 them in about a quarter of an hour. The deck of 
 the Victory was strewn with dead, and Admiral 
 Nelson was killed by a musket shot (I'amiral 
 Nelson fut tue d'un coup de fusil). It proved, 
 however, unexpectedly difficult to board the 
 Victory; her upper deck stood so much higher 
 than that of the Redoutable. Ensign Yon, how- 
 ever, and four seamen, climbing up by an anchor, 
 succeeded. They would have been followed by 
 the rest of their brave comrades, but, at that 
 moment, the English ship Tem^raire, perceiving 
 that the fire of her admiral's flagship had ceased, 
 and that she must inevitably be taken (Le Tem^- 
 raire qui s'etait aper^u sans doute que I'amiral 
 anglais ne combattait pas et allait infailliblement 
 §tre pris), immediately fell upon us on our star- 
 
 moins d'un quart d'heure nous faire taire celui de Tennemi : 
 ses gaillards etaient jonches de morts et Pamiral Nelson tue 
 d'un coup de fusil. II etait difficile de passer a bord du 
 Victory k cause de la superiorite de Felevation de sa 3® 
 batterie : Taspirant Yon et le matelots y parvinrent par 
 le moyen d'une de les ancres, mais k I'instant ou ils allaient 
 etre suivis par tous nos braves qui couvraient les bastinguages 
 et les haubans de babord, le V. ^ 3 ponts le T^meraire, qui 
 s'etait aper^u sans doute que Tamiral anglais ne combattait 
 plus et allait infailliblement etre pris, est venu nous aborder 
 par tribord, et nous cribler, a bout touchant, du feu de toute 
 
WHY THEY SURRENDERED 153 
 
 board side, after first raking us with a heavy fire. 
 The slaughter that ensued is indescribable. More 
 than two hundred of our men were killed. The 
 captain now ordered the remainder to go below 
 and fire at the Temeraire with what guns were not 
 disabled. Immediately after that there came up 
 astern another of the enemy's ships, within pistol- 
 shot of us ; in which station she remained till we 
 had to strike our colours. 
 
 " That calamity took place about half-past two 
 p.m., for the following reasons : — 
 
 " 1. Because, out of a crew consisting of six 
 hundred and forty-three men, five hundred and 
 twenty-two were no longer in a situation to con- 
 tinue the fight. Three hundred had been killed, 
 and two hundred and twenty-two were badly 
 wounded. Among the latter were the whole of 
 the Etat Major and ten junior officers. 
 
 son artillerie : rien ne peut exprimer le carnage qui en est 
 resulte ; plus de 200 hommes furent mis hors de combat ; le 
 commandant alors ordonna au reste de Pequipage de se porter 
 dans les batteries et de decharger sur le Temeraire les canons 
 de tribord qui n'avaient pas ete demontes par Tabordage de 
 seV. 
 
 " Au meme instant un autre V. ennemi, s'etant place par 
 notre poupe a portee de pistolet nous a canonnes jusqu'a ce 
 que le pavilion ait ete amene (evenement qui a en lieu a 
 2^' J apres midi), d'*apres Pa vis des soussignes et les considera- 
 tions suivantes : — 
 
 "1° que sur 643 h. d'equipage 522, etaient hors de combat, 
 dont 300 tues et 222 grievement blesses, du nombre desquels 
 se trouvait en totalite Petat major et dix aspirants sur 12. 
 
154 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 " 2. Because the ship was dismasted : the main 
 and mizen masts had gone by the board (demates 
 au raz du pont). The former fell on the Tem^r- 
 aire, and the yards of that ship fell on board the 
 Redoutable. 
 
 " 3. Because the tiller and helm and rudder gear 
 and the stern-post itself had been entirely destroyed. 
 
 " 4. Because nearly all our guns were dismounted 
 (la presque totalite de lartillerie etait entierement 
 demontee) partly in our coming into colUsion 
 with two three-deckers, partly by their shot, and 
 several of the guns dismounted, and in consequence 
 of the bursting of an eighteen-pounder gun on the 
 lower deck, and a thirty-six-pounder carronade on 
 the forecastle. 
 
 " 5. Because the poop had been entirely smashed 
 in (la poupe etait entierement crevee) and the 
 counter timbers and deck beams shattered and 
 wrecked so that the whole of the after part of the 
 
 " 2° que le V. etait demate au ras du pont de son g'^mat 
 et de celui d'artimon ; le 1®"^ etait tombe k bord du Temeraire, 
 et les deux mats d'hune de ce V. etaient tombe a bord du 
 Redoutable. 
 
 " 3° que la tamisaille, la barre la meche du gouvernail et 
 meme Tetambot etaient entierement coupes. 
 
 " 4° que la presque totalite de Tartillerie etait demontee : 
 une partie par les abordages des deux V. ^ 3 ponts, une autre 
 par les boulets de I'ennemi ; enfin parce qu'un canon de 18 
 de la 2® batterie et une caronade de 36 du gaillard d'avant 
 avaient crevd 
 
 " 5° que la poupe dtait entierement crev^, que les barres 
 d'arquasse et d'hourdi, les jambettes de voute etaient telle- 
 
HELPLESS AND HOPELESS 155 
 
 ship formed practically a gaping cavity (tellement 
 hachees que toute partie ne formait qu'un large 
 sabord). 
 
 "6. Because almost all the port lids had been 
 smashed and the ports destroyed by the fire of 
 the Victory and Temdraire. 
 
 "7. Because both sides of the ship and the 
 decks were shot through and riddled in such a 
 manner that numbers of the wounded below on 
 the orlop, and as they lay in the cockpit, were 
 being killed helplessly. 
 
 " 8. Because the ship was on fire astern. 
 
 "9. Because, finally, the ship was leaking in 
 many places, and had several feet of water in the 
 hold, and nearly all the pumps had been destroyed 
 by shot. We had cause to fear that she might go 
 down under our feet. 
 
 "Throughout the whole of the battle, the 
 
 ment hachees que toute cette partie ne formait qu'un large 
 sabord. 
 
 "6° que tous nos mantelets de sabord avaient ete brises 
 par nos abordages, et que tous nos ponts etaient perces par les 
 boulets des 3*"® batteries des deux V. Victory et Temeraire. 
 
 " 7° que les deux cotes du V. etaient entierement percds k 
 jour et que les boulets qui penetraient dans notre faux po^it 
 nous avaient deja tue plusieurs de nos blesses. 
 
 " 8° parce que le feu avait deja pris dans la braye de notre 
 gouvemail. 
 
 " 9° Enfin, parce que le V. avait plusieurs voies d'eau, que 
 presque toutes les pompes etaient brisees et que nous avions 
 acquis la certitude que le V. ne tarderait pas k couler au fond. 
 
 " Dans ce combat les V : le Victory et le Temeraire ont 
 constammant combattu le V. le Redoutable et nous ne nous 
 
156 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 Victory and Temeraire never ceased their attacks 
 upon the Redoutable ; nor did we separate 
 from each other for some time after the battle 
 had ceased between the rest of the fleets. The 
 Victory lost her mizen-mast, her rigging was 
 nearly cut to pieces, and a great part of her crew 
 were disabled. Admiral Nelson was killed by a 
 musket shot during the attempt to board. 
 
 " At seven in the evening the Swiftsure took us 
 in tow, and next morning sent a party on board to 
 take charge and remove Captain Lucas, Lieutenant 
 Dupotet, and M. Ducrest. By noon the leaks had 
 increased so much, that the prize-master signalled 
 for assistance. The Swiftsure sent her boats to 
 save the remainder of our crew, but they had only 
 the time to remove one hundred and nineteen 
 Frenchmen. About seven that evening the whole 
 
 sommes separes tous trois que plusieurs heures apres que les 
 armees ne combattaient plus. Le V. Victory a perdu son mat 
 d'artimon, son petit mat d'hune, son grand mat de perroquet, 
 presque toutes ses vergues ; sa barre de gouvemail a ete 
 coupee ; il a en beaucoup de monde hors de combat et 
 particulierement Tamiral Nelson, tue a Tabordage par le feu 
 de notre mousqueterie. 
 
 " Vers les 7 hs du soir, le V. angl. le Swift-Sure est venu 
 nous prendre a la remorque. Le 30, au matin, il a envoye 
 un canot a bord du Redoutable chercher le Commandant 
 Lucas, le lieut* en pied Dupotet et Tenseigne de V. Ducrest. 
 Vers les midi le mat de misaine du Redoutable est venu a 
 bas ; ^ 5 h. du soir le cap. de prise a fait un signal pour 
 demander du secours. Le V. le Swift-Sure a envoye des 
 embarcations pour sauver le monde; on a en que le temps 
 d'en retirer 119 fran9ais et a 7 hs du soir la poupe du 
 
ALL THAT WERE LEFT 157 
 
 of the stem being under water, the Redoutable 
 went down with all the wounded on board. On 
 the 23rd (1^'® Brumaire) the captain of the Swift- 
 sure seeing some people at a distance on a wreck, 
 caused them to be brought in, to the number of 
 fifty, but, including sixty-four of the wounded, who 
 were taken out, not more than one hundred and 
 sixty-nine were saved out of four hundred and 
 sixty-three. 
 
 " On board the Swiftsure. 
 
 " Signed by the Officers of the quarter-deck 
 and confirmed by " Captain Lucas." 
 
 Redoutable s'etant entierement ecroulee, 11 a coule a fond 
 avec les malheureux blesses qui etaient restes a bord. 
 
 " Le 1®' brumaire au matin le cap. du V. angl. Swift-Sure 
 ayant apercj-u de loin plusieurs hommes sur des dromes, les a 
 envoye chercher, au nombre de 50 : la totalite des hommes 
 sauves est de 169 h. sur le nombre desquels 70 sont blesses. 
 
 " En foi de quoi nous avons dresse le present proces verbal 
 a bord du V. angl. le Swift-Sure les jour, mois et an, que ci 
 dessus, et avons signe : — 
 
 " Guillaume : cap. au 79* Bohan : off. de Sante chef 
 
 " Dupotet : (lieut en pied) e^ Hosteau : asp. de V^ cl. 
 en second Chauvin : lieut. au 79® 
 
 " Laity : enseigne de Vaiss' Maubrat : asp. de 2° cl. 
 
 "Maiol: enseigne Lemesle: d° 
 
 " Sergent : d° Le Ferec : aspirant 
 
 "Ducrest: d^ LaFortelle: d° 
 
 " Auroche : cap. 6® depot colonial Patin : maitre charpentier 
 " Pean : ayent comptable Goumaud: commis au vivres 
 
 " Blondel : cap. d'artillerie Ricaud : maitre calfat 
 
 " Vu par le Cap® de V. commandant, 
 
 " Lucas.'' 
 
158 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 CAPTAIN LUCAS'S PERSONAL NARRATIVE 
 
 The second statement is much fuller. It practi- 
 cally forms an eyewitness's narrative of the doings 
 of the ship and of what went on on board during 
 the battle. The document is, as will be seen, 
 a clear and vivid narrative of events. The original 
 report, dated Reading, 6th January, 1806, is in the 
 archives of the Ministry of Marine : Vol. B.B.^ 237. 
 "Batailles de Trafalgar et du Cap Ortegal"; No. 28. 
 It was apparently conveyed to France by Cap- 
 tain Magendie on his release on parole during 
 January, 1806. Captain Lucas heads his account 
 as follows: — 
 
 " REPORT 
 
 " Made to his Excellency the Minister of Marine 
 and of the Colonies, by M. Lucas, naval captain, 
 officer of the Legion of Honour, on the sea battle 
 of Trafalgar between the combined fleet of France 
 and Spain under the orders of Admirals Villeneuve 
 and Gravina and the English fleet commanded by 
 Admiral Nelson; and particularly on the combat 
 between the Victory of 110 guns with the flag 
 of Admiral Nelson, the Temeraire of the same 
 force and another ship, a two -decker, and the 
 Redoutable, of which His Majesty had entrusted 
 me with the command'' 
 
TO THE MEMORY OF BRAVE MEN 159 
 
 He then proceeds : — 
 
 " Monseigneur, 
 
 "Although the loss of the Redoutable 
 forms a part of the defeat undergone by the Com- 
 bined Fleets of France and Spain in the sanguinary 
 battle off Cape Trafalgar, the part taken by this 
 particular ship, all the same, deserves a distinguished 
 place by itself in the annals of the French Navy. 
 In consequence I owe it to the memory of the 
 brave men who fell in the terrible fight, or went 
 down in the remains of the Redoutable when she 
 sank, I owe it also to the glory of the small band 
 of those who survived that inexpressible slaughter, 
 to bring under the notice of your Excellency a 
 picture of their exploits, the efforts of their valour, 
 and above all the expressions of their love for, and 
 attachment to, His Imperial and Royal Majesty, 
 whose name, repeated a thousand times with the 
 utmost enthusiasm, seemed to render them in- 
 vincible. Nothing could equal the ardour of such 
 heroes at the moment that I announced to them 
 that we were going to board the English flagship ; 
 and not even the intrepid Nelson himself could 
 have died more nobly than in combating enemies 
 so worthy of his courage and of his grand 
 reputation. 
 
 " I will not undertake here to explain the move- 
 ments of the two fleets during the whole of the 
 action. Surrounded myself with fire and smoke, I 
 
160 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 was only able at intervals to discern the ships in 
 my immediate neighbourhood. . . . But I will 
 enter into all the details of what took place on 
 board the Redoutable during the contest that my 
 ship went through at the cannon's mouth and 
 broadside to broadside with a ship of a hundred 
 and ten guns, the Temeraire of the same force, 
 and a third ship, a two-decker, of which I do not 
 know the name." 
 
 Captain Lucas next gives his account of the 
 events of the morning up to the moment of open- 
 ing fire, which has been already quoted. He then 
 goes on as follows : — 
 
 "At eleven the fleet hoisted its colours. The 
 ensign of the Redoutable went up in a very im- 
 pressive manner; the drums beat ' Aux Drapeaux'; 
 the soldiers presented arms. Then the flag was 
 saluted by officers and men with cheers, seven 
 times repeated, ' Vive FEmpereur ! ' 
 
 "The enemy's colunm, which was directed 
 against our centre, was at eleven o'clock on the 
 port side, and the flagship Bucentaure began firing. 
 I ordered a number of the captains of the guns to 
 go up on the forecastle and observe why it was 
 some of our ships fired badly. They found that 
 all their shots carried too low and fell short. 1 
 then gave orders to aim for dismasting, and above 
 all to aim straight. At a quarter to twelve the 
 Redoutable opened fire with a shot from the first 
 
READY FOR THE ^'VICTORY" l6l 
 
 gun division. It cut through the foretopsail yard 
 of the Victory, whereupon cheers and shouts re- 
 sounded all over the ship. Our firing was well 
 kept up, and in less than ten minutes the British 
 flagship had lost her mizen-mast, foretopsail, and 
 main topgallant mast. Meanwhile I always kept 
 so close to the Bucentaure that several times they 
 called to me from their stern gallery that I should 
 run them down ; indeed, the bowsprit of the Re- 
 doutable touched the crown of the flagship's taff*- 
 rail ; but I assured them they had nothing to be 
 anxious about. 
 
 "The damage done to the Victory did not 
 affect the daring manoeuvre of Admiral Nelson. 
 He repeatedly persisted in trying to break the line 
 in front of the Redoutable, and threatening to run 
 us down if we opposed. But the proximity of 
 the British flagship, though closely followed by the 
 T^meraire, instead of intimidating my intrepid 
 crew, only increased their ardour ; and to show the 
 English admiral that we did not fear his fouling 
 us, I had grappling irons made fast at all the yard- 
 arms. 
 
 " The Victory having now succeeded in passing 
 astern of the French admiral, ran foul of us, 
 dropping alongside and sheering off* aft in such a 
 way that our poop lay alongside her quarter-deck. 
 From this position the grappling irons were thrown 
 on board her. Those at the stem parted, but 
 those forward held on ; and at the same time our 
 
162 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 broadside was discharged, resulting in a terrible ^ 
 slaughter. We continued to fire for some time, 
 although there was some delay at the guns. We 
 had to use rope rammers in several cases, and fire 
 with the guns run in, being unable to bowse them, 
 as the ports were masked by the sides of the 
 Victory. At the same time, elsewhere, by means of 
 muskets fired through the ports into those of the 
 Victory, we prevented the enemy from loading 
 their guns, and before long they stopped firing on 
 us altogether. What a day of glory for the 
 Redoutable if she had had to fight only with the 
 Victory ! The English batteries, not being able to 
 resist us longer, ceased firing (les batteries du 
 Victoire ne pouvaient plus nous riposter).^ Then I 
 became aware that the crew of the enemy were 
 about to attempt to board us. At once I had the 
 trumpets sounded, giving the divisional call for 
 boarding. All hastened up from below instantly, 
 in fine style ; the officers and midshipmen sprang 
 to the head of their men, as though at a parade. 
 In less than a minute our decks swarmed with 
 armed men, who spread themselves with rapidity 
 on the poop and in the nettings and the shrouds. 
 
 1 " The Redoutable commenced a heavy fire of musketry from the 
 tops, which was continued for a considerable time with destructive 
 eflfect to the Victory's crew ; her great guns, however, being silent, it 
 was supposed at different times that she had surrendered ; and, in 
 consequence of this opinion, the Victory twice ceased firing upon 
 her by Orders transmitted from the Quarter deck." — Dr. Beatty's 
 "Authentic Narrative of the Death of Lord Nelson." 
 
MIDSHIPMAN YON 
 
 163 
 
 It would be impossible to say who was the fore- 
 most. 
 
 "Then a heavy fire of musketry opened, in 
 which Admiral Nelson fought at the head of his 
 crew. Our firing, though, became so rapid, and 
 was so much superior to his, 
 that in less than a quarter of 
 an hour we had silenced that 
 of the Victory altogether. 
 More than two hundred gren- 
 ades were flung on board her, 
 with the utmost success ; her 
 decks were strewn with the 
 dead and wounded. Admiral 
 Nelson was killed by the 
 firing of our musketry. 
 
 " Immediately after this, 
 the upper deck of the Victory 
 became deserted, and she 
 again ceased firing, but it 
 proved difficult to board her 
 because of the motion of the 
 two vessels, and the height 
 of the Victory's upper tier 
 and battery. On that I gave the order to cut 
 the supports of the main-yard so that it might 
 serve as a bridge. At the same time Midshipman 
 Yon and four seamen sprang on board the Victory 
 by means of her anchor, and we then knew that 
 there was nobody left in the batteries. At that 
 
 MIDSHIPMAN, FRENCH NAVY 
 1805 
 
164 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 moment, when my brave fellows were hastening 
 to follow, the three-decker Temeraire, which had 
 seen that the Victory fought no longer and must 
 without fail be taken (allait infailliblement etre 
 pris), came down, full sail, on our starboard 
 side. We were immediately under the full fire 
 of her artillery, discharged almost with muzzles 
 touching. 
 
 "It is impossible to describe the carnage pro- 
 duced by the murderous broadside of this ship. 
 More than two hundred of our brave men were 
 killed or wounded by it. I was wounded also at 
 the same time, but not so seriously as to make me 
 abandon my post. Not being able to undertake 
 anything on the side of the Victory, I now ordered 
 the rest of the crew to man the batteries on the 
 other side and fire at the Temeraire with what 
 guns the collision when she came alongside had 
 not dismounted. 
 
 " The order was carried out ; but by this time 
 we had been so weakened, and had so few guns 
 left available, that the Temeraire replied to us with 
 great advantage. A short time afterwards another 
 ship, a two-decker, whose name I cannot recall, 
 placed herself across the stem of the Redoutable 
 and fired on us within pistol-shot. In less than 
 half an hour our ship had been so fearfully mauled 
 that she looked like little more than a heap of 
 debris. Judging by appearances, no doubt, the 
 Tdmeraire now hailed us to surrender and not 
 
= ^ 
 
 CSJ3 
 
 Sf 
 
re « « /c e 
 
"ALL SHATTERED TO SPLINTERS" l65 
 
 prolong a useless resistance. My reply was in- 
 stantly to order some soldiers who were near me 
 to fire back ; which they did with great alacrity. 
 At the same moment almost, the mainmast of 
 the Redoutable fell on board the English ship. 
 The two topmasts of the T^meraire then came 
 down, falling on board of us. Our whole poop 
 was stove in, helm, rudder, and stem post all 
 shattered to splinters, all the stem frame, and the 
 decks shot through. All our own guns were 
 either smashed or dismounted by the broadsides 
 of the Victory and Tem^raire. In addition, an 
 18-pounder gun on the lower deck, and a 32-pounder 
 carronade on the forecastle had burst, killing and 
 wounding a great many men. The hull itself was 
 riddled, shot through from side to side ; deck beams 
 were shattered ; port-lids torn away or knocked 
 to pieces. Four of our six pumps were so damaged 
 as to be useless. The quarter-deck ladders were 
 broken, which rendered communication with the 
 rest of the ship very difficult. Everywhere the 
 decks were strewn with dead men, lying beneath 
 the debris. Out of a crew of 634 men we had 
 522 hoi^s de combat; of whom 300 were killed 
 and 222 wounded — nearly all the officers among 
 them. A number of the wounded were killed 
 on the orlop deck below the water-line. Of the 
 remaining 121, a large number were employed in 
 the storerooms and magazines. The batteries and 
 
166 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 upper decks were practically abandoned — bare of 
 men, and we were unable longer to offer any 
 resistance. No one who had not seen the state of 
 the Redoutable could ever form an idea of her 
 awful condition. Really I know of nothing on 
 board that had not been hit by shot.^ In the midst 
 of this horrible carnage and devastation my splen- 
 did fellows who had not been killed, and even, too, 
 the wounded below on the orlop, kept cheering 
 * Long live the Emperor I We are not taken yet ! 
 Is the Captain still alive?' ('Vive FEmpereur! 
 Nous ne sommes pas encore pris ! Le Command- 
 ant, vit il encore?') Some tarred canvas at the 
 stern took fire about this time, but happily the 
 
 1 Here, by way of a comparison with the effects of modern gun fire 
 on a modern ship of war, is an account by a newspaper correspondent 
 of the damage done to the Russian battleship '^ Orel," Admiral Togo's 
 great prize from the battle of the Sea of Japan : " I was permitted 
 yesterday to visit and inspect the captured Russian battleship Orel at 
 Maizuru. The Orel received a terrible battering. The hull shows 
 forty gaping holes pierced by large shells and many smaller hits, 
 while the superstructure, upper works, and upper decks were riddled 
 by shell, steel fragments, and splinters. The starboard forward 
 12-inch gun was smashed ten feet from the muzzle, either by a shell 
 or by an explosion. A fragment of the gun went over the bridge, 
 smashing the rail, and carrying away the breech of a 12-pounder, 
 finally burying itself in the signal locker. From the main deck up- 
 wards the condition of the vessel was terrible. The steel partitions 
 were smashed, the gangway was broken, the stanchions were wrecked, 
 and gear of various kinds littered the decks and alley ways. The 
 ship was on fire several times, and the marks of the flames in- 
 creased the appearance of the desolation. The main armour belt 
 was intact, and the turret armour generally withstood Japanese shell, 
 although two six-inch turrets were rendered unserviceable by shots, 
 which struck close to the base. Several smaller guns were dismounted 
 and smashed." 
 
"I GAVE ORDERS TO LOWER THE COLOURS" l67 
 
 flames were held in check, and we succeeded before 
 long in extinguishing them.^ 
 
 "The Victory by this time fought no longer. 
 She busied herself only with getting clear of the 
 Redoutable. We, however, meanwhile were being 
 cut to pieces by the cross fire from the Temeraire, 
 with whom we still fought, and from the other 
 ship, which was still firing into us at the stem. 
 Unable to meet that fire, and not seeing any 
 chance of rescue, the rest of our ships being all too 
 far to leeward to be able to come to our assistance, 
 I hesitated no longer about surrendering. The leaks 
 were sufficiently serious to ensure the ship going 
 to the bottom, so that the enemy would not keep 
 her. When I satisfied myself finally about this, 
 I gave orders to lower the colours. The flag, 
 however, came down by itself with the fall of the 
 mizen-mast.- We were then left by the ship which 
 had been firing into us astern, but the Temeraire 
 continued to fire on us. She did not give over 
 
 * A party from the ''Victory," consisting of two midshipmen and 
 eight or ten marines, was sent on board the " Redoutable ^' to lend a 
 hand. As the only way of getting across they got down through a 
 stern port into one of the " Victory's " boats towing astern, rowed to 
 the " Redoutable," and clambered on board through the stern ports. 
 They were, we are told, ''well received." 
 
 2 Several pictures of the "Defence of the Redoutable at Trafalgar" 
 have been exhibited at the Salon. A very interesting set of sketches 
 in Indian ink, showing the movements of the " Redoutable " and details 
 of the battle in her neighbourhood, was made at Captain Lucas's 
 instance. Copies are in the Musee de la Marine at the Louvre, which 
 by permission of Captain Lucas's family, and the Conservateur of the 
 Musee de la Marine, are reproduced in this book. 
 
168 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 until her men were obliged to do so by having to 
 work at extinguishing a fire which had broken out 
 on board their own ship. It was then half-past 
 two in the afternoon. 
 
 " The Victory, the Redoutable, with the Temer- 
 aire and the Mercure [sicy were all the time 
 joined together, owing to their masts having fallen 
 across from one ship to the other. Unable to 
 use their helms, they formed one mass, which 
 drifted at the mercy of the wind. In that way 
 they came foul of the Fougueux, which, hav- 
 ing fought against several of the enemy's ships, 
 had been left by them without having lowered her 
 flag. She was dismasted and unrigged, and float- 
 ing an unmanageable hulk. On fouling the group 
 of ships she was boarded by the Temeraire. The 
 Fougueux was, however, beyond making serious 
 resistance. Her brave captain, Baudouin, though, 
 even then made an effort, but in vain. He was 
 killed at the outset, and his second in command 
 was wounded at the same moment; whereupon 
 some men of the Temeraire sprang on board and 
 took possession." 
 
 ^ There was no ship of this name at Trafalgar on either side. As 
 a fact, also, the '* Victory " had already got clear of the group before 
 the " Redoutable " surrendered. The capture of the *' Fougueux," here 
 referred to by Captain Lucas, also took place before the "Redoutable's" 
 colours came down, and, according to English accounts, under some- 
 what different circumstances — as the result of an attempt to rescue the 
 " Redoutable " by boarding the " Temeraire." 
 
THREAT TO SET THE SHIP ON FIRE 169 
 
 Captain Lucas then describes what followed the 
 surrender. 
 
 "The enemy took no steps to take possession 
 of the Redoutable, in which the leaks were so con- 
 siderable that I feared the ship would sink before 
 they would be able to get the wounded out. I 
 represented the state of things to the Temc^raire, 
 and warned them that unless they took steps at 
 once to send men on board with gear for the pumps 
 and give us immediate succour, I would have to set 
 fire to the ship, which would involve the Tem^raire 
 and the Victory. Immediately after that two 
 officers and some seamen and marines came on 
 board and took possession of the ship. One of the 
 English marines, who entered on the lower deck 
 through a port, was attacked by one of our 
 wounded sailors armed with a musket and bayonet. 
 He fell on the Englishman with fury, shouting, ' 1 
 must kill one more of them I ' He bayoneted the 
 marine through the thigh, and the man fell between 
 the two vessels. In spite of this incident, how- 
 ever, I was able to induce the English party to 
 remain on board. They wanted to return to their 
 own ship and leave us. 
 
 " Towards three o'clock some of the ships of our 
 van squadron which were to windward on the 
 starboard tack and apparently about to draw off 
 from the battle, without having been perceptibly 
 damaged, fired several shots at our group, but from 
 a long range. Several of their cannon balls fell 
 
170 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 on board the Redoutable, and one of the English 
 officers had his thigh shattered and died in a few 
 moments. 
 
 " At half-past three, the Victory separated her- 
 self from the Redoutable, but she was in so dis- 
 mantled a state as to be hors de combat} It was 
 not until seven in the evening that they were able 
 to get the Redoutable clear of the Tem^raire, 
 which still, however, remained foul of the Fougueux. 
 We had not yet been formally taken possession of, 
 but the English Swiftsure now arrived and took us 
 in tow. 
 
 " We spent the whole of that night at the two 
 pumps which were all that remained workable, 
 without, however, being able to keep the water 
 under. The few Frenchmen who were able to do 
 duty joined with the English party on board in 
 pumping, stopped several leaks, blocked up the 
 port holes and boarded in the poop of the ship, 
 which was ready to cave in. Indeed, no toil was 
 too hard for them. In the middle of all the 
 turmoil and horrible disorder on board, just keep- 
 ing the ship above water, with the 'tween-decks 
 and batteries encumbered with dead, I noticed 
 some of my brave fellows, particularly the young 
 midshipmen, of whom several were wounded, 
 picking up arms which they hid on the lower deck, 
 with the intention, as they said, of retaking the 
 
 * The " Victory " got clear, according to English accounts, before 
 two o'clock. 
 
"WORTHY OF A BETTER FATE" 171 
 
 ship. Never were so many traits of intrepidity, 
 of valour and daring, displayed on board a single 
 ship; the whole history of our navy can show 
 nothing like them. 
 
 "Next morning the captain of the Swiftsure 
 sent a boat to take me on board, together with 
 Lieutenant Dupotet and Midshipman Ducrest, 
 and we were duly conducted there. At noon the 
 Redoutable lost her foremast, the only mast she 
 had left. At five in the evening the water con- 
 tinued so to gain on the pumps that the prize- 
 master made signals of distress, and all the boats 
 of the Swiftsure were lowered to rescue the crew. 
 It was blowing very hard at the time, and the sea 
 ran very high, which made the getting out of the 
 wounded very difficult. These poor fellows, on its 
 being seen that the ship was going down, were 
 nearly all brought up and laid on the quarter-deck. 
 They were able to save several of them. At seven 
 in the evening the poop was entirely submerged. 
 The Redoutable sank with a large number of the 
 wounded still on board. They met their death 
 with courage worthy of a better fate. A hundred 
 and sixty-nine men, forming the remainder of the 
 brave crew of the Redoutable, found themselves 
 together on board the English ship. Seventy of 
 the number were badly wounded and sixty-four 
 of the rest had less serious wounds. All the 
 wounded were sent into Cadiz under a flag of 
 truce, and in the end only thirty-five men from 
 
172 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 the Redoutable were taken to England as prisoners 
 of war. 
 
 "The results of the battle as regarded the 
 Redoutable were these : the loss of the ship and 
 destruction of three-quarters of her crew. On the 
 other hand, single-handed, she had throughout the 
 battle engaged the attention of two three-deckers, 
 the Victory and Temeraire ; and in this way had 
 fully occupied Admiral Nelson himself, who, taken 
 up with this one encounter, could only free him- 
 self by excessive daring. England has lost the 
 hero of her navy, who fell before the brave men of 
 the Redoutable. More than three hundred men, 
 several of them superior officers, were put hors de 
 combat on board the enemy's ships. The Victory 
 lost her mizen topmast in the action and main top- 
 gallant mast ; and in general all her yards were 
 badly damaged and also the wheel. The Temer- 
 aire lost two of her topmasts ; two lower yards, and 
 her helm and rudder were destroyed by the guns of 
 our upper deck. Both ships had to return to Eng- 
 land to undergo large repairs. 
 
 " 1 add to this report a return of the ship's com- 
 pany of the Redoutable, both before and after the 
 battle. It will show you the loss of men of each 
 class. I also add a list of the officers by name, 
 both of the Etat Major and the midshipmen. The 
 praise and commendation due from me to one 
 and all are beyond expression. No one who 
 did not see the valour of the officers and young 
 
"UNSURPASSABLE COURAGE" 173 
 
 midshipmen told off to lead our boarding parties 
 can form an idea of their ebullient ardour, their 
 splendid audacity — especially when, at the head 
 of the brave men that each commanded, they 
 stood in front of the boarding-nettings, armed 
 some with pistols and cutlasses, others with car- 
 bines, all directing the fire of the musketry and the 
 flinging of the grenades. In this, the officers of 
 infantry and those of the ship, the sailors and 
 soldiers alike, all displayed unsurpassable courage, 
 and in presenting my list of them it is impossible 
 to name which were the most meritorious. 
 
 " Monseigneur, I have the honour to be your 
 Excellency's most humble and obedient servant. 
 
 ^^iS^j^ 
 
 '* Captain Commandant of the Redoutable." 
 
 Of the 645 officers and men mustered on board 
 the "Redoutable" a day or two before Captain 
 JLucas left Cadiz, 300, according to the official 
 returns, were killed and 222 wounded. Terrible as 
 these figures are, their significance is intensified if 
 one goes through, by itself, the official return of 
 the officers placed hors de combat. It is com- 
 piled from documents among the archives of the 
 Ministry of Marine in Paris ; which also account 
 for practically every officer on board all the ships 
 
174 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 of the fleet present at the battle. This is the " Re- 
 doutable's " return, giving a nominal roll of all the 
 officers, both those of the ship herself and of 
 the soldiers, on board : — 
 
 ETAT MAJOR DU '' REDOUT ABLE": 
 
 Lucas (Jean Jaques Etienne) capitaine de vaisseau com- 
 mandant. Blesse. 
 
 Dupotet (Henri Joseph) lieutenant en pied. Blesse. 
 
 Briamant (Elie Frangois) lieutenant de vaisseau, provisoire. 
 Tu6. 
 
 Pouloin (Fran9ois Louis) id. Tue. 
 
 Maiol (Jean Fran9ois) enseigne de vaisseau, faisant fonctions 
 de lieutenant de vaisseau. Blesse. 
 
 Sergent (Pierre) id. Blesse. 
 
 Ducrest (Alexandre) id. 
 
 Laity (Jean Fran9ois) enseigne de vaisseau. Blesse. 
 
 Tresse (Claude Joseph) lieutenant d'artillerie de marine. Tue. 
 
 Pean (Jean Louis) agent comtable. 
 
 Bohan (Allain) officier de sante en chef. 
 
 Guillaume (Louis) Capitaine du 79® regiment. Blesse tres 
 gri^vement. 
 
 Chauvin (Pierre) lieutenant du 79® regiment. 
 
 Medeau (Jean) sous lieutenant du 79® regiment. Tue. 
 
 Auroche (Louis) capitaine au 6® depot colonial. Blesse. 
 
 Neury (Charles) lieutenant du 6® depot colonial. Tue. 
 
 Blondel (Quentin Henri-Auguste) capitaine d'artillerie de 
 marine. 
 
 Chafange (Charles) capitaine de 16® regiment. Tue. 
 
 Savignac, sous lieutenant du l6® regiment. Tue. 
 
 Hosteau (Louis Charles) aspirant de 1'* classe, faisant fonc- 
 tions d'enseigne de vaisseau. Blesse. 
 
 Laferriere (Philippe Gautier) id. Tue. 
 
 Lepeltier (Fran9ois) id. Tvl6. 
 
 Yon (Jaques) id. Tu^. 
 
 Daubre (Joseph) aspirant de 2* classe. Tu^. 
 
 Perrin (Fran9ois) id. Tu6. 
 
WHAT NAPOLEON SAID 175 
 
 Maubrat (Seraphin) id. 
 
 La Fortelle (Henri) id. Blesse. 
 
 Lemesle, id. 
 
 Le Ferec (Theodore) id. Blesse. 
 
 The awful loss among the officers comes out even 
 more strongly when the foregoing list is analyzed 
 in detail. Out of twenty-nine officers of all ranks, 
 twelve were killed and ten (including Captain 
 Lucas) were wounded. Seven only escaped un- 
 hurt; and these included the surgeon and the 
 purser, who were stationed in comparative safety 
 below. Of six lieutenants and acting lieutenants, 
 two were killed and three wounded. Of eleven 
 sub-lieutenants and midshipmen, five were killed 
 and four were wounded. Of eight officers of the 
 troops on board, four were killed and three were 
 wounded. 
 
 When Captain Lucas, after a brief detention in 
 England at Bishop's Waltham and at Reading, as 
 prisoner of war, was exchanged by special cartel 
 and had returned to France, Napoleon sent for 
 him, and at St. Cloud, in the presence of the 
 Etat Major de VEmpereur, glittering with the 
 honours of Austerlitz, pinned on the breast of the 
 ex-captain of the " Redoutable," with his own 
 hand, the Gold Cross of the Legion of Honour, 
 and promoted him to rear-admiral. " Had all my 
 officers," said Napoleon to Lucas, " behaved as you 
 did, the battle would have been a very different 
 
176 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 story ! " ^ Admiral Villeneuve also, writing to 
 Captain Lucas to congratulate him on the Em- 
 peror's encomium, said the same thing : — '* Had 
 all the captains acted in like manner to you, the 
 battle would not have been indecisive for an in- 
 stant ; and no one knows this better than myself ! " 
 "Si tous les capitaines de vaisseau s'^taient conduits 
 comme vous a Trafalgar," were Villeneuve's words, 
 "la victoire n'eut pas ete un instant indecisee. 
 Certainement personne ne le sait aussi bien que 
 moi." 
 
 With the sanction of the British Admiralty, 
 according to a French account,^ as a mark of dis- 
 tinction in connexion with his fine defence of the 
 "Redoutable," Captain Lucas's sword was returned 
 to him a little time after his arrival in England. 
 It was, we are told, ceremoniously handed back to 
 him at a supper party in London given for the 
 occasion by Lady Warren, the wife of Admiral Sir 
 John Borlase Warren. Whether this was really 
 so or not, the sword has since disappeared. The 
 
 1 Napoleon used this language, according to the ''Gentleman's 
 Magazine " for 1806 : Abstract of Foreign Occurrences — Paris, May 3. 
 His Majesty said to Captain Lucas and Infernet : — '' Had all my ships 
 behaved like yours, victory would not have been doubtful. I know 
 there are several who did not follow your example. I have ordered 
 enquiries to be made into their behaviour. But as for you, I have no 
 need of information : I have nominated you Commanders in the 
 Legion of Honour. Those captains who, instead of boarding the 
 enemy's vessels, kept themselves aloof and out of cannon shot, shall 
 be prosecuted, and if convicted a signal example shall be made of 
 them." 
 
 "^ H. Moulin, " Les Marins de la Republique," p. 132. 
 
CAPTAIN LUCAS OF THE '* REDOUTABI.E 
 
 REAR-ADMIKAL .MAGON 
 
 To face p. 176 
 
LUCAS S SEAL 
 
 ''AUX BRAVES DU REDOUTABLE!" 177 
 
 descendants of Captain Lucas do not possess it, 
 and have no idea of its whereabouts, although 
 they treasure with devoted pride other Trafalgar 
 relics of their ancestor. 
 
 For the fourteen years that Lucas lived after 
 Trafalgar the heroic officer was everywhere known 
 throughout the French Navy by the eponym "le 
 Redoutable Lucas." To the 
 last, we are told further, he 
 never failed to remember 
 those who had fought with 
 him for France at Trafalgar. 
 Lucas also had a special seal 
 made, bearing the device of a 
 ship going down with colours 
 flying, and with the words engraved, "Aux braves 
 du Redoutable: Nelson mort — le 21 Octobre, 
 1805," which he used solely for sealing their certifi- 
 cates of service.^ Rear- Admiral Lucas lies buried 
 in the cemetery at Brest. He died in 1819, broken- 
 hearted, it is said, at being passed over for pro- 
 motion by the new RoyaUst authorities.^ 
 
 * The seal is now in the possession of Captain Lucas's grandson, 
 M. Cleree, of Auteuil, a member of the French Bar. 
 
 2 The last French survivor of Trafalgar, Louis Andre Manuel Car- 
 tigny, of Hyeres, died in 1892, at the age of a hundred and one. He 
 was a '^ mousse," or powder-monkey, on board the " Redoutable " in 
 the battle, where he was slightly wounded. Cartigny was brought 
 to England, and remained a captive on board the hulks at Plymouth, 
 at Dartmoor, and in the war-prison at Stapledon, near Bristol, for 
 some years. Later he was exchanged, and, returning to France, was 
 attached to the '' Seamen of the Guard," with whom he was present at 
 Fontainebleau on the memorable occasion in 1814 when the Emperor 
 
 N 
 
178 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 Under the Second Empire the name " Redout- 
 able" was given to one of the first men-of-war 
 added to the navy of France by Napoleon III, a 
 magnificent 90-gun ship, and there is a battleship 
 " Redoutable " in the French Fleet at the present 
 hour. 
 
 made his pathetic adieu to the Grand Army. Cartigny received 
 the St. Helena pension of 250 francs, and was decorated by Napoleon 
 the Third with the Legion of Honour. He was present at Chislehurst 
 on the occasion of the Prince Imperial's funeral, as one of the " St. 
 Helena Medallists." He died at Hyeres, where he had spent the later 
 years of his life as landlord of the Grand Cafe des Quatre Saisons, on 
 the Gours de Strasbourg. As it happened, the funeral of France's 
 last Trafalgar veteran occurred just as Queen Victoria was arriving 
 at Hyeres for some weeks' stay in the neighbourhood, and as soon 
 as she heard of it Her Majesty sent a wreath to be placed on the 
 veteran's grave, with a sympathetic message to his surviving daughter 
 and an expression of regret that she had not known before of the death 
 or she would have been represented by an equerry at the graveside. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 "THE MAN WHO SHOT NELSON'' 
 
 UPWARDS of a quarter of a century after 
 Trafalgar there appeared in France the follow- 
 ing narrative, purporting to have been written by a 
 soldier on board the " Redoutable," and stationed 
 in the mizentop, one Sergeant Robert Guillemard. 
 Its authenticity has, however, been doubted, and 
 the authorship is attributed to a collaboration by 
 two clever writers of the day, C. O. Barbaroux 
 (son of the famous Girondin), and A. J. Lardier, 
 who published it as a chapter in a book of adven- 
 tures in the Napoleonic wars. Whatever the real 
 facts may be, the tale told is an exciting one, and 
 certain of its details may well have come from some- 
 body on board the " Redoutable " at Trafalgar. 
 
 Here is an extract from the story, as Sergeant 
 Guillemard relates it : — 
 
 "All our top-men had been killed, when two 
 sailors and four soldiers (of whom I was one) were 
 ordered to occupy their post in the tops. While 
 we were going aloft, the balls and grape-shot 
 showered around us, struck the masts and yards, 
 knocked large splinters from them, and cut the 
 rigging in pieces. One of my companions was 
 
 179 
 
180 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 wounded beside me, and fell from a height of 
 thirty feet upon the deck, where he broke his neck. 
 
 "When I reached the top, my first action 
 was to take a view of the scene presented by 
 the hostile fleets. For more than a league ex- 
 tended a thick cloud of smoke, above which were 
 discernible a forest of masts and rigging, and the 
 flags, the pendants, and the fire of the three 
 nations. Thousands of flashes more or less near 
 continually penetrated this cloud, and a rolling 
 noise very similar to the sound of continued 
 thunder, but much stronger, arose from its bosom. 
 The sea was calm, the wind light, and not very 
 favourable to the execution of manoeuvres. 
 
 "When the English top-men, who were only a 
 few yards distant from us, saw us appear, they 
 directed a sharp fire upon us, which we returned.^ 
 A soldier of my company and a sailor were killed 
 quite close to me ; two others, who were wounded, 
 were able to go below by the shrouds. Our oppo- 
 nents were, it seems, still worse handled than we, 
 for I soon saw the English tops deserted, and none 
 sent to supply the place of those who must have 
 been killed or wounded by our balls. I then 
 looked at the English vessel and our own. The 
 smoke enveloping them was dissipated for a 
 moment but returned thicker at each broadside. 
 The two decks were covered with dead bodies, 
 
 ^ As a fact, there were none. Nelson objected to having musketry 
 in the tops, owing to the danger from fire, and other reasons. 
 
"I FIRED AT HAZARD" 181 
 
 which they had not time to throw overboard. I 
 perceived Captain Lucas motionless at his post 
 and several wounded officers still giving orders. 
 On the poop of the English vessel was an officer 
 covered with orders and with only one arm. 
 From what I had heard of Nelson, I had no doubt 
 that it was he. He was surrounded by several 
 officers, to whom he seemed to be giving orders. 
 At the moment I first perceived him, several of 
 his sailors were wounded beside him by the fire of 
 the Redoutable. As I had received no orders to 
 go down, and saw myself forgotten in the tops, I 
 thought it my duty to fire on the poop of the 
 English vessel, which 1 saw quite exposed and 
 close to me. I could even have taken aim at the 
 men I saw, but I fired at hazard among the groups 
 I saw of sailors and officers. All at once I saw 
 great confusion on board the Victory: the men 
 crowded round the officer whom I had taken for 
 Nelson. He had just fallen, and was taken below, 
 covered with a cloak. The agitation shown at this 
 moment left me no doubt that I had judged 
 rightly, and that it really was the English admiral. 
 An instant afterwards the Victory ceased firing; 
 the deck was abandoned by all those who occupied 
 it, and I presumed that the consternation produced 
 by the admiral's fall was the cause of this sudden 
 change. I hurried below to inform the captain of 
 what I had seen of the enemy's situation." 
 
182 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 This, on the other hand, is our version of the 
 Frenchman's fate after the shot. According to the 
 account on our side, the man who shot Nelson did 
 not escape to tell the tale. It was impossible in 
 the smoke to mark him down, but one of the 
 "Victory's" midshipmen made it his business to 
 see that not one of those in the mizentop of the 
 "Redoutable" left there alive. The story came 
 out many years afterwards, in a rather roundabout 
 way. A letter in the " Times " in 1863 raised a 
 controversy as to the identity of the British officer 
 in question, it being asserted that Midshipman 
 CoUingwood of the " Victory," an officer who had 
 been dead some years, was entitled to the credit 
 of the performance. Incidentally the correspond- 
 ence brought out the fact that the " Avenger of 
 Nelson " was aUve. More than that, indeed, it 
 drew from him a personal statement of what he 
 did. He was then a retired captain, John Pollard 
 by name. The correspondence caught his eye by 
 accident in the "Kentish and Surrey Mercury," 
 into which it had been copied from the " Times." 
 Writing to the Editor of the " Mercury," Captain 
 Pollard thus told his story : — 
 
 "I was on the poop of the Victory from the time 
 the men were beat to quarters before the action 
 till late in the evening. I was the first struck, 
 as a splinter hit my right arm, and 1 was the only 
 officer left alive of all who had been originally 
 stationed on the poop. It is true my old friend 
 
NOT ONE MAN LEFT ALIVE 183 
 
 Collingwood (who has now been dead some years) 
 came on the poop after I had for some time 
 discovered the men in the top of the Redoutable ; 
 they were in a crouching position, and rose breast- 
 high to fire. I pointed them out to Collingwood as 
 I made my aim ; he took up a musket, fired once, 
 and then left the poop, I concluded to return to 
 the quarter-deck, which was his station during the 
 battle. I remained firing at the top till not a man 
 was to be seen ; the last one I discovered coming 
 down the mizen rigging, and from my fire he fell 
 also. King, a quarter-master, was killed while in 
 the act of handing me a parcel of ball cartridge 
 long after Collingwood had left the poop. I 
 remained there till after the action was over, and 
 assisted in superintending the rigging of the jury 
 mast. Then I was ushered into the ward-room 
 where Sir Thomas Hardy and other officers were 
 assembled, and complimented by them on avenging 
 Lord Nelson's death, which fact afterwards ap- 
 peared in the Gazette, I did not go on board the 
 Redoutable with Mr. Collingwood at all, therefore 
 could not have discovered the man 'lying in the 
 mizentop, with one ball in his head, and another 
 in his breast.' At the time of the action I was 
 nineteen years of age." 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 ADMIRAL MAGON AND HIS FATE 
 
 THIS, according to French accounts, is how 
 things fared with Rear- Admiral Magon, Ville- 
 neuve's junior admiral, and his flagship the 
 " Alge9iras " : — 
 
 The "Alge9iras" had already exchanged fire 
 with several vessels, when she fell in with the 
 "Tonnant." The British ship crossed her bows 
 and got entangled with her bowsprit. Then, hold- 
 ing her antagonist fast, the " Tonnant" began firing 
 broadsides into the "Alge^iras" that raked the 
 French ship from end to end, and to which she 
 could only reply with a few of her foremost guns. 
 The position for the Algeijiras was that of a 
 pugilist held fast "in chancery." Admiral Magon, 
 as the only thing to do, gave orders to board. He 
 would, he shouted, lead the boarders himself. 
 
 The next moment, one bullet carried Magon's 
 hat and wig away; a second struck him in the 
 right arm; immediately after that a third bullet 
 struck him in the shoulder. Magon, however, 
 flatly refused to leave the quarter-deck. He 
 stood at his post, rallying the men, and shouting : 
 
I 
 
 STRUCK DOWN ON THE QUARTER-DECK 185 
 
 *• The first man that boards that ship with me shall 
 have the Cross 1 " It was in vain. The idea was 
 hopeless. A few seconds later, a cannon ball 
 struck the admiral down. It cut him nearly in 
 two, and flung him down on deck on his back, 
 dead. So a letter from the ship relates. 
 
 A second account says that Magon gave in to 
 the repeated solicitations of his officers and allowed 
 two of them to support him off the deck. Before 
 they had gone many steps, however, a grape-shot 
 struck the admiral in the stomach and he dropped 
 dead then and there. 
 
 According to a third account Rear -Admiral 
 Magon was struck down, as he was in the act of 
 heading his men, a tomahawk in his hand, in an 
 effort to repel a British boarding party from the 
 "Tonnant." He fell with the words on his lips, 
 " Sauvez, Sauvez, I'honneur du Pavilion I "^ 
 
 Immediately afterwards other British ships came 
 up and fired into the "Alg^9iras," decimating 
 her crew. Then the French ship's foremast came 
 down, and her main and mizen masts followed, 
 one after the other. Captain Letoumeur now fell 
 dangerously wounded, and the first and second 
 lieutenants, Verdreau and Plassan. The charge of 
 the ship devolved on a young officer. Lieutenant 
 
 * Among the officers on board was the Comte d'Houdetot, who 
 began his career as a midshipman in the '' Alge^iras," and was 
 wounded at Trafalgar. Being transferred later on to the cavalry, he 
 finally, we are told, '' covered himself with glory in the heroic charges 
 at the battle of the Moskowa." 
 
186 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 de la Bretonniere. It was hopeless, though, at that 
 stage, even to try to make a further stand. Dis- 
 masted and nearly knocked to pieces, on fire 
 below, with 216 officers and men hors de combat, 
 the "Algecjiras" had to haul her colours down. 
 She had borne herself, as De la Graviere says, 
 in a manner " digne de sa haute reputation." ^ 
 
 To complete the story, we have an eyewitness's 
 account from a lieutenant of the " Tonnant " : — 
 
 •' A French ship of eighty guns," he says, " with 
 an admiral's flag came up, and poured a raking 
 broadside into our stern which killed and wounded 
 forty petty officers and men, nearly cut the rudder 
 in two, and shattered the whole of the stem with 
 the quarter galleries. She then, in the most 
 gallant manner, locked her bowsprit in our star- 
 board main shrouds and attempted to board us 
 with the greater part of her officers and ship's 
 company. She had riflemen in her tops, who did 
 great execution. Our poop was soon cleared and 
 our gallant captain shot through the left thigh and 
 obliged to be carried below. During this time we 
 were not idle. We gave it to her most gloriously 
 with the starboard and main deckers, and turned 
 the forecastle gun, loaded with grape, on the 
 gentleman who wished to give us a fraternal hug. 
 The marines kept up a warm destructive fire on 
 the boarders. Only one man made good his foot- 
 
 ^ There are five letters from officers of the " Alg^^iras " among the 
 archives of the Ministry of Marine in Paris ; one of them was dictated 
 by Captain Letourneur^ and two are from de la Bretonniere. 
 
FIGHTING IT OUT AT CLOSE QUARTERS 187 
 
 ing on our quarter-deck, when he was pinned 
 through the calf of his right leg by one of the crew 
 with his half-pike, whilst another was going to cut 
 him down, which I prevented, and desired him to 
 be taken to the cockpit. . . . Our severe contest 
 with the French admiral lasted more than half an 
 hour, our sides grinding so much against each 
 other that we were obliged to fire the lower-deck 
 guns without running them out. 
 
 "At length both ships caught fire before the 
 chess trees, and our firemen, with all the coolness 
 and courage so inherent in British seamen, got the 
 engine and played on both ships, and finally ex- 
 tinguished the flames, although two of them were 
 severely wounded in doing so. At length we had 
 the satisfaction of seeing her three lower masts go 
 by the board, ripping the partners up in their fall, 
 as they had been shot through below the deck, 
 and carrying with them all their sharpshooters to 
 look sharper in the next world ; for as all our boats 
 were shot through we could not save one of them 
 in this. The crew were then ordered with the 
 second lieutenant to board her. They cheered, 
 and in a short time carried her. They found the 
 gallant French Admiral Magon killed at the foot 
 of the poop ladder, and the captain dangerously 
 wounded. Out of eight lieutenants, five were 
 killed with three hundred petty officers and sea- 
 men and about one hundred wounded. We left 
 the second lieutenant and sixty men in charge of 
 
188 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 her and took some of the prisoners on board when 
 she swung clear of us. We had pummelled her so 
 handsomely that fourteen of her lower-deck guns 
 were dismounted and her larboard bow exhibited a 
 mass of splinters."^ 
 
 ^ The late Admiral of the Fleet Sir George Sartorius, who died in 
 1885^ one of our two last survivors of Trafalgar^ was a midshipman in 
 the ^' Tonnant." He attributed his ship's success over the " Algd9iras '' 
 entirely to superior gunnery. 
 
 " She (the Tonnant)/' he says^ " was one of the very few, perhaps 
 one of the four or five, that had been constantly exercised at her guns. 
 At the battle of Trafalgar a line-of-battle ship ran alongside us, her 
 yard got entangled with our main rigging, and in the course of six- 
 and-thirty minutes, from the extreme rapidity of our firing we 
 managed to knock away all her masts, and to kill and wound 436 of 
 her men. Had we not been well exercised at our guns, I think the 
 Frenchman would have got the advantage of us. We had actually our 
 engine playing on her broadside to put out the fire caused by the 
 flame of our guns." 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 HOW THE "INTREPIDE'' TURNED BACK TO 
 SAVE THE ADMIRAL 
 
 EQUALLY fine was the display made by the 
 "Intrepide," Captain Louis Antoine Cyprian 
 Infernet, to give an heroic officer his full name. 
 How he turned back from the van into the fiercest 
 of the fighting, in a foriorn-hope effort to rescue 
 his admiral and save the fortune of the day ; and 
 after that, foiled by fate, fought his ship against 
 tremendous odds until the " Intr^pide," was left the 
 last resisting French ship at Trafalgar, is the story 
 of a feat of arms the memory of which, from that 
 day to this, has ever been one of the glories of the 
 French Navy; one of whose ships, the present-day 
 cruiser " Infernet," in her name, commemorates it 
 officially. Even at the last, when further resist- 
 ance was hopeless, with every mast shot away and 
 most of his guns disabled, with eight feet of water 
 in the hold in spite of the pumps, with 306 officers 
 and men killed and wounded, 45 per cent of the 
 total on board — even then, though. Captain Infernet 
 would not surrender, and his surviving officers had 
 to hold him down while the colours were being 
 lowered. -^ 
 
 189 
 
190 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 "Ah, que dira TEmpereur," the brave fellow 
 exclaimed, with tears in his eyes, " que dira 
 FEmpereur, moi qui Tavais assure que je pouvais 
 encore soutenir dix combats . . . et je me rends 
 au premier."^ "I have to ask you to be my in- 
 terpreter to His Imperial Majesty," wrote Infernet 
 on the day after Trafalgar to the Minister of 
 Marine, " in expressing to him my deep sorrow at 
 having lost the ship that was entrusted to me by 
 him, which I had sworn to defend to the death. 
 
 CAPTAIN INFERNET S SIGNATURE 
 
 Assure His Majesty above all things of my great 
 desire that I may yet have an opportunity of 
 avenging the honour of the flag — in any other post 
 he may judge fit to place me." On his return 
 to France, six months after Trafalgar, Napoleon 
 specially sent for Infernet to St. Cloud and deco- 
 rated him with the Grand Cross of the Legion of 
 Honour in the presence of the Imperial Court, on 
 the same day that he decorated Lucas of the 
 " Redoutable " ; and popular acclaim, exactly as in 
 
 * Quoted, in a letter dated March, 1847, from Captain the Marquis 
 Gicquel des Touches to the Minister of Marine in Paris. The marquis 
 was an enseigne de vaisseau (sub-lieutenant) in the ''Intrepide" at 
 Trafalgar. 
 
WHAT ONE OF THE OFFICERS SAW 191 
 
 the case of Captain Lucas, transformed the name 
 of the ship into an epithet of distinction for her 
 captain. " L'lntrepide Infernet " all France called 
 him during the rest of his life. 
 
 This is what took place on board the " Intr^pide " 
 at Trafalgar, as related in detail by the Marquis 
 Gicquel des Touches : — ^ 
 
 "Their fleet, divided into two columns, ap- 
 proached us before the wind, a breeze from the 
 west, and led by the two vice-admirals. Nelson 
 and Collingwood, whose flags flew at the head of 
 each line in the three-deckers Victory and Royal 
 Sovereign. 
 
 " This method of engaging battle was contrary 
 to ordinary prudence, for the British ships, reach- 
 ing us one by one and at a very slow speed, seemed 
 bound to be overpowered in detail by our superior 
 forces ; but Nelson knew his own fleet — and ours. 
 
 "At the same moment that the Victory came 
 into action with the Bucentaure and the Santisima 
 Trinidad, the column of Admiral Collingwood 
 engaged our rear division and the entire fleet 
 disappeared from our sight, blotted out by the 
 smoke, 
 
 " The leading division, however, although not a 
 single British ship threatened it, remained inactive. 
 
 * ** Revue des Deux Mondes/' July, 1906. *' Souvenirs d'un Marin 
 de la Republique. " 
 
192 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 Our captain, Infemet, with his eyes fixed on the 
 Formidable, expected Admiral Dumanoir every 
 moment to make the signal to go about and take 
 part in the battle. But no signal went up. Time 
 passed, and the van division slowly drew off from 
 where the fighting was going on : it became soon 
 but too plain that its chief was keeping out of the 
 battle. Admiral Villeneuve, meanwhile, while he 
 still had a mast standing on which to hoist a 
 signal, was ordering our ships to put about and 
 come into action. Undoubtedly, owing to the 
 lightness of the wind and the swell, the evolution 
 was a slow and difficult one ; but it might at least 
 have been attempted. I have to admit, to the 
 shame of the van division, that no effort was made 
 by them to obey Admiral Villeneuve's signals. 
 And I saw the Mont Blanc, the Duguay Trouin, 
 and the Scipion, following in the wake of the 
 Formidable and drawing off slowly without having 
 received a single shot. 
 
 "Happily Captain Infernet took another view 
 of his duty, and his honour. Although we were 
 immediately under the orders of M. Dumanoir, we 
 had already made several unsuccessful attempts to 
 put about ; but the wind had been entirely stilled 
 by the cannonading and the very heavy ground 
 swell, presage of an approaching storm, made it 
 difficult for the ship to answer the helm. In the 
 end, though, after incessant efforts and by the aid 
 of the only boat we had available, we were able to 
 
"HEAD FOR THE BUCENTAURE!" 193 
 
 wear round, whereupon the captain called out in a 
 resounding voice, ' Lou capo sur lou Bucentaure ! ' 
 (Lay her head for the Bucentaure.) It was now 
 the hottest moment of the battle. 
 
 "We could hardly make out, in the midst of the 
 smoke and confusion of the battle, the situa- 
 tion of our flagship, surrounded as she was by 
 the enemy, and having near her only the Redout- 
 able, a small 74, crushed by the overpower- 
 ing mass of the Victory, but still resisting with 
 such heroism that they even tried to carry by 
 boarding Nelson's own ship. At all points the 
 British had the advantage of numbers over us. 
 Not one of them was idle, and the advantage of 
 an attack from windward permitted them to place 
 themselves wherever their presence was neces- 
 sary — paying no heed to our ships to leeward. 
 These could not take part in the battle except from 
 afar and must of necessity succumb in detail and 
 ineffectively. And more than that. The enemy's 
 superiority in gunnery was so great that, in a 
 very short time, our crews were decimated, whilst 
 on the British side the losses were comparatively 
 trivial. 
 
 " When at length we drew near where the 
 Bucentaure and the Redoutable lay, their masts 
 had fallen, their fire was almost silenced ; yet the 
 heroism of those on board kept up an unequal and 
 hopeless struggle, fighting against ships that were 
 practically undamaged, from the ports of which 
 
194^ THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 broadside after broadside flashed incessantly. It 
 was into the thick of this fray that our Captain 
 Infernet led us. He wanted, he said, to rescue 
 Admiral Villeneuve and take him on board, and 
 then to rally round ourselves the ships that were 
 still in a fit state to fight. It was a reckless 
 and forlorn hope, a mad enterprise ; and he him- 
 self could not doubt it. It was the pretext Infernet 
 gave for continuing the fight. He would not have 
 it said that the Intrepide had quitted the battle 
 while she still could fight a gun or hoist a sail. It 
 was noble madness, but, though we knew it, we 
 aU supported him with joyful alacrity : — and would 
 that others had imitated his example ! 
 
 " We had soon the honour of drawing on us a 
 number of the enemy : — the Leviathan, the Africa, 
 the Agamemnon, the Orion, the Temeraire (? the 
 Britannia) of 100 guns. They all set on us fiercely, 
 and when, after five in the evening, we had to 
 lower our colours, the only flag on our side that 
 still flew, the Intrepide had not a lower mast left 
 standing. She had lost two-thirds of her men 
 and was lying riddled with shot-holes ; the port- 
 lids torn away; and with water pouring in below 
 everywhere. Our honour, however, was saved ; 
 our work had been done, our duty fulfilled to the 
 uttermost. 
 
 " I passed the whole time of the battle on the 
 forecastle, where I had charge of the head sails 
 
WHY THEY DID NOT BOARD 195 
 
 and of the musketry and the boarders. To lead 
 my boarders was throughout my most ardent 
 desire, which unhappily I could not realize. What 
 took much of my attention was to prevent the 
 masts and yards from coming down, and I was 
 able to keep the foremast standing for a consider- 
 able time, by means of which we were able to 
 manoeuvre the ship to some extent. While the 
 fighting was very hot, the British Orion crossed 
 our bows in order to pour in a raking fire. I got 
 my men ready to board, and pointing out to a 
 midshipman her position and what I wanted to do, 
 I sent him to the captain with a request to have 
 the ship laid on board the Orion. I saw to the 
 rest, and seeing the ardour of my men, I already 
 imagined myself master of the British seventy- 
 four and taking her into Cadiz with her colours 
 under ours 1 With keen anxiety I waited ; but 
 there was no change in the Intrepide's course. 
 Then I dashed off for the quarter-deck myself. On 
 my way I found my midshipman lying flat on the 
 deck, terrified at the sight of the Temeraire 
 (? Britannia), which ship had come abreast of us 
 within pistol-shot and was thundering into us from 
 her lofty batteries. I treated my emissary as he 
 deserved — I gave him a hearty kick — and then 
 I hurried aft to explain my project personally to 
 the captain. It was then, though, too late. The 
 Orion swept forward across our bows, letting fly a 
 
196 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 murderous broadside — and no second chance pre- 
 sented itself. 
 
 " At the moment I reached the poop the brave 
 Infernet was brandishing a small curved sabre 
 which struck off one of the pieces of wooden orna- 
 mental work by the rail. The sword-blade went 
 quite close to my face, and I said laughingly, ' Do 
 you want to cut my head off. Captain ? ' ' No, cer- 
 tainly not you, my friend,' was the reply, ' but that's 
 what I mean to do to the first man who speaks to 
 me of surrender.' Near by was a gallant colonel 
 of infantry, who had distinguished himself at 
 Marengo. He was terribly perturbed at the broad- 
 side from the Temeraire (? Britannia). In vain 
 he tried to dodge and shelter behind the stalwart 
 form of the captain, who at length saw what he 
 was doing. ' Ah, Colonel,' called out the captain, 
 ' do you think I am sheathed in metal then ? ' In 
 spite of the gravity of the moment we could not 
 keep from laughing. 
 
 " But by now, indeed, the decks had been almost 
 swept clear; our guns were disabled, and the 
 batteries heaped up with dead and dying. It was 
 impossible to keep up a resistance which meant 
 the doom of what remained of our brave ship's 
 company, and ourselves, without the means of 
 striking back and inflicting harm on the enemy. 
 Our flag was hauled down. It had been for some 
 time the last flag to fly in our part of the battle, 
 
WHAT INFERNET HIMSELF SAID 197 
 
 and I believe after us no other French or Spanish 
 ship maintained resistance."^ 
 
 This is an extract from Captain Infemet's own 
 report to Admiral Villeneuve, drawn up in Eng- 
 land and forwarded later to the Minister of Marine 
 in Paris : — 
 
 " Je fus coupe par deux vaisseaux ennemis, qui 
 commencerent a me cannoner. Je les approchais 
 etk2 heures je commen^ai a les combattre de tres 
 pr^s. Demi-heure apres je fus combattu par trois 
 et de tres pres ; a 3 heures par quatre ; a un quart 
 par cinq. Je faisais feu des deux bords et meme 
 des canons de retraite, le combat ^tait des plus 
 
 1 Lieutenant Gicquel des Touches describes also how he was sent 
 to England and interned with Admiral Dumanoir and a number of 
 the French Trafalgar officers at Tiverton in Devonshire—" une petite 
 ville, assez plaisante mais qui me parut singulierement monotone." 
 He says everybody was kind and hospitable to them, and some even 
 offered to help them to escape. In particular he mentions a young 
 Tiverton lady, '* une jeune et jolie mees," who offered to escape with 
 him if he would marry her on getting to France. He refused the 
 tempting offer with difficulty, he says, and waited six years till he was 
 regularly exchanged through the good offices of Lord Northesk of the 
 ''Britannia" at Trafalgar. The house where Admiral Dumanoir 
 lodged at Tiverton used to be pointed out, as well as the walk in the 
 neighbourhood, "Frenchman's mile," where the admiral and his 
 brother officers interned with him at Tiverton were accustomed to take 
 their daily "constitutional." Ordinarily the only restrictions on their 
 liberty in this regard were that they had to be within the turnpike 
 gates by 8 p.m. in the summer time and four in the winter, when the 
 warning bell was rung from St. George's Church. It was from 
 Tiverton that Admiral Dumanoir took the peculiar step, for a prisoner 
 of war, of writing a letter to the " Times " to protest against certain 
 reflections on his conduct in the battle that had appeared in the papers, 
 and gave his own version of the part he had played at Trafalgar, quoted 
 on another page. 
 
198 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 opiniatres. . . . Plus tard, je fus entour^ par sept 
 vaisseaux, qui tous me faisaient feu dessus." ^ 
 
 " I cannot give too high praise," wrote Admiral 
 Villeneuve from England to the Minister of 
 Marine, " to the courage that the officers and crew 
 of the Intrepide displayed in so unequal a contest, 
 and above all to the perseverance of the captain, 
 who, undoubtedly foreseeing for some time the 
 issue of the battle, still held out until his ship was 
 reduced to the very last extremity." 
 
 The story of the " Intrepide's " doings at Trafal- 
 gar grew as time went on, until there had come 
 into existence quite a legend about the ship, almost 
 as touching in its way as that of Barrere's story of 
 the last moments of the " Vengeur " and " its glori- 
 ous suicidal sinking." Infernet, it was popularly 
 reported in France, after firing until his ship was 
 plainly on the point of going down under the feet 
 of the men at the guns, heroically sent off all the 
 wounded in the boats, and then, when he could do 
 no more, as the ship was actually foundering, he 
 saved himself by swimming on board an English 
 ship, with his son, a boy, seated on his shoulders. 
 The " Intrepide," as a fact, was one of the prizes 
 disposed of during the storm after the battle. She 
 was set on fire and destroyed by CoUingwood's 
 order, a week after the battle. 
 
 1 Archives de la Marine. BB^^ 237 : — Rapport du Cape Infernet ; 
 3 Brum. An 14. 
 
A FINE TRIBUTE FROM A BRITISH OFFICER 199 
 
 A British officer in the " Conqueror " (Lieu- 
 tenant Humphrey Le Fleming Senhouse), in a 
 letter home, thus testifies to the stubborn way in 
 which the " Intrepide " was fought : " Her captain 
 surrendered after one of the most gallant defences 
 I ever witnessed. The Frenchman's name was 
 Infemet, a member of the Legion of Honour, and it 
 deserves to be recorded in the memory of those 
 who admire true heroism. The Intrepide was the 
 last ship that struck her colours, about half-past 
 five (sic)" 
 
 Captain Infernet, with his son, a midshipman 
 ten years old, was taken on board the "Orion," 
 where every kindness and courtesy possible, and 
 the due of so brave and gallant an officer, was 
 shown him. This is what Captain Codrington said 
 of him, writing home to his wife, whom he spe- 
 cially asked to go and see Infemet on his reaching 
 England, and do all she could for him while a 
 prisoner of war (which she did, also having Infemet 
 over to stay as an honoured guest at her husband's 
 house) : — 
 
 " He is much like us in his open manner, is a 
 good sailor, and I have no doubt a good officer, 
 has more delicacy in his conduct, although, per- 
 haps, boisterous in his manner, than any French- 
 man I have before met with: and endeavours to 
 
200 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 make himself agreeable to all in the ship. He 
 fought most stoutly, and had I not had the 
 advantage over him of position and a ready fire 
 whilst he was engaged with others, we should not 
 have escaped as well as we did." 
 
 Captain Infernet came on board the " Orion " 
 with only the clothes he stood in. All else was lost 
 in the subsequent destruction of the " Intrepide." 
 Codrington advanced him £100 on leaving the 
 " Orion " ; and at the same time another British 
 captain, Ben Hallowell, of the "Tigre," did the 
 same, sending Infernet the money as a personal gift, 
 together with a trunk full of shirts and clothing 
 "in acknowledgement of the great courtesy and 
 kindness that he himself had received from 
 Admiral Gantheaume and his officers, when a 
 prisoner." 
 
 This was the more chivalrous, as Hallowell 
 was one of the squadron that Nelson had 
 sent to Gibraltar before Trafalgar, causing them 
 just to miss the battle, to their life-long regret. 
 
 Wrote Mrs. Codrington of Captain Hallowell's 
 action to a friend : " I think nothing of Captain 
 C's having given him an order to the same 
 amount, because he was his own conquered op- 
 ponent ; but I do think it very fine in a man not 
 even present in the action^" 
 
 Like so many others of the better men of the 
 
NOT WANTED BY THE BOURBONS 201 
 
 Napoleonic navy, Infemet was shelved without 
 promotion and pensioned off in 1814, on the 
 restoration of the Bourbon regime in France.^ 
 
 > A personal note about the captain of the *^ Intrepide " may, in 
 conclusion, be added to what has been already said of 'Tlntrepide 
 Infernet." Just as Lucas of the " Redoutable," with his slight 
 figure and four feet nine inches of height, was the smallest man in 
 the Etat Major of the French Fleet, so Infernet was about the biggest. 
 One who knew him described him as "grand comme un tambour- 
 major et gros comme un ci-devant prieur des Benedictines.'' He 
 stood five feet ten in his socks. A Provencal by birth — he was born 
 near Toulon — and of very humble parentage, he began his naval life 
 as a cabin boy, and powder-monkey when wanted. He was rough and 
 quite uneducated, resembling in that his cousin Massena and most of 
 the other chiefs of tlie day. His speech was the broadest Proven9al : 
 " Infernet parle mal, mais il se bat tres bien," a brother officer once 
 said of him. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 OTHERS THAT DESERVED WELL OF 
 FRANCE 
 
 " T 7A de Bon Coeur " Cosmao's smart " Pluton " 
 ' did well at Trafalgar and had better luck 
 than most of her consorts. The " Pluton" lost 280 
 men out of 600, and by three o'clock was so full of 
 shot-holes between wind and water, that, with all 
 her pumps going, she made upwards of four feet 
 of water an hour. Cosmao Kerjulien, in spite of 
 that, fought his ship unflinchingly, He held his 
 own and helped to rescue Admiral Gravina's flag- 
 ship when threatened by the approach of a number 
 of British ships ; after which he made his way, 
 with the eleven ships that got off in that direction, 
 safely to Cadiz. 
 
 CAPTAIlf COSMAO S SIGNATURE 
 
 At the outset, according to the French official 
 account of the battle, Cosmao beat back a British 
 80-gun ship (apparently the " Mars "), which was 
 trying to break the line at that point. Then, as 
 
UNBEATEN TO THE END 203 
 
 the British vessel moved on to make a passage 
 between the "Monarca" and the "Fougueux," 
 where there was a wide gap, Cosmao also pushed 
 the " Pluton " ahead. Getting there first, he again 
 faced the " Mars," and prevented her from getting 
 through. Coming now into close action with that 
 ship, for upwards of three-quarters of an hour the 
 " Pluton " had a hot fight with the " Mars," until a 
 second British ship, believed to be the three-decker 
 "Prince," came on the scene. For some time 
 after that Cosmao held his own, and then a third 
 British vessel, the 80-gun ship " Tonnant," joined 
 in. The "Mars" on that moved off, with her 
 fore and main topmasts shot away, and soon after- 
 wards the three-decker passed on, as did also 
 the "Tonnant." The "Pluton" next drifted slowly 
 along the firing line, having desultory encounters 
 with various British ships, until after three o'clock. 
 Cosmao then, seeing that the day had been lost, 
 and that Gravina was doing his best to rally what 
 ships were at hand for a retreat towards Cadiz, 
 as senior French captain in that quarter, hoisted 
 the signal for all French ships that could do so, to 
 disengage and follow his movements. 
 
 The " Pluton " accompanied Gravina out of the 
 battle, and two days later headed the forlorn-hope 
 sortie that was attempted with the idea of re- 
 covering some of the prizes. For his day's work 
 at Trafalgar, and on the 23rd, Napoleon promoted 
 Cosmao specially to rear-admiral, a promotion 
 
204 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 well won. The King of Spain at the same time 
 nominated him a Grandee of the First Class. 
 
 ###### 
 
 " L'Aigle " went into action with 620 men at quar- 
 ters. She came out dismasted and a British prize, 
 with barely enough men left to man the pumps. 
 The casualties included Captain Gourrege, mortally 
 wounded ; and Second-Captain Tempie and three 
 lieutenants killed. Out of ten junior officers, nine 
 were killed. 
 
 The " Aigle's " fight at Trafalgar was one of the 
 finest on the side of the Combined Fleet, and she 
 only gave in when further defence on her part was 
 hopeless, and the fortune of the day had declared 
 itself against her consorts all round. First of all, 
 at the outset, after a sharp exchange of broad- 
 sides with the "Belleisle," the "Aigle" came to 
 close quarters with the "Bellerophon " — the famous 
 "Billy Ruff'n" of song and story — as tough an 
 antagonist, perhaps, as she could have found that 
 day. The " Bellerophon's " men went in action at 
 Trafalgar, as one of her officers relates, with " Vic- 
 tory or Death " chalked on their guns, and it was 
 of them that another officer wrote home on the 
 night before the battle : " No man can be a coward 
 aboard the Billy Ruff'n." Running alongside the 
 " Bellerophon " in the smoke, the " Aigle's " main- 
 yard locked fast with the foreyard of the " Bellero- 
 phon" on the starboard side. The fight was 
 
BOARDING-PIKES AND HAND-GRENADES 205 
 
 desperately severe, although the *' Bellerophon's " 
 better gunnery before long asserted itself, and got 
 the better of that of the Frenchmen. This was in 
 spite of the fact that the " Bellerophon," on her 
 other side, on the port bow and quarter, was all 
 the time keeping up a brisk cannonade with three 
 ships of the enemy. Then the " Aigle's " captain 
 turned his thoughts to a desperate attempt with 
 boarding-pikes and hand-grenades. Captain Gour- 
 rege, finding his gunnery mastered, shut down 
 his ports, and crammed his upper deck, bulwarks, 
 and the lower shrouds, with the soldiers on board 
 and his seamen musketeers. " L'Aigle," described 
 a midshipman of the "Bellerophon," "twice at- 
 tempted to board us, and hove several hand- 
 grenades into our lower deck, which burst and 
 wounded several of our people most dreadfully.^ 
 She likewise set fire to our fore chains. Our fire 
 was so hot, that we soon drove them from the 
 lower deck, after which our people took the coins 
 out, and elevated their guns so as to tear her 
 decks and sides to pieces. . . . Her starboard quar- 
 ter was entirely beaten in." 
 
 * "One of these grenades/' says the '' Bellerophon's " first lieu- 
 tenant, " in its explosion had blown off the scuttle of the gunner's 
 storeroom, setting fire to the storeroom, and forcing open the door 
 into the magazine passage. Most providentially this door was so placed 
 .... that the same blast that blew open the storeroom door, shut to 
 the door of the magazine ; otherwise we must all in both ships in- 
 evitably have been blown up together." The gunner, with a few hands 
 from the lower deck, was fortunately able to get the fire under before 
 it had spread £ar. 
 
206 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 Breaking away from the " Bellerophon," under 
 a terrific raking fire from that ship, and very 
 seriously damaged, the " Aigle " had a short passing 
 fight with the " Revenge." It was the outcome of 
 a gallant attempt by Captain Gourrege to bar 
 the way between the "Revenge" and Admiral 
 Gravina's flagship. The " Revenge " ran into the 
 "Aigle," being entangled with her for a short 
 space, and then, with two tremendous broadsides 
 in rapid succession, shook herself clear, and passed 
 on elsewhere. The " Aigle " was by now practi- 
 cally drifting ; her crippled state prevented her 
 from making sail. 
 
 A third opponent then came up, the " Defiance." 
 " L'Aigle," says a memoir of Sir Philip Durham, 
 the captain of the " Defiance," " appeared to have 
 been severely handled by some other ship. She 
 was, however, quite ready for action, and de- 
 fended herself most gallantly for some time." 
 
 " At about 3 p.m.," says James,^ " the Defiance 
 ran alongside of the Aigle, lashed the latter to her- 
 self, boarded her with httle resistance, got posses- 
 sion of the poop and quarter-deck, hauled down 
 the French colours, and hoisted the English in 
 their stead ; when suddenly, so destructive a fire of 
 musketry was opened upon the boarders from the 
 forecastle, waist, and tops of the Aigle, that the 
 British, before they had been well five minutes in 
 possession of their prize, were glad to quit her 
 
 » *' Naval History," vol. Ill, p. 440. 
 
U -7. 
 
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 ^ ^^ 
 
 0-0 3 
 
 U £Z 
 
 
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 a .i: > 
 Pi c/^S 
 
 ill 
 
 s I 
 
HEROIC DARING AND FINE CHIVALRY 207 
 
 and escape back to their ship. As soon as the 
 lashings were cut loose, the Defiance sheered off 
 to half pistol-shot distance, and there kept up so 
 well-maintained a cannonade, that in less than 
 twenty-five minutes the Aigle, the fire from whose 
 great guns had been nobly maintained, was 
 presently taken quiet possession of.^ . . . Her hull 
 was pierced in every direction. . . . Her loss 
 amounted to about 270 in killed and wounded, in- 
 cluding several of her officers. According to the 
 official return. Captain Gourrege and another 
 officer were mortally wounded, and four officers 
 were killed. Three officers were wounded." 
 
 In the course of the fight a fine display of chival- 
 rous feeUng was shown by those in the French 
 ship, as related in a memoir of Sir John Franklin, 
 the Arctic explorer, who was signal midship- 
 man in the " Bellerophon." " Of some forty per- 
 sons stationed with Mr. Franklin on the poop, 
 not more than eight escaped unhurt. Among the 
 
 ^ In reply to a paragraph in a London newspaper, that " Captain 
 Blackwood of the Euryalus had delivered to the Lords of the Admi- 
 ralty the Jack, etc., of the French ship PAigle," an officer of the 
 "Defiance" wrote to the "Hampshire Telegraph *' on the 16th of 
 December, 1806, as follows : — 
 
 " 1 beg to inform yon that PAigle struck to the Defiance : that 
 Lieutenant Simons most gallantly boarded her, hauled down her 
 colours which he brought, partly lashed round his body, into this 
 ship, and then returned to I'Aigle in aid of the boarders, and was 
 unfortunately shot on her poop. . . . The Ensign, Jack, and Pendant 
 of r Aigle were sent to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty by 
 Captain Durham." 
 
208 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 fortunate few was a veteran sailor, named Chris- 
 topher Beaty, yeoman of the signals. Seeing the 
 ensign shot away a third time, he mounted the 
 mizen-rigging with the largest Union Jack he 
 could lay his hands upon, deliberately stopped the 
 four corners of it with as much spread as possible 
 to the shrouds, and regained the deck unhurt. The 
 French riflemen in the tops and on the poop of 
 TAigle, seeing what he was about, and seem- 
 ingly in admiration of such daring conduct, sus- 
 pended their fire for the few seconds that he 
 remained aloft ; this forbearance on the part of the 
 enemy being the more noble, as they had previously 
 picked off* every man that appeared before the 
 Bellerophon's mizen-mast." On our side, it may 
 be said that the "V.C." has been given for less 
 than what Christopher Beaty did at Trafalgar. 
 
 The French " Swiftsure," when she surrendered, 
 was unmanageable, had five feet of water in the 
 hold, and two of her three masts were down. Two 
 hundred and fifty-five officers and men were hors 
 de combat. 
 
 ###### 
 
 The " Berwick," in like manner, lost over two 
 hundred and fifty of her company — including 
 the captain, killed on his quarter-deck — before her 
 colours came down. On her being taken posses- 
 sion of, the British officer sent on board " counted 
 
CAPTAIN, SWORD, AND FLAG 209 
 
 upon her decks and in her cockpit and tiers 51 
 dead bodies, including that of her gallant captain, 
 M. Camas ; and the wounded of the Berwick, 
 according to the report of her few surviving 
 officers, amounted to nearly 200 : her loss in officers 
 was very severe, the quarter-deck having been 
 thrice cleared." 
 
 This story is taken from a memoir of Captain 
 Israel Pellew, the captain of H.M.S. " Conqueror," 
 though the French ship of whose surrender it is 
 recorded has not been identified. 
 
 " The remains of the most splendid and power- 
 ful fleet ever drawn up in a line of battle were 
 now making their escape to Cadiz, and the Con- 
 queror hauled across the course of one of them 
 which had only her foresail set. Her captain 
 stood upon the poop, holding the lower corner of 
 a small French jack, while he pinned the upper 
 with his sword to the stump of the mizen-mast. 
 She fired two or three guns, probably to provoke 
 a return, which might spare the discredit of a tame 
 surrender. The Conqueror's broadside was ready ; 
 but Captain Pellew exclaimed, * Don't hurt the 
 brave fellow; fire a single shot across his bow.' 
 Her captain immediately lowered his sword, thus 
 dropping the colours, and, taking off his hat, bowed 
 his surrender." 
 
210 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 Another officer of the "Conqueror" seems to 
 refer to the same French ship, dealing apparently 
 with an incident just before the act of surrender. 
 It is equally creditable to both sides. "On the 
 stump of the mainmast of one of the enemy's 
 ships which she (the Conqueror) had engaged and 
 dismasted, a man was seen most fearlessly occupied 
 in placing the tricoloured flag. Lieutenant Toole 
 had three times raised a musquet to his shoulder 
 and levelled it, but a compassionate and generous 
 feeling forbade him to execute his threat, and the 
 gallant fellow was suffered to live, to share the fate 
 of his, soon after, captured companions." 
 
 [Three reports by Captain Cosmao Kerjulien on 
 the proceedings of the " Pluton " at Trafalgar are 
 extant in the archives of the Ministry of Marine 
 in Paris, besides one by Captain Villemadrin of 
 the French " Swiftsure," and one on the surrender 
 of the " Aigle " by the senior surviving officer of 
 that ship. Lieutenant Asmus Classen. There are 
 also extant reports it has not been necessary to 
 utilize from other officers, including one from 
 Captain Maistral of the " Neptune," and three 
 from Captain Epron of the "Argonaute," enclosing 
 a rather curious "Declaration" by the midship- 
 men of his ship.] 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 A MASTER-AT-ARMS' EXPERIENCES 
 
 ANOTHER very interesting account of Trafal- 
 -^ gar from the French side was found not very 
 long ago among some manuscript memoirs left 
 by an old officer of Napoleon's navy, Captain 
 Pierre Servaux, of the Marine Artillery. He was 
 at Trafalgar as master-at-arms of the "Fougueux," 
 the ship that fired the first shot in the battle. 
 The "Fougueux" had her station just astern of 
 the point at which Collingwood broke through. 
 By something of a coincidence, this was a corre- 
 sponding position to that the " Redoutable " occu- 
 pied at the point where Nelson made his attack. 
 Also, as things turned out, both the " Fougueux " 
 and the "Redoutable" surrendered to, and were 
 taken possession of by, the British " T^meraire." 
 
 Here is Captain Servaux's story — a straightfor- 
 ward enough one : — 
 
 "Daybreak on October 21st found the French 
 Fleet in almost the same situation that it had been 
 in on the evening before. Several of our ships, 
 however, had meanwhile drifted off to leeward, 
 
 211 
 
212 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 among others a Spanish hne-of-battle which had 
 got almost a league out of her proper station. 
 The admiral signalled now to form line of battle 
 on that ship ; but even then we did not in the end 
 obtain a much better result. The English Fleet, 
 on the other hand, who were favoured by a light 
 breeze, worked together in much better order. 
 They had, too, the advantage of being to wind- 
 ward. With the greatest ease they formed them- 
 selves into two columns, the one having at its 
 head the line-of-battle ship Victory, of 110 guns, 
 on board which was Admiral Nelson ; the other 
 following the lead of the Royal Sovereign {Prince 
 Souverain the writer calls the ship), also of 110 
 guns, on board which was Admiral CoUingwood. 
 Then the English Fleet came on before the wind 
 and headed to break the line which had been 
 formed in so irregular a manner by the French 
 and Spanish ships. We for our part, mostly, left 
 too great intervals between each ship and its leader 
 in the column. 
 
 " The Fougueux, on board which I was master- 
 at-arms, had for her immediate leader {chef defile) 
 the Spanish man-of-war Santa Ana, of 110 guns. 
 By bad handling that ship left a gap of at least a 
 cable across, between herself and the next astern, 
 ourselves ; thus offering the enemy an easy passage 
 through. It was just on this point that Admiral 
 CoUingwood directed his attack, as he advanced to 
 break the line. It necessarily resulted that he 
 
A SET-TO WITH COLLINGWOOD 213 
 
 crossed right in front of our bows, and so our first 
 antagonist was Admiral CoUingwood.^ 
 
 " At a quarter past twelve o'clock the Fougueux, 
 a man-of-war of seventy-four guns, fired the first 
 gun in the fleet. As she did so she hoisted her 
 colours. She continued her cannonade, firing on 
 the English flagship, which was a greatly superior 
 vessel in size, height, guns and the number of 
 the crew. Her main-deck and upper-deck guns, 
 in fact, could fire right down on to our decks, and 
 in that way all our upper-deck men employed in 
 working the ship, and the infantry marksmen 
 posted on the gangways, were without cover and 
 entirely exposed. We had also, according to our 
 bad habit in the French Navy, fired away over a 
 hundred rounds from our big guns at long range 
 before the English ship had practically snapped a 
 gun lock. It was, indeed, not until we found 
 ourselves side by side and yardarm to yardarm 
 with the English flagship that she fired at all. 
 Then she gave us a broadside from five and fifty 
 guns and carronades, hurtling forth a storm of 
 cannon balls, big and small, and musket-shot. 
 
 1 "The Fougueux, the ship astern of the Santa Ana, had closed 
 up, with the intention of preventing the Royal Sovereign from 
 going through the line, and when Admiral Collingwood observed it, 
 he desired Captain Rotheram to steer immediately for the French- 
 man and carry away his bowsprit. To avoid this, the Fougueux 
 backed her main topsail, and suffered the Royal Sovereign to pass, 
 at the same time beginning her fire, when the admiral ordered a 
 gun to be occasionally fired at her, to cover his ship with smoke/' — 
 " Correspondence and Memoirs of Lord Collingwood," G. L. Newnham 
 Collingwood, p. 126. 
 
214. THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 "I thought the Fougueux was shattered to 
 pieces — pulverized. The storm of projectiles that 
 hurled themselves against and through the hull on 
 the port side made the ship heel to starboard. 
 Most of the sails and the rigging were cut to 
 pieces, while the upper deck was swept clear of 
 the greater number of the seamen working there, 
 and of the soldier sharpshooters. Our gun-decks 
 below had, however, suffered less severely. There, 
 not more than thirty men in all were put hors de 
 combat. This preliminary greeting, rough and 
 brutal as it was, did not dishearten our men. A 
 well-maintained fire showed the Englishmen that 
 we too had guns and could use them. 
 
 " The English ship having come up to us, made 
 to break the line between us and the Santa Ana. 
 The Spanish ship, in fact, during our action with 
 the English leader, had not fired a single shot. 
 She had stolidly kept on and continued her 
 course without shortening sail, thus giving an easy 
 passage through to the enemy. After that, how- 
 ever, by the smart handling of our captain, we 
 managed to come within our proper distance of 
 her; as a fact, indeed, almost with our bow- 
 sprit over his poop. By this manoeuvre we had 
 the enemy's ship on the port quarter in such a 
 way that whilst we could only receive a few shots 
 from their stem guns, they were exposed to our 
 whole broadside, raking the enemy, end-on, along 
 all his decks. We soon saw the EngUsh vessel's 
 
3: .2 
 
STILL HOLDING THEIR OWN 
 
 215 
 
 mizen-mast go by the board, and then her rudder 
 and steering gear were damaged, making the ship 
 unmanageable. Her sails flapped loose in the 
 wind, and her sheets and running rigging were cut 
 to pieces by our hail of shot. 
 For some time she ceased 
 firing. We, for our part, 
 now redoubled our efforts 
 and we next saw her main- 
 topmast come down. At 
 that moment the English 
 ship hoisted two signal flags 
 at the foremast. It made 
 us think that she was call- 
 ing for help. And we were 
 not wrong. After a very 
 little time two fresh English 
 men-of-war came up and 
 began to attack us ; the one 
 on the starboard quarter, 
 the other at the stern. 
 Under their fire, we held 
 out for more than an hour, 
 but they almost over- 
 powered us with their 
 terrible storm of round 
 shot and a fusillade of bullets which carried death 
 among our men. 
 
 "Our mizen-mast was now shot by the board, 
 while our spars were shot from the masts and were 
 
 FRENCH MAN-OF-WAR S MAN 
 1805 
 
216 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 lying in wreckage along the sides of the ship. 
 Then, too, fire broke out in the stem walk and the 
 poop. We tried our best, in spite of the hail of 
 shot, to put the fire out, and with hatchets to cut 
 adrift the mass of wrecked top-hamper from the 
 fallen masts and yards and cordage. It lay along 
 the ship's sides by the gun-tiers and was en- 
 dangering the ship and exposing her to the most 
 imminent risk of destruction by fire. At this 
 moment the captain ordered me to climb outboard 
 and see if the wreckage of the mainsail was 
 not in danger of being set on fire from the main- 
 deck guns. I obeyed ; but as I clambered from the 
 gangway into the chains one of the enemy fired 
 her whole starboard broadside. The din and 
 concussion were fearful; so tremendous that I 
 almost fell headlong into the sea. Blood gushed 
 from my nose and ears, but it did not prevent my 
 carrying out my duty. Then our mainmast fell. 
 Happily it was shot through some ten or twelve 
 feet above the deck and fell over to port. At 
 once we cut away the shrouds to starboard ; but it 
 was with great difficulty that in the end we were 
 able to clear ourselves. 
 
 "Our fire was well maintained all this time: 
 though the great superiority of the heavy guns of 
 the English ships, and their very advantageous 
 position, decimated our men in a fearful manner. 
 More than half the crew had by this been struck 
 down, killed or wounded. Then, at length, our last 
 
FIGHTING IT OUT MAN TO MAN 217 
 
 remaining mast went; falling forward on to the 
 fore part of the ship. Our flag, however, was still 
 flying. It was the only thing left above the deck. 
 All the same, neither our brave captain, nor a 
 single one of our men, had a thought of lowering it. 
 "Now, however, yet another EngUsh ship, the 
 T^m^raire, of 100 guns, came down to attack us. 
 Borne down alongside of us with the current, she 
 fell on board us. At once a broadside burst from 
 her upper-deck guns and main battery, with a hot 
 small-arms fusillade, fired right down into us. It 
 swept our decks clear. Even then, though, our men 
 rallied. With cries of ' a Tabordage I ' repeated 
 all over the ship, some sixty to eighty of them 
 swarmed up on deck, armed with sabres and 
 axes. But the huge English three-decker towered 
 high above the Fougueux, and they fired down on 
 us as they pleased with their musketry, until, at 
 length, they themselves boarded us. From two 
 to three hundred of them suddenly rushed on board 
 us, entering the ship from their chains and main- 
 deck ports. Our captain fell dead, shot through 
 the heart with a musket bullet. The few men 
 who were left could make no resistance in the face 
 of numbers. Resistance was out of the question, 
 while still the enemy's murderous fire from the 
 gangways continued. We were obliged to give 
 back and yield, though we defended the decks port 
 by port. So the Fougueux fell into the power of 
 the English. 
 
218 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 " Yet we had in the end the proud consolation of 
 not hauling down our own colours. The doing 
 that we left to the enemy, who carried the colours 
 off after they had taken possession of the ship. 
 Thus ended one of the most murderous of battles. 
 For nearly four hours we had not ceased firing 
 once, and at the same time we had stood up against 
 four ships, each one of them more powerful at all 
 points than our Fougueux. Indeed, the Fougueux 
 was a very weakly built vessel. We lost in the 
 combat our captain, more than half the ship's com- 
 pany, two lieutenants, three mates, two midship- 
 men, and three warrant officers."^ 
 
 [Two official reports on the doings and fate 
 of the " Fougueux " at Trafalgar, both by Second- 
 Captain Bazin of that ship, are in existence among 
 the archives of the Ministry of Marine in Paris, 
 dated respectively 21st and 27th Brumaire, 
 An 14.] 
 
 * According to the returns at the Ministry of Marine in Paris, the 
 '' Fougueux" had the captain and six lieutenants and army officers 
 killed and four wounded. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 JEANNETTE OF THE "ACHILLE" 
 
 IASTLY among the French ships we have the 
 ^ catastrophe of the French "Achille." Coming 
 into action about two o'clock, when the " Polyphe- 
 mus " attacked her, she engaged in turn after that 
 the "Defiance" and the " Swiftsure." Before three 
 o'clock the " Achille's " captain had fallen and all 
 the senior officers. Thenceforth the ship was fought 
 by a sub-lieutenant, Enseigne de vaisseau Cau- 
 chard. The gallant young fellow was doing well, 
 and had just extricated the ship from her earlier 
 opponents, when, between three and half-past, a 
 bigger enemy still came up, the three-decker 
 "Prince." By this time the "Achille" had lost 
 over four hundred killed and wounded. Still, 
 though, she fought on stubbornly ; until there was 
 a sudden explosion in the arm-chest in the foretop. 
 It caused a fire, which blazed up fiercely and could 
 not be got under. The ship's fire-engine was 
 found to have been smashed, and all that could 
 be done was to cut the mast away and let it drop 
 overboard. Efforts to do this were being made 
 when a broadside from the "Prince," fired high, 
 
 219 
 
220 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 shot the mast in two. It was cut through half- 
 way up ; causing the blazing top, with its sails and 
 cordage, to fall, a flaming mass, on the boats and 
 spars stowed inboard on the booms in the waist. 
 These took fire at once, and in a few minutes 
 the whole ship was ablaze. On that, seeing the 
 French ship hopelessly on fire, and her men 
 beginning to jump overboard, the " Prince " ceased 
 action, and lowered boats to rescue as many men 
 as possible. Other ships near by did the same, and 
 the two Uttle vessels "Pickle" and "Entrepren- 
 ante " ran boldly in as near as they could, regard- 
 less of shotted guns on board the blazing ship, 
 which went off as the heat reached them. From 
 two to three hundred men were rescued in all 
 before half-past five, just about sunset, when the 
 remains of the "Achille"^ blew up. By then 
 fighting had ceased everyivhere for nearly half an 
 hour. With the blowing up of the " Achille " the 
 battle of Trafalgar came to its end. 
 
 A British officer of the "Defence" who was 
 watching the burning of the ill-fated "Achille," 
 and saw her blow up, thus describes the final 
 scene : " It was a sight the most awful and grand 
 that can be conceived. In a moment the hull burst 
 
 * ''The Achille," says Lieutenant Paul Hams Nicolas, of the 
 " Belleisle's " marines, '' burnt to the water's edge, with the tricolour 
 still displayed, about a mile from us, and our tenders and boats were 
 using every effort to save the brave fellows who had so gloriously 
 defended her ; but only two hundred and fifty were rescued when she 
 blew up with a tremendous explosion." 
 
THEIR ONLY CHANCE FOR LIFE 221 
 
 into a cloud of smoke and fire. A column of vivid 
 flame shot up to an enormous height in the atmo- 
 sphere and terminated by expanding into an im- 
 mense globe, representing, for a few seconds, a 
 prodigious tree in flames, speckled with many dark 
 spots, which the pieces of timber and bodies of 
 men occasioned while they were suspended in the 
 clouds." 
 
 A very remarkable incident is on record in con- 
 nexion with the burning of the " Achille." 
 
 One of those rescued by the British boats 
 was a young Frenchwoman. The story of her 
 extraordinary escape is thus told in the words of a 
 lieutenant of the " Revenge," on board which ship 
 the woman was taken : — 
 
 *' Towards the conclusion of the battle the 
 French 80-gun ship Achille, after surrendering, 
 caught fire on the booms. The poor fellows be- 
 longing to her, as the only chance of saving their 
 lives, leaped overboard, having first stripped off* 
 their clothes, that they might be the better able to 
 swim to any pieces of floating wreck or to the 
 boats of the ships sent by those nearest at hand to 
 their rescue. As the boats filled, they proceeded 
 to the Pickle schooner, and, after discharging their 
 freight into that vessel, returned for more. The 
 schooner was soon crowded to excess, and, there- 
 fore, transferred the poor shivering wretches to 
 any of the large ships near her. The Revenge, to 
 
222 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 which ship I belonged, received nearly a hundred 
 of the number, some of whom had been picked up 
 by our own boats, Many of them were badly 
 wounded, and all naked. No time was lost for 
 providing for the latter want, as the purser was 
 ordered immediately to issue to each man a com- 
 plete suit of clothes. 
 
 " On the morning after the action I had charge 
 of the deck, the other officers and crew being at 
 breakfast, when another boat load of these poor 
 prisoners of war came alongside, all of whom, with 
 one exception, were in the costume of Adam. The 
 exception I refer to was apparently a youth, but 
 clothed in an old jacket and trousers, with a dingy 
 handkerchief tied round the head, and exhibiting 
 a face begrimed with smoke and dirt, without 
 shoes, stockings, or shirt, and looking the picture 
 of misery and despair. The appearance of this 
 young person at once attracted my attention, and 
 on asking some questions on the subject, I was 
 answered that the prisoner was a woman. It was 
 sufficient to know this, and I lost no time in intro- 
 ducing her to my messmates, as a female requiring 
 their compassionate attention. The poor creature 
 was almost famishing with hunger, having tasted 
 nothing for four-and-twenty hours, consequently 
 she required no persuasion to partake of the break- 
 fast upon the table. I then gave her up my cabin, 
 for by this time the bulk-head had been replaced, 
 and made a collection of all the articles which 
 
TRAPPED BETWEEN FLAMES AND MAGAZINE 223 
 
 could be procured to enable her to complete a 
 more suitable wardrobe. One of the lieutenants 
 gave her a piece of sprigged blue muslin, which he 
 had obtained from a Spanish prize, and two new 
 checked shirts were suppUed by the purser ; these, 
 with a purser's blanket, and my ditty bag, which 
 contained needles, thread, etc., being placed at her 
 disposal, she, in a short time, appeared in a very 
 different, and much more becoming, costume. 
 Being a dressmaker, she had made herself a sort of 
 a jacket, after the Flemish fashion, and the purser's 
 shirts she had transformed into an outer petticoat ; 
 she had a silk handkerchief tastily tied over her 
 head, and another thrown round her shoulders; 
 white stockings and a pair of the chaplain's shoes 
 were on her feet, and, altogether, our guest, which 
 we unanimously voted her, appeared a very in- 
 teresting young woman. 
 
 " ' Jeannette,' which was the only name by which 
 I ever knew her, thus related to me the circum- 
 stances. She said she was stationed during the 
 action in the passage of the fore-magazine, to 
 assist in handing up the powder, which employ- 
 ment lasted till the surrender of the ship. When 
 the firing ceased, she ascended to the lower deck, 
 and endeavoured to get up to the main deck, to 
 search for her husband, but the ladders having 
 been all removed, or shot away, she found this 
 impracticable ; and just at this time an alarm of 
 fire spread through the ship, so that she could get 
 
224 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 no assistance. The fire originated upon the upper 
 deck, and gradually burnt downwards. Her feel- 
 ings upon this occasion cannot be described: but 
 death from all quarters stared her in the face. The 
 fire, which soon burnt fiercely, precluded the possi- 
 bility of her escaping by moving from where she 
 was, and no friendly counsellor was by with whom 
 to advise. She remained wandering to and fro 
 upon the lower deck, among the mangled corses 
 of the dying and the slain, until the guns from the 
 main deck actually fell through the burnt planks. 
 Her only refuge, then, was the sea, and the poor 
 creature scrambled out of the gun-room port, and, 
 by the help of the rudder chains, reached the back 
 of the rudder, where she remained for some time, 
 praying that the ship might blow up, and thus put 
 a period to her misery, At length the lead which 
 lined the rudder-trunk began to melt, and to fall 
 upon her, and her only means of avoiding this was 
 to leap overboard. Having, therefore, divested 
 herself of her clothes, she soon found herself 
 struggling with the waves, and providentially find- 
 ing a piece of cork, she was enabled to escape from 
 the burning mass. A man, shortly afterwards, 
 swam near her, and, observing her distress, brought 
 her a piece of plank, about six feet in length, 
 which, being placed under her arms, supported her 
 until a boat approached to her rescue. The time 
 she was thus in the water she told me was about 
 two hours, but probably the disagreeableness and 
 
''HEARTS OF THE RIGHT STUFF" 225 
 
 peril of her situation made a much shorter space 
 of time appear of that duration. The boat which 
 picked her up, I have heard, was the Belleisle's, but 
 her sex was no sooner made known than the men, 
 whose hearts were formed of the right stuff, 
 quickly supplied her with the articles of attire in 
 which she first made my acquaintance. One 
 supplied her with trowsers, another stripped off 
 his jacket, and threw it over her, and a third 
 supplied her with a handkerchief. She was much 
 burnt about the neck, shoulders, and legs, by the 
 molten lead, and when she reached the Pickle was 
 more dead than aUve. A story so wonderful and 
 pitiful could not fail to enUst, on her behalf, the 
 best feelings of human nature, and it was, there- 
 fore, not praiseworthy, but only natural, that we 
 extended towards her that humane attention which 
 her situation demanded. I caused a canvas screen 
 berth to be made for her, to hang outside the ward- 
 room door, opposite to where the sentry was 
 stationed, and I placed my cabin at her disposal 
 for her dressing-room. 
 
 " Although placed in a position of unlooked-for 
 comfort, Jeannette was scarcely less miserable ; 
 the fate of her husband was unknown to her. She 
 had not seen him since the commencement of the 
 battle, and he was perhaps killed, or had perished 
 in the conflagration. Still, the worst was unknown 
 to her, and a possibility existed that he was yet 
 aUve. All her enquiries were, however, unattended 
 
226 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 with success, for several days, during which I was 
 so much busied in securing the ship's masts, and in 
 looking after the ship in the gales which we had to 
 encounter, that I had no time to attend to my 
 protegee. It was on about the fourth day of her 
 sojourn that she came to me in the greatest 
 possible ecstacy and told me that she had found 
 her husband, who was on board among the 
 prisoners, and unhurt. She soon afterwards brought 
 him to me, and in the most grateful terms and 
 manner returned her thanks for the attentions 
 she had received. After this, Jeannette declined 
 coming to the ward-room, from the very proper 
 feeling that her husband could not be admitted to 
 the same privileges. On our arrival at Gibraltar, 
 all our prisoners were landed by order of the 
 Port- Admiral, Sir John Knight, at the Neutral 
 Ground, but under a mistake, as the Spanish 
 prisoners only should have been landed there. 
 Her dress, though rather odd, was not unbecom- 
 ing, and we all considered her a fine woman. On 
 leaving the ship, most, if not all of us, gave her a 
 dollar, and she expressed her thanks as well as she 
 was able, and assured us that the name of our ship 
 would always be remembered by her with the 
 warmest gratitude."^ 
 
 ^ Captain Moorsonij of the *' Revenge," in a private letter relates 
 the adventure of Jeannette ; as also does one of the sailors of the 
 ''Revenge,'^ who published his experiences at the battle in a small 
 book. 
 
ANOTHER WOMAN PICKED UP 227 
 
 Another French woman from the "Achille," 
 was, it is stated, rescued by the " Britannia." So 
 Second-Lieutenant Halloran, of the " Britannia's " 
 marines, records in his journal : — 
 
 "Among the prisoners brought on board from 
 one of the ships was a man in the costume and 
 character of a Harlequin, pressed, we believe, off 
 the stage the evening previous to the battle, with- 
 out having time to change. There was also a 
 poor woman saved from the Achille through the 
 gun-room port as she blew up. This poor creature 
 was brought on board with scarcely any covering, 
 and our senior subaltern of marines. Lieutenant 
 Jackson, gave her a large cotton dressing-gown 
 for clothing. There was also among the prisoners 
 two Turks ; the former had both legs amputated, 
 and both men died the same night." 
 
 [The "Achille " was one of the newest and finest 
 seventy-fours in Napoleon's navy. A remarkably 
 fine model of her, fully masted and rigged and 
 complete in every detail, is on view in the Musde 
 de la Marine at the Louvre, with a statement 
 attached mentioning her fate at Trafalgar. 
 
 Three reports on the disaster to the "Achille," 
 from survivors on board, are among the archives 
 of the Ministry of Marine ; one from Lieutenant 
 Chamard, and two from Midshipmen Quiots and 
 La Chasse.] 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 H.M.S. "IMPLACABLE" 
 
 ^VTOT a single one of the five French line-of-battle 
 ■^^ ships that escaped with Admiral Gravina into 
 Cadiz, after Trafalgar, or of the four fugitives that 
 went off with Admiral Dumanoir, saw a home 
 port again. The French ships that got into Cadiz 
 remained blockaded there until June, 1808. On 
 Spain throwing off the yoke of Napoleon, they 
 surrendered at discretion to their quondam allies, 
 and were added to the Spanish Navy. Dumanoir's 
 four, after taking a wide sweep westward to avoid 
 any outlying British ships, were intercepted and 
 captured bodily off Cape Finisterre, a fortnight 
 after Trafalgar, by Sir Richard Strachan and a 
 squadron from the Channel Fleet. ^ 
 
 One of the four ships was in service until the 
 
 ^ Commodore Sir Richard Strachan acquired for himself at the 
 same time a sobriquet — which stuck to him to the end of his days in 
 the Navy — of ''the delighted Sir Dicky." That was due to the occur- 
 rence in Commodore Strachan's official despatch to the Admiralty on 
 the event — after describing how he first got the news of the enemy's 
 proximity — of the somewhat unusual expression for an official com- 
 munication : '' We were delighted." 
 
ANXIOUSLY WAITING, BUT NO ORDERS 229 
 
 spring of last year as a naval training ship at 
 Devonport, under the name of the " Implacable."^ 
 
 At Trafalgar the ship was known as the 
 " Duguay Trouin." When the battle opened, she 
 was sixth ship astern of the leader of the Combined 
 Fleet. Her first shot was fired at the *' Victory," 
 as the British flagship was hauling up to north- 
 ward to make a feint, with the idea of holding 
 Admiral Dumanoir's division in check. Then the 
 " Duguay Trouin " fired at the " T^mdraire," close 
 astern of the "Victory," and also had a few 
 shots at the "Euryalus." After that the " Duguay 
 Trouin " opened fire at the " Africa," then passing 
 along the van of the Combined Fleet to join 
 Nelsoiii's column ; and also at the "Conqueror" and 
 the " Neptune," on whom, for a while, she kept 
 up a long-range cannonade. Meantime all on 
 board were anxiously expecting the signal to be 
 given for the van division to go about and get into 
 close action. They could see the "Bucentaure" 
 and " Santisima Trinidad " being hard pressed, and 
 all the line astern of them hotly engaged, but 
 no signal to go about was made. It was not until 
 nearly two o'clock, when they plainly saw the flag- 
 ship and the "Trinidad" beginning to weaken 
 and slacken fire, that the " Bucentaure " at length 
 
 ^ For some years, until finally paid off, it was usual every 21st of 
 October to display a laurel wreath at the masthead of the ^'Implacable" 
 and decorate her figure-head also ; while at the hoisting of the colours 
 at 8 a.m. the band played "The Death of Nelson" in addition to the 
 National Anthem. 
 
230 THR ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 made the signal. Then, however, it was too late. 
 The breeze was so light that it took nearly an 
 hour before Admiral Dumanoir's ships could get 
 their heads round. At last all the division got 
 about, and thereupon they moved down towards 
 the fight, in two groups of five. One set, the 
 first to move off, comprising the " San Francisco 
 de Asisi," "San Agustin," "Rayo," "Intrepide," 
 and "Heros," kept to leeward, making towards 
 where the sorely stricken " Bucentaure " lay, with 
 her colours down. The others, Dumanoir's flag- 
 ship the "Formidable," with the " Scipion," 
 "Duguay Trouin," "Mont Blanc," and " Neptuno," 
 kept away to windward. The first group were 
 broken up almost at the outset by some of the 
 ships originally forming the centre of Nelson's 
 column, which struck at them hard and heavily. 
 The "Rayo" and "San Francisco de Asisi" made 
 off to leeward towards where Gravina, with 
 signals flying to rally on him, was already taking 
 steps for the retreat of the remnant of the Com- 
 bined Fleet. The " H^ros," the headmost of all, 
 threaded her way through, and, after losing her 
 captain and many men, managed to join Gravina. 
 The " Intr^pide," more daring than the rest, stood 
 in closer, got separated, and met her fate, after a 
 magnificent defence, as has been related. 
 
 The " Duguay Trouin " and her consorts, during 
 this time, were keeping clear and to windward of 
 the firing. They eventually came opposite the 
 
CAPTAIN HARDY AT TRAFALGAR 231 
 
 " Victory," a little after Captain Hardy had paid 
 his first visit to Nelson in the cockpit. It was 
 the concussion of the "Victory's" guns, as they 
 replied to the " Duguay Trouin " and her consorts, 
 which drew from the dying Nelson the pitiful 
 apostrophe to his flagship: "Oh, Victory, Vic- 
 tory I How you distract my poor brain ! " Their 
 approach it was, in fact, that recalled Captain 
 Hardy on deck and caused him no small anxiety 
 for the time being. Nelson being off the deck and 
 hors de combat, Hardy, as captain of the flagship, 
 in accordance with the usage of the British Navy 
 — dating from the days of Blake, and in force to 
 the present hour — was virtually in charge of the 
 whole British Fleet until the battle was over ; prac- 
 tically the one man responsible, as Nelson's locum 
 tenens, for the successful carrying out of operations 
 to the final issue. ^ Hardy's descendants treasure 
 
 * These are the words of the old Official Instruction in question : 
 '' If any Officer, wearing a Flag or broad Pendant, shall happen to be 
 slain in Fight with the enemy, the said Flag or Pendant shall never- 
 theless continue flying, and not be taken in, whilst the Enemy is in 
 Sight ; but the Admiral, who commands in Chief, as also the Flag- 
 Officer, to whose Squadron or Division he belonged, shall immediately 
 be acquainted with it ; and if it be the Commander in Chief who is 
 killed, the next commanding Officer is to be forthwith informed of it, 
 who shall immediately repair on board the Ship of the deceased 
 Commander, and give the necessary orders, leaving his Flag, or broad 
 Pendant flying in his own Ship." At Trafalgar, in the circumstances, 
 of course, it was impossible for Collingwood to come on board the 
 *' Victory " to assume command during the rest of the battle ; and we 
 know how Nelson would have taken it had he done so, from Nelson's 
 sharp rebuke to Hardy in the cockpit, when the anchoring of the fleet 
 and the discretion of the second in command in the matter was 
 
232 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 to this day the silver pencil-case that Captain 
 Hardy "used to write down signals during the 
 battle of Trafalgar, with the marks of his teeth on it 
 made in moments of excitement." It was exhibited 
 at the great Naval Exhibition at Chelsea in 1891 ; 
 and one newspaper, in referring to it, spoke of it as 
 "Something like a relic." 
 
 CAPTAIN HARDY S PENCIL CASE 
 
 (Showing teeth marks to the left) 
 
 After cannonading the "Victory" and " Tem^r- 
 aire," and, as Captain Lucas described, killing some 
 of the men in the captured " Redoutable," which 
 lay still fast to the " Temeraire," Admiral Duma- 
 noir made up his mind to withdraw altogether. 
 " It is too late," he said, " to push in now. To 
 join in the battle now would be only an act of 
 despair. It would only add to our losses." He 
 would shift for himself and get away at once: 
 nothing more remained to do. Exchanging a dis- 
 tant and irregular fire with various British ships, 
 Admiral Dumanoir, whose ships had received a 
 certain amount of damage and loss in men (the 
 "Formidable," for one, had sixty-five men killed 
 
 incidentally referred to. [ '^ Not while I live : do you anchor. Hardy."] 
 The Commander-in-Chiefs flag of command flew at the " Victory's " 
 masthead until after half-past four that afternoon, when Nelson died 
 and the battle also ended ; and the whole British Fleet, as far as the 
 individual ships could see, looked to her for orders throughout. 
 
STUBBORNLY RESISTING TO THE LAST 233 
 
 and wounded, and had shot-holes m her hull below 
 water), got clear with four of his ships. The 
 fifth, and sternmost of all, the " Neptuno," was 
 cut off in trying to follow her consorts by the 
 British "Minotaur" and "Spartiate," themselves 
 the two rearmost ships of Nelson's column, brought 
 to action and taken after a valiant resistance.^ 
 
 If, as things turned out, the " Duguay Trouin's " 
 role at Trafalgar was not particularly distin- 
 guished, few more creditable defences were ever 
 made by the French than that of the " Duguay 
 Trouin's " officers and men on the 2nd of Novem- 
 ber, 1805, suffering as they were at that moment 
 from the stunning shock of having just witnessed 
 the disaster at Trafalgar. In the fight with Com- 
 modore Strachan off Cape Einisterre, where the 
 "Duguay Trouin" was taken, her captain (Touffet) 
 was struck down on the quarter-deck, mortally 
 wounded, and Second-Captain Boissard and all four 
 of the ship's lieutenants (Lavenu, Guillet, Coss^, 
 and Toqueville) were badly wounded. " Enseigne 
 de vaisseau " Rigodet fought the ship for great part 
 of the battle, and as he, at the last moment, gave 
 
 ^ Admiral Dumanoir's behaviour was a bitter disappointment to the 
 captains who were still fighting. ''All were confusedly mixed to- 
 gether, and it was painfully apparent that the British flag pre- 
 dominated amongst the groups of combatants, when at length the 
 division of Admiral Dumanoir appeared under a press of sail on the 
 larboard tack. The courage of the French and Spaniards revived 
 at the sight of these ships, on which all their hopes reposed, but they 
 vanished when the division, consisting of four vessels, the Formidable, 
 Scipion, Duguay Trouin, and Mont Blanc, edging oflF to windward and 
 firing useless broadsides, were seen making off." 
 
234 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 the order to lower the tricolour, down with a crash 
 came the ship's three masts simultaneously, shot 
 through and through. 
 
 " Our unhappy ship," wrote Captain Gemahling, 
 of Napoleon's 67th of the Line, two companies of 
 which were on board the "Duguay Trouin," 
 "totally disabled and making water, was crushed 
 by the fire of two ships of the line and frigates. 
 It was not war as one understands it ; it was 
 butchery, a fearful slaughter. Three-quarters of 
 my men lay dead around me ; my poor lieutenant, 
 Le Deyeux, lying there, a few feet off, and so 
 many others ! " The British squadron that brought 
 the "Duguay Trouin" and her consorts to bay 
 was of superior force, and comprised " jfresh " ships 
 from the Channel Fleet ; and in his official despatch 
 to the Admiralty the British Commodore (Sir 
 Richard Strachan) spoke of the French as having 
 "fought to admiration, and not surrendering till 
 their ships were unmanageable."^ In April, 1806, 
 on her repairs being completed, the British 
 Admiralty renamed the "Duguay Trouin" the 
 " Implacable,"^ under which name the ship fought 
 
 * In the way of prize-money, as it so happened, the capture of 
 Dumanoir's squadron was the best " haul " of the kind made in the 
 Great War. It gave every seaman and marine engaged £10. 13s. as 
 prize-money. Trafalgar only brought in £6. 9s. 6d. a head ; and the 
 Nile, the second best battle in the matter of prize-money, only £7. 18s. 
 
 2 The new name was appointed for the '' Duguay Trouin," in 
 April, 1806, just after the failure of Fox's first attempt to come to 
 terms with Napoleon on his accession to office on Pitt's death. 
 There may have been some connexion in idea between the name 
 " Implacable " and Napoleon's rebuff to the overtures. 
 
ADMIRAL DUMANOIR AND THE "TIMES" 235 
 
 for England in battle and served in commission for 
 between thirty and forty years. 
 
 How the "Duguay Trouin" and her consorts 
 came by their fate was made the subject of a 
 personal explanation by Admiral Dumanoir him- 
 self, who took the unusual step, for a prisoner of 
 war, of writing to the "Times" on the 2nd of 
 January, 1806. Certain strictures on his conduct 
 had recently appeared in that paper, to the effect 
 that for great part of the battle he had re- 
 mained " a mere passive spectator of the combat," 
 and that he had retreated in discreditable cir- 
 cumstances. Admiral Dumanoir replied from 
 Tiverton, in Devonshire, where he was interned, 
 describing his share in the events of the day. This 
 is what he said for himself: — 
 
 "The left column of the English, having 
 Admiral Nelson at its head, bore at first on the 
 French vanguard, which I commanded, but finding 
 it too compact, they exchanged some shots with 
 us, and then struck at the centre of our line, while 
 Vice- Admiral CoUingwood attacked our rearguard. 
 Having then no enemy to contend with, I tacked 
 about, the wind being very weak, a movement 
 which I could not risk without the aid of my 
 boats. I was followed by four others, and taking 
 the lead of this division, I bore towards the centre 
 of our fleet, where the fire was hottest. My 
 intention was at the same time to cut off two ships 
 
236 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 of war of the division of Admiral Nelson, but they 
 gained upon me in swiftness, and in passing ahead 
 of me at the distance of pistol-shot, they did me 
 considerable damage. I had then to combat the 
 enemy's vessels which had broken and passed the 
 centre of our fleet. On my coming up, I found 
 the Santissima Trinidad and the Bucentaure 
 totally dismasted and taken possession of by the 
 English, as well as a part of the vessels which 
 composed that division. 
 
 " I continued to bear upon our rearguard, which 
 I found in part surrendered : I engaged succes- 
 sively alongside of twelve vessels, of which four 
 were three-deckers and handled us very severely. 
 There remained then on the field of battle to 
 which I was coming up with my assistance, only 
 thirteen French and Spanish vessels, which had 
 surrendered, and fifteen English vessels (one only 
 dismasted). I was thus cut off from the rest of 
 the Combined Fleet, which was much before the 
 wind. The Neptune, a Spanish vessel, which was 
 of the number of those which had tacked about, 
 but which was left very far behind, was surrounded 
 by the enemy, dismasted, and obliged to surrender. 
 My division, consisting of only four disabled ships, 
 was therefore cut ofl* to windward, the rest of the 
 Combined Fleet being at the distance of two long 
 leagues before the wind, and bearing off under 
 all sail. To have rejoined them, I must have 
 fallen in with the English Squadron, which re- 
 mained entire between those two separated bodies ; 
 
THE ONLY COURSE HE COULD TAKE 237 
 
 but this would have been running to certain de- 
 struction, without the hope of doing any great 
 damage to the enemy.^ 
 
 " This disposition, and the disabled state of the 
 ships under my command, made me adopt the only 
 proper conduct that remained, which was to keep 
 the wind ; then I might have it in my power to 
 repair during the night, and to wait the chances 
 of the following day. This is what the writer of 
 the article concerning me calls 'precipitately 
 taking to flight.' It was then three-quarters past 
 five, and the Combat had ceased. The Formid- 
 able had had 65 men killed or wounded, her 
 masts severely damaged, all her tackling and the 
 greater part of her shrouds cut to pieces, her sails 
 entirely crippled. She made besides four feet 
 water in an hour, by reason of the shots she had 
 received below water-mark. The three other 
 vessels were nearly in the same state, and were 
 indebted only to a smooth sea for the preservation 
 of their masts. This is probably what the Editor 
 calls being a 'mere spectator of the combat.' 
 Next morning, seeing on the scene of action only 
 the English and their captured vessels, I judged 
 that our fleet had re-entered Cadiz, and I took the 
 tack for open sea. It was then that I knew 
 
 1 Admiral Dumanoir first thought of running for the Straits of 
 Gibraltar ; but at sunset he saw — or fancied he saw — several strange 
 sail in the Straits. Knowing that before the battle Nelson had 
 detached six ships to Gibraltar, he gave up the idea of passing that 
 way, and, turning north, made oflf, with the idea of getting to Rochefort. 
 
238 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 more particularly the state of my division. The 
 four vessels were obliged to change their main-top- 
 masts, yards, and sails, high and low. The Duguay- 
 Trouin, one of them, had her mainyard broken, 
 and was near losing her bow-sprit, it had been so 
 much shattered by shots. The same was the case 
 with the mizen-mast of the Formidable, which we 
 saved only by keeping against the wind for an 
 hour. This vessel, the Formidable, made the same 
 day five or six feet water per hour, and it being 
 a settled gale, the water increased to seven feet. 
 All the pumps being insufficient to keep her 
 within water-mark, I was obliged, that I might 
 save her from sinking, to Ughten her, and reduce 
 her force to sixty guns by throwing overboard her 
 forecastle battery. From this time, all the pumps 
 were necessary to keep her above water. It was 
 in this critical situation that, on the 2nd November, 
 at midnight, I fell in with the squadron of Sir R. 
 Strachan." 
 
 Another matter of complaint that Admiral 
 Dumanoir laid special stress on was a charge of 
 inhumanity. It was based on a paragraph in the 
 "Gibraltar Gazette," which went so far as to assert 
 that Admiral Dumanoir's squadron, as it was 
 making its escape, had deliberately fired on 
 several of the ships still in action, and had in 
 so doing hit some of the surrendered Spanish 
 ships — picking them out purposely — and killed and 
 wounded many men on board. Dumanoir pro- 
 
TRIED BY COURT-MARTIAL AND ACQUITTED 239 
 
 tested against this in strong terms, and flatly con- 
 tradicted it/ 
 
 It should be added, in conclusion, that the 
 court-martial which tried Admiral Dumanoir, 
 on his return to France as an exchanged prisoner 
 in 1809, on charges of having failed to do his 
 utmost at Trafalgar, accepted his justification of 
 his conduct, and exonerated him from all the 
 charges, to — according to Napoleon's own reported 
 words — the Emperor's particular disapprobation. 
 Napoleon, it is positively stated, when on his way 
 to St. Helena on board the "Northumberland," 
 told Sir George Cockburn " that he had exerted 
 
 1 '* Three of the French ships in the van," said the Gibraltar paper, 
 repeating the story, " who had no part in the action, and one of which 
 carried a rear-admiral's flag, had the inhumanity and cowardice, as 
 they were making their escape, to fire for a considerable time upon the 
 Santissima Trinidada, and several others of the crippled Spanish 
 prizes, after they had surrendered to us ; which, from their situation, 
 were incapable either of opposition or flight ; and an immense number 
 of the Spanish were killed and wounded from this unprecedented and 
 bloody deed of their good and faithful allies." The ''Gibraltar 
 Gazette " had also followed its story up by adding this as a sequel to the 
 Dumanoir incident. '* Such was the indignation felt and expressed by 
 the Spaniards at the conduct of the French, that when, two days after 
 the action, seven of the enemy's Ships came out of Cadiz, in hopes of 
 retaking some of the disabled prizes, the Spanish crew of the Argonauta 
 in a body oflfered their services to the British Officer who had charge 
 of the prize, to man the guns against any of the French Ships, and 
 they were actually stationed at the lower-deck guns for that purpose, 
 whilst the English seamen manned those of the upper deck. The 
 English Officer on board returned all the Spanish Officers their arms, 
 and placed the most implicit confidence in the honour of the Spaniards, 
 which he had no reason to repent : for though their numbers were so 
 superior as easily to have enabled them to retake the Ship, yet they 
 on every occasion showed the utmost submission and good conduct, and 
 declared that if a Spanish Ship came alongside of them, they would 
 quietly go below and leave the English to act for themselves." 
 
240 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 all his influence to have him either shot or broke, 
 but that he had been acquitted in spite of him. 
 He added that when the sentence of acquittal was 
 given, Admiral Cosmao (who was one of the mem- 
 bers of the court, who he said he decidedly con- 
 sidered to be the best sea-officer now in France, 
 and had therefore lately created a peer) broke his 
 own sword at the time that that of Dumanoir was 
 returned to him, which act Buonaparte seemed 
 most highly pleased with." And yet the fact 
 stands that after Trafalgar Napoleon selected 
 Admiral Dumanoir for a post of the highest im- 
 portance. In August, 1811, within fifteen months 
 of the court-martial, he was appointed a vice- 
 admiral, and Governor of Dantzic, which post 
 Dumanoir held during the great siege by the 
 Allies, with the utmost credit to himself, down to 
 January, 1814. And it so happens, also, curiously, 
 that the only British naval flag now among the 
 trophies at the Invalides was taken by one of the 
 vessels under Dumanoir's orders employed in the 
 defence of the port.^ 
 
 At the Restoration of the Monarchy, in 
 December, 1814, Louis XVIII created Admiral 
 Dumanoir le Pelley a count, under the style of 
 Le Pelley du Manoir, according to the earliest 
 
 1 I am indebted for this information to Mr. A. B. Tucker, who 
 very kindly permitted me to consult the carefully detailed manuscript 
 record of the British trophies in France placed by the Governor of the 
 Invalides at his disposal recently for use in connexion with Mr. 
 Tucker's forthcoming book on the subject of War Flags. 
 
A TRIBUTE TO A BRAVE ANCESTOR 241 
 
 form of the family name, and promoted him at the 
 same time Commander of the Order of St. Louis. 
 The Comte died in Paris in 1829, in his sixtieth 
 year.^ 
 
 ^ The following very courteous and generously inspired letter was 
 sent last year at the time of the Nelson Centenary celebration by the 
 present head of the Dumanoir family to the Navy League : — 
 
 Monsieur lb PBEsroENT, 
 
 J'apprends que la Navy League a depose sur le monument de 
 Trafalgar une couronne commemorative en I'honneur des combattants 
 fran9ais : cette initiative genereuse et chevaleresque sera sincerement 
 appreciee par ceux qui savent respecter I'infortune et honorer la vail- 
 lance meme chez les vaincus. 
 
 Mon grand-oncle, le contre-amiral Dumanoir, fut un de ces vail- 
 lants : il eut la douleur d'amener son pavilion et de rendre son bati- 
 ment a un lieutenant de votre glorieux Nelson ; il ne le fit qu'apres 
 deux jours d^une lutte heroique, alors que son vaisseau, le Formidable, 
 crible, de'sempare, ne gouvernant plus, faisait eau de toutes parts : les 
 deux tiers de I'equipage e'taient hors de combat, lui-meme, convert de 
 sang, la cuisse fracassee, avait du abandonner le commandement. 
 L'honneur du soldat etait sauf, la conduite du commandant devait 
 aussi etre plus tard solennellement justifiee par ses pairs et sesjuges. 
 
 Plein d'admiration pour la valeur de ses vainqueurs, I'amiral ne 
 cessa de louer le de'vouement, I'accueil aimable et les soins empresse's 
 qu'il re9ut d'eux ; I'hommage comme'moratif que vous rendez 
 aujourd'hui a ce chef et a ses compagnons d'armes justifie la profonde 
 admiration dont il honora ses heureux adversaires. 
 
 Petit-neveu de ce chef valeureux, depositaire des amertumes 
 patriotiques que cette grande journe'e laissa dans son coeur, je me suis 
 cru autorise a adresser a la Navy League I'expression de ma vive 
 reconnaissance pour un acte qui, en associant dans un meme hom- 
 mage les vertus guerrieres de deux grands peuples, temoigne au 
 monde qu'ils sont dignes Tun de I'autre pour une oeuvre commune de 
 paix et de grandeur. 
 
 Veuillez agreer. Monsieur le President, I'assurance de mon plus 
 profond respect. 
 
 VicoMTE Lb Pelley Dumanoir. 
 
 Paris, 95 rue de Rennes, 
 le 22 octobre, 1905. 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 GRAVINA AND ALAVA AND THEIR 
 FLAGSHIPS 
 
 AS to the part that it fell to the leader of the 
 -^^ Spaniards, Admiral Gravina, and his flagship, 
 the "Principe de Asturias," to take at Trafalgar, 
 we have the official report to Godoy, the " Prince 
 of Peace," at Madrid, sent in by the Spanish Cap- 
 tain of the Fleet, Rear- Admiral Escano. Gravina 
 was incapacitated from making his own report by 
 a severe wound, which afterwards proved mortal. 
 Escano himself was wounded at Gravina's side, 
 but he was still able to carry on the more urgent 
 business of the hour on reaching Cadiz after the 
 battle. This is the portion of the Spanish Captain 
 of the Fleet's report which deals with the actual 
 fighting : — 
 
 "It wanted eight minutes to noon when an 
 English three-decker broke through the centre of 
 our line, being seconded in this manoeuvre by the 
 Vessels which followed in its wake. The other 
 leading ships of the enemy's columns did the 
 same. One of them passed down our rear, a third 
 
 242 
 
"EVERY SHIP PERFORMED ITS DUTY" 243 
 
 laid herself between the Achille and the San 
 Ildefonso, and from this moment the action was 
 nothing but so many sanguinary single combats 
 within pistol-shot : the greater part of them being 
 between the whole of the Enemy's Fleet and half 
 of ours ; several boardings necessarily took place. 
 I do not possess the data requisite for giving your 
 Highness a detailed and particular account of these 
 single fights, nor can I speak with certainty of 
 the movements of the Van, which, 1 am informed, 
 tacked at the commencement of the battle in 
 
 ^re^^yi^yic^ ^7^<*.<-'-?^^ 
 
 SIOKATURE OF ADMIRAL ORAVIKA 
 
 order to support those who were assailed. I can, 
 however, confidently assure you that every ship, 
 French as well as Spanish, which fought in my 
 sight, performed its duty to the utmost, and that 
 this Ship, after a terrific contest of four hours with 
 three or four of the Enemy's Vessels, its rigging 
 destroyed, its sails shot through and through, its 
 masts and topmasts riddled, and in every respect 
 in a most deplorable condition, was most season- 
 ably relieved by the San Justo, a Spanish, and the 
 Neptune, a French ship, which junction drove 
 off the Enemy, and enabled the Rayo, the 
 
244 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 Montanes, the Asis, and the San Leandro, all of 
 which had suffered severely, to unite with the 
 other French ships, that were in just as bad a 
 plight. As soon as this vessel found itself free of 
 the Enemy, it directed the ships which had joined 
 company to assist such vessels as were in need of 
 their aid, and at nightfall, the cannonade having 
 ceased on both sides, the Themis frigate was 
 ordered to tow us towards Cadiz Bay." 
 
 One of the first British ships that the " Principe 
 de Asturias" encountered was the "Revenge," 
 which broke through the line of the Combined 
 Fleet not far ahead of Gravina. We get a gUmpse 
 of the passage of arms from a seaman on board 
 the "Revenge." "A Spanish three-decker ran her 
 bowsprit over our poop, with a number of her 
 crew on it and in her fore rigging. Two or three 
 hundred men were ready to follow ; but they 
 caught a Tartar, for their design was discovered 
 and our marines with their small arms, and the 
 carronades on the poop, loaded with canister-shot, 
 swept them off so fast that they were glad to 
 sheer off." 
 
 Before she parted from the "Revenge," the 
 " Defiance " had joined in the attack, and at the 
 same time a Spanish 74, the "San Ildefonso," 
 gallantly closed in to assist her admiral. The 
 "Revenge" and the "Defiance," however, had 
 other antagonists to deal with ; and at the same 
 time fresh British ships, the three-decker " Dread- 
 
GRAVINA AT BAY 245 
 
 nought " and the " Polyphemus" and "Thunderer," 
 were nearing the scene. The "Revenge" and 
 " Defiance " then turned their attention from the 
 "Principe de Asturias" and her consort, and in 
 succession the new-comers independently took up 
 the attack. It lasted — irregularly, for the British 
 vessels had now and again others of the enemy to 
 fight with — for upwards of an hour and three 
 quarters. Then, after having made a fierce and 
 stubborn defence, at times fighting both sides of 
 the ship at once, the "San Justo" and French 
 " Neptune " came on the scene. Helped by them 
 and by the "Pluton," the "Principe" worked 
 her way clear. To do so, however, she had to 
 sacrifice her brave consort the "San Ildefonso," 
 now hopelessly crippled. Another British three- 
 decker, the "Prince," passed close to her at that 
 moment, and as the " Principe " disengaged herself 
 fired into her two sweeping broadsides. Admiral 
 Gravina himself had fallen just before this with his 
 left arm shattered. Apparently that was as the 
 "Dreadnought" fired her last broadside into the 
 Spanish flagship. 
 
 By this time it was nearly half-past three. See- 
 ing, as far as could be made out, the whole length 
 of the line ahead of the " Principe " in irreparable 
 disorder, with dismasted and captured vessels 
 everywhere, and that both the " Santisima Trini- 
 dad " and " Bucentaure " had their colours down, 
 Admiral Gravina, as the only thing left for him to 
 
246 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 do, hoisted the signal for a general rally on his 
 flagship, preparatory to a withdrawal to Cadiz. 
 The Spanish flagship's main -mast and mizen, 
 though still standing, had been shot through and 
 threatened to come down at any moment, and the 
 nearest frigate, the " Themis," was summoned to 
 take the " Principe de Asturias " in tow. Bearing 
 away to leeward and gathering round him as he 
 moved away what ships could draw clear of the 
 fighting, some of which the remaining frigates took 
 in tow, Admiral Gravina was able to collect in 
 all a remnant of eleven sail of the line, with which 
 he passed out of range, and shaped his course to 
 the north-east. 
 
 Captain Jugan, of the " Themis," relates how he 
 led the "Principe de Asturias " out of the battle in 
 these words, reporting the incident to the senior 
 French officer at Cadiz a day or two afterwards: — 
 
 " At four o'clock firing had ceased in the centre 
 and van. One ship in the rear was still fighting, 
 and a signal from the Neptune to other ships to go 
 and assist that vessel made me suspect that it 
 was our admiral who was being hard pressed. In 
 a little time, about a quarter to five o'clock, the 
 smoke having entirely drifted off^, I made out the 
 Principe de Asturias, Admiral Gravina's flagship, 
 dragging herself very slowly off* to leeward, with 
 all set that were left of her ragged sails. I at 
 once headed for the Principe in response to her 
 
"I BELIEVED IT WAS ADMIRAL VILLENEUVE" 247 
 
 signals, and manoeuvred to pass close astern of her. 
 I repeated the Neptune's signal to the Spanish 
 flagship, and also reported that I believed that it 
 was Admiral V^illeneuve whose ship was still fight- 
 ing. The reply was an order to take them in 
 tow immediately. Their masts, they said, were 
 threatening to come down every moment. I 
 obeyed as soon as possible, and at that moment 
 also all firing ceased. Several of our ships were 
 now following the example of the Neptune and 
 keeping close to the wind. Apparently they were 
 waiting for Admiral Gravina to join, and towards 
 them I accordingly towed the Spanish flagship." 
 
 Out of 1,113 officers and men on board the 
 "Principe de Asturias" when they left Cadiz, 
 according to Flag-Captain Escano's official return, 
 52 were killed and 110 wounded. 
 
 Admiral Gravina, on arrival at Cadiz after the 
 battle, was landed and sent to hospital. He lingered 
 for four months and a half, and then died, a 
 victim to his doctors. They disagreed as to the 
 necessity for amputating his arm, and he preferred 
 to accept the views of the minority, who had 
 expressed hopes of saving the Umb. The admiral 
 was still in hospital at the end of February, 1806, 
 when mortification set in, and within ten days 
 Gravina was dead. This tribute to the Spanish 
 admiral appeared in the " Gibraltar Chronicle " of 
 the 15th of March. "We lament to hear that 
 the brave Admiral Gravina is dead. His friends 
 
248 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 had long entertained hopes of his recovery ; but 
 they have been unfortunately disappointed. Spain 
 loses in him the most distinguished officer in her 
 navy; one under whose command her fleets, 
 though sometimes beaten, always fought in such 
 a manner as to merit the encomiums of their 
 conquerors." 
 
 Drawn from a Photo by Dalton Kaulak, Madrid] 
 
 ADMIRAL GRAVINa's TRAFALGAR SWORD AND COCKED HAT 
 As kept al the Museo Naval, Madrid 
 
 Gravina died on the 9th of March. His re- 
 mains were embalmed and laid temporarily in the 
 Chapel of San Jose at Cadiz. On the 29th of 
 the month a requiem mass, attended by Admiral 
 Alava and Admiral Rosily (who had arrived at 
 Cadiz four days after Trafalgar), with their staffs, 
 the Governor- General in state, and an immense 
 gathering of generals and brigadiers, colonels and 
 navy officers of all ranks, and civilian officials, was 
 
WHERE THE ADMIRAL NOW RESTS 249 
 
 held for him at the Church of the Convent of 
 the Carmen, Gravina's brother, the Archbishop of 
 Nicaea, officiating. Four years later the remains 
 were removed to the Chapel of the Carmen, whence 
 in 1869 they were transferred to the newly founded 
 Panteon Nacional at Madrid. With the admiral 
 were buried his hat and sword, the shot-torn flag 
 flown at the masthead of the " Principe" at Trafal- 
 gar, and also the baton of a Capitan General de la 
 Armada (a rank equivalent to that of Admiral of 
 the Fleet in the British service), and banner of a 
 Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Carlos III, 
 honours conferred upon Gravina on his deathbed, 
 as a reward for having done his best at Trafalgar. 
 The hat and sword and baton, and the flags were 
 taken from where they had lain resting, on the 
 coffin within the tomb, on the removal of the 
 remains to Madrid, and placed in the Naval 
 Museum in the capital, where they are now on 
 view. 
 
 Since then the body of the admiral has been 
 moved once again. In April, 1883, it was re- 
 transferred by royal command to San Fernando, 
 the naval port and arsenal near Cadiz, to be there 
 deposited in the Panteon de Marinos lUustres. 
 A stately procession of naval and military detach- 
 ments, headed by the Captain General of Cadiz 
 and his staff, received the remains at the railway 
 station, and to the booming of minute guns, 
 escorted it thence to the Panteon, where Gravina 
 
250 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 was laid in his present resting-place. The original 
 coffin, a leaden one, is thus inscribed. 
 
 OSSA • FREDERICl • GRAVINA 
 
 CLASSIS • IBER • IMP • HIC • 
 
 RESURRECTIONEM • EXPECTANT 
 
 OB • DIE • IX • TUMULAT • 
 
 DIE • XI • MARTII • 
 
 ANN • D • MDCCCVI • 
 
 It now lies in one of the chapels attached to the 
 Panteon, encased in a lofty and imposing monu- 
 ment of dark marble, bearing a lengthy Latin 
 inscription setting forth the admiral's services to 
 his country, and that he fell at Trafalgar: — 
 
 "VULNERIBUS • RELATIS « POSTREMA • NAUMACHIA 
 AD • TRAFALGAR ' LETHALITER • SAUCIO." 
 
 In the upper portion the name "gravina" is 
 seen, boldly lettered in gold across a tablet of black 
 stone, and above all is the statue of an angel in 
 white marble, supporting a medallion bearing the 
 admiral's bust carved in high relief.^ 
 
 One officer on board the " Principe de Asturias " 
 was also at Waterloo. He was Don Miguel 
 Ricardo de Alava, a nephew of Admiral de 
 Alava, capitan de fregata in 1805, who was acting 
 as A.D.C. to Gravina on board the "Principe." 
 When Spain threw off the Napoleonic yoke in 
 1808 Alava joined the patriot army as a colonel, 
 
 1 See the sketch of the Gravina monument on p. 411. 
 
AT BOTH TRAFALGAR AND WATERLOO 251 
 
 and he served as A.D.C. to Wellington throughout 
 the Peninsular War. In 1814 he was sent as 
 Minister Plenipotentiary to Holland, and in that 
 capacity was in attendance at Wellington's head- 
 quarters at Waterloo. The Prince Regent, at 
 Wellington's instance, made Alava an honorary 
 K.C.B. and gave him the Peninsular Gold Cross 
 and Medal with bars for Badajoz, Ciudad Rodrigo, 
 Salamanca, Vittoria, and Toulouse. In later years 
 Don Miguel de Alava was Spanish Ambassador in 
 London.^ 
 
 For the " Santa Ana's " share at Trafalgar we 
 have to rely entirely on British narratives. 
 
 The "Santa Ana," Vice- Admiral Alava's flag- 
 ship, was CoUingwood's particular opponent, and 
 it was immediately astern of her that CoUingwood 
 
 1 One officer in the French Fleet at Trafalgar was also at Waterloo. 
 He was the then Major Drouot of the Artillery. The ship he was in 
 escaped with Gravina, and Drouot was recalled to France with the 
 survivors of the soldiers to join the Grand Army. Jena gave him a 
 step, Friedland and Eylau another, Wagram another. Antoine Drouot 
 of the Artillery was one of the noblest-hearted and most brilliant men 
 of the Napoleonic era. He had made his mark at Hohenlinden and 
 turned the fortunes of the day at Wagram by the magnificent handling 
 of his guns. He showed splendid endurance during the horrors of the 
 retreat from Moscow, and was the only man of the Grand Army who 
 '' washed his face and shaved in the open air, affixing his looking-glass 
 to a gun-carriage, every day." He brought all his batteries and most 
 of his men safely through the retreat, and finally commanded the 
 Imperial Guard at Waterloo. 
 
 Two British midshipmen at Trafalgar were officers in Wellington's 
 army at Waterloo, and one sailor in Nelson^s fleet was present there as 
 a colour-sergeant. 
 
252 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 broke the line. "The Royal Sovereign," records 
 CoUingwood's biographer, Mr. Newnham CoUing- 
 wood/ " gave her a broadside and a half into her 
 stern, tearing it down and killing and wounding 
 400 of her men ; then, with her helm hard a-star- 
 board, she ranged up alongside so closely that the 
 lower yards of the two vessels were locked 
 together. The Spanish admiral, having seen that 
 it was the intention of the Royal Sovereign to 
 engage to leeward, had collected all his strength 
 on the starboard ; and such was the weight of the 
 Santa Anna's metal, that her first broadside made 
 the Sovereign heel two streaks out of the water." 
 So rapid and deadly was the fire of CoUingwood's 
 ship that apparently it mastered the fire of the 
 Spaniards from the outset. " In about a quarter 
 of an hour," continues Mr. Newnham CoUingwood, 
 "and before any other English ship had been 
 enabled to take a part in the action. Captain 
 Rotherham . . . came up to the Admiral and, 
 shaking him by the hand, said, 'I congratulate 
 you, sir : she is slackening her fire, and must soon 
 strike.' It was, indeed, expected on board the 
 Royal Sovereign, that they would have had the 
 gratification of capturing a Spanish Admiral in 
 the midst of a fleet of thirty-three sail, before the 
 arrival of another English ship, but the Santa Anna, 
 though exposed to a tremendous loss from the un- 
 
 1 '^Correspondence and Memoirs of Vice- Admiral Lord Colling- 
 wood," p. 127 et seq. 
 
Photo, Dalton Kaulak, Madrid] 
 
 THE "SANTA ANA " AT BAY 
 (from a painting in the MUSEO naval, MADRID) 
 
 [The "Santa Ana" is shown in the centre fighting Collingwood's flagship, the " Royal 
 Sovereign," broadside to broadside. The British three-decker seen to the left of the 
 picture is intended for the "Dreadnought," but the artist's composition is hardly 
 historical] 
 
 Photo, Dalton Kaulak, Madrid] 
 MODEL OF THE TRAFALGAR " SANTA ANA" AT THE ML .^LU .NAVAL, MADRID 
 [The model to the left is that of Commodore Churruca's " San Juan Nepomuceno"] 
 
 To face p. 252 
 
COLLINGWOOD AND THE "ROYAL DEVIL" 253 
 
 remitting fire of the Sovereign and unable to do 
 more than to return a gun at intervals, maintained 
 the conflict in the most determined manner, rely- 
 ing on the assistance of the neighbouring ships." 
 
 We can get an idea of what the " Santa Ana " 
 had to undergo from this additional personal note 
 about Collingwood himself. " He visited the men, 
 enjoining them not to fire a shot in waste, looking 
 himself along the guns to see that they were 
 properly pointed, and commanding the sailors, 
 particularly a black man, who was afterwards 
 killed, but who, while he stood beside him, fired 
 ten times directly into the porthole of the Santa 
 Anna." 
 
 "The Santa Anna struck at half-past two 
 o'clock, about the time when the news of Lord 
 Nelson's wound was communicated to Admiral 
 Collingwood. . . . He despatched Captain Black- 
 wood to convey the Spanish Admiral on board the 
 Euryalus, but he was stated to be on the point of 
 death, and Captain Blackwood returned with the 
 Spanish Captain. That officer had already been 
 to the Royal Sovereign to deliver his sword, and 
 on entering had asked one of the English sailors 
 the name of the ship. When he was told that it 
 was the Royal Sovereign, he replied, in broken 
 English, while patting one of the guns with his 
 hand, 'I think she should be called the Royal 
 Devil!'" 
 
 The sword that was handed to Collingwood was 
 
254 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 really that of the senior unwounded Spanish lieu- 
 tenant, Don Francisco Riquelme, and out of the 
 fact arose a difficulty which led to an exchange of 
 letters shortly after the battle between CoUingwood 
 and Alava. The " Santa Ana " was recaptured by 
 the enemy in the sortie made during the storm 
 two days after the battle, while the wounded 
 Spanish vice-admiral was still on board. Hearing 
 in the course of his correspondence with the 
 authorities at Cadiz on the subject of the sending 
 in of the wounded prisoners on board the British 
 Fleet, that Admiral Alava's injuries were after all 
 not likely to prove serious, and that he might, 
 indeed, return to duty before long, CoUingwood 
 wrote directly to the Spanish vice-admiral, re- 
 quiring him to consider himself for the present as 
 an unexchanged prisoner of war : — 
 
 "EURYALUS, OFF CaDIZ, 
 
 « Oct, 30, 1805. 
 
 " It is with great pleasure I have heard that 
 the wound you have received in the action is in a 
 hopeful way of recovery, and that your country 
 may still have the benefit of your services. But, 
 Sir, you surrendered yourself to me, and it was in 
 consideration only of the state of your wound that 
 you were not removed into my ship. I could not 
 disturb the repose of a man supposed to be in his 
 last moments; but your sword, the emblem of 
 your service, was deUvered to me by your Captain, 
 
ADMIRAL DE ALAVA'S SWORD 255 
 
 and I expect that you consider yourself a prisoner 
 of war, until you shall be regularly exchanged by 
 cartel." 
 
 In reply Alava explained what had happened 
 with regard to the sword, and pointed out that the 
 recapture of the " Santa Ana " had of itself given 
 him back his liberty. It did not satisfy the 
 British admiral ; but there was nothing more to be 
 done in the matter, and so CoUingwood had to leave 
 it. This is what the Spanish admiral wrote : — 
 
 "Cadiz, 2)ec. 23, 1805. 
 "Most excellent Sir, 
 
 " The moment I find myself able to subscribe 
 my name, I hasten to fulfil the duties of gratitude, 
 by returning to your Excellency my warmest 
 thanks for your great kindness and care of me, 
 which will ever be deeply engraven on my heart. 
 I have, at the same time, the greatest satisfaction 
 in acknowledging the generosity and politeness 
 with which Lieutenant Maker and a marine officer 
 of the Thunderer behaved to me on board the 
 Santa Ana, and I have the honour of recommend- 
 ing these officers to your Excellency. 
 
 " I should wish here to conclude my letter, but I 
 feel it necessary to reply to the subject of which 
 your Excellency treats in yours of the 30th of 
 October. 
 
 " After I fell senseless in the action of the 21st 
 of October, I have no further recollection of what 
 
256 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 passed : neither did I know before that my sword 
 had been delivered to your Excellency by the 
 officer who remained in command of the Santa 
 Ana till the end of the combat. In conse- 
 quence, however, of your Excellency's assertion, 
 the moment I found myself capable of resuming 
 the subject, I inquired of that officer, Don Fran- 
 cisco Riquelme, and was informed that the sword 
 presented by him on board the Royal Sovereign 
 was his own ; and that with regard to me, he had 
 only requested of your Excellency that I might not 
 be moved, in consideration of the few hours for 
 which I was then expected to survive. In con- 
 firmation of this, I must add, that the sabre which 
 I used in the battle, and the swords which I gener- 
 ally wear, are still in my possession. This officer 
 beheves that it was owing to his imperfectly 
 expressing himself in the English language, that 
 your Excellency was led to think that it was my 
 sword which he surrendered to you. 
 
 " What I have said will be a satisfactory reply to 
 your Excellency, who grounds on your possession 
 of this emblem of my services my incapacity to 
 exert them during the continuance of the war 
 without previous exchange. If, however, that had 
 been true which I have proved to be a mistake, it 
 is manifest that I could only share the fate of the 
 vessel in which my person was embarked, under 
 circumstances in which it was so probable that we 
 might be recaptured by a superior force from the 
 
WHY HE WAS NOT A PRISONER 257 
 
 Combined Fleet ; which, in fact, did happen. The 
 same thing might have happened to the Royal 
 Sovereign, whither it was proposed to remove 
 me, since she was then dismasted, and as un- 
 manageable as the Santa Ana, and there can be 
 no reason why I should run a risk in two different 
 vessels. 
 
 " It is extremely painful to me, that on the first 
 occasion which is presented to me of having the 
 honour of communicating with your Excellency, 
 and when, before the receipt of your valued letter, 
 I had anxiously longed for the means of declaring 
 to you the extent of my gratitude, I should be 
 forced to dissent from your opinion. I could wish 
 that this were on a subject which depended on 
 my own free will, in order that I might evince 
 to you the devotion that I have, and shall for 
 ever entertain for your Excellency, to whose 
 service in all other matters I shall be anxious to 
 dedicate myself. 
 
 " I am, most excellent Sir, 
 " Your most obedient and affectionate Servant, 
 
258 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 According to the Spanish official Trafalgar 
 returns, out of 1,188 officers and men on board 
 the "Santa Ana," 15 officers and 97 men were 
 killed, and 4 officers and 141 men were wounded.^ 
 
 Admiral de Alava was promoted to Gravina's 
 place at the head of what was left of " la Escuadra 
 del Oceano," from which post, some months later, 
 he was appointed to a seat in the Admiralty 
 Council of the " Prince of Peace." Alava died in 
 1817, Captain General, and covered with decora- 
 tions, " dejando en la Armada memoria de ser uno 
 de los mas valientes y entendidas Jefes de su 
 Cuerpo." 
 
 A very fine model of the Trafalgar "Santa Ana" 
 is one of the treasures of the Naval Museum at 
 Madrid, and there hang on the walls of that in- 
 stitution three paintings of her, two showing 
 Alava's flagship in action with CoUingwood, and 
 one to commemorate the recapture of the " Santa 
 Ana" in the storm of the 23rd, showing the French 
 frigate "Themis" towing the recovered three- 
 decker back into Cadiz harbour. 
 
 The last survivor of all who were present on 
 either side at Trafalgar was also, it is stated, one of 
 .the " Santa Ana's " crew. He died in April, 1892, 
 at San Fernando, Cadiz — a few weeks after the 
 last Frenchman passed away. A correspondent of 
 the " Tribuno " of Seville of the 9th of that month 
 
 ^ That, by the way, corrects CoUingwood's biographer as to 400 men 
 being rendered hors de combat at the " Royal Sovereign's " first fire. 
 
REAR-ADMIRAL CI->M K 
 
 VICE-ADMIRAL DE ALAVA 
 
 To face p. 258 
 
SPAIN'S LAST TRAFALGAR VETERAN 259 
 
 thus recorded the veteran's passing : " The last of 
 those who took part in the glorious naval engage- 
 ment of Trafalgar has just died at San Fernando. 
 He was named Caspar Costela Vasquez, was born 
 in the year 1787, and was 105 years of age at his 
 death. For many years he lived in the Convalescent 
 Hospital of the garrison, and to the last pre- 
 served and enjoyed the use of his intellectual 
 faculties. With great pride he was used to re- 
 count the exciting affairs of the days of that 
 glorious naval campaign at which he had taken 
 part. His funeral, which took place yesterday 
 afternoon, was attended by a very numerous fol- 
 lowing, composed of the principal officers, and of 
 troops of the naval and military forces. The 
 * feretro ' was carried by four soldiers of the Marine, 
 and the band of the Marine Infantry also assisted. 
 The corps of Marine Infantry has solemnized in a 
 brilliant and becoming manner the burial rites over 
 the remains of the last of those who had lived 
 to connect us with the ever memorable battle of 
 Trafalgar."^ 
 
 * The last surviving seaman of the " Victory " at Trafalgar, James 
 Chapman, died at Dundee in 1876, in his 92nd year. The last 
 surviving officer of the " Victory," Admiral Sir George Westphal, died 
 a few months previously, in 1875. The two last British survivors of 
 the battle itself, both officers, were Admiral Sir George Sartorius, who 
 was a midshipman of the "Tonnant," one of the ships of Colling- 
 wood's line, and Lieutenant-Colonel James Fynmore, of the Royal 
 Marines, who at Trafalgar was a midshipman on board the ''^ Africa," 
 of Nelson's own line. Sir George Sartorius died in 1886, in his 96th 
 year, and Colonel Fynmore in April, 1887. 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 THE "SANTISIMA TRINIDAD" AT BAY 
 
 rpHE "Santisima Trinidad's" station at Trafalgar 
 -*- was close to and next ahead of the French 
 flagship " Bucentaure." She fought at that point 
 from start to finish ; and, one after the other, all 
 the leading ships of Nelson's column, as they came 
 up, had a set-to with the great hundred-and-forty- 
 gun "four-decker," as the "Trinidad" looked to 
 be, with four bands or " strakes " of dull crimson 
 on her sides along her tiers of ports. The "Vic- 
 tory" kept firing on her throughout the battle 
 until the "Trinidad" surrendered, with the guns 
 on the side not blocked in by the " Redoutable " ; 
 the "Temeraire" fired guns at her from time to 
 time ; the " Neptune," " Leviathan," " Conqueror," 
 " Britannia," and " Africa " all engaged the " San- 
 tisima Trinidad " more or less closely. As to the 
 great ship herself, the " Santisima Trinidad " was 
 Nelson's " old acquaintance" of Valentine's Day off 
 Cape St. Vincent, and in her Ipng career afloat 
 of thirty-six years she had on other occasions 
 faced British broadsides in battle. As the biggest 
 man-of-war of that day in the world, all on board 
 
NELSON AND THE ''TRINIDAD" 26l 
 
 the British Fleet had their eyes on the " Trinidad " 
 while the opposing lines were nearing. From 
 all accounts there was hardly a British officer 
 among those in the leading ships who did not 
 earnestly pray that morning that the fortune of 
 battle would take his ship alongside the "San- 
 tisima Trinidad."^ 
 
 Rear -Admiral Cisneros, whose flagship the 
 " Santisima Trinidad " was, personally gave an ac- 
 count of the battle and his ship's doings to Godoy, 
 who had it published in the official "Madrid 
 Gazette " of the 12th of November, 1806 :— 
 
 "Admiral Cisneros has communicated to the 
 Prince of Peace several interesting particulars of 
 the combat maintained by his flagship the San- 
 tisima Trinidad. From his account it appears that 
 Admiral Nelson, in his ship the Victory, and with 
 two three-deckers, bore down to break the line 
 between the stem of the Santisima Trinidad and 
 the bow of the Bucentaure, the flagship of Admiral 
 Villeneuve. Admiral Cisneros immediately gave 
 
 1 Nelson himself, indeed, in the language of one of the many poems 
 on Trafalgar, which were published in Spain immediately after the 
 battle, no sooner saw the "Santisima Trinidad" with Cisneros' flag 
 flying at the masthead, than, recalling who the enemy were when he 
 lost his arm, he set himself to make her his own prize, and, heading 
 for her, rushed ardently into the fight. 
 
 " Ardiendo Nelson, en venganza impia. 
 Par su patente mutilado miembro, 
 Y Abukir, Copenhague en su memoria. 
 Con frenetico orgullo repasando, 
 Al descubrir la tremolente insignia 
 De Cisneros, aspira a la alta gloria 
 De arrebatar lo Trinidad ansiada/' 
 
262 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 orders to back the topsails of the Trinidad, and 
 brought that ship so close to the French vessel 
 that by this manoeuvre, as well as by the destruc- 
 tive fire which followed, he frustrated the intention 
 of Admiral Nelson, who was only able to open for 
 himself a passage, and thus to break the line, by 
 the stern of the Bucentaure.^ That being effected, 
 the Victory took her position on the starboard side 
 of the Trinidad, and the two other three-deckers 
 placing themselves on the larboard side, the com- 
 bat raged with unexampled fury until 4 o'clock 
 p.m., by which time the Santisima Trinidad was 
 totally dismasted, and had lost more than three 
 hundred men. The vessel indeed was in so 
 shattered a condition, that, notwithstanding that 
 the English officer placed in possession of her had 
 been expressly informed that it was Admiral 
 Nelson's particular wish she should be, if possible, 
 preserved and carried to England, they were com- 
 pelled to abandon the attempt. The water gained 
 upon her so fast that the pumps were utterly use- 
 less, so that during the night of the third day after 
 the battle she sank, the crew having been previ- 
 ously taken out of her. It is worthy of notice 
 that from the accounts hitherto received it appears 
 that the English made three distinct attempts to 
 break the line, and were on each occasion com- 
 pletely repulsed by our ships. We have already 
 
 1 A painting of the " Santisima Trinidad " barring the " Victory's " 
 passage at this point is on the walls of the Naval Museum at Madrid. 
 
FROM A SPANISH POINT OF VIEW 263 
 
 seen Admiral Nelson's want of success in his 
 endeavour to pass by the stern of the Santisima 
 Trinidad. Equally unfortunate was the attempt 
 of Admiral Collingwood, who, leading the van of 
 the English Fleet in his flagship the Royal 
 Sovereign, tried to break our line by the bow of 
 the Santa Ana, the flagship of Don Ignacio Maria 
 Alava. This commander defeated the manoeuvre 
 in such a manner that the Santa Ana running 
 alongside the Royal Sovereign, a murderous fight 
 ensued, which ended only by both vessels being 
 totally dismasted. The third column of the enemy 
 made a similar attempt by the bow of the Principe 
 de Asturias, the flagship of Admiral Gravina, but 
 that ship, by closing up and opening a very sharp 
 and well directed fire, forced the enemy to abandon 
 his intention and to retreat." 
 
 This is what a British officer saw of the " San- 
 tisima Trinidad" at the outset, as his ship, the 
 "Britannia," came up to her and passed through 
 the line astern of the Spanish four-decker. " We 
 then encountered the Santisima Trinidad, 240 (sic) 
 guns on four decks (the largest ship known). We 
 passed under the stern of this magnificent Ship, 
 and gave her a broadside which shattered the rich 
 display of sculpture, figures, ornaments and in- 
 scriptions with which she was adorned. I never 
 saw so beautiful a ship. Luffing up alongside her 
 four-decked side, of a rich lake colour, she had an 
 imposing effect." 
 
264 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 A vivid and telling narrative of what passed on 
 board the " Santisima Trinidad," and of the fearful 
 ordeal that the hapless 1,048 Spaniards on board 
 went through, standing up to their guns and 
 taking their punishment manfully until human 
 endurance could bear no more, is given in the 
 pages of the " Trafalgar " volume of Don B. Perez 
 Galdos' series of "Episodios Nacionales." For 
 his own purposes in telling the story the author 
 has invented characters who figure as narra- 
 tors of incidents described ; but beyond that 
 very slight touch of fictitious veneer in parts, the 
 book is trustworthy and an authentic account of 
 experiences on board, drawn from official docu- 
 ments in the Archivo de la Marina and private 
 papers and letters now in family collections. 
 
 Here is what things looked like on board the 
 " Santisima Trinidad," as related in Perez Galdos' 
 "Trafalgar":— 
 
 "Our fleet displayed a wide front, and to all 
 appearance Nelson's two columns, advancing in a 
 wedge, were coming down upon us so as to cut our 
 lines through the centre and rear. 
 
 " This was the position of the hostile fleets when 
 the Bucentaure signalled that we were to put 
 about. 
 
 tF TT 'Jp TT lF * 
 
 " In point of fact, what had been the vanguard 
 was now in the rear, and the reserve ships, which 
 were the best, were rearmost of all. The wind 
 
'^THE SAND— BRING THE SAND!" 265 
 
 had fallen, and the ships being of various tonnage 
 and inefficiently manned, the new line could not 
 form with due precision. Some of the vessels 
 moved quickly and drove forward, others went 
 slowly, hanging back and losing way, and formed 
 wide gaps that broke the line before the enemy 
 did it. 
 
 " Early in the morning the decks were cleared 
 for action, and when all was ready for serving the 
 guns and working the ship, I heard some one say : 
 ' The sand — bring the sand.' A number of sailors 
 were posted on the ladders from the hatchway to 
 the hold and between decks, and in this way were 
 hauling up sacks of sand. Each man handed one 
 to the man next to him and so it was passed on. 
 A great quantity of sacks were thus brought up 
 from hand to hand, and they were emptied out on 
 the upper decks, the poop, and the forecastle, the 
 sand being spread about so as to cover all the 
 planking. The same thing was done between 
 decks. My curiosity prompted me to ask a lad 
 who stood next me what this was for. 
 
 " * For the blood,' he said very coolly. 
 
 "*For the blood!' I exclaimed, unable to re- 
 press a shudder. I looked at the sand — I looked 
 at the men who were busily employed on this 
 task — and for a moment I felt I was a coward. 
 
266 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 " Everything was ready for serving the guns and 
 the ammunition was passed up from the magazines 
 to the decks by a chain of men, like that which 
 had brought up the bags of sand. 
 
 "The EngUsh advanced to attack us in two 
 divisions. One came straight down upon us, and 
 at its head, which was the point of a wedge, sailed 
 a large ship carrying an admiral's flag. This, I 
 afterwards learned, was the Victory, commanded 
 by Nelson, At the head of the other line was the 
 Royal Sovereign, commanded by Collingwood. 
 
 " A ship towards the rear was the first to open 
 fire on the Royal Sovereign, commanded by 
 Collingwood, and while that ship carried on her 
 fight with the Santa Ana the Victory came down 
 on us. On board the Trinidad every one was 
 anxious to open fire, but our captain would not 
 give the word till he saw a favourable opportunity. 
 Meanwhile, as if the ships had been touching one 
 another and a train of quick-match had been 
 laid all along, passing from one to the other, the 
 fire ran along from the Santa Ana in the middle, 
 to each end of the line. 
 
 " The Victory fired first on the Redoutable, and 
 being repulsed she came up to windward of the 
 Trinidad. The moment had come for us. A 
 hundred voices shouted ' Fire ! " loudly re-echoing 
 the word of command, and fifty round shot were 
 hurled against the sides of the English man-of-war. 
 For a minute 1 could see nothing of the enemy for 
 
AT CLOSE QUARTERS WITH THE "VICTORY" 267 
 
 the smoke, while they, as if bHnded with rage, 
 came straight down on us before the wind. Just 
 within pistol-shot they put the Victory about and 
 gave us a broadside. In the interval between our 
 firing and theirs, our crew, who had taken note of 
 the damage done to the enemy, became very enthu- 
 siastic. The guns were rapidly served, though 
 not without some trouble, owing to want of ex- 
 perience in some of the gunners. 
 
 " The Bucentaure, close astern of us, was, as we 
 were, firing on the Victory and the Tem^raire — 
 
 36-PR. BAR-SHOT, FIRED BY THE ** SANTISIMA TRINIDAD " 
 INTO THE "victory" 
 
 another powerful English ship. It seemed as 
 though the Victory must fall into our hands, for 
 the Trinidad's fire had cut her tackle to pieces, and 
 we saw with pride that her mizen-mast had gone by 
 the board. 
 
 -TP ^ 'Jr TT TT TT 
 
 " The Trinidad was doing the Victory immense 
 damage, when the Temeraire, by a wonderfully 
 clever manoeuvre, slipped in between the two 
 vessels ; thus sheltering her consort from our fire. 
 She then passed through the line astern of the 
 Trinidad, and as the Bucentaure, during the firing. 
 
268 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 had moved up so close alongside of the Trinidad 
 that their yardarms touched, there was a wide 
 space beyond, into which the Tem^raire settled 
 herself, and then she came up on our lee side and 
 delivered a broadside into us there. At the same 
 time the Neptune, another large English ship, 
 placed herself where the Victory had previously 
 been, while the Victory also wore round, so that, 
 in a few minutes, the Trinidad was quite surrounded 
 by the enemy and riddled by shot from all sides. 
 
 " The line of the Combined Fleet was after that 
 broken at several points, and the loose order in 
 which they had been formed at the outset gave 
 place to disastrous confusion. We were surrounded 
 by the enemy, whose gims kept up a tornado of 
 round shot and grape-shot on our ship, and on the 
 Bucentaure as well. The Agustin, the Heros, and 
 the Leandro, were also engaged at some distance 
 from us, where they had rather more sea-room, 
 while the Trinidad, and the Admiral's ship, cut 
 off on all sides and held fast by the genius of the 
 great Nelson, were fighting desperately. To win 
 the day was already impossible ; we were anxious 
 though, at any rate, to perish gloriously. 
 
 "The scene on board the Santisima Trinidad 
 was simply infernal. All attempts at working the 
 ship had to be abandoned. She could not move. 
 The only thing to be done was to serve the guns 
 as fast as we could and damage the enemy all we 
 could. 
 
THE TERRIBLE SCENE ON BOARD 269 
 
 " The English shot had torn our sails to tatters. 
 It was as if huge invisible talons had been dragging 
 at them. Fragments of spars, splinters of wood, 
 thick hempen cables cut up as corn is cut by the 
 sickle, fallen blocks, shreds of canvas, bits of iron, 
 and hundreds of other things that had been 
 wrenched away by the enemy's fire, were piled 
 along the deck, where it was scarcely possible to 
 move about. . . . Blood ran in streams about the 
 deck, and in spite of the sand, the rolling of the 
 ship carried it hither and thither until it made 
 strange patterns on the planks. The enemy's shot, 
 fired as they were from very short range, caused 
 horrible mutilations. . . . The ship creaked and 
 groaned as she rolled, and through a thousand 
 holes and crevices in her hull the sea spurted in 
 and began to flood the hold. 
 
 " There was hardly a man to be seen who did not 
 bear marks, more or less severe, of the enemy's 
 iron and lead. 
 
 "The Bucentaure, the French Admiral's ship, 
 surrendered before our very eyes. 
 
 " When once the leader of the fleet was gone, 
 what hope was there for other ships ? The French 
 flag vanished from the gallant vessel's mast and 
 she ceased firing. The San Agustin and the 
 Heros still struggled on, and the Rayo and Nep- 
 tuno, from the van, made an effort to rescue us 
 fi-om the enemy, who were fiercely battering us. 
 Nothing was to be seen of the rest of the line. 
 
270 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 The wind had fallen to a dead calm and the smoke 
 settled down over our heads, shrouding everything 
 in with its dense wreaths, which it was impossible 
 for the eye to pierce. We could catch a glimpse 
 now and then of a distant ship, mysteriously mag- 
 nified by some inexplicable optical effect ; then all 
 vanished. 
 
 " The Bucentaure having struck, the enemy's 
 fire was directed on us, and our fate was sealed." 
 
 A British officer on board the "Conqueror," 
 looking on at the moment that the "Santisima 
 Trinidad" gave in, relates what he saw of the 
 finale : — 
 
 " The Bucentaure had just surrendered and the 
 Conqueror passed on to take a station on the 
 quarter of the Trinidada, while the Neptune con- 
 tinued the action with her on the bow. In a short 
 time this tremendous fabric gave a deep roll with 
 the swell to leeward, then back to windward ; and 
 on her return every mast went by the board, 
 leaving her an unmanageable hulk on the water. 
 Her immense topsails had every reef out, her 
 royals were sheeted home but lowered, and the 
 falling of this mass of spars, sails, and rigging, 
 plunging into the water at the muzzles of our gims, 
 was one of the most magnificent sights I ever 
 beheld. Immediately after this a Spaniard showed 
 
"MERELY AN OVERSIGHT!" 271 
 
 an English Union on the lee gangway, in token of 
 submission." 
 
 In connexion with the " Santisima Trinidad " 
 an extraordinary incident occurred in the middle 
 of the battle, after her colours had been shot 
 away in action with the "Africa." Coolly pro- 
 fessing to believe that the biggest ship of the 
 enemy was ready to surrender on formal demand 
 by his own, the smallest on the British side, 
 Captain Digby, of the "Africa," lowered a boat 
 and sent an officer on board to ask for the captain's 
 sword and take possession of the " Santisima 
 Trinidad." The Spanish officers, instead of dis- 
 arming him instantly and making him a prisoner, 
 received him with stately politeness. They had 
 not surrendered, they assured Lieutenant Smith. 
 The " Trinidad " had no intention, they said, of 
 striking her flag. They were getting up fresh 
 ammunition from the magazines, that was why 
 they had ceased firing. It was only through an 
 oversight that the colours had not been rehoisted. 
 So they explained with Castilian courtesy, and 
 then showed the British lieutenant formally off 
 the quarter-deck and down the side back into his 
 own boat, after which firing recommenced. 
 
 For various reasons, as it happened, it was not 
 found practicable to take formal possession of the 
 " Trinidad " until some time after the battle was 
 over. The ship meanwhile remained with her 
 colours down, taking no part in what was going 
 
272 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 on all round her. To rehoist the colours and try 
 to escape — not an unknown thing in battle — was 
 beyond the power of a dismasted hulk, in the 
 " Trinidad's " hopeless state, to attempt. 
 
 "At 25 minutes after six," says an officer of 
 the "Prince," one of the ships of ColUngwood's 
 line, in a private letter, "took possession of the 
 Santisima Trinidad, a four-decker, totally dis- 
 masted. . . . Our first night's work on board the 
 Trinidad was to heave the dead overboard, which 
 amounted to 254 killed, and 173 wounded, several 
 of which are dead since." 
 
 Said another officer. Midshipman Badcock of 
 the '* Neptune " : "I was on board our prize the 
 Trinidada, getting the prisoners out of her. She 
 had between three and four hundred killed and 
 wounded ; her beams were covered with Blood, 
 Brains and peices of Flesh and the after part of 
 her Decks with wounded, some without legs and 
 some without an Arm." 
 
 According to a Spanish MS. account, apparently 
 from one of the ship's officers, which is now among 
 the Egerton papers at the British Museum, the 
 "Santisima Trinidad" surrendered half an hour 
 after the " Bucentaure," "not being able any 
 longer to work her guns, owing to the mass of 
 wreck which covered her decks and hung over her 
 sides, and the heaps of dead which choked up her 
 batteries. Her loss has been very severe; her 
 Admiral, second and third lieutenants and twenty- 
 
OFFICERS WOUNDED IN THE "TRINIDAD" 273 
 
 two other officers have been wounded, seven of 
 whom have since died." 
 
 Among the wounded, according to another 
 statement, were Rear- Admiral Cisneros himself, 
 Don Francisco de Uriarte, the captain of the 
 "Santisima Trinidad," and the two next senior 
 officers on board, Don Ignacio Olaete and Don 
 Jos^ Sartoria, who, as the " Trinidad's " third lieu- 
 tenant, had previously been wounded in her at 
 the battle of Cape St. Vincent. Rear- Admiral 
 Cisneros recovered from his wound within a few 
 weeks of the battle. He was promoted Vice- 
 Admiral for his services on the occasion, and 
 lived to become Captain-General and Minister of 
 Marine. His portrait, as that of a famous leader 
 of the Spanish Fleet, hangs in the Museo Naval 
 at Madrid. "La figura de D. Baltasar Hidalgo 
 de Cisneros," says a Spanish writer, " es una de las 
 mas brillantes y gloriosas de nuestra Armada." 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 HOW "EL GRAN CHURRUCA" FACED 
 HIS FATE 
 
 " TT^L GRAN CHURRUCA," as to this day in 
 J-^ Spain they call the heroic officer who fought 
 and fell on board the "San Juan Nepomuceno," 
 has ever since Trafalgar been to his countrymen 
 their hero of heroes in the battle. "Churruca 
 morio como el Cid," all Spain said of him with 
 pride at the time, and says still. Not unjustifi- 
 ably, indeed, if dauntless courage and a lofty bear- 
 ing in the face of adversity count among men. 
 
 Not very long before the Combined Fleet left 
 Cadiz he had attracted all eyes to himself by a 
 display of nerve and firmness, coupled with tact, 
 evinced on the occasion of an outbreak on board 
 his ship that threatened to become a dangerous 
 mutiny. Churruca, by acting promptly and with 
 an iron hand, suppressed it without calling on 
 assistance from outside. The "San Juan" had been 
 one of the ships stationed near the entrance to the 
 harbour to keep watch lest the English, as was 
 expected, should try to send in fireships and destroy 
 
 274 
 
A MUTINY CHECKED AT THE OUTSET 275 
 
 the Combined Fleet at anchor. Irritated at being 
 kept up, night after night, at the guns, while no 
 enemy appeared, and at the same time discontented 
 with the provisions supplied them from shore, 
 a number of the soldiers drafted on board openly 
 mutinied and threatened to use their firearms 
 against the ship's officers. The situation looked 
 like becoming grave, but, at the critical moment, 
 Churruca took just the right step, with the result 
 that he was able to repress the mutineers with 
 little more than a show of pistols. His personal 
 appeal to their loyalty made some waver, where- 
 
 ^^ 
 
 SIOKATUSE OF COMMODORE CHURRUCA 
 
 upon by a judicious display of force he and his 
 officers overawed the disaffected, isolated their 
 leaders from the loyal men on board, disarmed 
 them and made them prisoners, and then at once 
 packed them off out of the ship, sending them 
 ashore under bayonet sentries to be dealt with 
 by the authorities there under martial law. Order 
 was restored automatically, and the " San Juan's " 
 crew as a body returned to their duty with re- 
 doubled loyalty and admiration for their captain. 
 Churruca's detailed report to Admiral Gravina on 
 the occurrence is in existence and bears testimony 
 to the resolute character and lofty spirit of the 
 man. 
 
276 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 His high spirit did not desert him to the last ; 
 although Churruca was fully convinced that the 
 venture before him and his brother officers was 
 a hopeless one ; also that he personally would not 
 come back alive from it. 
 
 Commodore Churruca went into action, we are 
 told, with his mind full of the presentiment of 
 defeat ; and also that his last hour was at hand. 
 Before the fleet sailed on Saturday the 19th, he 
 said this to his nephew, Don Jose Ruiz de 
 Apodoca, son of Don Juan R. de Apodoca, 
 Commandant-General of La Carracca dockyard, 
 who was on board the " San Juan Nepomuceno " 
 as a volunteer : " Write to your friends that you 
 are going into a battle that will be desperate and 
 bloody. Tell them also, that they may be certain 
 of this — ^that I, for my part, will meet my death 
 there. Let them know that rather than surrender 
 my ship I shall sink her. It is the last duty that 
 an officer owes to his king and country." Churruca 
 himself wrote that same day to an intimate friend 
 of his own : " If you hear that my ship has been 
 taken, you can say that I am dead 1 " [Si llegas a 
 saber que mi navio ha side hecho prisoniero, di que 
 he muerto 1] 
 
 He was hopeless of victory in any circum- 
 stances ; as, indeed. Captain Churruca throughout 
 took no pains to conceal. When, at eight o'clock 
 on the morning of the battle, Villeneuve ordered 
 the fleet to go about and form line, divisional 
 
HIS EYES FIXED ON THE "BUCENTAURE" 277 
 
 commanders leading their divisions (ordre naturel), 
 he openly expressed condemnation of the forma- 
 tion. Such an evolution, he said aloud, was bound 
 to throw the fleet into confusion, and in the light 
 wind it would take all the morning to re-form, 
 besides wearing out and disheartening the men. 
 Fretful and downcast, he turned to Don Francisco 
 Moyna, his second in command, and declared that 
 the day was already lost. " The fleet is doomed. 
 The French admiral does not understand his busi- 
 ness. He has compromised us all ! " [" Esta la 
 escuadra perdida. El general frances no sabe su 
 obligacion, y la compromete ! "] At eleven o'clock, 
 when the intentions of the enemy had become 
 plain and it was seen that the British admiral meant 
 to throw the weight of his attack on the centre 
 and rear of the Combined Fleet, Churruca 
 complained bitterly that Admiral Villeneuve did 
 not seem to see the danger. Why did he not 
 make the obvious counter-move, he said, which 
 would foil the attack ? Churruca stood on deck, 
 we are told, watching fixedly for the " Bucentaure " 
 to make the signal that was wanted. He kept, all 
 the time, his telescope at his eye, pointed on the 
 masthead of the " Bucentaure." But no signal of 
 the sort was made. Turning away for an instant, 
 he exclaimed to the nearest officer : " Our van will 
 be cut away from the main body and our rear will 
 be overwhelmed. Half the line will be compelled 
 to remain inactive. The French admiral does not 
 
278 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 — ^will not — ^grasp it. He has only to act boldly, 
 only to order the van ships to wear round at once 
 and double on the rear squadron. That will place 
 the enemy themselves between two fires." But no 
 signal was made, and then, lowering his tele- 
 scope finally, Churruca stalked off across the 
 quarter-deck muttering : " Perdidos ! , Perdidos I , 
 PerdidosI"^ 
 
 After that Churruca ordered all hands to be 
 called on deck. Whatever the outcome of the 
 day might be, Churruca determined that he and 
 his men, at least, should not be found want- 
 ing in their duty to the flag. He proposed to 
 make an appeal to them by all that they held 
 most sacred. He sent for the ship's chaplain and 
 had all the officers and men turned up and paraded 
 on deck. Then he turned to the priest and bade 
 him invoke Divine protection on all on board. 
 "Father," he said, "perform your sacred office. 
 Absolve the souls of these brave fellows, who know 
 not what fate this battle may have for theml" 
 [" Cumpla V. Padre con su Ministerio. Absuelva 
 d estos vahentes que no saben lo que les espera en 
 la batalla."] 
 
 * The signal was made by Admiral Villeneuve, as has been seen^ but 
 a little time later. '*The English,^' says a French officer, '' advanc- 
 ing under press of sail in two columns had already reached within 
 cannon shot and a half of the Combined Fleet. . . . Then Villeneuve, 
 perceiving clearly that the plan of Admiral Nelson was to cut through 
 his line and divide it, made a signal to Admiral Dumanoir to wear and 
 reinforce the centre of the line. Unfortunately this order remained 
 unnoticed. Not a ship of the van squadron put about, although the 
 signal was repeated by the frigate Hortense.^' 
 
'^N THE NAME OF THE GOD OF BATTLES!" 279 
 
 After a short but solemn service of benedic- 
 tion had been held, Churruca himself stepped to 
 the quarter-deck rail. He addressed the men in a 
 loud, clear voice in these words : " My sons, in 
 the name of the God of Battles I promise eternal 
 happiness to all those who to-day fall doing their 
 duty. On the other hand, if I see any man shirk- 
 ing I will have him shot on the spot. If the 
 scoundrel escapes my eye, or that of the gallant 
 officers I have the honour to command, rest 
 assured of this, that bitter remorse will dog the 
 wretch for the rest of his days, for so long as he 
 crawls through what may remain of his miserable 
 and dishonoured existence." [These were Chur- 
 ruca's actual words : " Hijos mios ; en nombre del 
 Dios de los Ejercitos, prometo la bienaventuranza 
 al que muera cumpliendo sus deberes ! Si encuentro 
 alguno que falte a ellos, lo hare fusilar immediata- 
 mente ; y si escapase a mis miradas y a las de los 
 vaUentes oficiales que tengo el honor de mandar, 
 sus remordimientos le seguiran mientras arrastre 
 el resto de sus dias, miserable y desgraciado ! "] 
 Then Churruca called for three cheers for the 
 King — " Viva el Rey ! " — and after that the drums 
 and fifes struck up, as the crew, full of eagerness 
 and excitement, hastened back to their quarters. 
 
 The "San Juan Nepomuceno" was the third 
 ship astern of the " Santa Ana " at the outset of 
 the battle. She first exchanged fire with the 
 *' Mars " as that ship tried to break the line just 
 
280 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 ahead of her, until Cosmao, in the " Pluton," lying 
 off to windward, threatened to rake the " Mars," 
 which thereupon steered for another gap and came 
 into close action with the "Pluton." Then the 
 British 80-gun ship "Tonnant" arrived on the scene 
 and engaged the Spanish 74 in a fierce close- 
 quarter action. It lasted until the " San Juan " 
 had been hammered nearly to a standstill under 
 the "Tonnant's" well-directed broadsides, and a 
 heavy fire from the " Bellerophon," " Defiance," 
 and other ships, which, one after the other, assailed 
 Churruca as they passed near, while in action with 
 other ships. 
 
 Perez Galdos relates in detail how Churruca's 
 ship went through the day and how her heroic 
 captain met his death, following closely an account 
 from on board the ship, preserved among the 
 Apodoca family papers : — 
 
 " The San Juan Nepomuceno was at the end of 
 the line. The Royal Sovereign and the Santa 
 Ana opened fire and then all the ships in turn 
 came into action. Five English vessels under 
 Collingwood attacked our ship ; two, however, 
 passed on, and Churruca had only three to deal 
 with. 
 
 " We held out bravely against these odds till 
 two in the afternoon, suffering terribly, though we 
 dealt double havoc on the foe. Our leader seemed 
 to have infused his heroic spirit into the crew and 
 
SIX AGAINST ONE 281 
 
 soldiers, and the ship was handled and her broad- 
 sides deUvered with wonderful promptitude and 
 accuracy. The new recruits learnt their lesson in 
 courage in no more than a couple of hours' 
 apprenticeship, and our defence struck the English 
 with astonishment. 
 
 " They were in fact forced to get assistance, and 
 bring up no less than six against one. The two ships 
 that had at first sailed past us now returned, and 
 the Dreadnought came alongside of us, with not 
 more than half a pistol-shot between her and our 
 stem.^ You may imagine the fire of these six 
 giants pouring balls and small shot into a vessel 
 of 74 guns ! 
 
 "Churruca, meanwhile, who was the brain of 
 all, directed the battle with gloomy calmness. 
 Knowing that only care and skill could supply 
 the place of strength, he economized our fire, 
 trusting entirely to careful aim, and the conse- 
 quence was that each ball did terrible havoc on 
 the foe. He saw to everything, settled everything, 
 and the shot flew round him and over his head 
 without his ever once changing colour even. 
 
 " It was not the will of God, however, that he 
 should escape alive from that storm of fire. See- 
 ing that no one could hit one of the enemy's ships 
 
 About thirty yards. 
 
282 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 which was battering us with impunity, he went 
 down himself to judge of the line of fire and 
 succeeded in dismasting her. He was returning 
 to the quarter-deck when a cannon ball hit his 
 right leg with such violence as almost to take it 
 off, tearing it across the thigh in the most frightful 
 manner. He fell to the ground, but the next 
 moment he made an effort to raise himself, sup- 
 porting himself on one arm. His face was as 
 white as death, but he said, in a voice that was 
 scarcely weaker than his ordinary tone: 'It is 
 nothing — ^go on firing ! ' " [" Esto no es nada. Siga 
 el fuego ! "] 
 
 "He did all he could to conceal the terrible 
 sufferings of his cruelly mangled frame. Nothing 
 would induce him, it would seem, to quit the 
 quarter-deck. At last he yielded to our entreaties 
 and then he seemed to understand that he must 
 give up the command. He called for Moyna, his 
 second in command, but was told that he was dead. 
 Then he called for the officer in command on the 
 main deck. That officer, though himself seriously 
 wounded, at once came to the quarter-deck and 
 took command. 
 
 "It was just before he went below that Churruca, 
 in the midst of his agonies, gave the order that the 
 flag should be nailed to the mast. The ship, he 
 said, must never surrender so long as he breathed. 
 [" Despues," says the account in the family papers, 
 " pidi6 a los que vinieron en su ayuda que clavara 
 
A GOOD MAN AND A HERO 283 
 
 la bandera y no se rindiera el buque mientras el 
 tuviera un atomo de vidas."] 
 
 " The delay, alas ! could be but short. He was 
 going fast. He never lost consciousness till the 
 very end, nor did he complain of his sufferings. 
 His sole anxiety was that the crew should not 
 know how dangerous his wound was ; that no one 
 should be daunted or fail in his duty. He spe- 
 cially desired that the men should be thanked for 
 their heroic courage. Then he spoke a few words 
 to Ruiz de Apodoca, and after sending a farewell 
 message to his poor young wife, whom he had 
 married only a few days before he sailed, he fixed 
 his thoughts on God, Whose name was ever on his 
 lips. So with the calm resignation of a good man 
 and the fortitude of a hero, Churruca passed away. 
 
 " After he was gone, it was too quickly known, 
 and the men lost heart. . . . Their courage was 
 really worn out. It was but too plain that they 
 must surrender. ... A sudden paralysis seemed 
 to seize on the crew ; their grief at losing their 
 beloved leader apparently overpowered the dis- 
 grace of surrender. 
 
 " Quite half the San Juan^s crew were hors de 
 combat^ dead or wounded.^ Most of the guns were 
 disabled. All the masts, except the main-mast, 
 had gone by the board. The rudder was useless. 
 
 1 According to the official Spanish returns the '' San Juan Nepomu- 
 ceno " lost 250 officers and men (100 killed and 160 wounded) out of a 
 total ship's company, as mustered on the 19th, of 693. 
 
284 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 And yet, in this deplorable plight even, they made 
 an attempt to follow the Principe de Asturias, 
 which had given the signal to withdraw; but the 
 San Juan Nepomuceno had received her death 
 blow. She could neither sail nor steer." 
 So the flag had to come down. 
 
 Three British ships claimed the " San Juan." The 
 "Tonnant," her principal opponent, seeing her cease 
 fire, sent a boat with an officer to take possession, 
 but the boat was struck by a shot and was 
 swamped on the way. The " San Juan " crawled 
 away and fell in with the " Defiance," before whose 
 threatening attack she yielded at discretion. " The 
 Defiance," says a memoir of her captain, "was 
 just going to pour in a broadside, when Captain 
 Durham observed the Spanish captain surrounded 
 by his officers, making signals with their hats, and 
 ordered the crew of the Defiance not to fire, upon 
 which the Spaniard hauled down his colours with- 
 out firing a shot." Apparently the "Defiance" 
 did not wait to take possession. It fell to the 
 " Dreadnought," a little later, to receive the sur- 
 render formally and man the prize. 
 
 Churruca, personally, was the idol of the Spanish 
 Fleet of his day. He was comparatively young 
 for the rank he held — that of Commodore — only 
 forty-four years of age. As a navigator and an 
 
HIS COUNTRY'S TRIBUTE TO CHURRUCA 285 
 
 officer of scientific attainments his reputation 
 stood high. Many years before his explorations 
 in the Straits of Magellan, and along the coasts 
 of Patagonia and Chili, had given him European 
 fame. There is a striking portrait of Churruca 
 at the Naval Museum in Madrid. It hangs in 
 the hall dedicated to " Officers killed in action," 
 between the portrait of Gravina and that of the 
 gallant Velasco, the defender of Havana in 1763, 
 in whose honour King Charles III decreed that 
 as long as Spain had a navy, one of its ships should 
 ever bear the name of Velasco. Churruca also has 
 two statues in Spain. One, erected in 1811, stands 
 in the Plaza Mayor of Ferrol ; the other, erected in 
 1886, is in the little town of Motrico in Guipuzcoa, 
 where Churruca was bom. His name has been 
 borne since Trafalgar by several Spanish men-of- 
 war, and there are descendants of his serving in 
 the Spanish Navy of to-day. One is the Captain 
 Churruca who commanded the Spanish torpedo 
 squadron at Santiago de Cuba in the war with the 
 United States, and in the spirit of his heroic 
 ancestor before leaving Cadiz led his crews to a 
 shrine of the Virgin and there took a solemn vow 
 with them to conquer or die. They did not get 
 a chance of doing either. 
 
 Churruca's ship, the " San Juan," was one of the 
 few trophies of Trafalgar that CoUingwood was 
 able to preserve. She was kept at Gibraltar for 
 ten years as a receiving hulk, at first under the 
 
286 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 name of the " Berwick," and after that under her 
 original name, and then, in 1815, was broken up. 
 That was the fate of the actual ship : in memory 
 of her fate, her captain, and brave crew, a beautiful 
 model of the vessel was long preserved with honour 
 at the dockyard where the " San Juan " was built. 
 It is now among the pick of the models in the 
 fine collection in the Naval Museum at Madrid. 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 
 CAPTAINS WHOM SPAIN REMEMBERS 
 WITH PRIDE 
 
 rpHE fame of Galiano of the " Bahama " at Tra- 
 J- falgar stands, in the estimation of his country- 
 men, next after that of Churruca, and very nearly 
 on a level with it. "El inelito Galiano" they call 
 him to this present day in the Spanish Navy. 
 Like Churruca, Galiano displayed the highest 
 personal courage in face of overpowering odds ; 
 like him, Galiano fell in the midst of a heroic 
 resistance, dying on the quarter-deck of his ship, 
 bidding them keep the colours flying, nailed to the 
 mast. " Un Galiano sabi morir, pero no renderse," 
 were, it is recorded, his last words. 
 
 The " Bahama's " station when the battle opened 
 was the fifth or sixth ship astern of the " Santa 
 Ana"; just where perhaps the fiercest fighting 
 of the whole battle took place. Her first antago- 
 nist was the hard-hitting " Bellerophon," with 
 whom, however, the encounter was but partial 
 and did not last very long. Then the " Colossus," 
 following the " Bellerophon " into battle, attacked 
 
 287 
 
288 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 her and also the French " Swiftsure," which was 
 near by. The " Swiftsure," however, after a while 
 dropped back to a little distance, and left the 
 "Bahama" to fight it out, practically ship to 
 ship, with the " Colossus." That British seventy- 
 four had already engaged and roughly handled 
 the "Argonauta," but her highly trained crew, 
 commanded by Captain James NicoU Morris, were 
 little the worse so far for the encounter, and as 
 dangerous opponents as the "Bahama's" men 
 could meet. For their part, the Spaniards, incited 
 
 ^67>u^ ec/./^«i^ 
 
 SIGNATURE OF COMMODORE OALIAKO 
 
 by the words and example of their leader, a man 
 of iron nerve, as he has been described, made up 
 for their deficiencies of training by a surprisingly 
 stubborn defence. They made the "Colossus" 
 pay heavily before she had achieved her end. 
 
 "Galiano," describes Perez Galdos, "reviewed 
 the crew at noon, went round the gun-decks, and 
 made the officers an address. 'Gentlemen,' he 
 said, 'you all know that our flag is nailed to 
 the mast.' He was a stern commander and a man 
 without nerves. Then he turned to the captain 
 of the marine infantry on board, Don Alonso 
 
"NO GALIANO EVER SURRENDERS!" 289 
 
 Butron. * I charge you to defend it/ he said. 
 * No Galiano ever surrenders, and no Butron should 
 either.' In that spirit the * Bahama's ' captain took 
 up his post in the battle. 
 
 " The enemy riddled the ' Bahama ' with broad- 
 sides to port and starboard. The men fell quickly 
 from the very first, and the Commodore early had 
 a bad bruise on his foot, after which a splinter 
 struck him on the head and gashed him deeply. 
 But he paid little heed to it and refused to go to 
 the surgeon. He stayed on deck and directed the 
 fight, sternly giving his orders, as if nothing was 
 happening. Alcala Galiano gave his orders and 
 directed his guns as if the ship had been firing 
 salutes at a review." 
 
 Galiano fell about three o'clock. He met his 
 death, according to a written account from on 
 board the " Bahama," now kept among his family's 
 archives, in this way. He was standing, a few 
 moments earlier, on the quarter-deck with his 
 telescope in his hand when the wind of a passing 
 shot made him stagger, and sent his glass flying 
 down on deck. His coxswain, a veteran sailor 
 and an old follower of Galiano's, picked it up 
 and hastened to the commodore to see if he had 
 been harmed. Galiano with a smile was reassuring 
 the coxswain when, all in an instant, a cannon 
 ball smashed in between them, cutting the un- 
 fortunate coxswain in two and covering Galiano 
 with his blood. The next moment a second 
 
290 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 cannon ball struck down the commodore himself, 
 with part of his head shot away. 
 
 On the fall of their leader, or almost imme- 
 diately afterwards, all the fighting flickered out 
 of those who were left on board the " Bahama." 
 An attempt was made to keep the news of 
 Galiano's death from the crew; and a flag was 
 thrown over the body as it lay, but the news all 
 the same spread like wildfire below, and the men 
 at the guns began to flinch. Don Roque Guruceta, 
 the senior surviving lieutenant — Galiano's second 
 in command was off the deck, severely wounded — 
 held a hasty consultation with two other officers, 
 and then ordered the nailed-up flag to be torn 
 down. It was done, and at the same time a 
 British Jack was displayed. So the "Bahama's" 
 part ended at Trafalgar, and shortly afterwards a 
 lieutenant of the "Colossus" came on board to 
 take Don Roque to the British ship to formally 
 deliver up his sword to Captain Morris. 
 
 It was panic at Galiano's fall apparently that 
 caused the loss of the " Bahama " at that moment. 
 She had been defending herself vigorously up to 
 then, and her casualty list, so far, had not befen 
 excessively heavy : 75 killed and 67 wounded ; a 
 total of 142 of all ranks out of a ship's company 
 of — according to Commodore Galiano's return to 
 the flag-captain on the morning of the 19th — 690 
 men. 
 
 There is a portrait of Galiano in the Naval 
 
«EL INTREPIDO VALDEZ" 291 
 
 Museum at Madrid, and a statue to his honour 
 stands in the Plaza Mayor of Corunna. 
 
 * # # # # # 
 
 Valdez of the "Neptuno," Don Cayetano Valdez 
 — "El intrepido Valdez" the Spanish Navy has 
 called him ever since — was another officer who 
 fought with distinction at Trafalgar. He com- 
 manded the " Neptuno," one of Admiral Duma- 
 
 C^i 
 
 t/4ot^>s^ 
 
 SIGNATURE OF CAPTAIN VALDEZ 
 
 noir's squadron, and during the earlier part of the 
 afternoon, like his consorts in the van, had to look 
 on while the centre and rear ships of the Com- 
 bined Fleet were being overpowered within sight. 
 As the leading ship of all during the first two 
 hours of the battle, when Dumanoir at length 
 went about the " Neptuno " became rearmost ship, 
 at the tail of the five vessels that the French 
 admiral carried with him when he turned back and 
 passed to windward of the battle. That also led 
 to Captain Valdez' undoing. 
 
 After following his leader for a short way Valdez 
 apparently became doubtful as to what to do 
 
292 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 next. Should he follow in wake of the five van 
 ships, the " Intrepide," " Heros," and the rest that 
 had stood to leeward and were already in brisk 
 action with the nearest group of Nelson's ships, 
 trying to make their way past them towards 
 Gravina? Or, should he stand in, regardless of 
 consequences, towards where the dismasted "Trini- 
 dad " lay ? He had rescued the "Trinidad" once — 
 should he try to bring her off again ? Captain 
 Valdez hesitated. Twice he altered his course. 
 Then he changed his mind once more, and tried 
 to regain his proper station astern of Dumanoir's 
 retreating four. But he had lagged behind his 
 consorts too far to catch them up quickly, and had 
 fallen considerably to leeward of them — leaving 
 a wide gap between. Before the "Neptuno" 
 could close up on the "Scipion," the nearest of 
 her consorts, two British ships from windward, 
 after passing and exchanging broadsides with the 
 other four of Admiral Dumanoir's ships, closed in 
 and fastened on the "Neptuno." They cut her 
 off and attacked on either side. The two were 
 the "Minotaur" and "Spartiate," whose position 
 at the extreme rear of Nelson's column, while 
 bringing them late into the battle, now gave 
 them their chance. The two waylaid the "Nep- 
 tuno," hustling her in her effort to escape and 
 forcing Valdez to accept battle at every dis- 
 advantage. 
 
 With all her sails and rigging cut to pieces, 
 
THE LAST SPANIARD TO GIVE IN 293 
 
 the " Neptuno " could soon only go dead slow, and 
 meanwhile the enemy, drawing up on her quarter 
 on either side, pounded at her steadily and with 
 practical impunity: "firing obhquely through her," 
 according to the " Spartiate's " log, " she returning 
 at times from her stern-chase and quarter guns." 
 Valdez fought on stolidly, half expecting, it would 
 seem, that Dumanoir would turn back to disengage 
 him. But no thought of that was in the French 
 admiral's mind. When the "Neptuno's" mizen- 
 mast and her fore and maintopmasts came down 
 in quick succession, there was left no more hope, 
 no further possibility of escape, for Captain 
 Valdez. After an hour and a quarter's most 
 gallantly maintained fight he gave in and lowered 
 his colours, the last Spaniard to surrender at 
 Trafalgar. It was about the very moment that 
 the only other ship of the Combined Fleet at 
 Trafalgar still fighting, the " Intr^pide," lowered 
 her colours, and there is even now something of a 
 dispute between French and Spanish navies as to 
 which ship was actually the last to yield. ^ 
 
 It was the hopelessness of his position that in 
 the end decided Captain Valdez to surrender — not 
 so much the loss on board the " Neptuno." That, 
 of itself, was comparatively light: 89 all told — 
 
 ^ In after days honours came quickly on Don Cayetano Valdez. He 
 distinguished himself as a general in the Peninsular War, became 
 Governor of Cadiz^ and Captain-General, Minister of Marine, Presi- 
 dent of Cortes, and finally President of the Regency during the infancy 
 of Queen Isabella II. 
 
294 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 42 killed and 47 wounded — out of 800 officers 
 and men. He was, indeed, unable either to fight 
 or fly. His ship, towards the last, could hardly 
 move through the water : her rigging had been cut 
 to pieces ; her sails were hanging in tatters ; while, 
 all the time, the English ships — two to one — were 
 pounding into the "Neptuno" at short range, 
 hardly receiving a shot in return themselves ; 
 cannonading her with a cross-fire that Valdez was 
 practically unable to reply to except with a few of 
 his aftermost guns. In such a position effective 
 resistance was out of the question. To prolong 
 resistance was a mere sacrifice of human life, and 
 the brave Spaniard, sorely against his will, had 
 to acknowledge it. So Valdez mournfully gave 
 orders for the " Neptuno's " ensign to come down. 
 
 Don Antonio Pareja captained the " Argonauta," 
 the most perfect man-of-war in both fleets, as it 
 was claimed for her. Said Admiral Gravina to 
 Pareja, when presenting him with his commission 
 to command the ship : " Le entrego a usted la 
 mejor flor di mi jardin." The "Argonauta" 
 fought various British ships during the first hour 
 of the battle, and then she had a sharp set-to with 
 the British " Achille " which lasted over an hour. 
 Towards the end, the " Argonauta," unable to fire 
 another gun, but with her colours still flying, made 
 a forlorn-hope effort to escape. She hoisted her 
 
'^NO LIVING PERSON ON HER DECK" 295 
 
 mainsail to move off, but the attempt failed. After 
 that, shutting down their ports, they displayed a 
 British flag over the " Argonauta's " larboard 
 quarter, in token of surrender. Out of 780 officers 
 and men on board when she left Cadiz the 
 "Argonauta" had 300 killed and wounded, the 
 killed making exactly a third of the total. The 
 " Belleisle " finally took possession of the ship, and 
 one of the British ship's marine officers was sent to 
 receive the surrender in form. He described his 
 visit in these words : — 
 
 "A beaten Spanish 80-gun ship — the Argonauta 
 — having, about this time, hoisted English colours, 
 the Captain was good enough to give me the pin- 
 nace to take possession of her. The Master 
 accompanied me, with eight or ten seamen or 
 marines, who happened to be near us. On getting 
 up the Argonauta's side, I found no living person 
 on her deck ; but on my making my way, over 
 numerous dead and a confusion of wreck, across 
 the quarter-deck, I was met by the second captain 
 at the cabin door, who gave me his sword, which I 
 returned, desiring him to keep it for Captain 
 Hargood, to whom I should soon introduce him. 
 With him I accordingly returned to the Belleisle, 
 leaving the Master in charge of the prize." 
 
 The casualty returns from the other Spanish 
 ships, as officially published a few weeks later, 
 may be summarized as follows. Of those that made 
 
296 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 full or approximate returns : the " San Agustin," 
 out of 711 on board, put her losses at 380 — 180 
 killed and 200 wounded ; the " Monarca," out of a 
 ship's company of 667, stated hers at 250 — 100 
 killed and 150 wounded ; the " San lldefonso," out 
 of 746 all told, gave her figures as 160 — 34 killed 
 and 126 wounded. Others of the returns were 
 admittedly incomplete, it being found, for various 
 reasons, impossible to get fuller statements. Thus 
 the "Montanez," out of 715 officers and men, 
 accounted for a total loss of not more than 49 ; 
 the " San Leandro," out of 606, reported a loss of 
 only 30 ; the " Rayo," with 830 men on board, put 
 her total casualties at fewer still — 18 ; the " San 
 Francisco de Asis," with a crew of 677, put hers 
 at 17 : the " San Justo," again, reported only seven 
 men wounded and not one man killed, out of a 
 crew of 694 of all ranks and ratings. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 THE VICTIMS OF THE STORM 
 
 ALL the world knows how a fierce storm from 
 -^ the Atlantic burst on the victorious British 
 Fleet and its prizes during the night after Trafalgar. 
 It lasted four days, and caused the loss, by sinking, 
 recapture, wreck, or enforced destruction at the 
 hands of their captors, of all the British prizes 
 made in the battle, except four ships. Their 
 fate completed the catastrophe of Trafalgar for 
 France and Spain. Many brave officers and men 
 met their death on board the ships in spite of 
 every effort, made at great risk by the victors, to 
 save life. 
 
 The " Fougueux " was the first ship of all to be 
 lost. At the close of the fighting the British 
 frigate "Phcebe" had taken her in tow; but about 
 midnight, when the wind shifted to the south-west 
 and began to blow a gale, she broke adrift. As 
 the morning of the 22nd came on, it blew harder 
 still, and in spite of every effort by the " Phcebe," 
 during the earlier part of the day, to get hold of 
 the prize again, the " Fougueux " drove ashore and 
 
 297 
 
298 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 was beaten to pieces on the rocks^ Almost all on 
 board were lost with the ship, including thirty of 
 the " Tem^raire's " men, who formed the British 
 crew in charge of the prize. 
 
 Pierre Servaux, the master-at-arms of the 
 " Fougueux," whose narrative of the ship's doings 
 and fate in the battle has been quoted, says this of 
 the dreadful state of affairs on board during the 
 night of the 21st, after the ship had broken away 
 from the " Phoebe " :— 
 
 " The ship was in a terrible condition, cut down 
 to a hulk, without masts, sails, or rigging left. She 
 was, too, without a boat that could swim, while 
 the whole vessel was as full of holes as a sieve, 
 shattered from stem to stern, and with two enor- 
 mous gaps forced in on the starboard side at the 
 water line, through which the sea poured in a 
 stream. The water had risen almost to the orlop 
 deck. Everyw^here one heard the cries of the 
 wounded and the dying, as well as the noise and 
 shouts of insubordinate men who refused to man 
 the pumps and only thought of themselves. The 
 scenes of horror on board the ship that night were 
 really the most awful and fearful that imagination 
 can call up.'* 
 
 Servaux himself escaped next morning as the 
 "Fougueux" was nearing the rocks, when the 
 water in the hold had reached the lower deck and 
 matters were desperate, by jumping into the sea 
 from one of the lower-deck ports and swimming 
 
HOW THE "REDOUT ABLE" WENT DOWN 299 
 
 to an English boat from the " Orion " that was not 
 far off. 
 
 Next the " Redoutable " met her fate. She went 
 to the bottom in the course of the night of the 
 22nd. She was in tow of- the " Swiftsure " at the 
 time, and we have eye-witnesses' accounts of what 
 happened, from the "Swiftsure." First, briefly, 
 here is the record of the event from the " Swift- 
 sure's " log : — 
 
 " At 5, the prize made the signal of distress to 
 us. Hove to, and out boats, and brought the 
 prize officer and his people on board, and a great 
 many of the prisoners. At a quarter past, the 
 boats returned the last time with very few in 
 them, the weather so bad and sea running high 
 that rendered it impossible for the boat to pass. 
 Got in the boats. At a quarter past 10, the 
 Redoutable sunk by the stern. Cut the tow, and 
 lost two cables of eight and a half inch, and a 
 cable of five inches, with the prize." 
 
 Midshipman G. A. Barker of the "Swiftsure" 
 in a letter home gives a terrible picture of the last 
 hours of the hapless " Redoutable " : — 
 
 " On the 22nd it came on a most Violent Gale 
 of wind, the Prize in Tow seem*d to weather it 
 out tolarable well notwithstanding her shatter 'd 
 state until about three in the afternoon, when from 
 her rolUng so violently in a heavy sea, she carried 
 away her fore Mast, the only mast she had stand- 
 
300 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 ing. Towards the evening she repeatedly made 
 signals of distress to us : we now hoisted out our 
 Boats, and sent them on board of her although 
 there was a very high Sea and we were afraid the 
 boats would be swampt alongside the Prize, but 
 they happily succeeded in saving a great number, 
 including our Lieut, and part of the Seamen we 
 sent on board, likewise a Lieut, two Midshipmen 
 with some Seamen belonging to the Temeraire.^ 
 If our situation was disagreeable from the fatigue 
 and inclemency of the weather what must the 
 unfortunate Prisoners have suffered on board with 
 upwards of 8 Thousand men, nearly five Hundred 
 were killed, and wounded in the engagement, 
 and more than one half of the remainder were 
 drowned. What added to the horrors of the night 
 was the inability of our saving them all, as we 
 could no longer endanger the lives of our people 
 in open boats, at the mercy of a heavy sea and 
 most violent Gale of Wind ; at about lO.p.m. the 
 Redoutable sunk, and the Hawser, by which we 
 still kept her in Tow, (in order if the weather 
 should moderate and the Prize be able to weather 
 the tempestous night) was carried away with the 
 violent shock; this was the most dreadful scene 
 that can be imagined as we could distinctly hear 
 
 ^ According to Captain Lucas^ out of 643 on board the '^ Redout- 
 able " on the morning of Trafalgar, only 169 were rescued and brought 
 on board the '^ Swiftsure," of whom 70 were wounded. The rest, 
 474 in number, were either killed in the battle or went down in the 
 ship. 
 
"SOME EXPIRED IN THE BOATS" 301 
 
 the cries of the unhappy people we could no 
 longer assist. Towards the morning the weather 
 moderated and we had the good fortune, to save 
 many that were floating past on rafts — at 9 a.m. 
 discovered a large raft ahead and shortly after 
 another, many of the unfortunate people were 
 seen clinging to the wreck, the merciless sea 
 threatening almost instant destruction to them, 
 the Boats were immediately lowered down, and 
 we happily saved thirty-six people from the Fury 
 of the Waves. When the Boats came alongside 
 many of these unfortunate men were unable to 
 get up the Ship's side, as most of them were not 
 only fainting from fatigue, but were wounded in 
 the most shocking manner, some expired in the 
 Boats before they could get on board, completely 
 exhausted and worn out with struggling to pre- 
 serve their lives, having been the whole of a 
 Tempestous Night, upon a few crazy planks ex- 
 posed to every inclemency of the weather. If our 
 Seamen had conducted themselves as brave men 
 during the Action, now it was they evinced them- 
 selves as human, and generous, as they were 
 Brave. When these unfortunate people came on 
 board you might have seen them cloathing them 
 as well as a scanty stock would admit of, though 
 scanty yet hard earn'd, and that in the Defence of 
 His King, his Family, and Country at large." ^ 
 
 ^ With what devotion the '' Swiftsure's " officers and men worked^ 
 and how they risked their lives, on behalf of their former foemen in 
 
302 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 The "Alge^iras" met with a fate of another 
 kind. On board her the British prize crew were 
 overpowered by their French prisoners, as the con- 
 sequence of an act of humanity, and the ship was 
 recaptured and taken into Cadiz. 
 
 The "Alge9iras," dismasted and battered by 
 shot, and without an anchor that would hold, 
 drifted away from the British Fleet during the early 
 hours of the 22nd, directly for the reefs to north- 
 ward of Cape Trafalgar. Lieutenant Charles 
 Bennett of the " Tonnant " and fifty men were in 
 charge of the prize, and had under hatches in the 
 hold two hundred and seventy French officers and 
 
 distress, is shown by the following account, from a memoir of Lieu- 
 tenant Thomas Sykes, Second Lieutenant of the " Swiftsure " : — 
 
 " It being observed that the French 74-ship Redoutable, which the 
 Swiftsure had taken in tow, was rapidly sinking, Mr. Sykes, after 
 every eifort had been apparently made by the boats to rescue the crew, 
 and when the approaching darkness rendered any further attempt 
 hazardous in the extreme, implored his captain, Rutherford, that he 
 might be allowed to make one more trip. By dint of great persuasion 
 he was at length permitted to take the launch and proceed on his 
 heroic mission. In consequence of the tremendous rolling of the 
 Redoutable in the heavy sea which had set in, he found it impossible 
 to get close to her, and all he could do was to watch the lee-roll of the 
 ship, and drag into his boat as many of the half-drowned wretches as 
 could be laid hold of. The length of time he was thus occupied 
 creating the greatest alarm in the mind of Capt. Rutherford, the 
 latter sent in quest of him the pinnace, under the orders of the 
 present Commander Thos. Read. On being joined by that officer, 
 Mr. Sykes directed him to follow his example, nor did the two desist 
 in their humane endeavours until their boats were full. They then, 
 after they had both been given up, returned to their ship; and in 
 another hour the Redoutable, with 300 persons, whom it had not been 
 possible to save, was no more." 
 
THE PRISONERS RETAKE THE ^^ALGECIRAS" 303 
 
 men as prisoners. At daybreak the ship was too 
 far off to get aid from the fleet, and as the morn- 
 ing advanced they neared the rocks fast. Lieu- 
 tenant Bennett's men were too few to guard the 
 prisoners and to rig the jury-masts which alone 
 could save the ship. As the only chance for those 
 on board, the Lieutenant had the hatches taken 
 off and the prisoners set free. They swarmed 
 on deck and, instantly, headed by one of their own 
 officers. Lieutenant De la Bretonniere — whose 
 action "made his name" in the French Navy and 
 brought him his flag in later days — " at once made 
 it clear to Bennett that they resumed possession 
 of the ship : if he and his men did not agree, they 
 would be thrown overboard ; if they did, and 
 assisted to save the ship, they should be set at 
 liberty. Under these circumstances the English- 
 men yielded, and Englishmen and Frenchmen, 
 working together, succeeded in getting up three 
 topgallantmasts as jury-masts, and so after a 
 perilous navigation fetching into Cadiz." ^ 
 
 The " Bucentaure," Admiral Villeneuve's late 
 flagship, came to her end on the forenoon of the 
 23rd, when she was driven ashore and wrecked at 
 
 1 The British ensign hoisted on board the ''Alge9iras" was for- 
 warded by Admiral Rosily, on his arrival at Cadiz on the 25th of 
 October, to the Ministry of Marine in Paris. It was later sent to the 
 Invalides, where it was destroyed, burned, in 1814, with the other 
 trophies there, by order of General Serrurier, the Governor, to pre- 
 vent their falling into the hands of the Allies then nearing Paris. 
 
304 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 the entrance to Cadiz harbour. The " Conqueror " 
 had the " Bucentaure " in tow up to that morning, 
 but on some of the French and Spanish ships 
 that had escaped into Cadiz taking advantage of 
 a lull in the storm to attempt a sortie for the 
 recovery of any of the prizes that might have got 
 adrift, the " Conqueror " had to cast the " Bucen- 
 taure " loose. Thereupon the ship drifted inshore 
 on to the Puercos rocks, at the entrance to Cadiz 
 harbour and within a mile of the ramparts, 
 where she went to pieces. Most of those on 
 board, including the British prize crew, were 
 rescued by boats from two of the French ships. 
 The British party, who thus found themselves 
 placed in the power of the enemy, were treated 
 with the utmost courtesy and kindness at Cadiz, 
 and sent back to CoUingwood later on under a flag 
 of truce. 
 
 It was in this way that the sortie which caused 
 the destruction of the " Bucentaure " came about. 
 During Wednesday morning, the 23rd of October, 
 there was a break in the weather, and the storm 
 seemed as if it were dying down. Tempted out 
 by the lull and apparent improvement, and the 
 sight of several half dismasted hulks drifting not 
 far in the offing, while only a few British ships 
 were apparently at hand, certain of the French 
 and Spanish ships which had escaped into Cadiz 
 with the least damage, came out of port to try to 
 
COSMAO LEADS THE SORTIE 305 
 
 recover something after Monday's disaster. The 
 sortie itself was in its inception a fine display 
 of hardihood, after the disaster of forty-eight hours 
 before. It was due to the initiative of the gallant 
 Cosmao Kerjulien, the senior surviving captain 
 in the French Fleet. He headed the sortie in his 
 own ship, the sorely battered "Pluton," though 
 she was hardly seaworthy in face of the weather 
 outside. Five of the line— the "Pluton," "In- 
 domptable," " Neptune," " Rayo," and " San Fran- 
 cisco de Asis" — with as many frigates, and two 
 brigs, made the sally. They were able to recover 
 two ships. One was the three-decker " Santa Ana," 
 with the wounded Admiral Alava on board. She 
 was drifting inshore, within two miles of Cadiz, 
 in tow of the " Thunderer," when the French and 
 Spaniards were seen coming out. The " Thun- 
 derer," in order " to clear the enemy," had to cast 
 the " Santa Ana" off, after withdrawing the British 
 prize crew, and the enemy retook possession forth- 
 with and carried the "Santa Ana" back into Cadiz. 
 The second ship retaken was another Spaniard, the 
 "Neptuno," which had broken adrift from the 
 " Minotaur " on the afternoon of the 22nd, and by 
 herself was driving ashore, when a French frigate 
 intercepted her and took her also successfully into 
 Cadiz Bay, to be stranded there, however, some 
 days later. 
 
 The retaking of the " Santa Ana " and " Nep- 
 tuno" was all that Cosmao was able to effect. 
 
306 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 Hardly had the Franco-Spanish squadron gained 
 the offing when down came the gale once more ; 
 and at the same time they became aware of the 
 approach of CoUingwood himself with ten sail of 
 the line, formed up by signal to cover the prizes. 
 Daunted by such a show of force, the Franco- 
 Spaniards turned back and made for Cadiz again. 
 They lost on the way three of their number. 
 The French " Indomptable," a big 80-gun two- 
 decker, blundered across to Rota, on the northern 
 side of Cadiz Bay, on Thursday morning, and was 
 wrecked there. She had upwards of a thousand 
 men on board, from all accounts, including extra 
 hands intended to man the ships it was hoped 
 to recapture. Apparently every man on board 
 perished, including the survivors from the French 
 flagship " Bucentaure " — five officers and two 
 hundred men. The "San Francisco de Asis," a 
 Spanish 74, anchored outside safely, but parted 
 her cables and drove ashore in Cadiz Bay, near 
 Fort Sta. Catalina. The third ship, the Spanish 
 three-decker "Rayo" of 100 guns, unable to regain 
 Cadiz, anchored off San Lucar, some miles up the 
 coast, rolled her masts overboard, and had to sur- 
 render at discretion to the British 74 " Donegal " 
 (Captain Sir Pulteney Malcolm), which came on the 
 scene fresh from Gibraltar. The " Leviathan " was 
 in company. " On a shot being fired at her, she 
 hauled down her colours and surrendered." The 
 "Rayo," three days later, while in charge of a 
 
A MIDSHIPMAN'S NIGHT IN THE ^^MONARCA" 307 
 
 prize crew, " after a number of her men had been 
 removed from the ship, drove from her anchors 
 and was totally lost. Many Spaniards, and some 
 of the English officers and crew perished in her." 
 
 The " Monarca," with her British prize crew on 
 board, was drifting in a crippled state on to the 
 dangerous shoals off San Lucar when she was over- 
 taken, during Thursday afternoon (the 24th), by 
 the "Leviathan." Sending his boats alongside, 
 Captain Bayntun removed the prize crew and the 
 greater number of the Spanish prisoners, and then 
 anchored the " Monarca " for the night. Before 
 morning, however, the ship broke away from 
 her cables in a sudden squall, drove ashore and 
 went to pieces. A party from the British "Bel- 
 lerophon " had been in charge of the " Monarca," 
 and a midshipman from that ship describes how 
 the end came on. 
 
 " You will imagine what have been our suffer- 
 ings, in a crippled ship, with 500 prisoners on 
 board and only 55 Enghshmen, most of whom 
 were in a constant state of intoxication. We 
 rolled away all our masts except the foremast; 
 were afterwards forced to cut away 2 anchors, 
 heave overboard several guns, shot, &c. to lighten 
 her ; and were, after all, in such imminent danger 
 of sinking that, seeing no ship near to assist us, we 
 at length determined to run the ship on shore on 
 the Spanish coast, which we should have done had 
 
308 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 not the Leviathan fortunately fallen in with us 
 and saved us, and all but about 150 Spaniards. 
 The ship then went ashore and was afterwards 
 destroyed." 
 
 A letter, possibly from the same young officer, 
 was published (without the writer's name) in a 
 Portsmouth newspaper. It is dated " Bellerophon 
 off the Start, Dec. 2, 1805," and gives terribly 
 vivid details of the state of things on board the 
 " Monarca." 
 
 " Our second Lieutenant, myself, and eight men, 
 formed the party that took possession of the 
 Monarca : we remained until the morning without 
 further assistance, or we should most probably 
 have saved her, though she had suffered much 
 more than ourselves. We kept possession of her, 
 however, for four days, in the most dreadful 
 weather, when, having rolled away all our masts, 
 and being in danger of immediately sinking or 
 running on shore, we were fortunately saved by 
 the Leviathan, with all but about 150 prisoners, 
 who were afraid of getting into the boats. I can 
 assure you I felt not the least fear of death 
 during the action, which I attribute to the general 
 confidence of victory which I saw all around me ; 
 but in the prize, when I was in danger of, and had 
 time to reflect upon the approach of death, either 
 from the rising of the Spaniards upon so small a 
 number as we were composed of, or what latterly 
 appeared inevitable, from the violence of the storm, 
 
^a WRAPPED MYSELF UP IN A UNION JACK" 309 
 
 I was most certainly afraid, and at one time, when 
 the ship made three feet of water in ten minutes, 
 when our people were almost all lying drunk upon 
 deck, when the Spaniards, completely worn out 
 with fatigue, would no longer work at the only 
 chain pump left serviceable, when I saw the fear 
 of death so strongly depicted on the countenances 
 of all around me, I wrapped myself up in a Union 
 Jack, and lay down upon deck for a short time, 
 quietly awaiting the approach of death ; but the 
 love of life soon after again roused me, and after 
 great exertions on the part of the British and 
 Spanish officers, who had joined together for the 
 mutual preservation of their lives, we got the ship 
 before the wind, determined to run her on shore : 
 this was at midnight, but at daylight in the morn- 
 ing, the weather being more moderate, and having 
 again gained upon the water, we hauled our wind." 
 
 The " Aigle " stranded off Port St. Mary's, and 
 was wrecked during Friday night, after being forced 
 by the weather into Cadiz Bay, in spite of every 
 effort by the " Defiance " to keep her out. 
 
 The "Berwick," on the afternoon of the 27th, 
 "after having anchored in apparent safety, was 
 wrecked off San Lucar, entirely owing to the 
 frenzied behaviour of a portion of the prisoners, 
 who cut the cables. The Donegal, being at 
 anchor near by, cut her own cables, and, standing 
 towards the drifting ship, sent her boats to save 
 
310 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 the people on board. This noble proceeding of 
 Captain Malcolm was only partially successful, 
 when the Berwick struck upon the shoal, and in 
 her perished about 200 persons." ^ 
 
 On the 24th of October the "Britannia," "Orion," 
 and " Ajax," in pursuance of CoUingwood's order, 
 " Quit and withdraw men from prizes after having 
 destroyed or disabled them," cleared the "Intre- 
 pide" of the prisoners on board, and at eight 
 o'clock that evening the "Britannia" set the empty 
 hulk on fire. She blew up a little after nine 
 o'clock. "At 8," in the words of the "Orion's" 
 log, " received all the prisoners from on board her. 
 At 8.30 perceived the fire to have taken. ... At 
 9.30 the Intrepide blew up." On the 27th and 
 28th the " Orion " and the " Leviathan " took out 
 prisoners from the "San Agustin," nearly three 
 hundred men in number. On the 30th the 
 " Leviathan " destroyed her, and with the " Ajax " 
 sank the " Argonauta," " the finest two-decker in 
 the world." Says the "Leviathan's" log: " October 
 80th : Received some Warrant officers' stores from 
 the San Agustin. Set her on fire; about 8, she 
 blew up. The Argonauta was scuttled at her 
 anchor." 
 
 What remained of the wrecked ships was de- 
 
 * The figure-head of the '* Berwick " was picked up floating in the 
 surf and brought to England, where it was long preserved at Devon- 
 port Dockyard. It was destroyed there in the great fire of September, 
 1840, in which so many other historic relics of the fighting days of 
 the Old Navy perished. 
 
ONLY FOUR PRIZES SAVED 311 
 
 stroyed on the morning of the 31st, when the 
 British frigate "Naiad" set fire to the wrecks of 
 the "Rayo" and "Neptuno" off San Lucar— 
 " both aground," in the words of the ship's log, "to 
 the westward of San Lucar." The log proceeds : 
 "Saw a French Une of battle ship, the Berwick, 
 74 guns, totally lost, having parted asunder amid- 
 ships. November 1st a.m. At 1 observed the 
 Neptuno blow up. At 4 the Rayo in full blaze. 
 At 6 in boats. Weighed and made sail." So all 
 Nelson's Trafalgar prizes except four perished. 
 
 Four ships, one French and three Spanish, 
 escaped destruction. "Four only remained as 
 trophies of the victory, and these by cruel chance 
 happened to be the most worthless. They were 
 the (French) Swiftsure, the San Ildefonso, San 
 Juan Nepomuceno and Bahama, but they made no 
 effective addition to the English Navy." Their 
 preservation, too, was only effected with great 
 difficulty. The "Defence," after a very anxious 
 time and a succession of mishaps, anchored with 
 the "San Ildefonso," and "with four cables an 
 end on one anchor and one on another " rode the 
 storm out. The "Bahama," which the "Orion" 
 had in charge, came within an ace of perishing. 
 " I kept the Bahama with the poor lieutenant and 
 his four men in tow," says Captain Codrington, 
 " until the absolute necessity of getting the ship's 
 head the other way obliged me to cast him off, 
 
312 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 and the opportunity of the violence of the wind 
 abating a little, allowed of making the necessary 
 sail to claw the ship off shore ; and you may judge 
 of the pain I felt on seeing her signals of distress 
 in consequence of being left in so hopeless a 
 situation ! The necessity of the case, however, 
 raised a little unusual exertion in the poor 
 Spaniards, and, by getting up an anchor out of 
 the hold and letting it go, they saved both the 
 vessel and their lives ; and she is now in Gibraltar 
 Mole, waiting the opportunity of going to England. 
 She was finally saved by the unremitting exertions 
 of the Donegal." The " San Ildefonso " and the 
 " Bahama," with the ex-British " Swiftsure," were 
 brought to England in May under escort of the 
 "Britannia." ^ The " Bahama" and the " Swiftsure " 
 (renamed somewhat meaninglessly the "Irresis- 
 tible"), were made prison hulks in the Medway. 
 The " San Ildefonso " was made a receiving hulk at 
 Portsmouth. All three were broken up in 1816. 
 The " San Juan Nepomuceno," an old ship, in her 
 fortieth year at Trafalgar, was, as has been said, 
 kept as a hulk at Gibraltar. 
 
 None of the five French ships of the line which 
 escaped into Cadiz harbour, it may be added, ever 
 saw a French port again. CoUingwood held them 
 fast there until, in June, 1808, Spain rose against 
 Napoleon. Admiral Rosily, who had remained 
 
 1 They arrived at Spithead on the 16th of May, 1806, escorted 
 by Lord Northesk with the '^ Britannia " and "Dreadnought." 
 
TWO FRENCH FLAGS AT MADRID 313 
 
 in command, with his squadron, unable to escape, 
 were attacked at close quarters by the Spanish land 
 batteries, and had to surrender at discretion. The 
 Spanish Navy took over the ships, and found em- 
 ployment for them as harbour hulks for many 
 years. The last left, the " Heros," was broken 
 up at Ferrol in 1860. Her ensign and Admiral 
 Rosily's flag are now kept as trophies at the Naval 
 Museum in Madrid. Most of the French seamen 
 surrendered with their ships. The unfortunate 
 fellows had just received orders to furnish a corps 
 of four hundred men and march to Madrid to join 
 the " Seamen of the Guard," which Marshal Junot 
 had brought with him into Spain in his army of 
 occupation, when the rising of the peasantry of 
 Andalusia prevented their setting out ; and then 
 came the debacle at Cadiz of the 14th of June, 1808. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 THE LAST HOURS OF THE "SANTISIMA 
 TRINIDAD" 
 
 THE great prize of all to the British, the mighty 
 " Santisima Trinidad" went — or was sent — to 
 the bottom on the 24th. ColUngwood had that 
 morning signalled the order to destroy her and 
 other prizes that it seemed impossible to save, but 
 the accounts as to how the "Trinidad" actually 
 came to her end, differ. One account says she was 
 scuttled and sank at anchor. Another that she 
 was destroyed as she was "drifting unmanageable 
 on to the coast." Before the end, every effort was 
 made to save those on board and clear the ship of 
 the wounded and prisoners. The wounded were 
 got out of the ship by lowering them with ropes 
 from the stern and quarter gallery windows 
 into the boats of the British ships "Prince," 
 " Neptune," and " Ajax." Whether all were got 
 out of the ship is uncertain. The " Ajax's " lieu- 
 tenant declared that they were. 
 
 " Everything alive was taken out," he said, "down 
 to the ship's cat. His boat was the last to leave. 
 They had put off from the starboard quarter when 
 
 314 
 
BRITISH OFFICERS RELATE WHAT THEY SAW 315 
 
 a cat, the only living animal aboard, ran out on 
 the muzzle of one of the lower-deck guns and by 
 a plaintive mew seemed to beg for assistance : the 
 boat returned and took her in." 
 
 Midshipman Badcock, of the " Neptune," gives 
 this account of how the " Santisima Trinidad" 
 came to her end : — 
 
 " I was sent on board the " Santissima Trini- 
 dada a few days after the action to assist in 
 getting out the wounded men previous to destroy- 
 ing her. She was a magnificent ship, and ought 
 now to be in Portsmouth Harbour. Her top-sides 
 it is true were perfectly riddled by our firing, and 
 she had, if I recollect right, 550 killed and 
 wounded, but from the lower part of the sills of 
 the lower-deck ports to the water's edge, few shot 
 of consequence had hurt her between wind and 
 water, and those were all plugged up. She was 
 built of cedar, and would have lasted for ages, 
 a glorious trophy of the battle, but ' sink, burn, 
 and destroy' was the order of the day, and after 
 a great deal of trouble, scuttling her in many 
 places, hauling up her lower-deck ports — that when 
 she rolled a heavy sea might fill her decks — she 
 did at last unwillingly go to the bottom." 
 
 Says Captain Brenton, describing the end of the 
 " Trinidad " :— 
 
 "Night came on — the swell ran high — three 
 lower-deck ports on each side were open, and in 
 a few minutes the tremendous ruins of the largest 
 
316 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 ship in the world were buried in the deep. The 
 waves passed over her, she gave a lurch, and went 
 down." 
 
 An officer of the "Prince," Lieutenant John 
 Edwards, the third lieutenant, who was sent to the 
 " Santisima Trinidad," and was one of the last to 
 leave the ship, thus describes what he saw and his 
 experiences on board : — 
 
 "All the necessary signals were made to leave 
 the prizes, and we, being effective, took the Trini- 
 dad, the largest ship in the world, in tow ; all the 
 other ships that could render assistance to the dis- 
 abled doing the same. Before four in the morn it 
 blew so strong that we broke the hawsers twice, 
 and from two such immense bodies as we were, 
 found it difficult to secure her again ; however, 
 every exertion was made, and we got her again. 
 By eight in the morning it blew a hurricane on the 
 shore, and so close in that we could not weather 
 the land either way. 'Tis impossible to describe the 
 horrors the morning presented, nothing but signals 
 of distress flying in every direction, guns firing, 
 and so many large ships driving on shore without 
 being able to render them the least assistance. 
 After driving about four days without any prospect 
 of saving the ship or the gale abating, the signal 
 was made to destroy the prizes. We had no time 
 before to remove the prisoners, and it now became 
 a most dangerous task ; no boats could lie along- 
 side, we got under her stern, and the men dropped 
 
TYING THE WOUNDED ROUND THEIR WAISTS 317 
 
 in by ropes ; but what a sight when we came to 
 remove the wounded, which there were between 
 three and four hundred. We had to tie the poor 
 mangled wretches round their waists, or where we 
 could, and lower them down into a tumbUng boat, 
 some without arms, others no legs, and lacerated 
 all over in the most dreadful manner. About ten 
 o'clock we had got all out, to about thirty-three 
 or four, which I believe it was impossible to remove 
 without instant death. The water was now at the 
 pilot deck, the weather dark and boisterous, and 
 taking in tons at every roll, when we quitted her, 
 and supposed this superb ship could not remain 
 afloat longer than ten minutes. Perhaps she sunk 
 in less time, with the above unfortimate victims, 
 never to rise again." 
 
 The following incidents connected with the 
 taking off of the Spaniards from the " Santisima 
 Trinidad" are related by a seaman of the 
 " Revenge " : — 
 
 " On quitting the ship our boats were so over- 
 loaded in endeavouring to save all the lives we 
 could, that it is a miracle they were not upset. A 
 father and his son came down the ship's side to 
 get on board one of our boats ; the father had 
 seated himself, but the men in the boat, thinking 
 from the load and the boisterous weather that all 
 their lives would be in peril, could not think of 
 taking the boy. As the boat put off the lad, as 
 though determined not to quit his father, sprang 
 
318 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 from the ship into the sea and caught hold of the 
 gunwale of the boat, but his attempt was resisted, 
 as it risked all their lives ; and some of the men 
 resorted to their cutlasses to cut his fingers off 
 in order to disentangle the boat from his grasp. 
 At the same time the feelings of the father were so 
 worked upon that he was about to leap overboard 
 and perish with his son. Britons could face an 
 enemy but could not witness such a scene of self- 
 devotion : as it were a simultaneous thought burst 
 forth from the crew, which said, ' Let us save both 
 father and son or die in the attempt ! ' The 
 Almighty aided their design, they succeeded and 
 brought both father and son safe on board our 
 ship where they remained, until with other prisoners 
 they were exchanged at Gibraltar." 
 
 The second incident of the last hours of the 
 "Santisima Trinidad," taken from the same source, 
 is the following: — 
 
 " We were obliged to abandon our prize, taking 
 away with us all our men and as many of the 
 prisoners as we could. On the last boat's load 
 leaving the ship, the Spaniards who were left on 
 board appeared on the gangway and ship's side, 
 displaying their bags of dollars and doubloons 
 and eagerly offering them as a reward for saving 
 them from the expected and unavoidable wreck ; 
 but however well inclined we were, it was not in 
 our power to rescue them, or it would have been 
 effected without the proffered bribe." 
 
WHAT THE PRISONERS WENT THROUGH 319 
 
 This, according to Perez Galdos, in his " Trafal- 
 gar," is what the Spanish prisoners went through 
 on board the " Santisima Trinidad." The account 
 is put in the mouth of the narrator whose descrip- 
 tion of incidents of the battle has been previously 
 quoted. The story, based as it is on historical 
 documents, follows very closely what is generally 
 known by us of the event : — 
 
 " Night fell, increasing the misery and horror of 
 our situation. It might have been hoped that 
 nature would be on our side after so much dis- 
 aster, but, on the contrary, the elements lashed us 
 with their fury as though Heaven thought our cup 
 of misfortune was not yet full. A tremendous 
 storm burst and the winds and waves tossed and 
 buffeted our ship in their fury, while, as she 
 could not be worked, she was utterly at their 
 mercy. The rolling was so terrible that it was 
 very difficult even to work the pumps ; and this, 
 combined with the exhausted condition of the men, 
 made our condition grow worse every minute. An 
 EngUsh vessel, which we learnt was the Prince, 
 tried to take us in tow, but her efforts were in vain 
 and she was forced to keep off for fear of a colli- 
 sion, which would have been fatal to both. 
 
 "The same confusion prevailed below as on 
 deck. Those who had escaped unhurt were doing 
 what they could to aid the wounded, and these, 
 disturbed by the motion of the vessel which pre- 
 vented their getting any rest, were so pitiable a 
 
320 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 sight that it was impossible to resign oneself to 
 sleep. On one side, covered with the Spanish 
 flag, lay the bodies of the officers who had been 
 killed ; and in the midst of all this misery, sur- 
 rounded by so much suffering, these poor corpses 
 seemed really to be envied. They alone on board 
 the Trinidad were at rest, to them nothing mat- 
 tered now ; fatigue and pain, the disgrace of defeat, 
 or physical sufferings. The standard which served 
 them as a glorious winding-sheet shut them out, 
 as it were, from the world of responsibility, of 
 dishonour, and of despair, in which we were left 
 behind. They could not care for the danger the 
 vessel was in, for to them it was no longer any- 
 thing but a coffin. 
 
 "Never shall I forget the moment when the 
 bodies were cast into the sea, by order of the 
 English officer in charge of the ship. The dismal 
 ceremony took place on the morning of the 22nd, 
 when the storm seemed to be at its wildest on 
 purpose to add to the terrors of the scene. The 
 bodies of the officers were brought on deck, the 
 priest said a short prayer, for this was no time for 
 elaborate ceremonial, and our melancholy task 
 began. Each wrapped in a flag, with a cannon-ball 
 tied to his feet, was dropped into the waves with- 
 out any of the solemn and painful emotion which 
 under ordinary circumstances would have agitated 
 
NOT SHROUDS ENOUGH FOR ALL 321 
 
 the lookers-on. Our spirits were so quelled by 
 disaster that the contemplation of death had be- 
 come almost indifference. 
 
 # 
 
 "The sailors were thrown overboard with less 
 ceremony. The regulation is that they shall be tied 
 up in their hammocks, but there was no time to 
 carry this out. Some indeed were wrapped round 
 as the rules require, but most of them were thrown 
 into the sea without any shroud or ball at their 
 feet, for the simple reason that there was not 
 enough for all. There were four hundred of them, 
 more or less, and merely to clear them overboard 
 and out of sight every able-bodied man that was 
 left had to lend a hand, so as to get it done as 
 quickly as possible. 
 
 "As the day advanced the Prince attempted 
 once more to take the Santisima Trinidad in 
 tow, but with no better success than before. Our 
 situation was no worse, although the tempest raged 
 with undiminished fury, for a good deal of the 
 mischief had been patched up, and we thought 
 that if the weather should mend, the hulk, at any 
 rate, might be saved. The English made a great 
 point of it, for they were very anxious to take the 
 largest man-of-war ever seen afloat into Gibraltar 
 as a trophy ; so they willingly plied the pumps by 
 night and by day and allowed us to rest awhile. 
 All through the day on the 22nd the sea continued 
 
322 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 terrific, tossing the huge and helpless vessel as 
 though it were a little fishing boat; and the 
 enormous mass of timber proved the soundness of 
 her build by not simply falling to pieces under the 
 furious lashing of the waters. At some moments 
 she rolled so completely over on her beam ends 
 that it seemed as though she must go to the 
 bottom ; but suddenly the wave would fly off 
 in smoke, as it were, before the hurricane, while 
 the ship, righting herself, rode over it with a toss 
 of her mighty prow. 
 
 " On all sides we could see the scattered fleets ; 
 many of the ships were English, severely damaged 
 and striving to get shelter under the coast. There 
 were Frenchmen and Spaniards too, some dis- 
 masted, others in tow of the enemy. . . . Floating 
 about were myriads of fragments and masses of 
 wreck — spars, timbers, broken boats, hatches, bul- 
 warks, and doors — besides two unfortunate sailors 
 who were clinging to a plank, and who must have 
 been swept off and drowned if the English had 
 not hastened to rescue them. They were brought 
 on board more dead than alive, and their resuscita- 
 tion after being in the very jaws of death was like 
 a new birth to them. 
 
 " That day went by between agonies and hopes : 
 — now we thought nothing could save the ship 
 and that we must be taken on board an English- 
 man, then again we hoped to keep her afloat. The 
 idea of being taken into Gibraltar as prisoners was 
 
"NO TIME FOR PITY" 323 
 
 intolerable. However, all the torment of suspense, 
 at any rate, was relieved by the evening, when it 
 was unanimously agreed that if we were not 
 transferred to an English ship at once, to the 
 bottom we must go with the vessel, which had 
 now five feet of water in the hold. The task was 
 at once begun in the doubtful twilight, and as 
 there were above three hundred wounded to be 
 transferred it was no easy matter. The available 
 number of hands was about five hundred, all that 
 were left uninjured of the original crew of eleven 
 hundred and fifteen before the battle. 
 
 " We set to work promptly with the launches of 
 the Trinidad and the Prince, and three other boats 
 belonging to the EngUsh. The wounded were 
 attended to first, but though they were lifted with 
 all possible care they could not be moved without 
 much suffering, and some entreated with groans 
 and shrieks to be left in peace, preferring imme- 
 diate death to anything that could aggravate and 
 prolong their torments. But there was no time for 
 pity, and they were carried to the boats as ruth- 
 lessly as the cold corpses of their comrades had 
 been flung into the sea. 
 
 " I thought only of saving my life, and to stay 
 on board a foundering vessel was not the best 
 means to that end. Nor were my fears ill-founded ; 
 for not more than half the men had been taken 
 off when a dull roar of terror echoed through 
 the ship. 
 
324 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 " ' She is going to the bottom ! — to the boats, to 
 the boats ! ' shouted some, and there was a rush 
 to the ship's side, all looking out eagerly for 
 the return of the boats. Every attempt at work 
 or order was given up, the wounded were for- 
 gotten, and several who had been brought on 
 deck dragged themselves to the side in a sort of 
 delirium, to seek an opening and throw themselves 
 into the sea. Up through the hatchways came a 
 hideous shriek, which I think I can hear as I write. 
 It came from the poor wretches on the lower 
 deck, who already felt the waters rising to drown 
 them and vainly cried for help to God or men — 
 who can tell ? Vainly indeed to men, for they had 
 enough to do to save themselves. They jumped 
 wildly into the boats, and this confusion in the 
 darkness hindered progress." 
 
 [There is a canvas in one of the galleries of the 
 Museo Naval at Madrid, depicting the sinking of 
 the "Santisima Trinidad" after Trafalgar, and 
 showing the boats of the British ships engaged in 
 their work of rescue.] 
 
CHAPTER XXV 
 
 WHAT THEY HEARD AND SAW AT CADIZ 
 
 AT Cadiz, all through that dreadful Monday 
 -^ afternoon, the crowd of watchers, gazing sea- 
 ward from the miradores and azoteas and the house 
 roofs and from the city ramparts, could see the 
 smoke of the firing along the horizon to the south- 
 west, and hear, hour after hour, the dull rever- 
 berating thunder of the guns. Far and wide the 
 heavy booming of the cannonade re-echoed inland, 
 we are told, across nearly half Andalusia ; over 
 the orange groves and cork woods of Medina 
 Sidonia, name of ill-omen on such a day as that, 
 along the hillsides of Conil, and away, indeed, 
 to the distant mountain caves of Ronda. At 
 Gibraltar, off the direct course of the wind as it 
 then held, they heard nothing all day. From 
 Tangier they both saw smoke and heard distant 
 firing. An old Moor died just ten years ago who 
 well remembered, as a boy, sitting with others on 
 a hillside near the city, listening with wonder to 
 the sullen thunder that came up from beyond the 
 sea-line afar, and watch ng a strange, low, grey 
 
 325 
 
326 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 smoke-cloud that rose like a mound at one point 
 on the horizon to the north-west. 
 
 Two letters from Cadiz, received in London by 
 the Lisbon packet of the 15th of November say 
 something of what those on shore saw, and de- 
 scribe, with some detail, how the first news of the 
 fate of the battle arrived. 
 
 The first ran as follows : — 
 
 "Oct. 21. — At ten in the morning, the Combined 
 Squadron formed in line, standing on a course to 
 the Straits, in sight of the English ; the latter 
 endeavoured to cut the line, and effected it, which 
 threw it into confusion : a cannonade commenced, 
 which lasted from two o'clock in the afternoon till 
 evening; and in the morning of the 22d, there 
 anchored between Rota and the Castle of St. 
 Catharine, the Principe de Asturias, with the loss 
 of her top-gallant ; the Leandro, with only her 
 foremast standing ; the Rayo and two others ; as 
 also seven French ships, with four frigates and two 
 brigs : of all the rest of the squadron nothing is 
 POSITIVELY known, but from the obscurity of the 
 horizon, with continual rain and bad weather from 
 the Southward, those which are missing and dis- 
 masted are not alone in danger, but also those 
 which have anchored, if the weather continues. 
 The wounded are not yet landed on account of the 
 bad weather. Admiral Gravina remains on board 
 with a wound in his arm : Admiral Escano has a 
 wound in his leg, which is considered dangerous ; 
 
''WE SAW A SHIP BLOW UP" 327 
 
 the ship which blew up was L'Achille (French) ; 
 it is said her commander is a prisoner ; the Trini- 
 dad was dismasted, and the St. Anne taken. — 
 Nelson gained his end at the expence of rendering 
 useless his own ship and two others. The action, 
 it is said, was renewed on the 22d in the morning, 
 after such a manner, that it is believed many of 
 the English ships are reduced to mere hulks. The 
 misfortune is, that we have not enough of small 
 ships able to give assistance. As soon as the 
 weather clears up, and we know exactly what has 
 happened, I will inform you." 
 
 The second added certain other particulars : — 
 " Oct. 23. — The Combined Squadron began to 
 get under sail on the 19th instant, with a wind 
 at N.N.E. At ten a.m. it changed to w. and not 
 being able to make any way, those which got out 
 remained in sight. On the 20th at daybreak, the 
 wind got to the Southward, which enabled the 
 whole squadron to get out, so that at ten o'clock 
 they were all united. The wind was fresh, the 
 horizon dark and close, with rain, so that they 
 were soon lost sight of. In the afternoon it was 
 calm ; they stood on towards the Southward, and 
 on Monday the 21st shaped their course for the 
 Straits. At two p.m. they commenced a severe 
 action with the English at the distance of five or 
 six leagues from this port, which lasted till Vespers. 
 We saw a ship blow up, but we are yet ignorant 
 what she was. This morning there anchored at 
 
328 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 the mouth of this harbour the first Squadron of 
 Observation, with some French frigates and brigs. 
 The result, it appears, is not favourable. There 
 are various reports. They are landing the wounded. 
 
 "It is said that Gravina has lost an arm, and 
 Admiral Escano a leg. New rigging is getting on 
 board, and, according to appearances, they are 
 going to sail again in quest of the missing ships. 
 The weather is rainy and gloomy, with the wind 
 at south, all contrary to those unfortunates, who 
 are at sea still. May God have pity on them! My 
 Friend, an unlucky sailing, but a worse lot ! a bad 
 result, and a sad painful day for Cadiz I " 
 
 This is what a letter from Cadiz, written on the 
 25th of October, says : — 
 
 "There is no doubt, that Nelson and his English- 
 men have gained a complete and decisive victory, 
 and that our Fleet has been, all of it, absolutely 
 destroyed. The number of killed and wounded is 
 from 10 to 12,000. Villeneuve taken prisoner, 
 Magon killed, Gravina severely wounded in the 
 arm, Escano in the leg, and Alava in the head: 
 Cisneros and Dumanoir are by some reported to 
 have been made prisoners, by others to have been 
 killed. Out of the thirty-three Ships which left 
 this Port, only nine or ten have re-entered it, and 
 that in so miserable and shattered condition, that 
 the hulls of some are almost unserviceable. The 
 rest of the Fleet have been either taken, burnt, or 
 sunk. In the offing some are seen dismasted, 
 
A DESPATCH TO THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR 329 
 
 which the English have manned and are towing 
 away. Two or three have run ashore on the coast, 
 without the possibiUty of receiving any assistance, 
 in consequence of the furious tempest which raged 
 immediately after the battle. In the Playa the 
 sea is continually throwing up portions of wreck, 
 together with numbers of dead bodies, all of which 
 increases the desolate aspect of that shore." 
 
 Another letter, written on the 29th, speaks of 
 the pitiable plight of the hapless remnant of 
 French soldiers landed from the ships that escaped: 
 "Scarcely a third part remains of the French 
 troops who were embarked on board the Fleet, 
 and it is really heart-rending to see their soldiers 
 wandering about the streets." 
 
 According to Admiral Rosily's first letter, sent 
 off to Beumonville, the French Ambassador at 
 Madrid, on the 26th, the day after he arrived at 
 Cadiz, this was what was then known, or believed, 
 there, of the losses on either side : " Two ships, 
 understood to be Enghsh, have been wrecked at 
 the mouth of the Guadalquivir, and one has been 
 burned. The Colossus has been blown up (Le 
 Colossus a saute en I'air). A good deal of wreckage 
 from other English ships has been found along 
 the coast. Nelson has been killed. Twenty-three 
 ships on both sides have been dismasted. On the 
 French side Admiral Villeneuve has yielded himself 
 a prisoner. His ship, however, has re-entered 
 Cadiz harbour under the French flag, after which 
 
330 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 she sank. The Fougueux has been wrecked on the 
 coast, and another French ship blown up. Admiral 
 Magon and Captains Gourrege and Poulain have 
 been killed. Gravina and Escano are badly 
 wounded. It is impossible to get full accounts or 
 reports of losses owing to the storm, and also as 
 nothing has as yet been received from some of the 
 captains." 
 
 ###### 
 
 The news of the disaster reached Corunna and 
 Ferrol on the evening of the 5th of November. 
 It came with a stunning shock on everybody. 
 Seven of the fifteen Spanish ships in the battle had 
 been manned at Corunna and Ferrol : the flagship 
 " Principe de Asturias," the " San Juan Nepomu- 
 ceno," the "Monarca" the "Montanez," and the 
 " San Agustin," " San Francisco de Asis," and the 
 "San Ildefonso." Only the "Principe" and 
 "Montanez" remained under the flag of Spain, 
 and both were lying in a pitiable state, disabled 
 fugitives, in Cadiz harbour. The others had either 
 been captured or wrecked, with what loss of life 
 they dared hardly contemplate. Above all, Chur- 
 ruca was gone, the idol of the sailors of northern 
 Spain, their own commodore, who, as senior officer 
 at Ferrol, had fitted the ships out to join Gravina. 
 Of the French Fleet, too, five of the ships and 
 their officers were well known at Ferrol, where 
 for the past two years they had been lying; the 
 
HOW THEY LEARNT THE NEWS AT CORUNNA 331 
 
 " Argonaute " and the " Redoutable " and the 
 " Heros," the " Fougueux " and the " Duguay 
 Trouin." Of these, three had been taken, one 
 only was at Cadiz, one had gone off with Admiral 
 Dumanoir, it was beheved. 
 
 This is what a neutral skipper (a Swede) told 
 the captain of the " Bellona," who fell in with the 
 Swedish merchantman off Cape Finisterre at ten 
 at night on the 8th of November, as reported to 
 CornwaUis off Brest: "He sailed from Corunna 
 on Wednesday, the 6th instant, a.m., and at 
 6 o'clock the evening preceding, the post had 
 arrived at Cadiz with such information that caused 
 a general consternation, alarm, bustle, and despon- 
 dency in aU ranks of people that it was impossible 
 for him to describe, occasioned by the account 
 brought by the post of an action fought between 
 [sic~\ the Combined Fleets of France and Spain, 
 which, he said, to the best of his recollection, for he 
 saw the account and read it, had sailed from Cadiz 
 on the 22nd or 23rd ulto., and he thought the 
 action, to the best of his recollection, for all was 
 hurry and agitation, was fought about the 28th. 
 But so great was the confusion and dismay that he 
 could not charge his memory with the exact dates, 
 or get any minute information except what he 
 here related. . . . He said the account stated it to 
 have been the most obstinate and determined 
 battle ever fought, and that, except the Hst of a 
 very few of their ships which had arrived, which 
 
332 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 list he read, that it was feared by the Spaniards 
 that all the rest were either taken or destroyed. 
 He saw a list of 22 sail of the line which were 
 missing. He stated that the Santisima Trinidad 
 had fallen into the hands of the English and that 
 one French 74 had blown up in the action ; 
 this was seen to have taken place by the ships 
 which had returned. Admiral Gravina had lost 
 his arm, and the captain of his ship had lost his 
 leg, both of whom had arrived at Cadiz." ^ 
 
 We have this about the state of things on 
 shore, in the vicinity of Cadiz and Trafalgar Bay 
 during the week or ten days that succeeded the 
 battle. The coast for some miles up and down 
 was watched by patrols on horseback, distributed 
 along the beach, with burying parties posted at 
 intervals here and there. On the mounted men 
 discovering bodies washed ashore, they signalled to 
 the men on foot, who came down and dug holes 
 in the sand into which they dragged the dead. 
 
 In Cadiz itself, for ten days after the battle, 
 they were busy bringing the wounded ashore, and 
 horrible and sad scenes were to be witnessed at 
 the wharves, and in the streets the litters of 
 wounded, some of the poor fellows crying out as 
 they were carried along. Most of the Spanish 
 gentlefolk assisted to the utmost by their personal 
 exertions. The hospitals were filled, and several 
 
 » Navy Records Society: "Blockade of Brest/' II, pp. 367-8. 
 
AN ENGLISH VISITOR'S IMPRESSIONS 333 
 
 churches and convents had to be appropriated. 
 Everywhere about the city were to be met women 
 in tears, while many of the sailors who had 
 escaped spent their time wandering to and fro, 
 aimlessly, apparently not knowing where to go. 
 
 The churches were filled with the anxious 
 relatives of officers and men who were missing, 
 unaware, as yet, of what fate had actually befallen 
 those whose ships had not come back. Masses, 
 for the repose of the souls of the fallen, were 
 being chanted, meanwhile, day after day, for those 
 who were known to have been killed, in anticipa- 
 tion of the solemn official funeral service, to be 
 held later, when fuller returns had come in. That 
 took place on the 21st of November, at the Church 
 of the Convent of the Carmen (the principal 
 church of Cadiz during the rebuilding of the 
 cathedral), at the expense of Admirals Gravina, 
 Alava, and Cisneros, conjointly with Admiral 
 Rosily and the Governor-General, the Marquis 
 de la Solano, who, with his staff and suite, and as 
 many naval and military officers as could be 
 present, attended in full state. 
 
 An Englishman, a merchant, who happened to 
 arrive at Cadiz shortly after the battle, recorded 
 in a letter some of the things that he saw. 
 
 "Ten days after the battle, they were still 
 employed bringing ashore the wounded; and 
 spectacles were hourly displayed at the wharfs, 
 and through the streets, sufficient to shock every 
 
334 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 heart not yet hardened to scenes of blood and 
 human suffering. When, by the carelessness of 
 the boatmen, and the surging of the sea, the boats 
 struck against the stone piers, a horrid cry, which 
 pierced the soul, arose from the mangled wretches 
 on board. Many of the Spanish gentry assisted in 
 bringing them ashore, with symptoms of much 
 compassion, yet as they were finely dressed, it had 
 something of the appearance of ostentation ; if 
 there could be ostentation at such a moment. It 
 need not be doubted that an Englishman lent a 
 willing hand to bear them up the steps to their 
 litters, yet the slightest false step made them 
 shriek out, and I even yet shudder at the re- 
 membrance of the sound. On the top of the pier 
 the scene was affecting. The wounded were carried 
 away to the hospitals in every shape of human 
 misery, whilst crowds of Spaniards either assisted 
 or looked on with signs of horror. Meanwhile, 
 their companions, who had escaped unhurt, walked 
 up and down with folded arms and downcast eyes, 
 whilst women sat upon heaps of arms, broken 
 furniture, and baggage, with their heads bent 
 between their knees. I had no inclination to 
 follow the litters of the wounded, yet I learned 
 that every hospital in Cadiz was already full, and 
 that convents and churches were forced to be ap- 
 propriated to the reception of the remainder. If, 
 leaving the harbour, I passed through the town 
 to the Point, I still beheld the terrible effects of 
 
LOOKING SEAWARD FROM THE BEACH 335 
 
 the battle. As far as the eye could reach, the 
 sandy side of the isthmus bordering on the 
 Atlantic was covered with masts and yards, the 
 wrecks of ships, and here and there the bodies of 
 the dead. Among others I noticed a topmast 
 marked with the name of the Swiftsure, and the 
 broad arrow of England, which only increased my 
 anxiety to know how far the English had suffered, 
 the Spaniards still continuing to affirm that they 
 (the English) had lost their chief admiral, and half 
 their fleet. While surrounded by these wrecks, I 
 mounted on the cross-trees of a mast which had 
 been thrown ashore, and casting my eyes over the 
 ocean, beheld, at a great distance, several masts 
 and portions of wreck floating about. As the sea 
 was now almost calm, with a light swell, the effect 
 produced by these objects had in it something of 
 a sublime melancholy, and touched the soul with 
 a remembrance of the sad vicissitudes of human 
 affairs. The portions of floating wreck were 
 visible from the ramparts, yet not a boat dared 
 to venture out to examine or endeavour to tow 
 them in, such were the apprehensions which still 
 filled their minds of the enemy." 
 
 To this day at Conil, a Uttle township, the 
 nearest inhabited place to Cape Trafalgar, from 
 which it is distant about seven English miles, the 
 older folks will repeat to the visitor what their 
 grandfathers told them about the finding of the 
 bodies along the coast and wreckage as it was 
 
55 J2 
 
 
 3 s. 
 
THE DEAD DRIFTED UP WITH EVERY TIDE 337 
 
 TORRE DE CASTILOBO 
 
 Whence the Spanish coast-signalmen watched the progress 
 of the battle from hour to hour 
 
 washed in. A 
 rough and stony 
 bridle-path 
 across an arid 
 stretch of coun- 
 try is all that 
 there is — and 
 was in 1805 — 
 between Conil 
 and the head- 
 land, whence, 
 as the wayfarer 
 arrives, he looks 
 down over a 
 ten- mile sweep 
 of open sandy 
 beach fringing 
 the wide curve 
 of coast-line be- 
 
 tween Trafalgar 
 and Cape Roque to northward, in the direction 
 of Cadiz. There the dead lay thickly, drifting up 
 for days after the storm with every tide, inter- 
 
SS8 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 mingled with broken fragments of ships and gear. 
 The old watch-tower of Castilobo — dating from 
 Moorish times — whence look-out men gazed on 
 the fight on the horizon all that Monday afternoon, 
 still stands, more or less in a dilapidated state 
 nowadays. Not far off are the remains of a later 
 tower, called locally Torre Nueva, also used at the 
 time of Trafalgar as a look-out post, with barracks 
 of the carabineers in rear. At the point there 
 used to stand another tower whence at night a 
 fire beacon blazed ; but that was pulled down to 
 make way for the comparatively modem light- 
 house that now marks Cape Trafalgar. 
 
 Nothing could be more kindly and humane than 
 the demeanour of the Spaniards to those officers 
 and men from the British Fleet whom the storm 
 threw into their hands in recaptured prizes, or who 
 escaped to shore with their lives from wrecked 
 ships. 
 
 Two instances may be cited as typical of the 
 rest. One is recorded by Captain Codrington of 
 the British " Orion," with regard to the experiences 
 of the master of his ship, who was taken ashore 
 from the wreck of the " Rayo." He had been sent 
 on board the prize before she broke adrift. 
 
 "The poor Spaniards behaved very creditably 
 indeed : they not only sent boats for them (English 
 and all) as soon as the weather moderated, with 
 bread and water for their immediate relief; but 
 
KINDNESS OF THE COUNTRY PEOPLE 839 
 
 when the boat, in which the Master of the ship 
 was sent, had got into Cadiz harbour a carriage 
 was backed into the water for him to step into 
 from the boat, all sorts of cordials and confec- 
 tionery were placed in the carriage for him, and 
 clean linen, bed, etc. prepared for him at a lodging 
 on shore : added to which the women and priests 
 presented him with delicacies of all sorts as the 
 carriage passed along the streets. In short, he 
 says, and with very great truth, that had he been 
 wrecked on any part of the English coast he would 
 never have received half the attention which he 
 did from these poor Spaniards, whose friends we 
 had just destroyed in such numbers." 
 
 The second narrative is from a seaman of the 
 " Spartiate," who was sent, he says, as one of the 
 prize crew on board another Spanish ship which 
 drove ashore near Cadiz. 
 
 "We sent the prisoners ashore first, and then 
 followed ourselves afterwards, and by four o'clock 
 the next morning we all got safe on shore. 
 
 " Now the Spanish prisoners, that had come on 
 shore first, some of them had been and seen their 
 friends, and, as dayUght came on, they came down 
 to assist us, which they did, for they brought us 
 some bread, and some figs, and some wine, to 
 refresh us, which we wanted very much, for we 
 had scarcely tasted anything the last twenty-four 
 hours, and the Spaniards behaved very kind to us. 
 As for myself, after I had eaten some bread and 
 
340 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 fruit, and drank some wine, I tried to get up, but 
 I could not, and one of the Spaniards, seeing the 
 state I was in, was kind enough to get two or three 
 more of his companions, and hfted me up in one 
 of the bullock-carts in which they had brought 
 down the provisions for us, and covered me up 
 with one of their great ponchos, and he tapped me 
 on the shoulder, and said, ' Bono English ! ' And, 
 being upon the cart, I was out of the wind and 
 rain — for it blew a heavy gale of wind — and I felt 
 myself quite comfortable, only my leg pained me 
 a good deal; but, thanks be to God, I soon fell 
 into a sound sleep, and, as I heard afterwards, the 
 French soldiers came down and marched the rest 
 of my shipmates up to Cadiz, and they put them 
 into the Spanish prison. As for my part, I was 
 taken up to Cadiz, in the bullock-cart, and my 
 kind friend took me to his own house, and had 
 me put to bed, where I found myself when I 
 woke." 
 
 Officially also, an interchange of courtesies be- 
 tween the British Fleet and the Spanish authorities 
 at Cadiz was taking place, the outcome of a tact- 
 ful and courteously worded message sent by 
 CoUingwood to the Governor of the city.^ Said 
 
 1 CoUingwood opened the negotiations within a week of the battle 
 by sending in Captain Blackwood with a flag of truce to the Governor. 
 He was received in the most friendly way and dined and slept at the 
 Governor's. So amicable did relations become that immediately after- 
 wards the Marquis de la Solana sent out to CoUingwood a cask of wine^ 
 
COLLINGWOOD AND THE GOVERNOR OF CADIZ 341 
 
 Collingwood himself, writing home ten days after 
 Trafalgar, of the arrangement, and of the kind- 
 ness and generosity displayed by all at Cadiz 
 to the British officers and men shipwrecked in 
 the prizes : — 
 
 " To alleviate the miseries of the wounded as 
 much as in my power, I sent a flag to the Marquis 
 Solana, to offer him his wounded. Nothing can 
 exceed the gratitude expressed by him for this act 
 of humanity ; all this part of Spain is in an uproar 
 of praise and thankfulness to the English. Solana 
 sent me a present of a cask of wine, and we have 
 a free intercourse with the shore. Judge of the 
 footing we are on, when I tell you he offered me 
 his hospitals, and pledged the Spanish honour for 
 the care and cure of our wounded men. Our 
 officers and men who were wrecked in some prize 
 ships were most kindly treated : all the country 
 was on the beach to receive them, the priests and 
 women distributing wine, and bread, and fruit, 
 amongst them. The soldiers turned out of their 
 barracks to make lodging for them." 
 
 and followed it up with a large supply of fruit — melons, grapes, figs, 
 and pomegranates, adding that he would send more in a day or two, 
 and any other fruit that might be fancied. Collingwood, on his part, 
 returned the courtesy with the best he had at disposal, a cheddar cheese 
 and a cask of porter. Later, when the first report of Admiral Gravina's 
 death reached Gibraltar, Collingwood wrote off to Cadiz a most kindly 
 and sympathetic letter, which, for its eulogy of the dead oflUcer, was 
 received with the highest appreciation. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 HOW THE NEWS REACHED ENGLAND— 
 AND NAPOLEON 
 
 rpHE battle was fought on Monday, the 21st of 
 -L October. The first authentic news of it, and 
 of Nelson's death, only reached London on Wed- 
 nesday, the 6th of November, at one in the 
 morning. 
 
 A rumour, based on a newspaper paragraph, 
 that there had been fighting at Cadiz, had been 
 current in London for three or four days previously, 
 but nothing was known as to what had taken 
 place. In the "Morning Post" of the 2nd of 
 November an editorial note stated that it was 
 reported, on the authority of letters said to 
 have been received from Lisbon, that "Lord 
 Nelson had succeeded in destroying a great part of 
 the Combined Fleet in the harbour of Cadiz "; but 
 the Editor felt it his duty to add this : " Though 
 firom the enterprising character of the noble 
 Admiral we cannot consider this rumour as im- 
 probable, we cannot at present attach any credit 
 to it, from the circumstances of no advice whatever 
 
THE REAL ANXIETY OF THE HOUR 343 
 
 upon the subject having been received at the 
 Admiralty." 
 
 As a fact, the ship bringing the news of Trafal- 
 gar was not yet in the Channel. England, and 
 indeed all Europe, was thinking of something else. 
 
 The startling, and totally unexpected, news had 
 just reached London of the complete overthrow of 
 the first great army of the European coalition 
 against Napoleon. The fate of the Continent was 
 in the camp of General Mack at Ulm, it had 
 been said : Mack himself was a scientific strategist 
 of world-wide reputation; his troops were the 
 pick of the Austrian army — the best appointed 
 and disciplined soldiers of the time. Five days 
 before the "Morning Post" published its rumour 
 about Nelson at Cadiz, an empty boat had been 
 towed out by a French pinnace from Boulogne 
 and ostentatiously abandoned in full view of the 
 English frigates cruising off the harbour. It was 
 picked up, and in the boat was found a packet 
 addressed: "To the Commodore of the English 
 Squadron." Inside was a letter, on the cover of 
 which was scrawled : " Commodore Robin has the 
 pleasure of communicating this good news to the 
 Commodore of the EngUsh Squadron." The 
 single sheet enclosed bore on one side this, written 
 in large characters : " L'Armee Autrichienne, forte 
 de cent mille hommes, est detruite. Le Gen. en 
 Chef Mack lui-meme est fait prisonnier a Ulm, et le 
 
344 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 Prince Ferdinand est en fuite." On the other side 
 was a translation : " The Army of the Austrians, 
 strong of one hundred thousand, is no more. The 
 General in Chief Mack is himself a prisoner in 
 Ulm, and Prince Ferdinand is put to flight." 
 Following on that, two days before the " Morning 
 Post's " Cadiz rumour, copies of the " Gazette de 
 Paris" reached London (via Hamburg), stating 
 positively that accounts had been received " of the 
 total defeat of the Austrian army, the capitulation 
 of the garrison of Ulm, and the surrender of 
 Forty Thousand of the Austrian troops, who were 
 made Prisoners of War." It seemed incredible. 
 "Until further accounts arrive from Paris," said 
 the " Times," " we shall not despair. Our anxiety 
 is excessive, but we are sustained." The leader 
 writer had hardly laid down his pen when letters 
 came in that left no shadow of doubt as to 
 the awful magnitude of the disaster. The horror- 
 stricken Editor announced it, as he said, — "with 
 the deepest anguish." "General Mack with the 
 whole of the Austrian staff are prisoners of war. 
 . . . The whole of the Austrian Army is repre- 
 sented as being nearly destroyed : not a vestige 
 of what might be termed an efficient corps re- 
 mained. Those who escaped the sword or the 
 chains of the enemy, all who were not among 
 the number of the killed, wounded, or prisoners, 
 were broken into puny detachments, and scattered 
 
STORMY WEATHER ON THE SOUTH COAST 345 
 
 into various directions. Such is the state into 
 which the accounts from Holland represent the 
 Austrian army of between seventy and eighty 
 thousand men to have fallen." 
 
 That was what was uppermost in the minds of 
 everybody in England during the first five days of 
 November, 1805 : consternation at the unexpected 
 blow that, at the outset, had fallen on Pitt's elabor- 
 ately engineered European coalition. Was Eng- 
 land again to see the bayonets of Napoleon's 
 legionaries at Boulogne, vengeful and flushed with 
 the incitement of unparalleled conquests, while 
 Europe behind them looked on idly, tamed and 
 prostrate ? 
 
 Meanwhile, the wives and relatives of those in 
 Nelson's fleet off Cadiz had, in addition, their own 
 personal anxieties of another kind. The fierce 
 Atlantic storm that wrecked so many of Nelson's 
 prizes in the week after the battle, raged far and 
 wide along the seaboard of western Europe, and 
 reached as far north even as our own shores ; 
 causing not a little uneasiness among the wives 
 and friends of those in the fleets at sea, as private 
 letters exist to testify. It was so, we know, with 
 those living along the south coast to westward 
 of the Isle of Wight. To this hour the wide- 
 spread havoc of the Trafalgar week's storm is a 
 tradition among the cottagers of the Dorset shore. 
 
346 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 stamped in local memory by the coincidences of 
 the event. 
 
 In the wild October night-time, when the wind raved 
 
 round the land. 
 And the Back-Sea met the Front-Sea, and our doors 
 
 were blocked with sand. 
 And we heard the drub of Dead-man's Bay, where the 
 
 bones of thousands are, 
 We knew not what the day had done for us at 
 
 Trafalgar. 
 
 One can fancy the Hardy ladies, the sisters of 
 Nelson's flag-captain, in their little home at Portis- 
 ham, within sight and hearing of the Channel 
 waves, Ustening with anxious hearts to the howling 
 gusts and the dull, incessant roaring of the sea that 
 came up across Blackdown from the direction of 
 Chesil Beach. 
 
 CoUingwood sent off his first Trafalgar despatch 
 on Sunday, the 27th of October; on the very 
 day that the empty boat with the news of the 
 catastrophe at Ulm was picked up off Boulogne. 
 Six days had gone by since the battle, but it 
 was the first opportunity he had had of getting 
 the despatch off. At half-past twelve that day 
 the " Pickle," an 8-gun schooner. Lieutenant 
 Lapenoti^re in command, left the fleet for Eng- 
 land with ColUngwood's public letter.^ The voyage 
 
 ^ Colling wood's selection of so junior an officer as a lieutenant to 
 carry the Trafalgar despatch home, has been criticized. It is accounted 
 for by the family in this way, adopting the words of his granddaughter. 
 Miss Lapenotiere of Clifton. ^'Lieutenant La Penotiere had the 
 
BRINGING THE NEWS TO ENGLAND 347 
 
 was rough, and a hard beat for most of the way, 
 and took nme days. Off Cape Finisterre they had 
 to heave four of their guns overboard, and through- 
 out the day on the 1st of November all hands 
 were at the pumps and baling water out. To the 
 south-west of the Scilly Isles, on the 2nd, they ran 
 into a streak of dead calm, and had to use sweeps 
 to keep the " Pickle's " head in the right direction. 
 Then bad weather and squalls came on again. So 
 the news of Trafalgar was brought to England. 
 Two vessels were spoken on the voyage ; the 
 "Nautilus " (" NotUs " the " Pickle's" log spells the 
 name), off the Tagus, and the " Superb," Captain 
 Keats, to southward of the Land's End. The 
 " Nautilus " ran into Lisbon with the news. Keats 
 and his "Superbs" — "Nelsonians" to a man — 
 were on their way for Cadiz, hoping against hope 
 to be in time for the expected battle. Deep groans 
 
 command of the schooner Pickle^ and did good work on the eve of the 
 battle of Trafalgar, taking his ship in among the enemy's fleet and 
 reporting their number and position. When a young man he had 
 been a passenger on board a ship which also conveyed Lord Colling- 
 wood. An order was given on deck to the man at the wheel, 
 and he saw that if obeyed the ship would be on the rocks. He 
 instantly gave another order and saved the ship. Lord CoUingwood 
 thanked him and said : ' If ever I have the opportunity I will do you 
 a service.' After the action at Trafalgar he sent for him and reminded 
 him of his promise, adding : ' Now take these despatches to England ; 
 you will receive £500 and your commander's commission. Now I have 
 kept my word.'" The La Penotiere family came to England at the 
 Revolution of 1688, with " Dutch William/' and both the father and 
 grandfather of the commander of the " Pickle " served in the Royal 
 Navy. The name is to be found in the navy lists of William III and 
 Queen Anne. 
 
348 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 throughout the ship, we are told, and openly shed 
 tears from many, greeted Lieutenant Lapenotiere's 
 intelligence of Nelson's death, which the "Pickle's" 
 commander personally delivered to Captain Keats. 
 Proceeding, the Lizard hghts were sighted ahead 
 at two in the morning on the 4th. The Manacles 
 were on the beam between seven and eight. At a 
 quarter to ten, off Pendennis Castle, the " Pickle " 
 shortened sail and hove-to. A boat was at once 
 lowered, and Lieutenant Lapenotiere went on 
 shore with his despatches, to post off at once for 
 London. 
 
 Beyond the bare fact of the victory and Nelson's 
 death, little was told at Falmouth. Lapeno- 
 tiere was off within half an hour of landing ; and 
 as soon as he stepped ashore his boat pulled back 
 to the "Pickle," which before two o'clock was 
 under sail for Plymouth Sound. There was no 
 semaphore telegraph in 1805 farther west than 
 Portsmouth. They had begun setting up stations 
 between London and Plymouth, but the line was 
 not yet in working order. 
 
 Lieutenant Lapenotiere was on his way by noon : 
 taking the post road by Truro, Liskeard, Tavi- 
 stock, across Dartmoor, by Post-bridge to Chag- 
 ford and Exeter; and thence along the coach 
 road by Honiton, Axminster, Crewkerne, Yeovil, 
 Sherborne, Salisbury, Andover, Basingstoke, to 
 London. He changed horses nineteen times along 
 the 266 miles of his route. So the Trafalgar des- 
 
ALL IN THE ORDINARY WAY 349 
 
 patches travelled to London ; in the everyday way. 
 Nobody guessed that the ordinary-looking post- 
 chaise, with a quiet-mannered naval lieutenant 
 seated inside, was bearing the most momentous 
 and interesting news that ever reached the shores 
 
 LIEUTENANT J. R. LAPENOTIERE 
 
 (From a silhouette in the possession of his granddaughter, Miss Lapenotiere) 
 
 of England. The roads were good going — no 
 rain had fallen in the south of England since 
 the 30th of October — and excellent time was 
 kept. The post-chaise drew up at the gates of 
 the Admiralty at one o'clock in the morning of the 
 6th of November. 
 
 As it did so, another post-chaise raced up. It 
 
350 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 conveyed another officer, bearing the same news. 
 He was Captain Sykes of the "Nautilus," which 
 the " Pickle " had fallen in with off the Tagus, to 
 whom Lieutenant Lapenotiere had imparted his 
 intelligence. The "Nautilus" had run straight into 
 Lisbon, and had been thence sent off to England 
 by the British Ambassador. Landing at Plymouth, 
 Captain Sykes had posted to London, and his con- 
 veyance arrived at the Admiralty as Lieutenant 
 Lapenotiere's chaise was pulling up. 
 
 Of the dramatic scene that followed, and how the 
 news was broken to the First Lord in his bedroom, 
 we have an eye-witness's account from no less a 
 personage than Mr. Marsden, the First Secretary 
 of the Board of Admiralty himself. 
 
 " Admiral Collingwood's important despatches," 
 he says, "were delivered to me about one o'clock 
 a.m. of the 6th of November, when I was in the 
 act of withdrawing from the Board Room to my 
 private apartments." Mr. Marsden was informed 
 that an officer had just arrived with important 
 despatches, and the officer was shown in at once. 
 
 One can imagine the scene. A large, lofty 
 room, decorated with carved friezework and tall 
 Ionic pilasters at the sides, the curtains drawn 
 closely, and everything very still — the dead of 
 night: the fire burning low or ffickering fitfully 
 out : dim shadows in the background on either 
 hand, beyond the gleam of light cast by the 
 tall wax candles on the long table in the 
 
ANNOUNCING TRAFALGAR AT THE ADMIRALTY 351 
 
 centre of the room, piled with tied-up docu- 
 ments. An elderly gentleman in deshabille, 
 somewhat of the prim official type, the sole occu- 
 pant of the room, has just risen wearily from his 
 chair at the table and turns away with a sigh of 
 relief as he casts round his last glance for the night 
 at the bundles of returns he has been for hours 
 laboriously perusing, to take up his chamber 
 candlestick and shuffle off at last to bed.^ Suddenly 
 there is a sharp knock. The door opens abruptly 
 and the night porter announces and ushers in 
 a naval officer in uniform ; travel-worn and show- 
 ing traces of fatigue, but with an air of suppressed 
 emotion in every feature of his countenance. A 
 moment's pause, and then the officer, without word 
 of preface or personal introduction, in a very grave 
 tone accosts the wondering Secretary: "Sir, we 
 have gained a great victory, but we have lost Lord 
 Nelson I " 
 
 "In accosting me," describes the Secretary to 
 the Admiralty, "the officer used these impressive 
 words : ' Sir, we have gained a great victory, but we 
 have lost Lord Nelson !' The effect thus produced 
 it is not to my purpose to describe ; nor had I 
 time to indulge in reflections, who was at that 
 moment the only person informed of one of the 
 greatest events recorded in our history, and which 
 
 1 Between May, 1803, and the end of 1806 Mr. Marsden, as he 
 himself has placed on record, never for one single night was able 
 to sleep away from the Admiralty. 
 
352 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 it was my duty to make known with the utmost 
 promptitude." 
 
 The First Lord of the Admiralty, Lord Barham, 
 had to be informed at once, and Mr. Marsden, 
 leaving Lapenotiere by himself, set out, candle 
 in hand, to find his bedroom in the big building. 
 
 " The First Lord," he says, " had retired to rest, 
 as had his domestics, and it was not until after 
 some research that I could discover the room in 
 which he slept. Drawing aside his curtains with a 
 candle in my hand, I woke the old peer from 
 a sound slumber, and to the credit of his nerves 
 be it mentioned that he showed no symptom of 
 alarm or surprise, but calmly asked, ' What news, 
 Mr. Marsden ? ' We then discussed, in few words, 
 what was to be done, and I sat up the remainder 
 of the night with such of the clerks as I could 
 collect, in order to make the necessary communica- 
 tions, at an early hour, to the King, Prince of 
 Wales, Duke of York, the Ministers and other 
 members of the Cabinet, and to the Lord Mayor, 
 who communicated the intelligence to the shipping 
 interest at Lloyd's Coffee House. A notice for 
 the Royal salute was also necessary." 
 
 "Never," says Sir John Barrow, the Second 
 Secretary, who learned the news on arriving at the 
 Admiralty next morning, " can I forget the shock 
 I received on opening the Board Room door 
 the morning after the arrival of the despatches, 
 when Marsden called out : * Glorious news ! The 
 
KING GEORGE NAMES THE BATTLE 353 
 
 most glorious victory our brave navy has ever 
 achieved — but Nelson is dead ! ' The vivid recol- 
 lection of my interview with this incomparable 
 man, and the idea that I was probably the last 
 person he had taken leave of in London, left an im- 
 pression of gloom on my mind that required some 
 time to remove." 
 
 The news was immediately sent off to Windsor 
 Castle, and reached there at seven in the morning. 
 "The King was so affected by it that some minutes 
 elapsed before he could give utterance to his feel- 
 ings. The Queen called the Princesses around her 
 to read the despatches, while the whole royal group 
 shed tears to the memory of Lord Nelson." 
 
 In his reply to Mr. Marsden, on behalf of His 
 Majesty, Colonel Taylor, the King's private secre- 
 tary, wrote as follows: "However His Majesty 
 rejoices at the signal success of his gallant fleet, he 
 has not heard without expressions of very deep 
 regret of the death of its valuable and distinguished 
 Commander, although a life so replete with glory, 
 and marked by a rapid succession of such meri- 
 torious services and exertions, could not have ended 
 more gloriously." 
 
 Colonel Taylor added this on his own account : 
 " 1 have not upon any occasion seen His Majesty 
 more affected." The Private Secretary, in a post- 
 script, made the following announcement: "The 
 King is of opinion that the battle should be styled 
 that of Trafalgar." 
 
 2 A 
 
S54 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 The " London Gazette Extraordinary " was out 
 before breakfast time, and the newspapers and 
 the Park and Tower guns, and the church bells, 
 announced the news to all London before nine 
 o'clock. Its effect was stunning. Never was a 
 great triumph received with so little manifesta- 
 tion of outward rejoicing. Immediately after the 
 first rumours got about, between five and six 
 o'clock, the doors of the newspaper offices were 
 besieged by crowds — all wanting to know one 
 thing. It was not about the victory. The one 
 thing people asked about was — if it was really 
 true about Lord Nelson? That — Nelson's death 
 — was uppermost in everybody's mind. The 
 victory was of course a tremendous one, the 
 greatest ever heard of: — but Nelson, "Our Nel," 
 as the sailors called him, was gone ! 
 
 " The first impression," says Lord Malmesbury, 
 "was not joy, for Nelson fell. . . . Not one 
 individual who felt joy at the victory so well timed 
 and so complete, but first had an instinctive feeling 
 of sorrow . . . the sorrow of affection and grati- 
 tude for what had been done for us." 
 
 Pitt, the Prime Minister, told Lord Malmesbury 
 that evening how the news had affected him, as 
 Lord Malmesbury himself relates. " On the receipt 
 of the news of the memorable battle of Trafalgar 
 (some day in November 1805), I happened to dine 
 with Pitt, and it was naturally the engrossing sub- 
 ject of our conversation. I shall never forget the 
 
PITT UNABLE TO SLEEP FOR THE NEWS 355 
 
 eloquent manner in which he described his con- 
 flicting feelings when roused in the night to read 
 CoUingwood's despatches. Pitt observed that he 
 had been called up at various hours in his eventful 
 life by the arrival of news of various hues, but 
 that, whether good or bad, he could always lay his 
 head on his pillow and sink into a sound sleep 
 again. On this occasion, however, the great event 
 announced brought with it so much to weep over, 
 as well as to rejoice at, that he could not calm his 
 thoughts, but at length got up, though it was three 
 in the morning." 
 Wrote Canning : — 
 
 O price, his conquering Country griev'd to pay ! 
 O dear-bought glories of Trafalgar's day ! 
 Lamented Hero ! when to Britain's shore 
 Exulting fame those aweful tidings bore, 
 Joy's bursting shout in whelming grief was drowned. 
 And Victory's self unwilling audience found ; 
 On every brow the cloud of sadness hung, 
 The sounds of triumph died on every tongue ! 
 
 Lady Elizabeth Hervey, writing to her son in 
 America, speaks of the " mingled pride and con- 
 sternation " with which the news was everywhere 
 received. " The illuminations began but were dis- 
 continued, the people being unable to rejoice." 
 Writing on the 29th of November, she says that it 
 would have been useless to write when the news first 
 arrived. " Nothing that I could have said would 
 have conveyed to you any idea of the impression 
 made on the public by the loss of their favourite 
 
356 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 hero. ... As we came away (from the Admiralty), 
 there was a vast rush of people, but all silent, 
 or a murmur of respect and sorrow ; some of the 
 common people saying, ' It is bad news if Nelson 
 is killed,' yet they knew that twenty ships were 
 taken. A man at the turnpike gate said to Sir 
 Ellis, who was going through, *Sir, have you heard 
 the bad news ? We have taken twenty ships from 
 the enemy, but Lord Nelson is killed 1 ' " 
 
 Speaking of the feeling at Nelson's funeral, Lady 
 Elizabeth says further: "In the thousands that 
 were collected on that day, it was a silence which 
 nothing broke through but a sort of murmur of 
 'Hats off!' as the Car passed, and ejaculations of 
 * God bless his soul who died for us to protect us ; 
 never shall we see his like again ! ' The show al- 
 together was magnificent, but the common people, 
 when the crew of the Victory passed, said, ' We 
 had rather see them than all the show 1 ' " 
 
 " Never," wrote Lady Castlereagh from Ireland, 
 on the news reaching her, " was there, indeed, an 
 event so mournfully and so triumphantly im- 
 portant to England as the battle of Trafalgar. 
 The sentiment of lamenting the individual, more 
 than the rejoicing in the victory, shows the 
 humanity and affection of the people of England, 
 but their good sense on reflection will dwell only 
 on the conquest, because no death at a future 
 moment could have been more glorious, and might 
 
"TOO GREAT A PRICE" 357 
 
 have been less so. The public would never have 
 sent him on another expedition, his health was not 
 equal to another effort, and he might have yielded 
 to the more natural but less imposing efforts of 
 more worldly honours ! Whereas he now begins 
 his immortal career, having nothing to achieve on 
 earth, and bequeathing to the English Fleet a 
 legacy which they alone are able to improve. 
 Had I been his wife or his mother, I would rather 
 have wept him dead than see him languish on a 
 less splendid day. In such a death there is no 
 sting, and in such a grave everlasting victory." 
 
 This is what the " Times " said on the day after 
 the news was known : — 
 
 " The victory created none of those enthusiastic 
 emotions in the public mind which the successes 
 of our naval arms have in every former instance 
 produced. There was not a man who did not think 
 that the life of the Hero of the Nile was too great 
 a price for the capture and destruction of twenty 
 sail of French and Spanish men of war. No 
 ebullitions of popular transport, no demonstrations 
 of public joy, marked this great and important 
 event. The honest and manly feeling of the 
 people appeared as it should have done : they felt 
 an inward satisfaction at the triumph of their 
 favourite arms; they mourned with all the sin- 
 cerity and poignancy of domestic grief their Hero 
 slain." 
 
358 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 Their sorrow at Nelson's loss apart, nothing 
 could have been finer than the spirit that actuated 
 those who had friends in the battle. Mr. Secretary 
 Marsden, to whom it fell to interview several 
 anxious relatives calling at the Admiralty for news, 
 records one or two cases that came under his 
 own observation. Lady Arden, he says, in the 
 middle of her own personal solicitude for her son, 
 was " full of hope that the Orion has not had less 
 than her share in this glorious conflict," a senti- 
 ment that Mr. Marsden considered "worthy of a 
 Roman matron in Rome's best day." A general 
 who was informed that his son's ship "had had a 
 full share of the glory," excitedly hugged the 
 Secretary of the Admiralty, overcome with feel- 
 ings of pride. After his interviews one day, Mr. 
 Marsden was walking in St. James's Park, when 
 he passed two poor women talking together. He 
 overheard one say to the other : " It is true that I 
 have had the misfortune to lose two sons killed, 
 but then you know, my dear, that is a feather in 
 my cap 1 " 
 
 Of the scene at night when London was illu- 
 minated and everybody turned out into the streets, 
 we have this from Lord Malmesbury : " I never 
 saw so little public joy. The illumination seemed 
 dim and as it were half-clouded by the desire of 
 expressing the mixture of contending feelings; 
 
"THE LOSS IS IRREPARABLE" 359 
 
 every common person in the streets speaking 
 first of their sorrow for him, and then of the 
 victory." 
 
 Everywhere along the streets, over every shop 
 and in front of every private house, reference was 
 made first and foremost to Nelson. Everywhere 
 were seen his initials over anchors, or transparencies 
 of men-of-war, or figures of Britannia ; or medal- 
 lions with his portrait festooned with lamps ; or 
 — one of the commonest devices — the name 
 " Nelson " in coloured lamps by itself. At Acker- 
 mann's " Art Repository " in the Strand was dis- 
 played an altar, on which was an urn surrounded 
 with laurels and oak branches, bearing the legend, 
 " Sacred to the memory of the immortal Nelson ! " 
 Outside another large shop in the Strand all was 
 dark except for a large transparency edged with 
 violet and bearing the words, "The Victory is 
 great, but the loss is irreparable ! " Similarly with 
 the illuminations by private residents. The note 
 of personal grief was universally predominant. 
 One house in Finsbury Square, for instance, dis- 
 played a device in violet-coloured lamps: "I rejoice 
 for my country ; I mourn for my friend ! " The 
 theatres were among the foremost in their displays, 
 in their characteristically effusive way. One theatre 
 showed, for instance, a huge transparency repre- 
 senting Britannia seated holding up a medallion 
 of Nelson crowned with laurel and oak leaves, and 
 
360 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 with a lion at her side, and in the background a 
 representation of ships and warhke emblems, and 
 the legend, " Victorious Nelson, I will avenge thy 
 death." Covent Garden displayed outside a large 
 "N" in violet-coloured lamps, with an anchor in 
 red lamps, and a branch of laurel.^ 
 
 Throughout the country the celebrations were 
 marked by the same note of personal grief at the 
 loss of the nation's darling hero. At Norwich, the 
 county town of Nelson's own county, the Corpora- 
 tion went into mourning for a week. At Chester 
 the cathedral bells rang merry peals of rejoicing 
 for the victory ; alternating with deep, solemn toll- 
 ing for Nelson. Three of the great bells pealed 
 
 1 This is what took place inside the theatre according to a contem- 
 porary newspaper account. '' The Proprietors of this Theatre, ever 
 alive to the national glory, produced a hasty hut elegant compliment 
 to the memory of Lord Nelson. When the curtain drew up we were 
 surprised with the view of a superb naval scene. It consisted of 
 columns in the foreground, decorated with medallions of the 
 Naval Heroes of Britain. In the distance a number of ships were 
 seen, and the front of the picture was filled by Mr. Taylor and the 
 principal singers of the Theatre. They were grouped in an interesting 
 manner, with their eyes turned towards the clouds, from whence a 
 half-length portrait of Lord Nelson descended, with the following 
 words underwritten: 'Horatio Nelson, Ob. 21st Oct.' Mr. Taylor 
 and the other performers then sang 'Rule, Britannia,' verse and 
 chorus. The following additional verse, written by Mr. Ashley, of 
 Bath, was introduced and sung by Mr. Taylor, with the most alFeoting 
 expression : it was universally encored : — 
 
 ' Again the loud-toned trump of fame 
 Proclaims Britannia rules the main. 
 While sorrow whispers Nelson's name. 
 And mourns the gallant victor slain. 
 Rule, brave Britons, rule the main. 
 Revenge the God-like Hero slain.'" 
 
^'POOR NELSON: HAD HE ONLY LIVED!" 36l 
 
 out together exultantly ; the fourth tolled through- 
 out a slow and solemn note : — 
 
 For St. Olave and St. Oswald and Earl Hugh, 
 Sang like morning-stars together in the blue ; 
 And the quick, exulting changes of their peal 
 Made the heavens above them laugh and the joyful 
 city reel. 
 
 Oh! that blithe November morning, Eighteen- 
 Five— 
 
 Every Englishman was glad to be alive — 
 As the joy-bells clashed in Chester, ancient Chester 
 
 on the Dee. 
 
 Hark ! in pauses of the revel — sole and slow — 
 Old St. Werburgh swings a heavy note of woe ! 
 Hark ! between the jocund peals, a single toll. 
 Stem and muffled, marks the passing of a soul ! 
 
 English hearts were sad that day as sad could 
 be— 
 
 English eyes so dimmed with tears they scarce 
 could see — 
 All the joy was dashed with grief in ancient Chester 
 
 on the Dee. 
 
 In several other places, we are told, the bells 
 were muffled and rang dumb peals only. All 
 over the country, when the mayors of the towns 
 read out the "Gazette" announcing the victory, 
 instead of huzzas and shouts, there was gloom 
 and tears and silence, everyone saying "Poor 
 Nelson : had he only lived ! " 
 
 Even children in the schoolroom realized Nel- 
 son's death as a sort of personal loss. 
 
 " I remember well the battle of Trafalgar," said 
 Lady Wenlock, who died in 1869. " I was seven 
 
362 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 years old then, but I knew the names of all the 
 ships and captains. My sister was then mistress 
 of my father's house, and I was sent for down to 
 her. She was not up, and the newspaper was 
 lying on the bed. ' Oh, my dear,' she said, * my 
 father has sent me up the newspaper, and we have 
 taken twenty ships of the line ; but — Nelson is 
 dead ! ' Child as I was, I burst into tears ; one had 
 been taught to think that nothing could go on 
 without him ! " 
 
 Countess Brownlow (who died in 1872), a 
 daughter of the second Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, 
 relates in her "Reminiscences of a Septuagen- 
 arian," that in 1805, when she was in the school- 
 room at lessons, the news of Trafalgar and of 
 Nelson's death was brought in, and that she 
 dropped to the ground in horror at the news, 
 although she had never seen Nelson. 
 
 An old Christ's Hospital " boy," who died eight 
 or nine years ago at the age of 103, was at school 
 at the time. When the news arrived, he said, 
 "we let up fireworks for the victory and then 
 drank a little glass of sherry for Lord Nelson in 
 solemn silence." 
 
 Celebrations in honour of the victory were held 
 during the following week at the various ports and 
 garrisons and mihtary stations, and gun salutes 
 and feux de Joie were fired. At every place, we 
 are told, the Army officers appeared on parade in 
 
HOW SAILORS FELT IT THE WORLD OVER 363 
 
 full mourning, and with their colours and band 
 instruments " draped in crape ribbon." 
 
 On Sir Richard Strachan's squadron reaching 
 Plymouth with its prizes (Dumanoir's refugee 
 squadron) in the week after the arrival of CoUing- 
 wood's despatch, we are also told, "the seamen 
 coming ashore, on leave, each wore a knot of love- 
 crape ribbon fastened above his left elbow." 
 
 As to how the news was received by the Fleet 
 elsewhere, we have this from an officer of the 
 frigate "Immortality," belonging to one of the 
 squadrons watching the French coast near Bou- 
 logne: "It was during this cruise that we first 
 heard of the mighty victory of Trafalgar . . . and 
 I can well remember how much the pride and 
 exultation, which we should otherwise have felt at 
 our country's success, were saddened and subdued 
 by the irreparable loss of her favourite Hero. In- 
 stead of shouts and songs of triumph and gratu- 
 lation, the subject was mentioned in broken 
 whispers, and all seemed to feel, not only that some 
 great national calamity had befallen the land, but 
 as if each individual had lost a friend and leader, 
 with whom it would have been the happiness of 
 his life to serve and follow." 
 
 An officer serving on the East Indies station 
 relates that when the news reached his ship several 
 of his men, who had served previously with Nelson, 
 broke down entirely on hearing of his death, and 
 were useless for duty for some days. 
 
364^ THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 "On the 19th of November," says the "Naval 
 Chronicle," " all the Ships in the road of Elsineur 
 fired three discharges in celebration of the Victory 
 off Cadiz. Immediately afterwards their flags 
 were lowered and three minute-guns fired, on 
 account of the death of Lord Nelson." 
 
 In the West Indies, saved by Nelson person- 
 ally from Villeneuve's threatened raid in that very 
 year, the sorrow at his loss was universal, and 
 completely overshadowed all the rejoicings for the 
 victory. It was fittingly typified by what took 
 place in Jamaica, at Kingston, the chief city of the 
 islands, on the day of the official celebration of 
 Trafalgar. A funeral pyre was erected, forty-seven 
 feet in height and forty-seven feet each way, the 
 number corresponding with that of Nelson's years 
 of life. On the officially appointed day, at six in 
 the evening, the local mUitia formed up in a hollow 
 square round the pyre, which was set light to 
 at forty-seven points at once. As it blazed up a 
 funeral oration to Nelson was delivered by the 
 Governor of the Colony. Forty-seven minute- 
 guns were then fired, with a general discharge of 
 musketry between each shot, and forty-seven 
 rockets were sent up. 
 
 In what manner England honoured the remains 
 of her dead hero when they reached these shores, 
 all the world knows : — 
 
 Such honours Ilium to her hero paid^ 
 
 And peaceful slept the mighty Hector's shade. 
 
NAPOLEON RECEIVES THE NEWS AT DINNER 365 
 
 Napoleon, says Marbot, received the news of 
 Trafalgar on the 18th of November, at Znaim, in 
 Moravia, when on the march to the battlefield of 
 Austerlitz. " Just as he was quietly sitting down 
 to table, Berthier put into his hand a despatch an- 
 nouncing Trafalgar and its result. He displayed, 
 however, no emotion, concealed the news, and 
 simply wrote to Decres 'that he should wait for 
 more particulars before forming a definite opinion 
 on the nature of this affair, which would moreover 
 in no way change his plan of cruising.' " This is 
 what Napoleon wrote : " All this makes no change 
 in my cruising projects ; I am annoyed that all is 
 not ready yet. They must set out without delay." 
 He added, with reference to the Cadiz fleet: 
 " Cause all the troops that are on board the squad- 
 ron to come to me by land. They will await my 
 orders at the first town in France." 
 
 According to one story, in the course of the 
 evening. Napoleon, musing gloomily over the news, 
 asked Berthier how old Paul Jones was when he 
 died. Berthier replied that he thought he was 
 forty-five. "Then," said Napoleon, "he did not 
 fulfil his destiny. Had he lived to this time, 
 France might have had an admiral I" Said Na- 
 poleon afterwards : " Our admirals are always talk- 
 ing about 'pelagic conditions ' and 'ulterior objects.' 
 As if there was any condition or any object in war 
 except to get in contact with the enemy and 
 destroy him. That was Paul Jones's view of the 
 
366 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 conditions and objects of naval warfare. It was 
 also Nelson's. It is a pity they could not have 
 been matched, with fairly equal force." 
 
 " Je saurai bien apprendre mes amiraux Fran^ais 
 a vaincrel" was the Emperor's final word that 
 night.^ 
 
 The Grand Army heard of the fate of the fleet 
 about the same time ; first of all, we are told, at 
 the surrender of the Austrian Marshal Jellachich 
 to Augereau's army corps in the Tyrol. 
 
 " During the interview which the two marshals 
 held on this occasion," says Marbot, " the Austrian 
 officers, who were humiliated by the recent reverses 
 to their arms (at Ulm), gave themselves the 
 malicious pleasure of imparting to us a very un- 
 welcome piece of news, which had hitherto been 
 concealed from us, but which the Russians and 
 Austrians had learnt by way of England. The 
 French and Spanish fleets had been beaten by 
 Lord Nelson on October 20th not far from Cadiz, 
 off* Cape Trafalgar." 
 
 Good care was taken to let the garrison at 
 Boulogne, and the seamen of the flotilla there, 
 know about it. Says a paragraph in the " Times " 
 of Saturday, the 9th of November : — 
 
 "Sir Sidney Smith has repaid Commodore 
 Robin in his own coin. On Thursday he sent a 
 
 ^ " The next day, the Emperor started off at a gallop ; he was 
 sullen. 'AH does not go well,' said our chiefs; 'he is angry.*" 
 (Narrative of Coignet, of the Grenadiers of the Imperial Guard, 
 November, 1806.) 
 
NOT A WORD IN THE ^'MONITEUR" 367 
 
 cutter over to the French coast with the Extra- 
 ordinary Gazette, containing the news of the 
 victory over the Combined Squadron. He apolo- 
 gized for forwarding it by a boat having no one on 
 board, remarking, 'that the last flag of truce he 
 sent in, the officer was very honourably detained.' " 
 The news filtered through, later on, to the 
 English prisoners in France; who, for the most 
 part, found means of commemorating the victory. 
 Even at the great central depot at Verdun they 
 found means to celebrate Trafalgar and commemo- 
 rate Nelson ; as is related by an unlucky midship- 
 man, whom the fortune of war had thrown into 
 the brutal Colonel Wirion's hands. "It was 
 nearly two months before news reached us of 
 Nelson's glorious victory; about seventy mids 
 were confined in the citadel. A subscription for 
 supper and wine was immediately set on foot, and 
 although borne down with sorrow and oppression, 
 we participated in the joy of victory and shed a 
 tributary tear for the fate of Nelson." 
 
 In France, what had happened at Trafalgar was 
 hushed up, as far as the promulgation of official 
 news went. Not a line about the battle was 
 allowed to appear in the " Moniteur," the official 
 newspaper.^ "An event," says Lanfrey, "did 
 
 * Ulm and Austerlitz rendered it the easier to keep things quiet 
 about Trafalgar. All France was ringing with the news of Ulm, its 
 thirty captured generals and seventy thousand other prisoners, just at 
 the moment that Collingwood's first despatch was crossing the Bay of 
 
368 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 not exist until it had been duly stated and legal- 
 ized by the ' Moniteur.' Nelson might destroy our 
 navy at Trafalgar ; the insolent fact was not recog- 
 nized." "The silence of the 'Moniteur' on the 
 subject," notes Sir Harris Nicolas,^ "is the more 
 remarkable, because it regularly transferred to its 
 pages from the English Journals notices of the 
 movements of our ships, and even quoted the 
 English Newspapers which were filled with ac- 
 counts of the Battle.^ A still more extraordinary 
 instance of the restraint imposed on the ' Moniteur,' 
 was shown by that journal on the 30th of Novem- 
 ber, when it mentioned the Proclamation in the 
 ' London Gazette ' of the 18th of that month, com- 
 manding a general thanksgiving to be observed on 
 the 5th of December, but carefully suppressed that 
 it was * for the late signal and important Victory 
 
 Biscay. Napoleon's message to the Senate — "I send you forty stand 
 of colours, which my army has conquered in the different actions 
 which took place since that at Wertingen. It is a homage which I 
 and my army pay to the Sages of the Empire ; it is an offering made 
 by children to their father" — was being read in Paris almost at the 
 very moment that Lieutenant Lapenotiere was coming ashore at Fal- 
 mouth. The news of Austerlitz, with its tale of 180 captured guns and 
 eleven thousand prisoners, arrived in France just after the " Victory," 
 with Nelson's body on board, had cast anchor at St. Helens. The 
 fifty-three flags taken at Austerlitz, including the standards of the 
 Tsar's Imperial Guard, were just arriving at the Invalides at the time 
 of Nelson's funeral. 
 
 ^ '' Despatches and Letters of Lord Nelson," vol. VII, p. 263. 
 
 ' There had been no reticence over Villeneuve's action with 
 Calder, the account of which filled some columns in the ''Moniteur." 
 Napoleon had expressed himself at first satisfied with that, and had 
 the account specially inserted. Afterwards, he took another view. 
 
ONE ACCOUNT ESCAPES THE CENSOR 369 
 
 obtained over the Combined Fleets of France and 
 Spain.' " 
 
 All the same, one or two papers in France did 
 manage to evade the censorship. Muzzled as the 
 Press everywhere was, mention was made in one 
 or two quarters that there had been a battle at sea, 
 the outcome of which was variously stated. 
 
 This is what the "Journal du Commerce" told its 
 readers : " It has been rumoured, on the authority 
 of private letters, for some days, that there has 
 been an action off the coast of Spain, between the 
 Combined Fleets of France and Spain and the 
 English squadron. According to these accounts, 
 the French squadron, commanded by Admiral 
 ViLLENEUVE, and the Spanish by Admiral 
 Gravina, came out of Cadiz, on the 18th or 
 19th of last month, when they were fallen in with 
 by the English Fleet, under the command of 
 Admiral Nelson. A most bloody action took 
 place, in which both fleets fought with the greatest 
 determination, and in which each of them suffered 
 most severely. Towards the end of the engage- 
 ment a violent storm came on, which dispersed the 
 ships. It is reported that one Spanish and one 
 English ship were blo\yn up. It is also reported 
 that some of the commanders were killed or 
 dangerously wounded. But these private letters 
 coming from no authentic source, it would be 
 imprudent lightly to spread an alarm, for which, 
 perhaps, there is no foundation ; and it would be 
 
 2 B 
 
370 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 proper to suspend opinions until the official intel- 
 ligence shall give some positive information respect- 
 ing this important event." 
 
 According to a paragraph in the London " Ob- 
 server" of the 15th of November, the news was 
 widely known in Holland : " The French and 
 Dutch Papers which have arrived, the former to 
 the 8th, and the latter to the 12th inst., observe a 
 total silence on the late naval victories; but private 
 Letters from Holland, dated the 11th, mention 
 that the intelligence had reached Rotterdam, and 
 created the greatest sensation." Another Letter, 
 said to have been received from Paris, mentions 
 that event in the following terms: 'It is ascer- 
 tained here, that a severe action has at length 
 been fought between the English and the Com- 
 bined Fleets, off Cadiz, all that we hear on the 
 subject is that ten sail returned to Cadiz, not being 
 wanted in the action ! ! ! ' " 
 
 A week previously a private correspondent of 
 the "Times" in Paris had reported what was being 
 said there about Trafalgar, to the following effect : 
 " We have as yet nothing but vague and uncertain 
 particulars of the engagement by sea which took 
 place off Cadiz. They speak of a very briUiant 
 exploit of Captain Cosmo, of the Pluto, who, 
 with only his own ship and a few frigates, ex- 
 tricated and brought to Cadiz three Spanish ships 
 which had been dismasted, and had fallen into the 
 power of the enemy. It is also reported that three 
 
"A LETTER FROM LONDON" 371 
 
 English ships, which were dismasted and could not 
 reach Gibraltar, were wrecked on the coast of Spain. 
 It is said that Lord Nelson was killed, and that 
 Admiral Gravina had lost an arm ; that a French 
 Rear- Admiral was killed, and that several ships of 
 both fleets were lost. Vice- Admiral Rosilly, who 
 was to take the command of the Combined Fleet 
 at Cadiz, arrived there three days after Admirals 
 ViLLENEUVE and Gravina had sailed." 
 
 The Spanish newspapers, on the other hand, 
 made no secret about the disaster. No attempt 
 was made to gag their utterances. Every paper 
 in Spain, almost, had its own account of Trafalgar ; 
 and gave also, in many cases, extracts from the 
 admirals' despatches, as made public by the official 
 "Gazeta de Madrid," with, in addition, letters 
 from survivors of the battle. At the same time 
 the Spanish editors were not always scrupulous as 
 to the authenticity of their news — where it told 
 against the enemy. One flagrant departure from 
 the truth, in especial, which obtained the widest 
 circulation, was an elaborate tour deforce by some 
 enterprising Cadiz reporter. It found its way to 
 the "Madrid Gazette" as "A Letter from London," 
 and after being quoted elsewhere in the Spanish 
 Press, crossed the Pyrenees, to be translated and 
 form the solitary reference in detail to Trafalgar 
 that appeared in print in France. It purported to 
 give a list, " from the report of Admiral Colling- 
 wood to the Admiralty," of the British losses in 
 
372 
 
 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 and after the battle. The " report " is sufficiently 
 curious in itself to have a place for it found here. 
 
 " London, November 26th. 
 
 '* In society, at the theatre and places of entertainment, at 
 balls, all the ladies in evening dress wear cypress in then* head- 
 dress in memory of Lord Nelson. 
 
 " The loss of Lord Nelson, however, is not the only loss that 
 we have to deplore in the terrible battle which has taken place 
 oiF Cadiz between our Fleet and that of the Combined Fleet. 
 One may judge of these when one reads the following extract 
 from the despatch that Admiral CoUingwood has forwarded to 
 the Admiralty : — 
 
 "STATE OF THE BRITISH FLEET AFTER THE 
 BATTLE OF OCTOBER 19. 
 
 Victory . .100 
 
 *Prince of Wales . 98 
 
 Britannia . 98 
 
 Dreadnought . 98 
 
 Tem^raire . 98 
 
 Neptune and Prince 98 
 *Queen 
 
 *Donegal 
 *Canopus 
 
 *Tigre 
 *Tonnant 
 
 Spencer 
 
 Le Spartiate 
 
 98 
 
 80 
 80 
 
 80 
 80 
 
 74 
 
 74 
 
 Entirely dismasted in the act of 
 
 breaking the line. Admiral Nelson 
 
 wounded ; he died seven hours after 
 
 the battle. 
 Sunk in the action. 
 Sunk in the action. 
 
 All the hull riddled with cannon shot. 
 Dismasted ; the masts of the French 
 
 ship " Aigle" fell on her deck and 
 
 killed many of the crew. 
 Both sunk ; and the masts of the first 
 
 and the rudder of the second have 
 
 been found on Conil beach. 
 Lost her foretopmast and mizen; at 
 
 Gibraltar much damaged. 
 Dismasted on the Barbary coast. 
 Dismasted and taken alongside the 
 
 sheer hulk at Gibraltar. 
 Sunk off the coast near Sta. Maria. 
 Burnt by the Fleet five or six leagues 
 
 N.W. of Cadiz. 
 Came into Gibraltar in tow of a frigate 
 
 making signals for assistance. 
 Sunk after the action, on the coast 
 
 near Rota. 
 
 Not in the battle. 
 
"THEIR FLEET IS DESTROYED 
 
 373 
 
 Defence 
 
 . 74 
 
 Swiftsure 
 
 . 74 
 
 Orion 
 
 . 74 
 
 Leviathan 
 
 . 74 
 
 ♦Zealous 
 
 . 74 
 
 Conqueror 
 
 . 74 
 
 Revenge 
 
 . 74 
 
 Achille 
 
 . 74 
 
 Minotaur 
 
 . 74 
 
 Colossus 
 
 . 74 
 
 Mars 
 
 . 74' 
 
 Bellerophon 
 
 • 74^ 
 
 Polyphemus 
 
 . 74 
 
 Esparciata 
 
 . 74 
 
 *Camatic 
 
 . 74 
 
 Ships ^ 
 
 (VHICH JOIN 
 
 tTheDukeol 
 
 'York 90 
 
 Royal Sovere 
 
 ign . 100 
 
 tLe Leger . 
 
 . 80 
 
 fRelampago 
 
 . 74 
 
 Without mainmast ; at Gibraltar. 
 Lost her foretopmast; at Gibraltar. 
 Dismasted,, on the coast of Africa. 
 Under sail^ and lost her maintopmast. 
 Hull damaged ; at Gibraltar. 
 Under sail. 
 At Gibraltar, the second without a 
 
 topsail yard. 
 Ran ashore on the coast off Conil 
 
 or San Lucar. 
 Idem. 
 
 Under sail. 
 
 Under sail, without a mizen-mast. 
 Sunk after the battle off the coast 
 
 off Rota. 
 Under sail — with jury-masts. 
 
 *Aquila 
 
 74 
 
 CD THE iiNGLISH FlEET AT 5 P.M. 
 
 2 1st October. 
 Under sail. 
 Lost, with £400,000 sterling, on her 
 
 way to Malta. 
 Towed by an English frigate. 
 Under sail, under care of a Swedish 
 
 ship. 
 Under sail. 
 
 "Note. — Rear- Admiral Bickerton was wounded at the be- 
 ginning of the Action, and died three hours after it was ended. 
 A hundred-gun ship, three Frigates, and one Corvette have 
 sailed from Gibraltar to the Westward to protect the Vessels 
 which have grounded or are dismasted. This account is taken 
 from that despatched from Gibraltar by Admiral Collingwood 
 and from those given by ships that have come into that Port. 
 It is to be expected that the English would not exaggerate 
 their losses, and they are much greater than they choose to 
 represent them. But it is sufficiently evident that their 
 Fleet is destroyed ; and some Accounts from Cadiz state that 
 their loss is seven or eight thousand men — a loss that England 
 can with difficulty replace." 
 
 * Not in the battle. t No such ships in the British Navy. 
 
874 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 In presenting such interesting information to 
 his readers, the editor of the " Gazette de Paris " 
 added as his own comment on the news, "Ce 
 rapport est un eclatant temoignage rendu a la 
 valeur des Franijais." 
 
 The total casualty return for the British Fleet 
 at Trafalgar, including killed and wounded and 
 drowned, sent in by Admiral CoUingwood, 
 amounted to 1,609 of all ranks and ratings. The 
 Spaniards made a careful estimate of their losses, 
 and officially stated them at 1,022 killed and 1,383 
 wounded, a total of 2,405 men ; in addition to be- 
 tween three and four thousand prisoners taken on 
 board the prizes. No official French casualty list 
 was ever made public, but as far as could be ascer- 
 tained at Cadiz after the battle, the French losses 
 in action, and on board the prizes that were ship- 
 wrecked after the battle, were 4,528 men — 3,373 
 killed and drowned, and 1,155 wounded. And 
 there were at least as many French prisoners as 
 Spanish. The monetary loss to the enemy by 
 their defeat at Trafalgar — the value in hard cash 
 of the nineteen ships with their stores lost by the 
 battle — CoUingwood himself estimated at four 
 millions sterling, " most of it," as he had sorrow- 
 fully to add, " gone to the bottom." No ships, of 
 course, were lost on our side, and only one (the 
 "Belleisle") was completely dismasted. Ten of 
 the British ships did not lose either a mast or a 
 
ALL THAT NAPOLEON SAID 375 
 
 yard, and in the rest the damage in this regard 
 was confined to the loss of a topmast in some 
 cases, and one or two yards in others. Not more 
 than ten at most suffered serious damage in hull, 
 and all were sufficiently seaworthy to last out the 
 storm and return to England.^ 
 
 Napoleon's one and only public reference to 
 Trafalgar was made six months afterwards ; on the 
 occasion of his Imperial Address to the Corps 
 L^gislatif on the 2nd of March, 1806. He gave 
 one sentence of his Speech from the Throne to it, 
 and not a word more: "Les tempetes nous ont 
 fait perdre quelques vaisseaux apres un combat im- 
 prudemment engag^." That was all.^ 
 
 * Admiral Togo's victory in the battle of the Sea of Japan cost the 
 victors 637 in casualties, of which only 113 were deaths, in or after 
 action. It cost the Russians, it has been estimated, from 7,000 to 
 12,000 in killed or drowned, and 4,600 in captured, while the value of 
 the ships destroyed and taken was upwards of 185,000,000 roubles, or, 
 roughly, £18,600,000 sterling. 
 
 ^ Incidentally Napoleon paid Nelson the remarkable tribute of 
 adopting his Trafalgar signal for the Imperial Navy. The Emperor, 
 within four months of Trafalgar, directed that the words, '^ La France 
 compte que chacun fera son devoir ! *' should be painted up promi- 
 nently on board every man-of-war in his navy. ^'It is the best of 
 lessons,*' he said to Decres, when giving the Minister of Marine the 
 order. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 V.E VICTIS:— THE HULKS AND THE 
 TRAGEDY OF RENNES 
 
 ADMIRAL VILLENEUVE himself was the 
 - first of the Trafalgar prisoners to be landed in 
 England. He was sent on in advance of the others ; 
 on board the "Euryalus," which brought also 
 CoUingwood's second despatch to the Admiralty, 
 with the captured flags ^ and the complete list of 
 casualties. Captain Blackwood left the ship off 
 the Lizard on Sunday morning, the 24th of No- 
 vember, proceeding to Falmouth in his barge, to 
 post thence to London, as Ijapenotiere of the 
 "Pickle" had done. By that means he gained some 
 days. After his departure, the " Euryalus " had a 
 stiff beat up Channel, only arriving at Spithead 
 on the forenoon of the 29th. Admiral Villeneuve 
 and Captain Magendie of the " Bucentaure " were 
 
 1 According to " The Naval and Military Sketchbook " (published 
 in 1845), the Nile and Trafalgar trophies were for years kept grouped 
 round the Nelson statue in St. Paul's ; those taken by Howe, St. 
 Vincent, and Duncan, also kept in the cathedral, were grouped round 
 the interior of the dome. All are stated to have been " removed to the 
 Painted Hall, Greenwich Hospital," but no date for the transfer 
 is given. All trace of them unfortunately is now lost. 
 
 376 
 
ADMIRAL VILLENEUVE AT PORTSMOUTH 377 
 
 landed at Gosport that afternoon ; their servants 
 and twenty-two other Frenchmen and Spaniards 
 brought to England in the ship, being transhipped 
 to the prison hulk " San Damaso " next day. 
 " Sent the French admiral and captain ashore " is 
 the matter-of-fact way in which the log of the 
 " Euryalus " records the landing of Captain Black- 
 wood's distinguished passengers. 
 
 The " descriptive reporter " had no place on the 
 staff of the newspaper of 1805, and a small-print 
 paragraph, among items of domestic interest, was 
 all that the news of the landing as a prisoner of 
 war of the enemy's Commander-in-Chief at Tra- 
 falgar was considered worth by the few editors who 
 noticed the event at all. This is what went the 
 round, copied from the "Hampshire Telegraph," 
 which first published the paragraph : — 
 
 " Admiral Villeneuve. — The Admiral was 
 landed on Friday morning at Gosport beach. He 
 was brought on shore by the Commissioner's barge 
 from the Euryalus frigate, lying at Spithead, 
 and walked through the town to the Crown Inn, 
 accompanied only by his second captain, Mar- 
 chande [sic], and Captain Taylor, of the Camilla 
 sloop-of-war. Admiral Villeneuve is well made, 
 and has a manly countenance, appears to be about 
 fifty years of age, and is between five feet eight 
 and nine inches high. He seems melancholy, but 
 not despondent, and is conscious of having done 
 his duty. He acknowledged several times on the 
 
378 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 Euryalus that it is altogether impossible for any 
 naval power to contend with that of England. 
 He speaks EngUsh but imperfectly. His captain, 
 Marchande, has been taken three times before, and 
 is a very spirited and excellent officer." 
 
 After stopping for the night at Portsmouth — 
 poor Villeneuve was in a terribly dejected mood, 
 and suffered so severely from spasms that a doctor 
 had to be called in — the French admiral and 
 Magendie were driven off in a postchaise to 
 Bishop's Waltham, where a house had been taken 
 for them by the British Government. There was 
 a depot for officers on parole at Bishop's Waltham. 
 Admiral Villeneuve, however, did not remain there 
 many days, more suitable quarters being allotted 
 to him and Magendie at Reading. There was 
 there a larger depot for paroled officers, and at 
 Reading Captain Lucas, and Infernet of the " In- 
 tr^pide," joined their chief. Leave to visit friends 
 in London on occasion was one of the privileges 
 accorded to senior officers interned at Reading, 
 and all four took advantage of it. Captain 
 Lucas, we are told, received many invitations, and 
 was made a sort of " lion " in London society, out 
 of compliment to his personal intrepidity at 
 Trafalgar. Infernet used from time to time to go 
 up to call on Mrs. Codrington in London ; his 
 uncouth politeness and sea-dog ways rather em- 
 barrassing the good lady sometimes, it would 
 appear. According to the " Hampshire Telegraph," 
 
HOW COLLINGWOOD DEALT WITH PRISONERS 379 
 
 also, "Admiral Villeneuve and Captain Magendie 
 were witnesses of Lord Nelson's funeral, having 
 received permission to be present." 
 
 Within a week of the "Euryalus" reaching 
 England the ships sent home by CoUingwood for 
 repairs began to arrive. Each brought on board 
 from 150 to 300 prisoners. All of these, practic- 
 ally, were Frenchmen. The Spanish prisoners 
 with very few exceptions had been put ashore at 
 Gibraltar, under the terms of the convention con- 
 cluded between CoUingwood and the authorities 
 at Cadiz in the week following the battle. Colhng- 
 wood expressed himself desirous of dealing with 
 his French captives in the same way — of landing 
 them also in Spain, on condition that they should 
 not serve afloat again until regularly exchanged 
 against a similar number of British prisoners, then 
 in captivity, or who might be taken later on ; — but 
 Admiral Rosily (who reached Cadiz on the 25th of 
 October, as has been said) had no power to accede 
 to any arrangement of the sort. So CoUingwood 
 had to send all his French prisoners to England, 
 except some of the wounded. These, to save them 
 from the sufferings of the voyage, were landed 
 with the Spaniards or sent on board the hospital 
 hulk in Gibraltar Bay. During November, accord- 
 ing to the official receipt given by the Spanish 
 Agent for prisoners, 210 officers and 4,589 seamen 
 and soldiers were released from on board the 
 British Fleet. The officers were thus classified : 
 
380 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 1 Rear- Admiral ; 1 Commodore ; 6 Senior Cap- 
 tains ; 2 Junior Captains ; 200 other Naval and 
 Military Officers. 
 
 In addition to these, there had been landed at 
 Cadiz 1,087 wounded Spaniards of all ranks, and 
 253 French officers and men ; who were exchanged 
 for British officers and men of the prize crews 
 made prisoners on the recapture of the "Santa 
 Ana " and the " Alge9iras " and " Neptuno," or 
 rescued off the " Bucentaure " and wrecked prizes 
 on the coast. 
 
 The general relations between the British garri- 
 son at Gibraltar and the Spaniards on the main- 
 land, it may be remarked in passing, were at 
 this time rather anomalous. The two nations 
 were at open war, and a land blockade of Gib- 
 raltar had been formally estabhshed ; with a camp 
 of from twelve thousand to fifteen thousand 
 Spanish troops — Walloon guards, infantry, and 
 artillery — facing the Rock, just beyond gunshot 
 of the Gibraltar batteries. Yet personal courtesies 
 constantly passed, and a modus vivendi had been 
 established between the officers on both sides, 
 enabling them to meet and fraternize cordially 
 from time to time. " Although Great Britain and 
 Spain were at war, and the Spanish Fleet was 
 co-operating with that of France against Nelson 
 and CoUingwood, there was much cordiality be- 
 tween the British officers at Gibraltar and the 
 
AT GIBRALTAR 381 
 
 Spaniards at Alge9iras and San Roque, and friendly 
 visits were frequently exchanged, it being a 
 common thing, after an attack by the Spaniards 
 on British vessels entering or leaving Gibraltar, for 
 the opposing officers to meet at dinner at the table 
 of either the British or Spanish general. The 
 friendliness of the Spaniards went to the extent of 
 permitting the formation of a race-course outside 
 the fortress, which was a great boon to the 
 garrison." ^ 
 
 Captain Codrington, of the Trafalgar " Orion," 
 in one of his letters home a little time after the 
 battle, describes a dinner-party at Gibraltar, given 
 by the Governor to General Castanos, the Spanish 
 Governor of Alge^iras; at the close of which 
 General Castanos, when shaking hands with him, 
 offered to send him, with the greatest pleasure, any 
 dehcacies he might fancy that Alge^iras afforded. 
 " It is hardly to be believed," Codrington goes on, 
 "that this intercourse, which certainly deserves 
 the name of friendly, should not interfere with the 
 hostile operations to which this place is more par- 
 ticularly subject. Whilst the Governor of Alge- 
 ziras (old Gibraltar) is dining with the Governor 
 of the Rock (new Gibraltar), or whilst the 
 Governor of the Rock, with one-half of the officers 
 and many of the private soldiers, is at a horse race 
 in Spain, the Algeziras gunboats are making an 
 
 ^ "History of the 67th Regiment/' Captain H. H. Woolwright, 
 p. 142. 
 
382 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 attack on a convoy coming in with supplies for 
 the garrison. I was actually, when last here, 
 standing with one of General Fox's aides-de-camp 
 in the Spanish lines observing the Spanish fire at 
 the * Beagle' sloop of war which happened to 
 come within range of their shot, with the same 
 apparent indifference as would have attended me 
 on seeing them attack a nation hostile to Eng- 
 land." 
 
 The French Trafalgar prisoners, for their part, 
 both officers and men, with a few Spaniards de- 
 tained for special reasons, were all conveyed to 
 England in batches; on board the ships of the 
 British Fleet ordered into port for repairs. These 
 numbered sixteen altogether, and they took their 
 prisoners to the dockyard ports to which each 
 ship belonged, to discharge them there into the 
 local war prisons, for disposal thence as the Trans- 
 port Board, which had charge of the arrange- 
 ments for the custody of prisoners of war, should 
 arrange. 
 
 This is how the French Trafalgar officers fared 
 in England as prisoners of war. On the arrival of 
 the ships of the Trafalgar fleet, the officers' paroles 
 were taken and they were sent off to their ap- 
 pointed places of residence ; to reside there at large, 
 until their regular exchanges might be effected 
 with the French Government. There was between 
 the combatant powers a regular tariff for the ex- 
 
WHAT WAS DONE WITH CAPTURED OFFICERS 383 
 
 change of naval officers. Officers might be either 
 exchanged direct, rank for rank, against the corre- 
 sponding grades in the enemy's service, or as a 
 set-ofF to the release of a certain number of lower 
 ratings. Midshipmen were reckoned each as the 
 equivalent of three seamen ; junior lieutenants of 
 four ; senior lieutenants of six ; commanders and 
 masters of eight seamen ; captains as a fair ex- 
 change for fifteen ; rear-admirals for thirty ; vice- 
 admirals for forty ; an admiral commander-in-chief 
 was counted as worth sixty men. In practice, 
 however, few exchanges were effected, owing to 
 Napoleon's persistent refusal, except in a few 
 isolated cases, to assent to any exchanges what- 
 ever. It meant for most of the unfortunate 
 Trafalgar prisoners, for both officers and men, 
 detention in Great Britain until the end of the 
 war.^ 
 
 On giving their parole not to attempt escape, 
 the officers were mostly interned in small country 
 towns throughout the south of England and the 
 Midlands. There they lived in lodgings and passed 
 the time as they liked, under certain restrictions ; 
 receiving a pittance by way of allowance from the 
 British Government. They might walk for one 
 
 1 In the eleven years between 1803 and 1814 some 122^000 French 
 prisoners were brought to England. Of these^ not more than 18 per 
 cent were paroled ; about 10 per cent died in captivity. The rest 
 remained in British hands until the peace, the cost of their mainten- 
 ance and the officers' allowances being recovered from France as part 
 of the war indemnity. 
 
384 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 mile outside their place of internment, but no 
 farther ; and they must keep to the turnpike roads. 
 Walking in lanes, or on cross-roads, was prohibited ; 
 and they had ordinarily to be in their lodgings 
 at sunset. In most places the townsfolk were well 
 disposed towards the unfortunate strangers, and 
 the local gentry as a rule showed them every 
 courtesy and hospitality. The enforcement of 
 penalties for any breaches of the regulations, by 
 fine, or in extreme cases by deportation in custody 
 to the nearest war prison, was in the hands of the 
 local justices. Breach of parole by attempting 
 escape meant arrest and being sent to the war 
 prison ; to be there confined under sentry among 
 the ordinary prisoners. Among the "cantonments" 
 or "depots," as the terms went, at which the 
 French Trafalgar officers found themselves in- 
 terned, were, for those landed at Portsmouth: 
 Bishop's Waltham (where there were nearly two 
 hundred accommodated), Alresford, Whitchurch, 
 Odiham, Winchester, Andover, and Reading. 
 Tavistock, Tiverton (where there were a hundred 
 and twenty), Ashburton, Okehampton, were the 
 chief depots for officers landed at Plymouth. Of 
 the officers landed at Chatham, a few were quar- 
 tered at Maidstone and Canterbury, but most were 
 sent into the Midlands. There were depots at 
 Chesterfield, Wisbech, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Lich- 
 field, Derby, Ashbourne, Leek, and elsewhere. 
 Some, indeed, were sent as far north as to Edin- 
 
PRISONERS OF WAR AT PORTSMOUTH 385 
 
 burgh Castle, Valleyfield, near Peebles, and 
 Perth.^ 
 
 The French seamen and soldiers taken at Trafal- 
 gar were lodged, as they were delivered in port, 
 either in the local war prisons, or on board the 
 hulks in harbour allotted for their reception. 
 
 At Portsmouth, during the first ten days of 
 December, the " Temeraire " and the " Mars," 
 " Colossus," " Tonnant," " Defiance," and " Sparti- 
 ate" discharged large contingents of prisoners. 
 They were divided between Porchester Castle, the 
 principal place of confinement, and able to accom- 
 modate altogether 8,000 men ; and Forton Prison, 
 close to Gosport, with quarters for 4,000 ; and in 
 the hulks, seven old men-of-war, moored head and 
 
 * Here is a "Gazette'' notice in connexion with an escape by 
 French officers, three of whom were at Trafalgar. 
 
 TRANSPORT-OFFICE, March 24, 1806. 
 
 WHEREAS the five French Prisoners of War, named and de- 
 scribed at foot hereof, have broken their -parole, and absconded 
 from the Towns of Thame in Oxfordshire, and Odiham in Hampshire. 
 The Commissioners for conducting his Majesty's Transport Service, 
 £0., do hereby give notice, that any person or persons, who shall 
 apprehend the said prisoners or either of them, and deliver them oi- 
 him at this Office, or otherwise cause them to be properly secured in 
 any of the Public Gaols, shall receive for each Prisoner, a REWARD 
 of TEN GUINEAS. A further Reward of TEN GUINEAS will 
 be paid to any person giving svxih Information as may be the means 
 of convicting any British Subject of aiding the said Prisoners of War, 
 or either of them, in effecting their escape. 
 
 FROM THAME. 
 
 VICTOR SERAIN, Enseigne de Vaisseau, 26 years of age, 5 feet 
 5 inches high, sUght person, long visage, swarthy complexion ; dark 
 brown hair, grey eyes, scar on his right eye. 
 
 ALEXANDER PERRAULT, Enseigne de Vaisseau, 20 years of 
 age, 5 ft. 6 in. high, slight person, long visage, fair complexion, 
 light brown hair, hazle eyes, ears pierced. 
 
 J. F. PELLETT, Second Lieutenant of the Wimereux French 
 Privateer, 31 years of age, 5 ft. 6 in. high, stout person, round 
 visage, fair complexion, light brown hair, blue eyes, ears pierced. 
 
 LE BOLLOCHE, Enseigne de Vaisseau, 23 years of 
 
 age, 5 ft. 7^ in. high, slight person, oval visage, fair complexion, 
 dark brown hair, hazle eyes, cut with a sword on the right leg, 
 marked with the small-pox. 
 
 FROM ODIHAM. 
 
 LOUIS DE BEAUSSET, Lieutenant in the Army, 32 years of 
 age, 5 ft. 5J in. high, slight person, oval visage, dark complexion, 
 brown hair, hazle eyes, marked with the small-pox slightly. 
 
 2 C 
 
386 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 stem in Porchester Lake, each fitted to receive 
 from 700 to 800 prisoners.^ 
 
 The men from Trafalgar were distributed among 
 the mass of other prisoners already under de- 
 tention at Portsmouth : — French soldiers from 
 San Domingo ; French, Spanish, and Dutch men- 
 of-war's men taken in half a hundred frigate 
 actions all the world over; privateersmen and 
 coaster crews by the hundred — who in 1805 
 furnished the bulk of the occupants of British 
 war prisons throughout the country. They were 
 divided up in batches ; so many to Porchester, so 
 many to Forton, so many to each hulk ; to keep 
 shipmates apart and prevent plottings that might 
 be dangerous. 
 
 A peculiarly vivid picture is in existence — over- 
 drawn in certain particulars and too highly coloured 
 here and there it may be, yet in the main faithful 
 and correct — of prison-ship life at Portsmouth at 
 the time that the Trafalgar prisoners were there, 
 set forth in Louis Garneray's "Mes Pontons." 
 The author, a writer and an artist of reputation in 
 later years, was captured on board a privateer, 
 and kept in durance for several years at Ports- 
 mouth and Bishop's Waltham. He and his ship- 
 
 ^ By the irony of fate for some of the unfortunates landed at 
 Portsmouth, two of the seven hulks there, on hoard which some of the 
 Trafalgar prisoners were lodged, were formerly French men-of-war, 
 and hore, lettered on their sterns, their original names — '' Le Pegase " 
 and " Le Prothee.'* One of the seven, also, was a captured Spanish war- 
 ship, the "San Damaso." 
 
"MES PONTONS" 387 
 
 mates were placed on board the "Prothee" in 
 Porchester Lake. 
 
 The sombre, forbidding, black mass of the hulk 
 as they approached, says Garneray, looked, at a 
 little distance, like "an immense sarcophagus." "Ce 
 sombre tombeau" he calls it also. Entering on 
 board between a double file of soldiers, the new- 
 comers were abruptly hustled below, among the 
 former arrivals, who seemed "like the dead just 
 out of their graves " ; hollow-eyed, with pale and 
 haggard faces, bowed backs, dishevelled, and with 
 ragged, unkempt beards, dressed in scanty yellow 
 garments, emaciated and feeble-looking. He him- 
 self was at once taken charge of by two of the 
 guards, stripped and made to take a chilly bath. 
 Then he had to put on the same garb as the 
 others ; a coarse shirt, and orange-yellow vest and 
 breeches, both too small for him, and stamped in 
 immense black letters " T.O." (Transport Office). 
 Next the prisoners' names and descriptions were 
 taken, and their quarters on board apportioned 
 them. 
 
 The seven to eight hundred prisoners on board 
 were allowed on deck during the daytime in the 
 waist, says Garneray; the space at their disposal 
 being 44 ft. by 38 ft. " The Park " was the name 
 that the prisoners, with sardonic humour, gave to 
 their airing place. They might use a small space 
 on the forecastle also, but the galley funnels 
 opened there, and it was practically impossible to 
 
388 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 avoid the smoke. At night all were locked up in 
 two divisions of between three and four hundred 
 men each, on the lower and main decks ; the space 
 available for each division being 120 ft. long, 40 ft. 
 wide, and 6 ft. high. They had to pack so close 
 that the hammocks were hung in two tiers, with 
 only a few inches between the upper and lower 
 tiers. Some men slept on the deck, as a third row. 
 The heat and stench, describes Gameray, were 
 indescribable ; almost insupportable. They had to 
 strip to sleep. The candles in the lanterns often 
 went out for want of oxygen. The British officers, 
 the naval lieutenant in charge, master, and the 
 warrant officers, with the lieutenant in command 
 of the fifty soldiers on board, and servants, with 
 the main-guard on duty for the day, were quar- 
 tered aft. The remainder of the soldiers, with 
 the twenty-five seamen and ship's boys forming 
 the crew of the hulk, lived forward. Their quar- 
 ters were stoutly barricaded off by bulkheads 
 studded with huge iron nails ; loopholes being cut 
 in the bulkheads for musketry, and ports for a 
 couple of guns, which were kept pointed to sweep 
 the decks with case shot in case of trouble. 
 Sentries were on duty on board by day at all 
 points, and during the night the prisoners were 
 constantly visited by rounds and kept under con- 
 tinuous supervision. The hulk was carefully ex- 
 amined every evening against attempts to break 
 out, and the prisoners paraded on deck and 
 
THE FOOD ON BOARD THE HULKS 389 
 
 counted one by one, "comme on compte des 
 moutons." 
 
 The food, undoubtedly, was the great grievance 
 on board. In Garneray's words: "C'etait la que 
 se developpait sans contrainte la haine que nous 
 portaient les Anglais." The dietary, he tells us, 
 was coarse, insufficient, and repugnant. One and 
 a quarter pounds of dark bread and seven ounces 
 of "cow beef" was each man's ration; with a 
 modicum of barley and onions for soup for each 
 mess of four. Once a week the issue was a pound 
 of red herring with a pound of potatoes ; on 
 another day, salt cod in lieu of herring. Poor as 
 the allowance was, the rogues of contractors who 
 victualled the hulks often gave short weight, or 
 sent on board uneatable stuff. The herrings, 
 indeed, describes Garneray, were often sold back 
 to the contractor at a nominal price, to re- 
 appear again as another day's ration. The very 
 same herrings, he declares, did duty for eight years I 
 The salt cod could be eaten, he says ; but the bread 
 was like lead, and was constantly of short weight. 
 A complaint meant going without anything until 
 the evening, when the officer of the day heard 
 complaints. The drinking water was brought along- 
 side in casks by small boats and pumped on board 
 the hulk by the prisoners themselves. Apart 
 from the stories, authentic in some cases, of the 
 dogs of British officers paying a call on board, 
 being decoyed below, killed, and turned into cut- 
 
390 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 lets, while their late masters were talking aft, it 
 is the fact that the rats in the hold were as a 
 regular thing fished for with hooks baited with 
 bits of beef, and caught and cooked and eagerly 
 devoured. Gambling was a favourite means of 
 passing the time ; the usual stakes being the poor 
 wretches' rations. One man at Porchester, it is on 
 record, lost his rations for eight days running and 
 died of starvation. 
 
 It was in the land prisons, for the most part, 
 that the captives had space and opportunities for 
 turning out the knick-knacks and fancy ornaments 
 that one sometimes nowadays comes across in 
 museums and private collections, carved out of 
 beef-bones and plaited with the straw from their 
 mattresses — chess-men, ship-models, filigree boxes, 
 and so forth — by means of which they were able 
 to make a little money for extra "luxuries" to 
 their rations, out of the sightseers who were 
 allowed within the precincts on certain days. 
 
 At Chatham the prisoners were brought in by 
 the "Victory," "Defence," "Leviathan," "Con- 
 queror," and " Revenge " ; each of which, on enter- 
 ing the Medway, sent her contingent directly on 
 board the four hulks which constituted the local 
 war prison. Of these, the biggest hulk was an old 
 three-decker, the "Sandwich," fitted to take on 
 board upwards of twelve hundred men. The 
 others were three obsolete seventy-fours, the 
 
AMID THE MARSHES OF THE MEDWAY 391 
 
 " Buckingham," " Bristol," and " Rochester." ' The 
 Medway establishment was reckoned capable of 
 taking between three and four thousand prisoners 
 in all. As in due course fresh prisoners came to 
 hand, earlier arrivals were sent round by sea to 
 Yarmouth, to be thence marched inland to the 
 central depots at Weedon in Northamptonshire,^ 
 and Norman Cross, near Yaxley, in Huntingdon- 
 shire, this last a huge establishment covering forty 
 acres of ground, where six thousand prisoners in 
 all were confined under a strong guard of yeo- 
 manry and two regiments of militia. Thither in 
 due course many of the Trafalgar prisoners 
 found their way. Of those who remained, many 
 died on board the Medway hulks. They were 
 buried in the marshes beside St. Mary's Creek, 
 opposite Gillingham, in a strip of ground, out of 
 the way and forgotten until a few years ago, when, 
 during some excavations in connexion with Chat- 
 ham Dockyard, their bones were unearthed. The 
 remains were reverently collected and reinterred, 
 in the presence of the French naval attache in 
 England, within a railed-in enclosure two hundred 
 feet square, laid out with flower-beds, shrubs, and 
 gravel paths. In the centre the Admiralty had 
 
 ^ To these during 1806 were added two of the four prizes made at 
 Trafalgar which survived the storm — the " Bahama " and the French 
 '* Swiftsure " (renamed hy us the '^ Irresistible ''). They were both 
 made prison hulks of, and the Chatham establishment was enlarged up 
 to 5,000 men. 
 
 2 The remains of Weedon Prison were only destroyed three or four 
 years ago. 
 
392 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 a memorial of stone erected ; comprising, on a raised 
 pedestal, a finely carved female figure in armour, 
 cloaked and holding in her hand an inverted torch, 
 the figure being surmounted by a canopy of stone, 
 also fittingly carved and decorated. A granite 
 panel was placed on one face of the pedestal with 
 this inscription in gilt letters : — 
 
 Here are gathered together 
 
 The remains of many brave soldiers and sailors 
 
 Who having once been the foes and afterwards 
 
 The captives of England^ 
 
 Now find rest in her soil. 
 
 Remembering no more the animosities of war, or 
 
 The sorrows of imprisonment. 
 
 They were deprived of the consolation of closing 
 
 Their eyes 
 
 Among the countrymen they loved. 
 
 But they have been laid in an honoured grave 
 
 By a nation which knows how to respect valour 
 
 And to sympathise with misfortune. 
 
 Recently, owing to further dockyard extensions, 
 the remains, as well as the memorial, have been 
 moved to a selected space in front of the Royal 
 Naval Barracks at Chatham. 
 
 The "Royal Sovereign,"" Belleisle,"and "Bellero- 
 phon," with the "Conqueror" and "Achille," 
 landed their contingents of Trafalgar prisoners 
 at Plymouth, to be distributed between the old 
 Mill Bay Prison, where there were kept ordinarily 
 from from four to five thousand prisoners, and 
 among the eight hulks then in the Hamoaze. 
 
»»'.»» » » 
 
 Hoppey Turner] 
 
 PRISON HULKS AT PORTSMOUTH IN 1806 
 
 [The original painting was exhibited at the Royal Naval Exhibition at Chelsea, in 1891, 
 by 5lessrs. E. and E. Emanuel, Portsea, by whose kind permission it is here repro- 
 duced] 
 
 DARTMOOR WAR I'KISON C.ATEWAV 
 
 To face p. 392 
 
MANY SENT TO DARTMOOR 393 
 
 A large number of the Plymouth prisoners, and 
 the Trafalgar captives among them, were later 
 transferred to Dartmoor War Prison. Mill Bay- 
 Prison was closed not long afterwards, and the rest 
 of the prisoners on shore at Plymouth were dis- 
 tributed between Stapleton Prison, near Bristol, 
 where normally 5,000 were detained, and Norman 
 Cross. ^ 
 
 Very little is on record of the life in England 
 of the Trafalgar prisoners. Napoleon had his 
 reasons for keeping most of them where they 
 were. Beyond some half-dozen officers, not a single 
 one apparently was granted an exchange, and they 
 had to endure their lot to the end, until the peace 
 of 1814. The officers, sick at heart with hope 
 deferred, their careers cut short, their prospects of 
 
 ^ A few years ago the remains of a number of French prisoners were 
 disinterred during some digging operations in Athenaeum Street^ Ply- 
 mouth. They were buried with befitting marks of respect in Ply- 
 mouth Cemetery. At Dartmoor, some little time after the present 
 convict establishment was inaugurated there, one of the governors of 
 the prison had the old, neglected resting-place of the deceased 
 prisoners of war attended to, and the remains there properly reinterred 
 and memorials erected ; one to Frenchmen and one to the American 
 prisoners (taken in the war of 1812) who were also quartered at Dart- 
 moor. The inscription in each case runs : '* In memory of the French " 
 (or " American '') '' prisoners of war who died in Dartmoor prison be- 
 tween the years 1809 and 1814, and are buried here. 'Dulce et 
 decorum est pro patria mori."' The outer gateway of the modem 
 penal establishment stands to this day as a memorial of the time when 
 the great place of confinement held worthier inmates. It is an arch- 
 way composed of five huge granite slabs, on the topmost of which, 
 deeply incised, is the legend — impressive, no doubt, but poor enough 
 in its consolation to those compelled to pass inside — ^'Parcere 
 subjectis." 
 
394 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 promotion blighted, separated from friends and 
 home, without hearing a word from one year's end 
 to another, strangers in a strange land, had to drag 
 out their monotonous existence as best they could, 
 amid the dull surroundings of the English country 
 towns in which they were interned. For the men 
 it meant nine interminable years of caged exist- 
 ence : behind the sentry-watched palisades of 
 Forton, or herded together within the keep of 
 Porchester, with dreary mud-flats on three sides, 
 and the bald, featureless mass of Portsdown at the 
 back ; cramped up in overcrowded hulks amid the 
 desolate marshes of the Medway ; or chilled to the 
 marrow for nine months of the year in " Siberian 
 exile " (as Napoleon termed it) on the wind-swept 
 uplands of Dartmoor ; or in the little less cheerless 
 barrack gaols of Stapleton and Weedon, or bleak 
 and barren Norman Cross. 
 
 There remains but one thing more to close the 
 account. The enemy's story of Trafalgar ends 
 with the passing bell for Admiral Villeneuve. 
 
 Admiral Villeneuve was released in April, 1806, 
 after a little more than five months' captivity, 
 counting from the date of his surrender; in ex- 
 change for four British post-captains, according to 
 the regulation rate of exchange. His departure 
 was made very quietly, and was unnoticed. Accom- 
 panied only by his servant, he left Reading for 
 the Sussex coast and crossed in a small boat, 
 
ADMIRAL VILLENEUVE ARRIVES AT RENNES 395 
 
 which landed him at Morlaix in Brittany. From 
 Morlaix Villeneuve wrote to the Minister of 
 Marine, reporting his arrival in France, and asking 
 for instructions. He would await Decres' reply, 
 he said, at Kennes ; and proposed after that to 
 proceed to Paris, where he trusted he would have 
 an opportunity of personally making an official 
 statement to His Imperial Majesty. 
 
 Villeneuve then went on to Rennes and put up 
 at the Hotel de la Patrie until the courier from 
 the Ministry of Marine should arrive. From a 
 newspaper he learned that Captains Lucas and 
 Infernet, who had been exchanged a few weeks 
 previously, had both been promoted to the rank of 
 rear-admiral, and were to be received in audience 
 by the Emperor at St. Cloud. He wrote to 
 Lucas at once, congratulating him heartily, and 
 sending his compliments to Infernet. Then he 
 added a request of his own in regard to his inten- 
 tions. He had before him, said Admiral Ville- 
 neuve, the painful duty of naming those whose 
 conduct at Trafalgar had nullified his plans and led 
 to the destruction of the fleet and the humiUation 
 of the national flag. His own personal justification, 
 the highest interests of the service, the honour of 
 France and of the Imperial Navy in particular, 
 required imperatively that he should insist on a 
 full inquiry and punishments. He proposed to call 
 on him (Captain Lucas), as a witness before the 
 Court of Inquiry, and he earnestly hoped that 
 
396 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 Lucas would be able to remain a few days longer 
 in Paris, so that he might meet him there. That 
 letter, the authenticity of which there is no reason 
 to doubt, shows at least the frame of mind in which 
 Villeneuve was when he arrived at Rennes. His 
 mood, however, would seem to have changed within 
 a day or two. 
 
 No reply came from Decres ; and, surprised and 
 anxious at the Minister of Marine's ominous 
 silence, Admiral Villeneuve passed into a state 
 of nervous depression that culminated in deep 
 dejection. Decres, it has been said, purposely 
 deferred his answer, for reasons of his own ; being 
 unwiUing also to compromise his own position with 
 the Emperor. Villeneuve's case, he reasoned, in 
 Napoleon's present mood towards the unfortunate 
 admiral, was hopeless. No letter from the Minister 
 of Marine had arrived at Rennes by the evening 
 of the 21st of April. 
 
 Next morning the hapless French admiral was 
 found dead in bed, with six stabs in his chest. 
 
 What took place in the death-chamber, in what 
 circumstances Admiral Villeneuve came by his 
 end, has never been made exactly clear. An ugly 
 rumour of foul play got about soon after the news 
 of his death was made pubhc. According to the 
 story which had a wide vogue all over the Con- 
 tinent and in England, it was a case of midnight 
 murder, to serve Napoleon's purposes and prevent 
 
THE POLICE HOLD AN INQUIRY 397 
 
 disclosures as to the true state of the fleet sent 
 to its doom at Trafalgar. An elaborate tale went 
 the round, of mysterious strangers arriving at the 
 Hotel de la Patrie late on the evening of the 
 21st and disappearing before next morning. They 
 were in civilian clothes, but for all that were 
 really gendarmes, charged with special instruc- 
 tions from Barrere, Prefect of the Secret Police of 
 St. Cloud. The body, said the account, was found 
 stabbed to the heart and lying face downwards on 
 the bed ; resting on the handle of the knife with 
 which the deed was done : in an impossible position 
 except in a case of murder/ In Paris the mot, 
 which first went the round on the occasion of the 
 death of Pichegru, was heard again: "How un- 
 fortunate Napoleon really is : all his enemies die of 
 their own accord ! " As far as is known, however, 
 it actually was a case of suicide. 
 
 The circumstances of the affair were investigated 
 on the day after the discovery by M. Mounier, the 
 Prefect of the Department of He et Vilaine, an 
 official of integrity and reputation, assisted by 
 Colonel of Artillery Camas and two juges de 
 paix. The post-mortem, held that forenoon, was 
 conducted by three medical men. The proces- 
 verbal drawn up by the head of the Rennes police, 
 
 * Later a report even got about in the French Navy that Captain 
 Magendie himself assassinated the admiral at Decres' instigation. It 
 was circulated so widely that in 1814 Magendie thought it advisable 
 to publish a '^ Memoire " in self-defence. {" Victoires et Conquetes^" 
 vi. p. 193.) 
 
398 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 went to show that the admiral was found dead, 
 undressed, and lying on the bed on his back. 
 There were five wounds in the chest, and a sixth 
 with a knife sticking in it, driven home to the 
 hilt. It was an ordinary table-knife, which the 
 admiral might have kept back after his supper. 
 The room door was locked, and the key was on 
 the inside. Villeneuve's servant was examined, 
 and stated that his master had appeared strange in 
 his manner for two or three days previously. So 
 much so, indeed, that he, the servant, had thought 
 it advisable to draw the charges from his pistols. 
 How the admiral had secreted the knife the 
 servant could not explain. He hazarded the con- 
 jecture, from something his master had said, that 
 he had applied for an audience of the Emperor and 
 been refused. 
 
 The proces-verbal proceeded to state that on the 
 table in the room was found a letter addressed to 
 Madame Villeneuve, the admiral's wife. Beside 
 it were some packets of money, each with the sum 
 marked on it in the admiral's handwriting, and 
 the name of the person for whom it was intended. 
 In the admiral's baggage were found Villeneuve's 
 telescope, labelled "A I'intrdpide Infernetl"; and 
 his speaking trumpet, labelled " Pour toi, brave 
 Lucas 1 " 
 
 The admiral's letter to his wife was in the 
 following terms. 
 
HIS LAST LETTER TO HIS WIFE 399 
 
 " Rennes, le 21 avril 1806. 
 
 " A Madame Villeneuve, nee Dantoine, 
 a Valensole ( Basses- Alpes). 
 
 "Ma tendre amie, comment recevras-tu ce 
 coup ? Helas, je pleure plus sur toi que sur moi. 
 C'en est fait, j'en suis arrive au terme ou la vie 
 est un opprobre et la mort un devoir. Seul ici, 
 frappe d'anatheme par I'empereur, repousse par 
 son ministre, qui fut mon ami, charg^ d'une res- 
 ponsabilite immense dans un desastre qui m'est 
 attribu^, et auquel la fatalite m'a entraine, je dois 
 mourir I Je sais que tu ne peux gouter aucune 
 apologie de mon action. Je t'en demande pardon, 
 mille fois pardon, mais elle est n^cessaire et j'y 
 suis entraine par le plus violent d^sespoir. Vis 
 tranquUle, emprunte les consolations des doux 
 sentiments de religion qui t'animent; mon espe- 
 rance est que tu y trouveras un repos qui m'est 
 refuse. Adieu I adieu I s^che les larmes de ma 
 famille et de tous ceux auxquels je puis etre 
 cher. Je voulais finir, je ne puis. Quel bon- 
 heur que je n'aie aucun enfant pour recueillir 
 mon horrible heritage et qui soit charge au poids 
 de mon nom ! Ah I je n'etais pas n^ pour un 
 pareil sort; je ne I'ai pas cherche, j'y ai ete 
 entraine malgre moi. Adieu ! adieu ! 
 
 " Villeneuve." 
 
400 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 Prefect Mounier and his colleagues in the com- 
 mission, with all the evidence, both police and 
 medical, before them, recorded as their finding, 
 "Death from self-inflicted wounds." They for- 
 warded all the documents, with the admiral's 
 baggage and his private papers and other personal 
 belongings, to Paris for the Minister of Police, 
 Fouche, to arrange as to their disposition. The 
 body of the ill-fated admiral was buried at night, 
 without miUtary honours being rendered. 
 
 Villeneuve's letter to his wife was kept back in 
 Paris. The rest of the papers found, and the 
 admiral's personal property, were handed over to 
 the family. Pouchd, after what he called " a hasty 
 examination," forwarded everything to Decres as 
 " useless to the police " ; with this proviso : Most 
 of the admiral's private papers, he said, ought to 
 be sent to Madame Villeneuve. He would, how- 
 ever, for himself, draw the Minister of Marine's par- 
 ticular attention to one letter — that written by 
 "Rear -Admiral" Villeneuve shortly before his 
 suicide. It tended to show his motives in the act. 
 That letter should be returned by Madame Ville- 
 neuve after perusal ; or at least an authenticated 
 copy of it should be made, " afin de pouvoir," in 
 Fouch^'s own words, "sil y avait lieu, etre k 
 meme de d^truire les bruits qu'on pourrait essayer 
 de r^pandre sur le genre de mort de cet ancien 
 general." Decres thought it best not to forward 
 the letter at all. He replied that he had eighteen 
 
REPUDIATED BY THE FAMILY 401 
 
 other papers of Villeneuve's which he would add 
 to what had been found, and, with the exception 
 of the letter to the widow, would hand all over to 
 the family. As to the letter, he said, Villeneuve's 
 brothers had learnt of the existence of such a 
 document, and had desired him to suppress it. 
 He proposed to have a copy made and supplied to 
 M. Jules de Villeneuve, the elder brother, retaining 
 the original at the Ministry of Marine. The letter 
 remained a secret to the world, outside the Ville- 
 neuve family — who with one accord at the time 
 (as they have done ever since), declined to accept 
 its authenticity — until 1828, nearly a quarter of a 
 century after Trafalgar. Then it saw the light in 
 the thirty-sixth volume of "Annales Maritimes," 
 an official compilation published in Paris under the 
 auspices of the Ministry of Marine. 
 
 An extraordinary letter,^ addressed to the Em- 
 peror by Admiral Villeneuve, is said to have been 
 found also in the dead admiral's room. The 
 whereabouts of the original is unknown. The only 
 copy in existence was discovered a few years ago 
 among the private papers of Sir Arthur Paget, 
 who in 1805 was British Envoy Extraordinary 
 and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of 
 Vienna, and Pitt's principal agent in effecting the 
 formation of the coalition against Napoleon which 
 
 1 The letter is quoted in full in the second volume of " The Paget 
 Papers/' pp. 278-82. 
 a D 
 
402 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 failed so disastrously at Austerlitz. How it came 
 into the ambassador's possession is unknown, and 
 grave doubt has been cast on its authenticity; 
 for one thing in view of the fact that it bristles 
 with phrases no seaman could have used, while 
 others of its expressions no Frenchman, certainly 
 no man of Villeneuve's culture, could have penned. 
 The date at the head of the letter, "Avril 6," is of 
 itself suspicious. On that day Villeneuve was 
 crossing the Channel. He did not reach Rennes 
 until the afternoon of the 17th. Also the signa- 
 ture "De" Villeneuve is curious, as the admiral 
 had for years discarded the particle nobiliaire. 
 
 If authentic, it disposes, once for all, of ques- 
 tions as to the admiral's sanity and as to whether 
 or not he committed suicide. It had lain for 
 years among Sir Arthur Paget's papers, as he 
 himself originally put it away. The document 
 which, as found, was endorsed " Copie d'une 
 lettre de I'Amiral Villeneuve a Bonaparte, ecrite 
 la matinee de son suicide," expresses throughout 
 the most intense hatred for Napoleon and his 
 "creatures," whose "incapacity and pride" were 
 the cause of the ruin of the French Navy. This 
 resum6 will give a fair idea of its contents : — 
 
 Addressing the Emperor as "Monsieur," the 
 letter opens by referring Napoleon to Villeneuve's 
 interview with Decr^s at the Ministry of Marine, 
 when the command of the fleet at Toulon was 
 first offered to him. He refused flatly, says 
 
 i 
 
HE SENT IN HIS RESIGNATION FIVE TIMES 403 
 
 the writer, to be La Touche Treville's successor, 
 because he felt convinced that only disaster awaited 
 so ill-conceived and risky a venture. "J'etois 
 persuade alors que chaqu un qui dirrigeroit I'avan- 
 turiere et mauvaise expedition de la flotte unie 
 Fran9aise et Espagnole, seroit battu honteuse- 
 ment, si meme elle auroit la fortune de sauver 
 sa vie d'une bataille qui contre un ennemi lequel 
 couvre toutes les Mers de ses batiments etoit 
 inevitable." These, the writer affirms, were his 
 actual words ("mot pour mot les paroles que j'ai 
 dit") to the Minister of Marine. 
 
 After his first arrival at Cadiz to pick up 
 Gravina, he goes on, he tendered his resignation — 
 "J'ai envoye avec ma premiere Depeche ma pre- 
 miere resignation " — which, he also adds, he again 
 tendered on three occasions ; from Martinique, 
 from Ferrol, and once more from Cadiz, on being 
 ordered to return to the Mediterranean. He 
 obeyed that order, but, before sailing, he once more 
 repeated to the Minister of Marine his original 
 apprehensions as to the utter hopelessness of the 
 move, and for the fifth time expressed his wish 
 to be relieved of his command : — " Ma forte resolu- 
 tion de renoncer a un Poste perilleux ou vain- 
 queur ou vaincu auquel je serois incapable d'etre 
 utile." 
 
 Why, he then asks, were his Trafalgar despatches 
 suppressed ; kept out of the " Moniteur," while a 
 ready ear was lent to those who had anything to 
 
404 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 say against him ? " L'infortune de Trafalgar," he 
 says, "ne doit pas etre attribuee a quelque faute 
 ou manque de courage, et je Fai assez prouve dans 
 ma Note Officielle sur la bataille de Mer ; pourquoi 
 a-t-on refuse la place a cette Note dans le Moni- 
 teur ? En attendant, les injures et accusations de 
 mes ennemis et de mes envieux y ont ete revues." 
 
 Proceeding, he taxes Napoleon with having used 
 language towards him tantamount to a sentence of 
 death. "Vous meme," he tells the Emperor, 
 " lorsque vous recutes ma Note Officielle, pendant 
 votre heureuse et ambitieuse expedition en AUe- 
 magne, disiez avec votre petulance barbare: 'Je 
 vois qu'il faut absolument un example d'un brigand 
 Fran^ais pour faire d'une victoire de ma puissance 
 sur Mer une journaliere.' Mille voix repetoient 
 cette expression, et la sentence de mort insensible 
 qu'un usurpateur etranger pronon^a contre un 
 amiral Fran9ais patriote; et en attendant on ne 
 prit aucune connoissance de ma Depeche, on 
 n'entendoit rien d'elle ; elle n'a pas meme 4t6 lue." 
 This sharp home-thrust follows as to the reason 
 for withholding the despatch: "Cette Depeche 
 contenoit vraiment quelques Veritas am^res, qui 
 n'auroient pas contributes k mettre vos capacit^s 
 nautiques dans un lustre brillant, mais au con- 
 traire, d^montroient que celui dont Fincapacit^ et 
 orgeuil a caus^ la perte d'une flotte Fran9aise a 
 Aboukir, etoit aussi la cause de la destruction d'une 
 autre k Trafalgar." 
 
WOULD HAVE RID THE WORLD OF NAPOLEON 405 
 
 The remainder of the letter, which takes up 
 several pages, is devoted mainly to a series of bitter 
 personal attacks on Napoleon himself and on his 
 family, and a general indictment of " les compUces 
 de sa mechancete, Dues, Marechaux et Chevaliers," 
 who had ruined and enslaved the nation for their 
 own private ends and gain ; battening on victories 
 which had been obtained " par le sang le plus pur, 
 et par les tresors les plus nobles de la France." 
 "During the tyranny which you have practised 
 throughout these years, my country and its alUes 
 have already lost more ships of war than the 
 Royal Navy possessed during the greater part of 
 the reign of Louis XIV and XV, and if my 
 country were to endure much longer the curse of 
 subjection to your iron sceptre, its naval power 
 would soon be brought down to as low a level as 
 that to which its commerce by sea has already 
 sunk, and its ports will only contain shameless 
 pirates and merchants reduced to beggary." 
 
 An amazing threat is given vent to. He him- 
 self, declares the writer, as the letter draws towards 
 its close, had designed to rid the world of Napo- 
 leon, " The Order sent to me from your Ministers 
 not to approach the Capital without their permis- 
 sion has deferred for a time your punishment, and 
 the deliverance of the human race from its 
 scourge ! " [" a prolonge encore I'espace de votre 
 punition et la delivration du genre humain de son 
 fleau."] " Had it not been for that order, I would 
 
406 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 undoubtedly have removed you from among living 
 men ! " [" Je vous aurois sans doute eflPace du 
 nombre des vivans."] "Resolved as I am not to 
 survive the destruction of the Fleet of France, I 
 would have accomplished it before laying hands on 
 myself, bereft at your instance as I have been of 
 my honour, opportunity of duty, social position, 
 and my character." 
 
 The writer concludes with this outburst by way 
 of peroration : " Tremble, tyrant ! You live 
 abhorred. You shall die beneath the weight 
 of the world's curse, which shall pursue you be- 
 yond the tomb ! " " Tremble, Tyran ! " — are the 
 words actually used, — " tu vis abhorr^, tu mourra 
 sous le poid du blaspheme de tout le monde qui te 
 poursuivra encore au dela de ton tombeau. 
 
 " De Villeneuve." 
 
 With one detail more the story of the final 
 phase of Trafalgar on the enemy's side reaches its 
 termination. Minister of Marine Decres did not 
 forget the widow of his old-time messmate, left 
 as she was in poverty. At the first convenient 
 opportunity he, of his own initiative apparently, 
 laid before Napoleon a personal appeal, asking that 
 a pension in accordance with her late husband's 
 rank should be granted to Madame Villeneuve. 
 It was two and a half years after Trafalgar, in 
 April, 1808, before Admiral Decres felt himself in 
 a position to broach the matter to the Emperor ; 
 
MADAME VILLENEUVE'S PENSION 407 
 
 and even after that interval he had difficulty, it 
 would seem, in arousing the Imperial sympathy 
 for the wife of " le vaincu de Trafalgar." He put 
 the case as strongly as he could. All said and 
 done, wrote Decres, in laying the matter before 
 Napoleon, in spite of his last campaign and un- 
 happy end, Villeneuve was a brave officer and a 
 worthy servant of the Empire. He had performed 
 numerous services of importance, and his personal 
 devotion to Napoleon was well known.^ None 
 could gainsay the worth of his character, " le senti- 
 ment d'honneur qu'il portait jusqu' a I'exaltation." 
 The Minister of Marine suggested that a pension 
 of six thousand francs should be bestowed on 
 Madame Villeneuve, It had been done, he pointed 
 out, in the case of Madame Bruix, the widow of 
 the vice-admiral in command of the Boulogne 
 Flotilla in 1805. Both officers had been, remarked 
 Decres, of the same grade. Napoleon, though, was 
 not disposed to be generous in the present case. 
 After some hesitation he yielded to the pleadings 
 of Decres, but at the same time he put his pen 
 through the Minister of Marine's figures, cutting 
 down the proposed pension by a third, and making 
 Madame Villeneuve's grant four thousand francs. 
 
 1 "Vn brave militaire et un digne serviteur de Votre Majeste" 
 were the words Decres used. He would hardly have said that had 
 Villeneuve's hand penned the letter in the Paget Papers. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII 
 SINCE TRAFALGAR 
 
 SINCE Trafalgar both France and Spain have 
 recognised their indebtedness to some of 
 those who in adverse circumstances vahantly up- 
 held the honour of the flag and did their best. 
 
 France — "aux braves hommes la Patrie recon- 
 naissante " — has placed the names of four Trafalgar 
 officers, Magon (underlined, as that of an officer 
 killed in action), Cosmao, Lucas, and Infernet, 
 on the Arc de Triomphe, and the memories of 
 three of these four officers also have been pre- 
 served in the names of men-of-war of the French 
 Navy. There is a " Redoutable " in the French 
 Navy to-day, also an " Intr^pide," an " Indompt- 
 able," a "Formidable," a "Neptune," and an 
 "Argonaute," all named after ships that fought 
 at Trafalgar. 
 
 In Spain, the other victim of the "stricken 
 field," it was taken as an honour to have been 
 vanquished by so renowned an antagonist ; to have 
 gone down in fair fight before Nelson. Spanish 
 honour was more than satisfied. Exclaimed Ad- 
 
 408 
 
"I AM GOING TO JOIN NELSON!" 409 
 
 miral Gravina, the mortally wounded Spanish 
 Commander-in-Chief, when he was on his death- 
 bed : " I am a dying man, but I die happy ; I am 
 going, I hope and trust, to join Nelson, the greatest 
 hero that the world perhaps has produced ! "^ He 
 died in the arms of his brother, Archbishop 
 Gravina of Nicea, his eyes fixed on a crucifix held 
 close before him, and with these words — it was said 
 at the funeral service — on his Ups : " Rey immortal 
 de los siglos : quien os hubiesa serviedo con aquel 
 zelo y eficacia con que he servido a los Reyes 
 de la tierra ! " Compare with that Nelson's last 
 words in the cockpit of the "Victory": "Thank 
 God, I have done my duty ! " 
 
 To this day, the visitor to the Armeria Real 
 in Madrid will find the name "Trafalgar" in- 
 scribed on the roll of famous days on which Spain's 
 bravest and best have done their duty; and the 
 giving of the name " Calle Trafalgar " to one of the 
 streets of the capital shows also that Spain was by 
 no means conscious of disgrace at the way in which 
 her sons had borne themselves in defeat. She was 
 not then, and she is not now. Speaking only the 
 other day of the Trafalgar centenary, a modern 
 Spanish writer, an officer of rank, referred to the 
 occasion as " El centenario de la gloriosa pagina 
 de nuestra Marina." 
 
 1 Related by Sir James Fellowes (then Dr. Fellowes)^ who visited 
 Gravina a day or two before his death, to Lady Malmesbury, and re- 
 corded in the "Diary of the first Earl of Malmesbury,'' vol. IV, 
 p. 364. 
 
410 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 No fewer than six pictures, illustrative of inci- 
 dents of Trafalgar, hang in the Museo Naval at 
 Madrid, in addition to portraits of the admirals 
 and most of the captains present in the battle. 
 Their swords and pistols are also exhibited 
 there, together with Gravina's shot-torn flag 
 and cocked hat and sword, of which previous 
 mention has been made; with, as has also been 
 said, models of certain of the ships in Ad- 
 miral Gravina's fleet. In addition, on the walls of 
 the gallery specially dedicated to "Reliquias de 
 marinos celebres y muertos en combate," is dis- 
 played a finely executed memorial tablet, on 
 which are inscribed, " Para eterna memoria," the 
 names of all the officers who fell in action at Tra- 
 falgar, or died of their wounds after "aquella 
 glorissisima derrota." 
 
 Immediately after Trafalgar, as has been said, 
 Gravina — then lying in hospital in Cadiz — was 
 promoted " Capitan General de la Armada " (a rank 
 equivalent to our own "Admiral of the Fleet"), 
 and every other officer engaged in the battle, down 
 to the junior " guardia marina," or midshipman, was 
 advanced a step in rank. At the same time every 
 Spanish sailor and soldier was granted treble pay 
 for the day. On November 6th, 1859, by order of 
 the Cortes, the " Madrid Gazette " announced the 
 granting of life-pensions to all surviving " veterans 
 of 1805 " who fought at Trafalgar, on proofs of 
 identity ; — five reales a day each to warrant and 
 
IN MEMORY OF SPAIN'S GALLANT DEAD 411 
 
 petty and non-commissioned officers, four reales 
 to sailors and soldiers. Public monuments, as we 
 have also seen, 
 were erected 
 in their native 
 towns to the 
 captains who 
 fell in action. 
 A statue in the 
 Plaza Mayor 
 of Vittoria 
 commemo- 
 rates to this 
 day the Span- 
 ish Second- 
 in- Command, 
 Vice -Admiral 
 Alava, who 
 survived Tra- 
 falgar many 
 years. Since 
 1805, also, 
 from time to 
 t ime , the 
 names of the 
 leading Span- 
 ish officers at 
 Trafalgar have 
 figured on the Spanish Navy List for men-of-war ; 
 in particular those of the two admirals, Gravina 
 
 GRAVINA S TOMB IN THE PANTEON DE 
 
 MARINOS ILLUSTRES 
 
 With the tablets in memory of Churruca and Galiano 
 
412 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 and Alava, and their flag-captains, Escano and 
 Gardoqui, as well as the names of the three com- 
 modores, Valdez, Galiano, and Churruca. Memorial 
 tablets inscribed with the names of Churruca and 
 Galiano, stand beside Gravina's tomb in the chapel 
 of the Panteon de Marinos lUustres at San Fer- 
 nando. Two of the principal thoroughfares of 
 Cadiz have ever since 1805 borne the names of 
 Alcala Galiano, and Churruca. 
 
 A few years ago, moreover, at the instance of 
 Don Luis de Mendoza, a man of mark among his 
 countrymen, who fought at Trafalgar as a " guardia 
 marina" and captain's A.D.C. on board Admiral 
 Gravina's flagship, the last surviving Spanish Tra- 
 falgar officer of all, a project was set on foot to erect 
 a monument on Cape Trafalgar to the memory of 
 the Spanish officers and men who fell in the battle ; 
 but in the end the proposal, though not unfavour- 
 ably received, fell through, and it has not been 
 heard of since. 
 
 Just as we in England in October, 1905, com- 
 memorated the centenary celebration of Nelson's 
 death by a special religious service in Trafalgar 
 Square, so in Spain on the same day, Saturday the 
 21st, the modern Spanish Navy officially observed 
 the occasion by a special reUgious service at the 
 Pantdon de Marinos lUustres, San Fernando, in 
 the chapel where Gravina's remains lie. It opened 
 with a requiem mass before the high altar in the 
 Panteon, at which the Commandant- General, 
 
THE CENTENARY SERVICE AT GRAVINA'S TOMB 413 
 
 admirals and captains and other officers attended, 
 with a detachment of seamen from the naval 
 barracks. After that, priests and choir, officers and 
 men, all went in procession to the tomb, before 
 which eight large funereal candles stood burning. 
 Forming round, the choir chanted prayers for the 
 repose of the souls of the illustrious dead, for 
 Gravina himself first, and for rest to the souls 
 of Churruca and Galiano. The service was con- 
 ducted in the most impressive and solemn manner, 
 perfectly in keeping with the occasion, the officers 
 and seamen chanting the responses in low tones 
 in unison with the choir. 
 
 " Trafalgar," said Mr. Fyffe, in his " History of 
 Modern Europe," "was not only the greatest naval 
 victory, it was the greatest and most momentous 
 victory won either by land or by sea during the 
 whole of the Revolutionary War. No victory, 
 and no series of victories, of Napoleon, produced 
 the same effisct upon Europe." "Nelson's last 
 triumph," says Captain Mahan, "left England in 
 such a position that no means remained to injure 
 her but those which must result in the ultimate 
 deliverance of the Continent. Moscow and 
 Waterloo are the inevitable consequences of 
 Trafalgar." So too a French writer of distinction 
 has avowed : " It was the fleet of Nelson that 
 was the victor at Waterloo." " Malgre les appar- 
 
414 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 ences, ce n'est pas dans les flammes de Moscou que 
 c'est evanouie la fortune de Napoleon ; elle s'est 
 engloutie dans les eaux de Trafalgar. En vain 
 les victoires suecederent aux victoires. Tous les 
 triomphes du continent ne le sauveront pas ; le heros 
 a ete frappe a mort d'une blessure secrete. . . . Ce 
 sont les vaisseaux de TAngleterre qui ont vaincus a 
 Waterloo ! " 
 
 Trafalgar gave Great Britain the opportunity to 
 "save Europe." It rendered Berlin Decrees and 
 Milan Decrees mere paper thunderbolts ; the miss- 
 fires of an angry Jove. It stopped the earth ; and 
 afterwards the run was certain, and the kill. The 
 end, of course, was not yet. Years of incessant 
 fighting had yet to pass — 
 
 Till on that field where last the Eagles swooped, 
 A mighty master wielded Britain's sword ; 
 And the dark soul, the world could not subdue. 
 Bowed to thy genius. Prince of Waterloo ! 
 
 England had yet much to do, no doubt, to main- 
 tain and utilize the position she had won ; and 
 much to endure — increasing navy estimates year 
 by year, and the task of keepir j at sea yet bigger 
 fleets than before ; but the key of the situation 
 had passed into her hand at Trafalgar. Without 
 Trafalgar, hardly a brigade could have landed 
 in Portugal ; there could have been no Peninsular 
 War ; and without the Peninsular War hardly a 
 Waterloo. The " Sauve qui peut I " of the night 
 
WHAT TRAFALGAR MEANT FOR NAPOLEON 4L5 
 
 of the 18th of June, 1815, was the natural eon- 
 sequence of the surrender on the quarter-deck of 
 the French flagship " Bucentaure " at three o'clock 
 in the afternoon of Monday the 21st of October, 
 1805. Trafalgar cracked the feet of clay across : 
 Waterloo but dealt the coup de grace that sent 
 the doomed Colossus over. 
 
 And, at the same time, it was Napoleon person- 
 ally who suffered at the hands of Nelson, rather 
 than that the peoples of France and Spain under- 
 went humiliation. It was the vital check in his 
 career to the usurper and despot at whose bidding 
 untold thousands of the best and bravest of the 
 sons of Europe laid down their lives on a hundred 
 battlefields between the Moskowa and the lines 
 of Torres Vedras. Trafalgar it was that, in its 
 wide-reaching outcome, cleared the way for the 
 ultimate freeing of the French nation from the 
 thraldom of the Napoleonic regime and enabled 
 Spain to attempt her own salvation. It may with 
 perfect truth be said that we owe to Trafalgar the 
 ninety years of peace between England and France 
 that have happily continued since the downfall of 
 Napoleon, during which period also Frenchmen and 
 Englishmen have stood side by side against more 
 than one foe. The roads of Aix and the quarter- 
 deck of the "Bellerophon," clifF-girt St. Helena in 
 mid-ocean, became certainties for the Man of 
 Destiny — and for mankind — on that October 
 
416 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 afternoon off Cape Trafalgar ; St. Helena, and the 
 haunting shapes of Longwood — 
 
 . . . tristesque ex aethere Dirae, 
 
 Et scissa gaudens vadit Discordia palla, 
 
 Quam cum sanguineo sequitur Bellona flagello. 
 
 The sequel and ultimate result of Trafalgar has 
 been the now nearly completed century of peace 
 between Great Britain and France and Spain, 
 which for the benefit of the world at large has 
 culminated in our own day in harmony and good 
 fellowship between the nations. Esto perpetua ! 
 And so the curtain falls. 
 
 Silence is now upon the seas. 
 
 The stormy seas of yore ; 
 The thunder of the cannonade 
 
 Awakes the wave no more ! 
 
APPENDIX A 
 
 ADMIRAL VILLENEUVE'S MEMORANDUM 
 
 BY the special courtesy of the Minister of Marine in Paris 
 I am permitted to reproduce here the text of the Fleet 
 Circular issued by Admiral Villeneuve to his captains at 
 Toulon before the fleet originally sailed, which the admiral 
 brought forward for discussion with the captains at Cadiz 
 before Trafalgar. The copy here given has been made from 
 an official draft, now preserved in Paris, and follows its 
 orthography exactly. It covers four closely written sheets 
 of manuscript, and was apparently the office copy kept 
 by the flag-captain on board the " Bucentaure," afterwards 
 saved from the wreck of the French flagship in Cadiz Bay. 
 
 "ORDRE POUR L'ARMEE 
 
 ''La nuit je ne ferai de signaux que ceux absolument 
 necessaires : les batiments particuliers n'en feriont que lorsqu'il 
 leur sera impossible de me transmettre leurs avis verbalement au 
 moyen des fregates et Corvettes et qu'il sera indispensable que 
 je sois inform^ sur le champ de Tobjet du signal. La necessite 
 de cacher la marche de Tescadre doit indiquer k chaque cap°^ 
 commandant combien 1' usage des signaux de nuit doit etre 
 employe discretement, et I'attention qu'ils doivent avoir a cacher 
 leurs feux pendant la nuit. Les memes motifs doivent leur 
 faire sentir la necessite de se tenir rallies^ et de se coramuni- 
 quer verbalement la position, la voilure et la route de I'amiral 
 lorsq'uelle peut laisser quelque incertitude. 
 
 " Je ne propose pas d'aller chercher I'ennemi ; je veux meme 
 
 I'eviter pour me rendre a ma destination ; mais si nous le 
 
 rencontrions, point de manoeuvres honteuses ; elles d^courager- 
 
 aient nos equipages et entreneraient [sic] notre defaite. Si 
 
 2 E 417 
 
418 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 rennemi est sous le vent a nous, maitres de nos manoeuvres, 
 nous formerons notre ordre de bataille, nous arriverons sur lui 
 tous a la fois : chacun de nos V^*"^ combat celui qui lui corre- 
 spond dans la ligne ennemie et ne doit pas hesiter a I'aborder 
 si la circonstance lui est favorable. Je vous ferai peu de 
 signaux mais j 'attends tout du courage de chaque cap°% de celui 
 des officiers et des equipages et de la circonstance qui a reuni 
 k bord de nos vaisseaux une portion des plus braves troupes de 
 L'Empereur. 
 
 " Tout Cap"® Comm* qui ne serait pas dans le feu ne serait 
 pas a son poste ; celui dont le matelot d'avant ou d'arriere serait 
 plus pres de I'ennemi que lui ne serait pas a son poste et un 
 signal pour le lui rappeler serait une tache deshonorante 
 pour lui. 
 
 '* Les fregates doivent egalement prendre part a Taction, car 
 si n'en ai pas besoin pour repeter mes signaux; elle doivent 
 choisir le point ou leur co-operation peut ^tre avantageuse pour 
 decider la defaite d'un V*" Ennemi^ pour soutenir un V*" 
 fran9ais trop vivement presse, lui donner le secours de la 
 remorque ou tout autre qui lui serait necessaire. Combien de 
 chances de gloire sont ouvertes aux jeunes officiers comm*" les 
 fregates dans un combat comme celui que je viens de tracer ! 
 
 '^Si I'Ennemi au contraire se presente au vent k nous et 
 t6moigne I'intention de nous attaquer, nous devons I'attendre 
 sur une ligne de bataille bien serr^e. C'est k Fintelligence et k 
 I'habilit^ du V®*"* de tete k ne faire que la voile necessaire 
 et a ne tenir le vent qu'autant qu'il lui faut pour favoriser la for- 
 mation de cet ordre. L'Ennemi ne se bornera pas a se former 
 sur une ligne de bataille parallele k la notre et a venir nous 
 livrer au combat d'artillerie, dont le succ^s appartient souvent 
 an plus habile, mais toujours au plus heureux ; il cherchera a 
 entourer notre arriere-garde, k nous traverser, et a porter sur 
 ceux de nos V®*"* qu'il aurait d^sunis, des pelotons des siens 
 pour les envelopper et les r^duire : dans ce cas c'est bien plus 
 de son courage et de son amour de la gloire qu'un capitain 
 Comm* doit prendre conseil, que des signaux de I'amiral qui, 
 peut ^tre, lui meme engag6 dans le combat et envelopp^ dans 
 la fum^e, n'a plus la faculty d'en faire. C'est encore ici le cas 
 de repeter qu'un cap"® qui n'est pas dans le feu n'est pas k son 
 poste. L' ordre ^tant rompu, tous les efforts doivent tendre 
 
ADMIRAL VILLENEUVE'S MEMORANDUM 419 
 
 k se porter au Secours de V®*"^ assaillis et a se rapprocher du 
 V^^ amiral, qui en donnera 1' Example. A cette manoeuvre 
 defFensive (sic) doit en succeder une offensive. Par suite de cette 
 manoeuvre I'Ennemi doit avoir des V®^"^ demates qui doivent 
 rester au milieu des notres ; c'est a les reduire que chacun doit 
 s'appliquer, et c'est encore ici que les frigates doivent jouer un 
 beau role et couvrir de gloire les officiers qui seront penetres de 
 I'etendu de leur devoir, comme des droits qu'ils acquerront aux 
 gi-aces de I'Empereur. 
 
 '^ Rien ne doit nous etonner k la vue d'une escadre anglaise : 
 leurs V«*"* de 74 n'ont pas 500 hommes a bord; ils sont harrasses 
 par une croisiere de deux ans ; ils ne sont pas plus braves que 
 nous, et ont infiniment moins de motifs d'Enthousiasme et 
 d' amour de la patrie. Ils sont habiles a la manoeuvre ; dans 
 un mois nous le serons autant. Enfin tout se reunit pour 
 nous donner la confiance des succes les plus glorieux et d'une 
 nouvelle ere pour la marine imperiale. 
 
 " Je vous renvoie au surplus aux instructions pour les capitaines, 
 au reglement a V usage de Varmee navale et k V instruction particuliere 
 pour la repetition des signaux, imprimer a la tete du cahier des 
 signaux k I'usage de I'Escadre. Elles contiennent d'excellentes 
 maximes, dont vous devez bien vous pen^trer et des dispositions 
 que je maintiens dans toute leur Etendue. 
 
 " II me sera bien agreable si, par suite de cette campagne, je 
 n'ai comme je I'espere, que des eloges k donner k la conduite, 
 a I'habilite et a I'exactitude dans le Service, des Cap^*^^ Comm*^ 
 et officiers attaches a I'escadre. Vous connaissez assez I'Empereur 
 et combien est grande la maniere dont il recompense les bons 
 services et vous ne devez nullement douter de la part qui vous 
 en est reservee par suite de la campagne qui nous allons 
 entreprendre. 
 
 "Veuillez recevoir Monsieur le Command^ I'assurance de 
 mon sincere attachement. 
 
 " ViLLENEUVE." 
 
 '^ Pour copie conforme 
 L'adjudant Com* de I'armee. 
 
 " Prigny." 
 
APPENDIX B 
 
 ADMIRAL VILLENEUVE'S OFFICIAL REPORT 
 
 THE following is an exact transcript of Admiral Ville- 
 neuve's Trafalgar despatch, or " Compte Rendu," made 
 by permission of the Minister from the original document 
 preserved among the archives of the Ministry of Marine 
 in Paris. It covers ten pages of "papier ministre," and 
 is clearly and firmly and extremely neatly written in 
 Admiral Villeneuve's own hand throughout, and is signed 
 by him. Notes or corrections made by the admiral in the 
 margin are here shown as footnotes, and certain sentences 
 underlined by Villeneuve are here set out in italics. The 
 spelling and punctuation are as in the MS. 
 
 "A hord de la f regale anglaise VEurialus, 
 "le\5 Novemhre, 1805. 
 
 " MONSEIGNEUR, 
 
 "Dans la situation, ou j'ai le malheur de me trouver, Votre 
 Ex. ne peut attendre de moi, qu'un rapport fidelle des ev^ne- 
 ments qui ont suivi men depart de Cadix, exempt de toute 
 observation sur les motifs qui ont dirig^ mes mouvements ; 
 j'ai eu I'honneur de vous 6crire jusqu'au dernier moment de ma 
 sortie de la Baye de Cadix, et c'est de ce moment meme que je 
 dois reprendre ma narration. 
 
 "Le 28 vend'^® (20 8^"^^) toute I'arm^e combinde 6toit sous 
 voiles, dirigeant la route a TO. N. O. le vent frais de la partie 
 S. S. O. J'ai fait le signal de prendre le ris que comportoit 
 Tapparence du terns et de la mer, vers les 4 heures du soir 
 le temps s'etant ^clairci et le vent ayant pass6 au S. O. et 
 k rO. S. O. j'ai pris les amures k tribord, manoeuvre pour rallier 
 q. q. vaisseaux qui etaient tomb^s tr^s sous le vent et signal^ 
 I'ordre de marche sur 3 colonnes, Tescadre d'observation prenant 
 
 420 
 
ADMIRAL VILLENEUVE'S REPORT 421 
 
 la droite de rarmee combinee ; je n'avais connaissance que de 
 deux fregates ennemies dans le sud que j'ai donne ordre aux 
 fregates de I'armee de chasser. La nuit est venue sans que 
 j'aye eu connaissance de I'escadre ennemie et j'ai continue la 
 meme route en proportionnant ma voilure sur celles des plus 
 mauvais voiliers de I'armee combinee. A 7 J heures du soir j'ai 
 vu des signaux en avant que je ne pouvois pas distinguer^ et a 
 8 h J r Argus est venu me dire de la part de I'amiral Gravina, 
 que le vaisseau I'Achille avoit eu connaissance, a I'entree de la 
 nuit de 18 vaisseaux ennemis dans le S. S. O. Comme la route 
 que faisoit I'armee devoit nous en rapprocher beaucoup j'ai signale 
 la ligne de hataill trihord sans egard au poste assigne a chaque 
 vaisseau en se formant sur ceux le plus sotis le vent. J'ai couru 
 ainsi toute la nuit sans changer de direction le vent a TO. 
 le cap. au S. S. O. ; nous avons eu connaissance des feux et des 
 signaux de I'ennemi dans le vent k nous. 
 
 "Des que le jour s'est fait nous avons apper9u I'ennemi 
 k VO. au nombre de 33 voiles a la distance d' environ 2 1 |, le 
 cap Trafalgar a ete aussi apper9u a I'E. S. E. a 4 heures. J'ai fait 
 signal aux fregates d'aller reconnoitre I'ennemi, et k I'armee de 
 former la ligne de hataille tribord amures ordre naturel ; I'amiral 
 Gravina a en meme temps fait a I'escadre d' observation celui de 
 se placer a la tete de I'armee combinee, le vent tres faible 
 k I'O. la mer tres houleuse. 
 
 "L'escadre Ennemie qui a ete bientot reconnue composee 
 de 27 Vaisseaux de ligne me paraissoit se diriger en masse sur 
 mon arriere garde avec le double motif de la combattre avec 
 avantage et de couper a I'armee combinee la retraite sur Cadix, 
 j'ai fait le signal de virer vent arriere tous a lafois et de former la 
 ligne de bataille hashord amures dans V ordre renverse ; mon seul 
 objet etant de garantir 1' arriere garde des efforts de la totalite 
 des forces de I'Ennemi. 
 
 " Dans le nouvel ordre signale, la 3^ escadre, sous les ordres 
 du cap. A^ Dumanoir formoit I'avant garde ayant pour chef 
 de file le vaisseau espagnol le Neptune commande par Don 
 Gaetano Valdez officier estime. J'etois au centre avec la 
 l'"^ escadre sur le Bucentaure le lieutenant general D. Allava 
 suivoit avec la 2« escadre et I'escadre d' observation sous les 
 ordres de I'amiral Gravina formoit I'arriere garde de I'armee 
 ayant sous lui le C. A. Magon sur le vaisseau I'Algesiras. 
 
422 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 L'ennemi continuoit a faire porter sur nous toutes voiles dehors 
 et 4 9 h. je commen9ois a distinguer qu'il se developoit sur deux 
 colones dont Tune se dirigeoit sur mon Vaiss^**^ amiral et 1' autre 
 sur I'arriere de I'aiinee ; le vent etoit tres faible, la mer 
 houleuse et notre formation s'efFectuoit avee beaucoup de 
 peine. 
 
 " Mais dans le genre d'attaque que je prevoyais que Fennemi 
 alloit nous faire, cette irregularite meme dans notre ligne, ne 
 me paraissoit pas un inconvenient, si chaque vaisseau eut 
 continue a serrer le vent sur son matelot et I'eut conserve 
 a petite distance ; j'ai fait nean-moins au vaisseau de tete 
 le signal de serrer le vent et de forcer de voiles pour eviter 
 que r engorgement ne fut trop grand ; et a 11 h. /e signal 
 d r arriere-garde de tenir le vent pour la mettre a meme de couvrir 
 le centre de Vartnee qui paraissoit etre le point sur lequel Fenneini 
 semhloit vouloir porter les plus grands efforts. 
 
 ''Cependant l'ennemi approchoit sensiblement quoique le 
 vent fut extremement faible ; il avait a la tete de ses colones 
 ses plus forts vaisseaux ; celle du Nord avoit en tete 4 vaisseaux 
 a 3 ponts. A midi j'ai fait le signal de commencer le combat 
 des qu'on seroit a portee et a midi un quart les premiers coups 
 de canon ont ete tires des vaisseaux le Fougueux et la S^^ Anne, 
 sur le vaisseau le Royal Sovereign, chef de file de la colone 
 de droite portant pavilion du Vice-amiral Collingwood, le feu a 
 ^te interrompu un instant, il a repris un instant apres avec plus 
 de vivacite par tous les vaisseaux qui ont ete a portee de le 
 faire, ce qui n'a pas empeche ce vaisseau ennemi de couper 
 la ligne en arri^re de la S*^® Anne. 
 
 "La colonne de gauche, conduite par le Victory portant 
 pavilion de I'amiral Nelson faisoit la meme manoeuvre et parais- 
 soit vouloir couper en arriere de la S***^ Trinite et sur I'avant du 
 Bucentaure, mais soit qu'il ait trouve la ligne trop serree sur 
 ce point, ou qu'il ait change d'avis par tout autre motif, 
 il etait k demi portee de pistolet, et nous etions pr^t a I'aborder, 
 les grappins prets a etre jettees quand il a lance tout son 
 stribord, et il est venu pour passer a poupe du Bucentaure. Le 
 Redoutable occupoit la place du Neptune^ derri^re moi, il 
 a honnorablement rempli le devoir d'un vaisseau matelot 
 d' arriere d'un pavilion amiral il a aborde le Victory, mais cella 
 
 ^ Ce vaisseau ^toit tombe sous le vent. 
 
ADMIRAL VILLENEUVE'S REPORT 423 
 
 n'a pas empeche que par la faiblesse du vent, qui rendoit tous 
 les mouvements lents et difficiles, ce vaisseau qui etoit entraverse 
 sous la poupe du Bucentaure ne lui ait envoye plusieurs bordees 
 k triple charge, qui ont ete extremement meurtrieres et de- 
 structives. C'est dans ce moment que j'ai fait le signal, aux 
 vaisseaux qui par leur position actuelle ne comhattent pas d'en prendre 
 une quelconqtie qui les ramene au feu. II m'etoit impossible de 
 distinguer I'etat des choses au centre et a I'arriere garde par la 
 grande fumee qui nous envelopoit ; 
 
 " Au vaisseau le Victory avoit succede deux autres vaisseaux a 
 trois ponts ^ et plusieurs vaisseaux de 74? qui deffiloient lentement 
 par I'arriere du Bucentaure, je venois de faire le signal a Vavant 
 garde de virer de bord quand le grand mat et celui d'artimon sont 
 tombes, les vaisseaux qui m'avoient ainsi passe a poupe me pro- 
 longeoient sous le vent, sans qu'ils eussent beaucoup a souffrir du 
 feu de nos batteries, une grande partie de nos canons etant deja 
 demontes, et d'autres engages par la chute des mats. Dans un 
 moment d'eclairci je m'apper9us que tout le centre et I'arriere 
 garde de I'armee avoit plie et que je me trouvois le vaisseaux 
 le plus au vent; le mat de mizaine qui nous restoit pouvoit 
 faciliter notre retraite sous le vent ou se trouvoient plusieurs de 
 nos vaisseaux qui ne paraissoient pas endommages, mais il finit 
 par tomber, j'avois fait conserver un canot a la mer prevoyant 
 le cas d'un dematement et dans I'intention de me transporter 
 sur un autre vaisseau, des que le grand mat eut tombe 
 j'ordonnai de le faire preparer, mais soit qu'il ait ete coule par 
 les boulets ou ecrase par la chute des mats, il ne fut pas 
 retrouve. Je fis heller k la S*® Trinite qui etoit en avant k nous 
 si elle pouvoit envoyer un canot et nous donner une remorque, 
 je n'en eus pas de reponse, ce vaisseau etoit lui-meme fortement 
 engage avec un vaisseau a 3 ponts qui le canonoit en hanche. 
 Enfin etant environne de vaisseaux ennemis qui s'etoient ac- 
 cumules, par les hanches, sur I'arriere et par le travers sous 
 le vent, et etant dans I'impossibilite de leur faire aucun mal 
 les gaillards et la batterie de 24 etant abbandonnes jonches de 
 morts et de blesses, toute la premiere batterie demontee ou 
 embarrassee par les greements et les mats qui etoient tombes, 
 le vaisseau isole au millieu des vaisseaux ennemis, sans mouve- 
 ment et dans I'impossibilite de lui en donner, il fallut ceder a ma 
 
 ^ Le Neptune, le Britannia. 
 
424 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 destinee et arreter une effusion de sang deja immense et 
 desormais inutile. 
 
 " Toute la partie de I'armee a Tarriere du Bucentaure, comme 
 je I'ai dit, avoit plie plusieurs vaisseaux etoient demates de tout 
 mat et rendus a Tennemi, quelques-uns combattoient encore en 
 faisant leur retraite sur un gros de vaisseaux qui me restoient 
 a FEst. 
 
 " Les vaisseaux de I'escadre du C. A^ Dumanoir qui avoient 
 couru en avant paraissoient manoeuvrer plusieurs des vaisseaux 
 qui la composoit arrivoient pour se rallier aux vaisseaux les plus 
 sous le vent tandis que 5 autres viroient de bord et prenoient 
 les amures a tribord, ces vaisseaux ont passe au vent des deux 
 armees, en echangeant des coups de canon, le plus souvent a 
 grande distance ; le dernier de ces 5 vaisseaux qui etoit je crois 
 le Neptune espagnol un peu plus sous le vent que les autres 
 a ete oblige de se rendre. 
 
 " Dans le genre d'attaque que I'ennemi a fait sur nous, il en 
 devoit resulter un pelle melle et une reunion de combats partiels 
 qui ont ete soutenus avec la plus noble audace, I'Ennemi doit 
 ses avantages a la force de ses vaisseaux (dont 7 a 3 ponts et 
 dont le moindre ne porte pas moins de 114 bouches a feu) a la 
 force de son artillerie toute de gros calibre, au moyen de ses 
 carronades, a 1' ensemble et a la celerite de ses manoeuvres, a 
 I'experience de 3 ans de mer sans interruption, experience qui 
 manquoit entierement a une grande partie des vaisseaux de 
 I'armee combinee. Le courage et le devouement a la patrie 
 et a I'Empereur des Etats-majors et equipages des vaisseaux de 
 S. M. ne pouvoit etre surpasse, il s'est manifeste au signal 
 de mettre sous voiles, a celui de se preparer au combat, par les 
 applaudissements et les cris de Vive I'Empereur dont mes 
 signaux ont et6 acqueillis; je n'ai pas vu un homme ^branle 
 a la vue de la formidable colonne de I'Ennemi prec^d^ de 
 quatre vaisseaux k 3 ponts qui se dirigeoient sur le vaisseau le 
 Bucentaure. 
 
 " Je ne doute pas, Monseigneur que vous n'ayez d6j^ recueilli 
 les traits les plus honorables de la valeur qui a ete deployee 
 dans cette journee malheureuse, par les rapports qui ont du 
 deyk vous etre addresses, par les differends chefs qui se sont 
 trouves k portee de le faire. 
 
 " Taut de courage et de devouement meritoit une meilleure 
 
ADMIRAL VILLENEUVE'S REPORT 425 
 
 destin^e, mais le moment n'6tait pas encore arrive ou la France 
 aura a celebrer ses succ^s maritimes^ ensemble avec ses victoires 
 sur le continent. 
 
 "Quant k moi, Monseigneur, profondement penettre de 
 toute I'etendue de mon malheur et de toute la responsabilite 
 que comporte un aussi grand desastre, je ne desire rien tant 
 que d'etre bientot a meme d'aller mettre aux pieds de S. M. ou 
 la justification de ma conduite ou la victime qui doit etre 
 immolee, non a I'honneur du pavilion, qui, j'ose le dire, est 
 demeure intact, mais aux manes de ceux qui auroient peri par 
 mon imprudence, mon inconsideration ou I'oubli de quelqu'un 
 de mes devoirs. 
 
 " Je prie votre Excellence d'agreer I'liommage de mon respect 
 
 " ViLLENEUVE. 
 
 "J'ai ^te enlev6 de mon vaisseau d^s qu'il a ete rendu et 
 conduit par un vaisseau ennemi avec le cap*^ Majendie, I'adj*^ 
 Com^ Contamine un lieutenant de vaisseau M'^ Baudran et un 
 aspirant attache a mon etat major general. Le cap® Majendie le 
 chef d'etat major Prigny; M"^ d'Audignon lieutenant de vaisseau ; 
 Gaudron (id) ont ete blesses; presque tous ceux qui etoient sur 
 le pont ont ^te tues ou blesses ; il m'est impossible de donner 
 d'autres renseignements sur le nombre des morts et blesses du 
 Bucentaure et des autres vaisseaux de I'armee, mais il a du 
 etre tr^s considerable, Votre Excellence aura re9U tous les 
 renseignements n^cessaire par les officiers arrives k Cadix. 
 Aucun des vaisseaux fran9aisi (le Switsure excepte) n'ont pu 
 etre releves de la cote dans le coup de vent qui a suivi Taction, 
 tous etant entierement demates et extremement maltraites 
 dans toutes leurs autres parties. Le Switsure et 3 autres 
 vaisseaux espagnols ont ete conduits k Gibraltar, un seul, le 
 S^ Jean de Nepomucene qui n'etoit pas demate pourra etre 
 remis en ^tat de servir. 
 
 " L' Ennemi a fait des pertes tr^s sensibles entre autres celle 
 de I'Amiral lord Nelson et de plusieurs officiers marquants ; la 
 plus grande partie de cette flotte est obligee de rentrer dans 
 les ports de I'Angleterre pour s'y reparer." 
 
 1 Pris par TEnnemi. 
 
APPENDIX C 
 
 CAPTAIN MAGENDIE'S PLANS OF TRAFALGAR 
 
 THE larger plan here given is of particular and historic 
 interest. It is a tracing (reduced in reproduction) 
 of the original sent to France by Captain Magendie, of 
 the flagship " Bucentaure,''' and now in the archives of the 
 Ministry of Marine in Paris. By special permission of 
 the Minister of Marine, leave has been granted to reproduce 
 it in this book — the first time the plan has ever been 
 published. The document is inscribed on the back : " l^'^ 
 Plan envoye de Cadix : date de V®*" anglaise le Neptune, le 
 6 Brumaire, an 14: — Cap. Magendie." The "Neptune" 
 was the ship on board which Villeneuve and Magendie were 
 transferred from the " Mars," and lodged for a short while, 
 pending the preparation of accommodation in the frigate 
 "Euryalus," which was to take them to England. 
 
 The document was apparently sent ashore to Cadiz during 
 the week after the battle — by the medium probably of one 
 of the wounded French officers permitted by CoUingwood 
 to be landed on parole — together with a brief covering 
 letter from Captain Magendie, also now in the archives of the 
 Ministry of Marine in Paris, and with a sketch plan by 
 Magendie of the situation of the flagship "Bucentaure" 
 at different periods of the battle. It is thus the earliest 
 authentic plan of Trafalgar ever made, and may be compared 
 with advantage — in regard particularly to the British for- 
 mation for the attack — with the British plan, shown facing 
 page 106, which was sent to England by the "Euryalus" as 
 an enclosure with CoUingwood's despatches, and was signed 
 
 426 
 
CAPTAIN MAGENDIE'S PLANS 427 
 
 by Magendie, apparently to authenticate the positions of the 
 ships of the Combined Fleet there shown. 
 
 A copy, roughly drawn, of the British plan, with certain 
 minor differences of detail, is also among the archives of the 
 Ministry of Marine in Paris. That document shows the 
 ships of the three navies differentiated by colours : British, 
 red ; French, blue ; Spanish, yellow. It shows the British 
 Fleet first at daybreak (au petit jour) as in the plan at 
 page 107. It shows the British also at nine o'clock, advanc- 
 ing in two wedge-shaped clusters, nearly a mile apart. 
 It shows the British Fleet at noon, in the same line-ahead 
 formation as appears in the British map, except that the 
 rearmost eight ships of CoUingwood's line (not named) are 
 still in a cluster, more or less abreast of one another ; with 
 the "Prince" and "Dreadnought'"' out of station, as they are 
 seen in the British plan. The rearmost seven of Nelson's 
 ships are in like manner in a cluster : first three ships nearly 
 abreast; then four astern of all. In the Combined Fleet 
 the position of some of the ships of Gravina's "Squadron 
 of Observation" varies somewhat in one or two cases from 
 that attributed to them in the British plan ; they are shown 
 as having already, to some extent, come into line in rear 
 of Villeneuve's battle squadron ; but, otherwise, their dis- 
 position is as there represented. The document is inscribed 
 on the back : " 2^ Plan, envoye d'Angleterre (sans date) : — 
 Magendie." 
 
 The captain of the " Bucentaure's " plan of the 6th 
 Brumaire (28th October) is of vital interest, as showing, 
 from the hand of an eye-witness, the actual formation in 
 which Nelson made his attack, with the ships of Colling- 
 wood's division moving down slantwise, en echelon^ on the 
 centre and rear of the Combined Fleet in the "order of 
 bearing." 
 
 Captain Magendie's series of plans of the situation of the 
 flagship "Bucentaure" at various stages of the battle up 
 to the moment of Admiral Villeneuve's surrender, are also 
 
428 THE ENEMY AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 given here, as well as a plan of Trafalgar drawn by Captain 
 Lucas of the " Redoutable/' That was forwarded to Paris 
 by him from Reading in January, 1806, by Captain 
 Magendie, on that officer's release on parole in order to give 
 a personal explanation of the defeat to Napoleon, with Lucas's 
 own detailed narrative of the doings of his ship. For the 
 reproduction of these in this book special leave was also 
 accorded by the Minister of Marine. 
 
 [By the courtesy of Admiral Sir Cyprian Bridge, g.c.b., I 
 am permitted to reproduce also the plan, explanatory of the 
 movements of the fleets between midnight on Sunday, the 
 20th of October, and noon on Monday, shortly before the 
 first shot was fired, which was prepared by him to accompany 
 his paper on the tactics of the battle (" Nelson : The Cen- 
 tenary of Trafalgar *"), read as a special address before the 
 annual meeting of the Navy Records Society in July, 1905.] 
 
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 d 
 
 Plan showing how Admiral Villeneuve's flagship, the "Bucentaure/'was cut 
 off and forced to surrender ; traced from the original by Captain Magendie. 
 Also general plan of the battle, showing how the attack was driven home ; 
 traced from the original sent by Captain Lucas of the *' Redoutable " to 
 Admiral Decres. Each plan is a photographic reproduction of the tracing. 
 
 2 F 
 
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 J^ - 
 
 9Sh t> 
 
 i 
 
 4 
 
 I 
 
 en %4 
 
 1 
 
 Plan showing how Nelson's advance at Trafalgar was made. Drawn by Captain Magendie of the 
 
 (Traced from the original a 
 
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 ip *• Bucentaure," and forwarded within a week of the battle to the Minister of Marine in Paris, 
 iuced by photography.) 
 
se3P^«««-OA,,„ 
 
 
 
 (From "Nblson: Thb Cbntbnarv of Trapalgak." By Admiral Sir Cyprian Bridge, g.c.b. 
 Reproduced by kind permission.] 
 
INDEX 
 
 Alava, Adm.,48, 86, 111, 119, 126, 
 248, 251-8, 263, 305, 328, 333, 
 411-12 
 
 Alava's sword, CoUingwood's claim 
 to, 253-7 
 
 Alava, Don Miguel, 250 
 
 Alcedo, Rear-Adm., 79 
 
 "Alge^iras," Recapture of the, 303 
 
 Allemand, Adm., 29 
 
 Apodoca, Don R., 276, 283 
 
 ''Armee d*Angleterre " at Bou- 
 logne, 4-8 
 
 " Avenger of Nelson," The, 182-3 
 
 Atcherley, J., Capt., 140-2 
 
 Badcock, Mid., 109, 272, 315 
 Barham, Lord, 352 
 Barker, G. A., Mid., 299 
 Barrow, Sir J., 352 
 Bayntun, Capt., 307 
 Baudoin, Capt., 76, 168 
 Beaty, Christopher, 208 
 Bennett, C, Lieut., 302-3 
 Bickerton, Adm., 22, 32 
 Berthier, Marshal, 365 
 Beurnonville, Gen., 24, 25, 329 
 ''Billy Ruffn— Victory or Death,'' 
 
 204 
 Blackwood, Capt., 82-4, 95-6,253, 
 
 376-7 
 Bretonniere, La, Lieut., 186, 303 
 British advance, Order of, 105-8 
 
 " Bucentaure,** Details of sur- 
 render of, 131, 137 
 
 ''Bucentaure" — Captain Atcherly 
 goes on board, 140-2 
 
 '' Bucentaure," Fate of, after the 
 battle, 304 
 
 Butron, A., Capt, 289 
 
 Cadiz after the battle. Letters 
 
 from, 326-9 
 Cadiz, Landing of the wounded 
 
 at, 332-8 
 Calder, Adm., 3, 13, 22, 24, 28, 
 
 32, 73, 75, 98 
 Camas, Capt., 209 
 Captains, Villeneuve's insti nctions 
 
 to his, 53-6 
 Cauchard, Sub-Lieut., 219 
 Chatham war prisoners' memorial, 
 
 391-2 
 Churruca, Commodore, 48, 49, 78, 
 
 126, 274-85, 330, 412-13 
 Churruca's " San Juan," Fate of, 
 
 285-6 
 Cisneros, Adm., 48, 78, 126, 261, 
 
 273, 328, 333 
 Codrington, E., Capt., 199, 311, 
 
 381 
 Collingwood, Adm., 21, 22, 28, 
 
 108, 118, 143, 191, 212-13, 236, 
 
 251-5, 263, 266, 306, 346, 371, 
 
 374, 379 
 
 2 G 
 
 433 
 
434 
 
 INDEX 
 
 CoUingwood's ruse off Cadiz, 
 
 21-2 
 CoUingwood, Mid., 182-3 
 Colours nailed to the mast, Spanish, 
 
 287-8, 290 
 Combined Fleet leaving port, 81-6 
 „ „ turns back for 
 
 Cadiz, 99-100 
 Contamine, Brigadier, 37, 134-5, 
 
 141-2 
 Cornwallis, Adm., 12 
 Corunna, Reception of the news 
 
 at, 331-2 
 Cosmao-Kerjulien, Capt. , 48, 74-5, 
 
 110, 202-4, 240, 305, 408 
 Council of War, The, 48-62 
 
 Dartmoor, War prison on, 393 
 Decres, Adm., Min. of Marine, 5, 
 
 16, 17, 32-9, 41, 62, 62, 64, 87, 
 
 112, 128, 144, 146, 158, 365, 
 
 395-6, 400-1, 402, 406-7 
 Despatch before the battle, Ville- 
 
 neuve's final, 87 
 Despatches — CoUingwood's reach 
 
 England, 348 
 Digby Capt., 271 
 Ducrest, Mid., 166, 171 
 Dumanoir, Adm., 28, 48, 71-2, 
 
 86, 102, 111, 119, 120-3, 127, 
 
 192, 228-30, 232, 235, 238-9, 
 
 240-1, 291-3, 328, 330 
 Dumanoir, Adm., Court-martial 
 
 on, 239-40 
 Dumanoir 's letter to the " Times," 
 
 236-8 
 Dupotet, Lieut., 156, 171 
 Durham, Sir P., Capt., 206 
 
 Edwards, J., Lieut., 316 
 England awaiting invasion, 8-11 
 Escano, Rear- Adm., 48, 242, 328, 
 330 
 
 Flag of truce, CoUingwood's, 341 
 Fouche, Minister of Police, 400 
 ''Fougueux," Wreck of the, 297-9 
 Franklin, J., Mid., 27 
 French ships. Condition of, 61 
 French frigates. Why they offered 
 
 no help, 137-9 
 French regiments on board, 45-6 
 
 Galiano, Commodore, 48, 49, 78, 
 126, 287-90, 412-13 
 
 Ganteaume, Adm., 12, 35 
 
 Gemahling, Capt., 234 
 
 Gicquel des Touches, Lieut., 191 
 
 Godoy, Prince of Peace, 24, 26, 
 242, 261 
 
 Gourrege, Capt., 76, 204-7, 330 
 
 Gravina, Adm., 14, 25, 26, 36, 
 40-2, 46, 48-9, 53, 59, 60, 67, 
 77-8, 86-8, 92-4, 99, 100, 103, 
 110, 118, 123, 127, 158, 202-3, 
 228, 230, 242-50, 263, 286, 294, 
 328, 330, 333, 371, 409-13 
 
 Gravina's tomb and relics, 248- 
 60 
 
 Guillemard, R., Sergeant, 179 
 
 Guruceta, Lieut., 290 
 
 Halloran, Second Lieut., 140, 227 
 Hallowell, B., Capt., 200 
 Hardy, Capt., 183, 231-2 
 Hargood, Capt., 295 
 Hennah, Lieut., 143 
 Heroism of a French captain, 209 
 Hicks, W., Mid,, 139 
 Hubert, Capt., 76 
 Hulks, Life in the, 386-90 
 
 111 humour of the French officers, 
 
 27-8 
 Infernet, Capt., 76-6, 123, 127, 
 
 189-92, 194, 196-7, 19^-201, 
 
 378, 398, 408 
 
INDEX 
 
 4S5 
 
 Inferaet's promise to Napoleon^ 
 190 
 
 Jeannette of the '' Achille/' 219 
 Jugan, Capt., 138, 246 
 
 King George and the news of 
 
 Trafalgar, 363 
 Knight, Sir J., Adm., 226 
 
 Lapenotiere, Lieut., 347, 348, 350 
 Last ship to surrender. The, 293 
 Last parade of the Grand Army, 20 
 Last sutvivor of Trafalgar, 268-9 
 La Touche Tre'ville, Adm., 39, 403 
 Lauriston, Gen., 18, 87 
 Le Toumeur, Capt., 185 
 Le Roy, Col., 26 
 
 Line of battle, Villeneuve's or- 
 iginal, 67-9 
 Lucas, Capt., 44, 90, 112, 146-6, 
 160, 167-8, 160, 169, 173-7, 
 191, 378, 396, 398, 408 
 Lucas's " Redoutable " seal, 177 
 
 Macdonell, Capt., 80 
 Mack, General, 343, 344 
 Madame Villeneuve's pension, 
 
 406-7 
 Magendie, Capt., 134, 141-2, 144, 
 
 377-9 
 Magon, Adm., 28, 29, 44, 48, 49, 
 
 63, 66, 72-4, 86, 102, 111, 126, 
 
 183-7, 328, 330, 408 
 Magon, Death of, 184-5 
 Maistral, Capt., 48, 76 
 Malcolm, Sir P., Capt, 306, 310 
 Marsden, Mr. W,, 360, 362, 368 
 Massena, Marshal, 4, 7, 76 
 Missiessy, Adm., 38 
 ** Monarca " — last night on board 
 
 described, 307-8 
 Morris, J. N., Capt., 288, 290 
 Moyna, Capt., 277, 282 
 
 Mutiny in the '' San Juan," The, 
 274-6, 366-6, 376, 383, 396, 
 402, 403-7, 416 
 
 Napoleon, 1, 2, 3, 20, 32-9, 159, 
 175, 239 
 
 Napoleon's change of plans, 33-4 
 
 Napoleon's public reference to 
 Trafalgar, 375 
 
 Nelson, Lord, 2, 3, 16, 19, 22, 
 46, 6Q, 83, 108, 150, 162, 156, 
 168-9, 161, 163, 172, 181-3, 
 212, 231, 235, 261-3, 266, 268, 
 328, 329, 342, 354, 356, 359-64, 
 371-2, 409 
 
 News of Rosily's approach, 63-4 
 
 News of Trafalgar at the Ad- 
 miralty, 350-2 
 
 Night alarm. The, 88-9 
 
 Olaete, I., Lieut., 273 
 
 Paget, Sir A., 401 
 Pareja, A., Capt., 79, 294 
 Paris, Rumours of Trafalgar in 
 
 the papers, 369-71 
 Paul Jones, 366 
 Pellew, Israel, Capt., 139, 140-1, 
 
 209 
 Pitt and Nelson's death, 366 
 Plassan, Lieut., 185 
 PoUard, J., Capt., 182 
 Poulain, Capt., 330 
 Prefect Mounier, 397 
 Press gangs at Cadiz, 41 
 Prigny, Capt., 48, 134, 141-2 
 Prisoners, Fate of the, 376-7, 
 
 379, 380, 382-94 
 Prizes that escaped destruction. 
 
 The, 311-13 
 
 " Redoutable " : How Lucas trained 
 
 his men, 146-8 
 "Redoutable," Sinking of the, 
 
 299-301 
 
436 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Reille, Gen., 37 
 
 Return of killed and wounded. 
 
 General, 374 
 Rigodet, Sub-Lieut., 233 
 Riquelme, Lieut., 266 
 Robin, Commodore, 343 
 Robinson, Hercules, Mid., 144 
 Rosily, Adm., 36, 62-4, 248, 312, 
 
 313, 329, 333, 371, 379 
 Rumours from Lisbon reach 
 
 London, 342 
 
 Salcedo, Adm., 33 
 
 " Santisima Trinidad," Lieut. 
 Smith on board, 271 
 
 *' Santisima Trinidad," Founder- 
 ing of the, 314-17 
 
 Sartoria, J., Lieut., 273 
 
 Segur, De, Napoleon's A.D.C., 
 20, 73-4 
 
 Sergeant Guillemard, Narrative 
 of, 179-81 
 
 Servaux, Pierre, 211-98 
 
 Silence of the "Moniteur," 367-8 
 
 Smith, Sir Sidney, 366 
 
 Smith, Lieut., 271 
 
 Solana, Marquis de, 26, 333, 341 
 
 Sortie after the battle. The, 304-6 
 
 Spanish regiments on board, 43 
 „ ships, men on board, 62 
 „ casualty statement, 295-6 
 „ Trafalgar Centenary service, 
 412-13 
 
 Strachan, Sir R., Com., 228, 233 
 
 Supersession of Admiral Ville- 
 neuve, 36-7 
 
 Taylor, Col., 363 
 
 Temper of the Spaniards at Cadiz, 
 
 23-7 
 Tempie, Second Capt., 204 
 Time table of events, Approximate, 
 
 126-7 
 Trafalgar trophy swords. The, 143 
 
 Ulm, news of its surrender reaches 
 
 England, 343-6 
 Uriarte, Capt., 273 
 
 Valdez, Capt., 78-9, 110, 111, 123, 
 127, 291-4 
 
 Vasquez, G. C. (last survivor), 
 269 
 
 Villegris, Capt., 48 
 
 Villeneuve, Adm., 3-6, 12-21, 
 23-41, 43, 46, 47-71, 74, 86-8, 
 93, 97, 99, 101-4, 110, 113-14, 
 116-17, 119, 120-1, 126, 128, 
 134, 136-7, 140-4, 168, 176, 
 184, 192, 194, 197, 247, 261, 
 276, 328, 329, 371, 376-9, 394- 
 407 
 
 Villeneuve in England, 376-9 
 
 Villeneuve's last letter to his wife, 
 399 
 
 Villeneuve's death, Proces-verbal 
 on, 397-8 
 
 Villeneuve's alleged letter to 
 Napoleon, 401-6 
 
 Villeneuve's farewell gifts to Lucas 
 and Infernet, 398 
 
 Yon, xMid., 162, 163 
 
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