The Battle of Trafalgar, rivers of ink have been poured over a naval battle of such caliber. English ships against a Franco-Spanish Aramade, the tension between these three countries not resolved for centuries, seemed to settle in this terrible battle.But what caused this confrontation, what characters intervened, where the battle took place or what consequences it had.This and other questions are going to answer them in this article that we have titled The Battle of Trafalgar-Background, Characters, Countries, Battle and Consequences , let us know all the data, how a battle was created that has inspired great writers and film directors.
Index of the article
The Battle of Trafalgar | Background
Spain, France and England throughout history have coincided in terms of interests, the three countries with a strong tendency to colonialism and expansion territorial, they have often been harmed their interests.Roughs that have been limited on some occasions through treaties and others through confrontations.
For many years alliances were created with the aim of defeating the third, the country that had not entered into such an alliance.19th century, Napoleon Bonaparte intended to expand through Europe but there was another power with the same pretensions, England.Tensions between the two countries began to become apparent, Napoleon's obsession to crush England led him to park his differences with n Spain and ally this to end a common enemy.
Spain claimed Gibraltar, while Napoleon came from winning the battle of Ulm, defeating the Austrian army, given that in 1805, England, Austria, Sweden and Russia had created the Third Coalition for the sole purpose of overthrowing the French Empire.
The Battle of Ulm
The ancient wounds between France and England had opened and Napoleon found the right moment to fulfill his great dream invade England or failing to isolate them by blocking the English Channel.The Treaty of Aranjuez in 1779 signed by the Count of Floridablanca, by which Spain and France established the commitment to Invade England and recover for Spain Gibraltar and Menorca, as well as the Florida peninsula and the Hondur as Britanica, while France would recover Senegal, Newfoundland and the right to trade with India.
Spain was obliged to provide its army if France needed it.But neither France nor Spain were aware of the Naval power that England had harvested.It was not taken into account that in the battles over land Spain and France were superior, but the British Navy was much more powerful than the Continental Navy.
The Battle of Trafalgar | Battle Plans.The Engano
Napoleon who saw his possessions in America threatened, decided to devise a plan to end the English and to invade England , that in the background was his great dream.
Vice Admiral Pierre Charles Silvestre de Villeneuve
It was a distraction plan, under the command of Vice Admiral Pierre Charles Silvestre de Villeneuve, The Spanish Navy and the French Navy in order to attack British possessions in the Caribbean.This would force British ships to leave in defense of their American colonies.But Napoleon's strategy was to invade England through the step of Calais, where I already expected a great infantry army ready to embark to England.
Pas de Calais
However Napoleon did not correctly choose who was to command the Spanish-French army, Vice Admiral Villeneuve, a man who not only hated Napoleon and his policies, but also disagreed with attract British Admiral Nelson to the Caribbean.In part this was due to the terrible dread he had towards Admiral Nelson, after a confrontation in the bay of Abourkir.
Villeneuve, departed from Tolon on March 30. while Admiral Nelson, thinking that France's strategy was to go to Egypt, was waiting to sail between Sardinia and Sicily. Soon Nelson I would discover the dwarf. Nelson ran his fleet of 10 ships of the line and three frigates heading for the Antilles.
Admiral Nelson
Villeneuve I wait on the Island Martinique that the 21 line ships commanded by the Admiral Ganteaume, joined him, later 6 Spanish ships under the command of Admiral Federico Gravina, would also join the fleet French.Villeneuve, had to return to Europe to support the landing of the troop in Calais, which as a deadline was June 22.
Federico Gravina
Nelson who had set course for the Antilles, was misinformed heading south in North place, where Villeneuve was. The dwarf had worked and Nelson was on the Atlantic looking for the elusive Villeneuve.
The Battle of Trafalgar | Battle of Finisterre
The English connoisseurs of the border weakness that existed in the English Channel , had set up a fleet that would constantly monitor the canal, and it was this fleet that coincidentally, he found on July 22 with the entire Navy combined in Finisterre, that was aimed at supporting the incursion of troops at the Calais pass.
Battle of Finisterre
Admiral Sir Robert Calder led the Canal surveillance fleet with 15 ships in line, while Villeneuve had 21 ships and 7 frigates.The confrontation resulted in two captured Spanish ships and damage in another 4 The British suffered damage to 4 ships and had 199 casualties.On July 27, both fleets left the place of confrontation in the direction of different ones.
The Battle of Trafalgar | Start of the Battle
Villeneuve received express orders to go to the south of France, but Villeneuve disobeying Napoleon's orders, headed with the entire fleet to the port of Cadiz, where I dock on August 21.
Nelson returned to England on August 19, after having suffered the dwarf of Villeneuve but knowing the destination they had chosen in the port of Cadiz.He got 27 ships and 5 frigates, the latter under Sir Henry Blackwood.
With this fleet Nelson headed for Cadiz in order to monitor the combined fleet consisting of 2,600 sailors and 33 ships, while Nelson's fleet had 27 ships and 2,100 sailors.
Nelson's strategy was that once the fleet left Cadiz, he would attack in two columns formed in a straight angle, breaking the enemy lines and isolating the part rear to then destroy it, before the combined army, was able to back it up.
The Battle of Trafalgar | The Battle
The fleet Franco-Spanish, left Cadiz at dawn on Saturday October 19, but it was a messy fleet, a 9-mile-long line of dispersed ships, so much so that it took two days to reach the Strait of Gibraltar.
On October 21 a rising swell predicted the proximity of a storm. Villeneuve, decided to change course and to return to the Mediterranean, the Spanish fleet commanded by Granvina, before heading the fleet, were now in the rear, an hour later, Admiral Nelson's fleet fell on the Spanish army, in the formation of two columns.
Ne lson who saw how the combined fleet was on the run decided to chase her , but what was her surprise when, the combined fleet of Villenueve, turned around and headed straight for them.Nelson after a signal and a slogan, began the first shots.In a second order of the Admiral the English fleet approached even more receiving Victory , ship captained by Nelson, a shower of gunfire from the Bucentaure, captained by Villenueve.
While the canons bombarded Victory, the French and Spanish shooter fired towards the deck.E l Victory suffered significant damage at the helm and in all its sticks, practically ungovernable, had enough courage to pass near Bucentaure, unloading a devastating load through its galleries, killing dozens of Bucentaure crew and leaving 20 useless canons.
The restored HMSVictory turned into a museum in the British port of Portsmouth
With the broken lines, the contest continued with a series of individual actions, where the fight was from ship to ship, a technique that the English dominated.
The Redoutable, whose commanders were Captain Jean-Jacques Lucas, shot last wave with such precision that I ended the life of 40 Marines.While a sniper was right to reach Admiral Nelson, leaving him seriously injured.
After the battle the Bucentaure could barely float
The Redoutable, began to receive shots from all flanks, but when or the Temeraire , joined the contest destroyed what was left of the Redoutable, while his new captain refused to surrender until finally 88% of his crew, including his captain had died.
The Holy Trinity unable to shoot a single shot, he could only wait for the approach by the English, but when this occurred, a Spanish officer warned that The captain had not lowered her flag. The heroicity of the Holy Trinity and her crew delayed what was already inevitable.
The Holy Trinity
The result of the entire contest was the death of Admiral Nelson and the resounding defeat of the Franco-Spanish army, although both Spaniards and French opposed fierce resistance but a disorder Nizacion by the Franco-Spanish Navy along with a great shipping experience and better equipped and fast ships, made a victory impossible.
The Battle of Trafalgar | Aftermath
The consequences of one of the most important and heroic naval battles in history, had been accompanied by the failure of Napoleon's attempts to invade Great Britain. But what I do make clear throughout the 19th century, was superiority of the English naval fleet and its hegemony.
The combat flag of the« San Ildefonso », captured by the« HMS Defense »
For Spain it meant greater control of the Strait of Gibraltar by part of Great Britain in addition to hindering trade relations with the American colonies , even facilitating the lifting of these as well as the beginning of their independence process.
Holy Trinity
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