What was and how is the Battle of Trafalgar defined?

Alsina González
Specialist journalist and researcher

In a quick and very summarized way, the Battle of Trafalgar meant the rise of Great Britain as a maritime power that would dominate oceans and seas until after World War II (at which time it would be replaced by the United States Joined). This, in the long term, but in the short term and within the framework of the Napoleonic Wars, would mean the end of the French plans for the maritime invasion of Great Britain.

Drawn on October 21, 1805 in the area of ​​Cape Trafalgar, located between the city of Cádiz and the Strait of Gibraltar in the context of the Napoleonic Wars and, more specifically, of the Third Coalition, faced, on the one hand, a combined Franco-Spanish fleet of 33 ships (18 + 15, respectively), and on the other, 27 ships of the British fleet.

The combined fleet had taken refuge in the port of Cádiz after the defeat against Finisterre, being blocked in that port by Nelson's fleet. The French commander, Vice Admiral Pierre de Villeneuve, had disobeyed Napoleon's orders to proceed to ports French to recover and return to ram the British fleet, and now again disobeyed Napoleon's order to go to Naples.

When Villeneuve learned that Napoleon had decided to replace him, he decided to set sail before his replacement arrived, thus forcing a confrontation with the British fleet, which would be the famous battle, and in which he would suffer a defeat decisive.

Villeneuve ordered the provision of the Franco-Spanish squadron in a single curved line (with the inside of said curve facing the British ships), while the British formed by orders of Nelson in two parallel lines transversal to the curve marked by orders of Villeneuve.

With this arrangement, the two British ranks broke the training of the combined squadron in two, and they were able to eliminate the remains of both wings and the ships that had been loose and lost in the middle.

For the British, the advantage was that, with a great extension of the Franco-Hispanic line, the two ends of the formation could not help each other, in addition to suffering difficulties of coordination (something helped by the fact that one of the first ships attacked was that of Villeneuve).

Spotting the British fleet, the French vice-admiral ordered to turn to return to Cádiz without fighting, a decision that displeased the Spanish commanders. The turning maneuver was carried out against the wind, which added disorder and space between the Franco-Spanish lines.

Another factor that also contributed to the British victory is that while the Spanish and French embarked artillerymen were trained to fire at the masts and bridges of enemy ships with the aim of dismasting them and facilitating their boarding, British artillerymen had been trained to sink enemy ships by attacking points vital.

The latter explains how the French Achille exploded by igniting her magazine.

In addition, the more motley formation of the British allowed them to individually 'hunt down' the ships of the combined fleet, resulting in engagements of a ship French or Spanish, against several British.

In a space of barely a couple of hours, the most important ships of both the French and Spanish fleets, on which the command rested, had fallen in combat, either destroyed or captured.

Of the 33 ships that made up the combined squadron, between 19 and 20 were surrendered to the British, who They took them towards Gibraltar at nightfall, although not all of them would reach the port due to their poor condition after the discharges of the cannons.

Likewise, the surviving sailors captured with the French and Spanish ships by the English would become prisoners of war. war.

Today, we can visit his prison in Gibraltar, as well as the cemetery that houses some of the British sailors killed in combat. The most significant casualty, both on one side and the other, was Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson.

One of the most central and busiest points in London is Trafalgar Square (Square Trafalgar), named precisely in honor of the battle that would give Great Britain its maritime hegemony for more than a century. In this square we find, in a prominent place, Nelson's Column, dedicated to the commander who made it possible.