JULY TO OCTOBER 1805
The reader may remember that having decided to invade England in early 1805, Napoleon had developed a series of plans the common feature of which was that the French fleet in Toulon, commanded by Admiral Villeneuve, would combine with the Spanish fleet in Cadiz and make an attack on the West Indies. He hoped that this feint would draw a large part of the British fleet across the Atlantic, and while they were searching for him, Villeneuve would recross the Altlantic and having joined with the French Atlantic fleet at Brest would proceed up the Channel and protect the French army as it launched its invasion on England. After a false start in February, Villeneuve sailed from Toulon on the 29th March and passed into the Atlantic in early April. Having learnt from Phoebe of Villeneuve's movements Nelson followed him into the Atlantic, passing through the Straits of Gibraltar on the 5th May.
Once into the Atlantic Nelson had to decide which way he should go next. Should he go to the West Indies or should he sail north towards the English Channel? Fortunately he obtained good intelligence from a Portuguese warship and chose the West Indies.
For a number of reasons Villeneuve remained in the West Indies for longer than originally planned and only left in June when he heard that Nelson had arrived in the area. Fortunately Nelson learnt of the Combined fleet's movements and set off in pursuit only two days behind them. At the same time a brig was sent on ahead to warn the Admiralty in London.
On arrival in European waters Villeneuve's fleet was intercepted off Cape Finisterre, the NW tip of Spain, by a fleet commanded by Admiral Calder. Here, on the 22nd July, an inconclusive battle was fought, after which Villeneuve took shelter in the Spanish ports of Vigo and Corunna, where he was joined by other French and Spanish warships. Calder's conduct of this battle was severely criticised by public opinion and many of his Captains, who believed that his lack of initiative had thrown away an opportunity to inflict a decisive defeat on the enemy.
While all these exciting events were taking place Napoleon had arrived at Calais and was confidently awaiting the arrival of his combined fleet. Unfortunately Villeneuve had other ideas and had decided that the original plan was no longer practicable, particularly as the French Atlantic fleet was still blockaded in Brest and had little chance of getting out. On August 11th Villeneuve decided to sail south to Cadiz, where he arrived on the 20th. While doing so he passed, unseen, Nelson's fleet, which had made its European landfall off southern Spain, was heading north to reinforce the forces off Brest.
On Aug 23rd Napoleon finally accepted that his plan to invade England had failed and gave orders for his army to move towards the Rhine to meet the new threat that was developing from Russia and Austria-Hungary.
When Villeneuve arrived at Cadiz his fleet was immediately blockaded by a small force under the command of Admiral Collingwood in his flagship Dreadnought. Nelson, in the meantime, had returned to England for some much deserved leave. At first Collingwood's force was only a small squadron, but on the 28th Calder arrived with 18 ships from the fleet off Brest. Careful measures were taken by Collingwood to conceal the true size of his force. He kept his ships of the line over the horizon and only the frigates kept a close watch of the enemy fleet in Cadiz harbour. On 15th September Nelson sailed from Portsmouth on board the Victory to take command of the fleet off Cadiz. He arrived on station on the 28th September.
While Nelson set about preparing his fleet for battle, important events were taking place ashore in Cadiz. On the 14th September, as Nelson was leaving England, Napoleon had issued instructions to Villeneuve to break the blockade and take his fleet into the Mediterranean, join forces with a Spanish fleet at Cartagena and then proceed to Naples with an expeditionary force to reinforce a French army already in the area. The next day after issuing these instructions he received a letter from an informant in Cadiz giving a very uncomplimentary picture of Villeneuve's performance and loyalty. Napoleon decided that Admiral Rosily should replace Villeneuve and issued the necessary instructions to Decr's his Minister of Marine.
Decr's, who was a friend of Villeneuve's reacted to these instructions in a slightly devious manner. On the 16th he sent a letter to Villeneuve covering Napoleon's instructions for him to break the blockade and proceed to Naples, but he made no mention of the subsequent decision for Rosily to replace him. He satisfied himself with advice suggesting that Villeneuve should attempt to break out of Cadiz as soon as possible. Decr's then gave Rosily the letter to Villeneuve telling him to hand over his command. Napoleon had ordered that Rosily should deliver it personally to the unfortunate Villeneuve. Rosily left Paris on the 24th September. He did not arrive in Cadiz until two days after the Battle of Trafalgar had been fought.
On the 27th September, the day before Nelson took over command of the British fleet, Villeneuve received the letter instructing him to break the blockade and sail for the Mediterranean. For the next few weeks Villeneuve hesitated. His reasons for doing so were varied, such as weather conditions, the strength of the British fleet or lack of enthusiasm on the part of his Spanish allies.
By the middle of the month two developments had occurred which led to Villeneuve making a final decision. On the 3rd October Nelson had sent Admiral Louis (ex Captain of Minotaur) with five ship of the line to Gibraltar for stores and water. We know that Villeneuve was aware of this reduction in the strength of the British Fleet. The second, and perhaps more important development was that he had heard privately that Rosily was on his way to relieve him and that accusations of indecision and cowardice were being made against him.
In the early morning of Friday 18th October Villeneuve went on board the Spanish flagship and informed the Spanish admiral, Gravina, that he intended to order the Combined Fleet to proceed to sea the next day.
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