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The Trafalgar Campaign: Countdown to the Battle

Read Nelson's private diary from the day he boarded Victory, to the day of the battle

Back to the Mediterranean

Villeneuve and his fleet were now blockaded in Cadiz by Vice-Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood.  But that didn't mean he didn't pose a threat.  Though some of the French ships and crew were in poor condition after the long chase to the West Indies and back, they still outnumbered the British.  And if they escaped, they could still damage British trade convoys from the West Indies, and stop British troops from meeting with the Russians to take back Italy.  Napoleon had given up his designs on an invasion of Britain and turned for Austria, but the French naval threat had to be neutralised completely.

And so it was that Admiral Horatio Nelson was sent once more to his post as Commander-in-Chief.  No other officer could have the skill, knowledge and genius required to totally annihilate the enemy.

Before leaving Merton, his paradise, Nelson knelt at his daughter's bedside as she slept, and said a prayer for her.  Elegantly dressed in full uniform, complete with his honours and medals, he rode in a carriage to Portsmouth.  On the way there, he wrote the following prayer - somewhat brooding and melancholy, yet also with strong undertones of his determination to do whatever his duty demanded of him:

It was not the first time he had foreseen his death in battle.  In fact, he hoped for a glorious death in a victorious battle.  But this poignant diary entry is different.  It is not a dramatic declaration like those he had previously made in letters to friends and family, which were probably composed of phrases that he hoped would memorable as his 'famous last words'.  This is a private prayer to his God, and yet also a plea.  He was still willing to die in the name of his duty but, perhaps because he had found such contentment with his wife in all but name, and his daughter, he rather hoped he wouldn't have to.

Resting at an inn at Portsmouth, he finished dealing with other private business.  He then made his way to board the Victory, taking backstreets so as to avoid the pressing crowds that had gathered to see their hero.  He 'embarked at the Bathing Machines', a little way from the dock, but was still seen off by a large crowd of people.  He was then rowed out to the Victory with his Captain, Thomas Hardy.  As they left, he turned to Hardy and quietly said, "I had their huzzahs before.  I have their hearts now."  That public sentiment was something he cherished.  

Emma was never far from his mind, and as early as the 17th, as he stopped at Plymouth to pick up the Ajax and Thunderer, he was writing to her:

Nelson explaining his plan to his captains.

Upon reaching the fleet, Nelson became occupied with setting up look-out ships, formulating strategies, and general administration.  A small squadron under Rear-Admiral Thomas Louis in the Canopus joined on the 1st of October, and was promptly sent back out to Gibraltar to get supplies.  Louis strongly protested, believing he would miss the battle, but Nelson assured him that he would be back before the enemy got out.  But he was wrong, and Louis and his squadron did indeed miss the battle, to Louis' intense disappointment.

Collingwood in the Royal Sovereign joined on the 8th, and on the 9th Nelson sent him what he called the 'Nelson Touch'.  This was the essence of his strategy in the upcoming battle.  Flying in the face of traditional battle strategy, whereby a fleet would line up parallel with an enemy line and fire broadsides on each other, normally in one-on-one encounters, Nelson's strategy involved sailing in two columns.  One would characteristically be led by him, the other by Collingwood, and they would sail directly into the enemy line, cutting right through it.  This would decrease the enemy's advantage of numbers, as the front ships of their line would be rendered ineffective until they were able to turn around and re-join the battle, during which time the British fleet would outnumber and pummel the remainder. 

This is Nelson's sketch of his battle plan, which he drew while explaining it to his captains.  The thick diagonal line represents the enemy line.  You can see how hard Nelson pressed his pen into the paper while excitedly explaining the two 'cuts' his fleet would make in the line.  You can read a more detailed explanation of the sketch at the National Maritime Museum site.

This strategy was incredibly risky.  The ships at the front of the British columns would be vulnerable to enemy broadsides and would take quite a beating before even reaching them.  Nelson placed his strongest ships, Victory and Royal Sovereign, at the head of the columns as they would be more able to withstand the attack, but it posed a huge risk to him personally.  But, apart from his character being unable to do anything other than lead, he knew that his presence at the forefront of the attack would inspire his men and boost their morale and confidence.  They would have to demonstrate nerves of steel, as they would not be able to do any effective damage and so would be ordered to hold fire until the line was broken.  Nelson's vision was of a 'pell-mell battle', as he had earlier described it, surprising the enemy with an all-out melee that was entirely dependent upon the superior, faster and more accurate gunnery and higher morale of his well-trained, highly disciplined men.  He also put complete faith in his captains, telling them to choose their own targets and trusting them not to need signals from him, as in the confusion of a melee, signals could easily be misread or not even seen at all.  He simply said that "No captain can do very wrong if he places his ship alongside that of an enemy."  In the ensuing chaos as the enemy line was torn apart, it would be every ship for itself.  His ability to fully trust his captains had been successful at the Nile, and it would prove to be again. 

Nelson was ecstatic with the response his strategy received.  He wrote to Emma,

Villeneuve knew what Nelson's attack plan was likely to be, and the orders he gave to his captains were similar; that they should act on their own initiative, but ensure that they were always beside an enemy ship.  But Nelson had been instilling his captains with this ideal for months, whereas the French and Spanish were still used to the idea of parallel lines of battle.  So Villeneuve's only option was to form the line he knew Nelson was expecting. 

He planned for his line to contain three divisions, each led by separate admirals, in pre-determined positions.  But because these positions were not the same as their order of sailing, they had to spend time trying to manoeuvre into them.  Because there was a heavy swell, but very little wind, it took them a long time to get into position, so Villeneuve ordered them to turn into the wind.  However, this required some skill on the part of the captains, and so the ships turned at different speeds.  Faster ships had to turn out of the line to avoid collision, creating gaps in the line, and the reserves, which should have been to the west of the line so they could see where help was needed, ended up at the rear.  Villeneuve could only watch as the organised, disciplined two columns of British ships marched sedately and purposefully towards his disorganised line.

 

Nelson's Last Letters and Diary Entry, and the 'Trafalgar Prayer'

With barely any wind, the approach to the enemy line was painfully slow.  All preparations for battle were made and the decks were cleared, and the men still had time to prepare their guns, eat, and write their wills.  Nelson's cabin had been cleared and all his furniture pushed out of the way.  Kneeling on the floor, he found time to write his last diary entry, which included what has become known as his 'Trafalgar prayer':

Below is an artist's impression of Nelson praying, and a photo of his diary.

He followed this with a codicil to his will, which was witnessed and signed by Captains Hardy and Blackwood.

In this codicil was Nelson's last attempt to get the government to look after his lover and child upon his death, by reminding them of her (possibly exaggerated) value during the Nile campaign.  There is just a hint of resentment in his last paragraph: 'These are the only favors I ask of my King and Country at this moment when I am going to Fight Their Battle.'  Despite his willingness to give his life for his King and country, he probably knew his chance of success with this plea for a return of favours was slim, as for all her services, Emma was not his wife. 

He also asked for his daughter, Horatia, to be taken care of.  But here, he keeps up the pretence that she is only his adopted daughter.  He and Emma, for appearances sake, had to pretend that they had adopted Horatia from a Mr and Mrs Thompson - in their story, Thompson was an officer on Nelson's ship, and Nelson wrote on his behalf, through Emma, to Mrs Thompson.  After Emma's husband died, the facade slipped - not that they had been very good at keeping it up anyway.  So Horatia had been christened with the name of Nelson Thompson, but now, facing his possible death, Nelson wrote a strong hint that she was, in fact, his daughter, by asking that she should drop the 'Thompson' from her name.

Two days earlier, he'd written a tender letter to her, in which he signed himself as her father for the first time:

Finally, Nelson wrote his last letter to Emma:

Nelson had hoped to be able to finish the letter after the battle.  But after the battle, it was found open, on his desk, unfinished.

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Trafalgar - Nelson's Final Battle

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