It was two hundred years ago today that the greatest naval battle in history, the Battle of Trafalgar, occurred just miles off the southern coast of Spain. On that day, Lord Horatio Nelson and the British fleet – vastly outnumbered and outgunned – took on the allied French-Spanish fleet that was preparing to lead Napoleon Bonaparte’s forces in an invasion of England. The consequences of Nelson’s stunning and decisive victory would continue to shape events for the next century and allowed Britain to expand their influence to create the greatest national empire in history.
Horatio Nelson took to the sea early in life, rising to captain by the time he was twenty years-old. The key to his success was that he was a leader that inspired both the men he commanded and the country he served. In a remarkable recovery after losing his right arm and the sight in his right eye, due in no small part to the care given by his wife, Fannie, he returned to the sea despite the odds to become the Hero of the Battle of the Nile. But as with all great men, he had great flaws. His affair with the wife of the British ambassador to Naples, Emma Hamilton, was quite public, and brought great shame to his devoted wife.
Despite his moral flaws, he regularly exhibited extraordinary physical courage. Serving as Vice Admiral at the Battle of Copenhagen, where the British defeated the Danish fleet, he defied a recall order given in the middle of the fight by the Admiral by placing his scope to his blind eye and telling his subordinates, “I see no such signal,” and pressed the battle to victory.
Nelson’s actions surrounding the great victory at Trafalgar demonstrated his profound leadership abilities. Realizing that the morale of the men who served on his ships was key to his success, he took great care of his men, providing for their needs. The men returned the favor in kind as Nelson trained his men for the battle he knew was ahead. While the French-Spanish fleet sat in harbor, his men would train daily. It is reported that the average British cannon crew could fire at a rate up to ten times that of the enemy, making Nelson’s fleet a lethal weapon.
To his immediate subordinates, he discussed his plans openly and freely to solicit their advice and plan for every contingency. This allowed Nelson to clearly communicate his overall strategy, so that when the enemy was engaged, the captains could adjust as circumstances dictated and support each other and the overall battle plan without instruction or orders.
His strategic genius would be displayed as he stalked the enemy fleet as it slipped out of the port of Cadiz headed to the Mediterranean. In a bold stroke, he departed from accepted naval tactics of lining his ships up parallel with the enemy for battle. Instead, he divided his force into two columns that would bisect the French-Spanish line of battle from the side, effectively severing one-third of the enemy ships from the battle as they were then required to turn their ships around in order to engage the British columns. This would even out the odds. But this didn’t come without risk: as the columns headed towards the enemy, they would be unable to fire their broadside cannons until they were within the enemy battle line, but would be completely exposed until that point. It was a risk, but a calculated one.
Luck favored Nelson at Trafalgar, but great leaders make their own luck by preparing for the opportunity. Before Nelson closed in on the enemy, the French Admiral Villeneuve decided to turn his fleet around to head back to Cadiz. As the British ships sailed towards the enemy line of ships, the enemy was in great disarray. Seeing the strategic advantage he had gained, he relayed a message to his men that is remembered as one of the great military statements of all time: “England expects that every man will do his duty.” The men would cheer successively as the message was relayed along both columns ship-to-ship. The second message put the lethal British fleet into action: “Engage the enemy more closely.”
Unlike many commanders of his day, Nelson understood the importance of leading from the front. As the enemy fleet grew closer, he was asked if he should transfer his flag further to the rear – a request he quickly declined. There was nowhere to escape the carnage, and he knew his place was to lead from the front. His ship, the HMS Victory, would lead one of the columns into battle. As the men prepared on board the Victory, Nelson walked the deck in full military regalia, making him an obvious target, shouting encouragements to his men.
As the British engaged the enemy, the HMS Victory was heavily damaged. In close contact with the enemy – so close that the Victory’s sails were entangled with those of a French ship – Nelson prepared the men to fend off the French boarders organizing themselves on the nearby deck. At that moment, 1:15pm, a shot from a French sniper rang out. A bullet entered Nelson’s side, traveled through his lung and severed his spine. Moments later as men carried Nelson below, another British ship would rake the French ship with shot from the opposite side, killing most of the French troops preparing to board the Victory.
As the battle raged that afternoon, the British fleet would eventually win the day, capturing or burning 23 ships, including that of the French admiral, Villeneuve. More than 20,000 French and Spanish sailors and soldiers were taken prisoner. British casualties, numbered at 440, dwarfed the 4000+ men killed on the French and Spanish ships.
Nelson’s victory was decisive. Any plans by Napoleon to invade England were hopelessly dashed. The British now commanded the seas, naval supremacy that allowed the English in the years ahead to extend their influence to the furthest reaches of the globe.
The news that reached England would be both triumphant and tragic: the victory had come with a terrible price – the death of Lord Admiral Nelson, who had died at 4:30pm the afternoon of the battle on the HMS Victory. Though dying at the age of forty-seven, Nelson died at the exact moment of his greatest triumph, making him an unquestioned national hero.
In January, a state funeral would be held in London for Britannia’s great hero, with an entombment in a marvelous black marble monument in the crypt of St. Paul’s Cathedral. Each year on October 21st, a commemoration service is held on all British ships all around the world to honor the courage and life of a great naval strategist, a great leader of men, and a great warrior – Lord Admiral Horatio Nelson – who is greatly honored today on this 200th anniversary of his great victory at the Battle of Trafalgar.
Radcliffe Camera in Oxford, May 2002. Though the winters are dismal in England, the spring is absolutely spectacular, as seen in this shot. Overall, I wasn't impressed as much with Oxford as I was with Cambridge (though I had been to Oxford almost 20 years before). Then again, having an excellent guide like Jack Beckman to take me through Cambridge made a significant difference. This particular trip was also soured by BritRail, which closed the Oxford station unannounced, which required us to get off several stops before, queue up for an hour, then catch a bus to the Oxford train station, in order to get to the hollowed halls traversed by the dons. The other great part about this day trip was finding a short bio of Kuyper that I had never seen in the US in a bookstore for half off - 2 pounds. What a deal! 
