REPORT OF THE BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR, 1815
This
report to the Admiralty from Vice Admiral Collingwood, Commander in Chief of
the Royal Navy ships and vessels stationed off Cadiz, giving details of the
naval action of 21 October 1815, was reprinted in newspapers up and down the
land.
Victory at Trafalgar and the death of Lord Nelson
Victory at Trafalgar and the death of Lord Nelson
Great Naval Victory
ADMIRALTY OFFICE
Dispatches
of which the following are Copies, were received at the Admiralty Office this
day, at one o'clock, A.M. from Vice Admiral Collingwood. Commander in Chief of
his Majesty's ships and vessels off Cadiz: Euryalus, off Cape Trafalgar, Oct.
22.
SIR, THE
ever to be lamented death of Vice Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson, who, in the
late conflict with the enemy, fell in the hour of victory, leaves to me the
duty of informing my Lord Commissioners of the Admiralty, that on the 19th
inst. it was communicated to the Commander in Chief from the ships watching the
motions of the enemy in Cadiz, that the combined fleet had put to sea; as they
sailed with light winds westerly, his Lordship concluded their destination was
the Mediterranean, and immediately made all sail for the Streights' entrance,
with the British squadron, consisting of twenty-seven ships, three of them
sixty-fours, where his Lordship was informed by Captain Blackwood (whose
vigilance in watching, and giving notice of the enemy's movements, has been
highly meritorious) that they had not yet passed the Streights.
On Monday,
the 21st instant, at day light, when Cape Trafalgar bore E. by S. about seven
leagues, the enemy was discovered six or seven miles to the eastward, the wind
about west, and very light, the Commander in Chief immediately made the signal
for the fleet to bear up in two columns, as they are formed in order of
sailing; a mode of attack his Lordship had previously directed, to avoid the
inconvenience and delay in forming a line of battle in the usual manner.
The
enemy's line consisted of thirty-three ships (of which 18 were French and 15
Spanish) commanded in chief by Admiral Villeneuve; the Spaniards under the
direction of Gravina, wore, with their heads to the northward, and formed the
line of battle with great closeness and correctness;-but as the mode of attack
was unusual, so the structure of their line was new; it formed a crescent
convexing to leeward-so that, in leading down to their centre, I had both their
van and rear, abaft the beam; before the fire opened, every alternate ship was
about a cable's length to windward of her second a-head, and a-stern, forming a
kind of double line, and appeared, when on their beam, to leave a very littler
interval between them; and this without crowding their ships.
The Achille (a French 74), after having
surrendered, by some mismanagement of the Frenchmen took fire and blew up; two
hundred of her men were saved by the tenders.
A circumstance occurred during the action, which so
strongly marks the invincible spirit of British seamen, when engaging the
enemies of their country, that I cannot resist the pleasure I have in making it
known to their Lordships; the Temeraire was boarded by accident, or design, by
a French ship on one side, and a Spaniard on the other; the contest was
vigorous, but, in the end, the combined ensigns were torn from the poop, and
the British hoisted in their places.
Such a battle could not be fought without
sustaining a great loss of men.
I have not only to lament in common with the
British Navy, and the British Nation, in the fall of the Commander in Chief,
the loss of a Hero, whose name will be immortal, and his memory ever dear to
his country; but my heart is rent with the most poignant grief for the death of
a friend, to whom, by many years intimacy, and a perfect knowledge of the
virtues of his mind, which inspired ideas superior to the common race of men, I
was bound by the strongest ties of affection; a grief to which even the
glorious occasion in which he fell, does not bring the consolation which
perhaps it ought; his Lordship received a musket ball in his left breast, about
the middle of the action, and sent an officer to me immediately with his last
farewell; and soon after expired.
I have also to lament the loss of those excellent
officers, Captains Duff, of the Mars, and Cooke, of the Bellerophon; I have yet
heard of no others.
I fear the numbers that have fallen will be found
very great, when the returns come to me; but it having blown a gale of wind
ever since the action, I have not yet had it in my power to collect any reports
from the ships.
The Royal Sovereign having lost her masts, except
the tottering foremast, I called the Euryalus to me, which the action
continued, which ship lying within hail, made my signals, a service Captain
Blackwood performed with great attention; after the action, I shifted my flag
to her, that I might more easily communicate my orders to, and collect the
ships, and towed the Royal Sovereign out to seaward.
The whole fleet were now in a very perilous
situation, many dismasted, all shattered, in thirteen fathom water, off the
Shoals of Trafalgar, and when I made the signal to prepare to anchor, few of
the ships had an anchor to let go, their cables being shot; but the same good
Providence which aided us through such a day, preserved us in the night, by the
wind shifting a few points, and drifting the ships off the land.
Having thus detailed the proceedings of the fleet
on this occasion, I beg to congratulate their Lordships on a victory, which, I
hope will add a ray to the glory of his Majesty's Crown, and be attended with
public benefit to our country.
I am, &c. Signed C. Collingwood.
