Despatches, of which the following are copies, were received at
the Admiralty 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, _October 22, 1805._
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 me the duty of informing my lords
commissioners of the Admiralty, that on the 19th instant, 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 Straits' 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 Straits.
On Monday, the 21st instant, at daylight, 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 the
order of sailing; a mode of attack his Lordship had previously
directed, to avoid the delay and inconvenience in forming a line
of battle in the usual manner. The enemy's line consisted of
thirty-three ships (of which eighteen were French and fifteen
Spanish, commanded in chief by Admiral Villeneuve, the Spaniards
under the direction of Gravina), bore with their heads to the
northwards and formed their 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 ahead and astern, forming a kind of double line, and
appeared, when on their beam, to leave a very little interval
between them, and this without crowding their ships. Admiral
Villeneuve was in the _Bucentaure_ in the centre, and the
_Prince of Asturias_ bore Gravina's flag in the rear, but the
French and Spanish ships were mixed without any apparent regard
to order of national squadron.
As the mode of our attack had been previously determined upon,
and communicated to the flag officers and captains, few signals
were necessary, and none were made except to direct close order
as the lines bore down. The Commander-in-Chief in the _Victory_
led the weather column, and the _Royal Sovereign_, which bore my
flag, the lee. The action began at twelve o'clock by the leading
ships of the column breaking through the enemy's line; the
Commander-in-Chief about the tenth ship from the van; the
second-in-command about the twelfth from the rear, leaving the
van of the enemy unoccupied; the succeeding ships breaking
through in all parts, astern of their leaders, and engaging the
enemy at the muzzles of their guns. The conflict was severe; the
enemy's ships were fought with a gallantry highly honourable to
their officers; but the attack on them was irresistible, and it
pleased the Almighty Disposer of all events to grant his
Majesty's arms a complete and glorious victory. About three
p.m., many of the enemy's ships having struck their colours,
their line gave way; Admiral Gravina, with ten ships joining
their frigates to leewards, stood towards Cadiz. The five
headmost ships of their van tacked, and standing to the
southward, to windward of the British line, were engaged, and
the sternmost of them taken; the others went off, leaving to his
Majesty's squadron nineteen ships of the line (of which two are
first-rates, the _Santissima Trinidad_, and the _Santa Anna_),
with three flag officers, viz. Admiral Villeneuve, the
Commander-in-Chief; Don Ignacio Maria D'Alava, Vice-Admiral; and
the Spanish Rear-Admiral Don Baltazar Hidalgo Cisneros.
After such a victory it may appear unnecessary to enter into
encomiums on the particular parts taken by the several
commanders; the conclusion says more than I have language to
express; the spirit which animated all was the same; when all
exert themselves zealously in their country's service, all
deserve that their high merits should stand recorded; and never
was high merit more conspicuous than in the battle I have
described.
The _Achille_, a French seventy-four, 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 known to their Lordships: the _Téméraire_ 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.[15]
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 of 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, Captain Duff of the
_Mars_, and Cooke of the _Bellerophon_; I have yet heard of none
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, while the action continued, which ship, lying within hail,
made my signals, a service which Captain Blackwood performed with
very great attention. After the action I shifted my flag to her,
so that I might the 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 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, except four of the captured
dismasted ships, which are now at anchor off Trafalgar, and I
hope will ride safe until these gales are over.
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.