The Almighty God, whose arm is strength, having of his great
mercy been pleased to crown the exertions of his Majesty's
fleet with success, in giving them a complete victory over
their enemies, on the 21st of this month; and that all praise
and thanksgiving may be offered up to the throne of grace, for
the great benefit to our country and to mankind, I have thought
it proper that a day should be appointed of general humiliation
before God, and thanksgiving for his merciful goodness,
imploring forgiveness of sins, a continuation of his divine
mercy, and his constant aid to us, in defence of our country's
liberties and laws, and without which the utmost efforts of man
are nought; and therefore that [blank] be appointed for this
holy purpose.
Given on board the "Euryalus," off Cape Trafalgar,
October 22, 1805.
(_Signed_) C. COLLINGWOOD
To the respective Captains and Commanders.
N.B.--The fleet having been dispersed by a gale of wind, no day
has yet been able to be appointed for the above purpose.
Against the desire of his dead comrade, Collingwood carried into
practice his own sound and masterful judgment not to anchor either his
conquests or any of his own vessels on a lee ironbound shore. Even had
his ground tackle been sound and intact, which it was not, and the
holding ground good instead of bad, he acted in a seamanlike manner by
holding steadfastly to the sound sailor tradition always to keep the
gate open for drift, to avoid being caught, and never to anchor on a
lee shore; and if perchance you get trapped, as hundreds have been,
get out of it quickly, if you can, before a gale comes on. But in no
case is it good seamanship to anchor. There is always a better chance
of saving both the ship and lives by driving ashore in the square
effort to beat off rather than by anchoring. The cables, more often
than not, part, and if they do, the ship is doomed, and so may lives
be. Hundreds of sailing vessels were saved in other days by the skill
of their commanders in carrying out a plan, long since forgotten,
called clubhauling off a lee shore. Few sailors living to-day will
know the phrase, or how to apply it to advantage. It was a simple
method, requiring ability, of helping the vessel to tack when the wind
and sea made it impossible in the ordinary way. A large kedge with a
warp bent on was let go on either the port or starboard quarter at an
opportune moment to make sure the vessel would cant the right way, and
then the warp was cut with an axe. In the writer's opinion, it would
have been just as unwise to anchor at Trafalgar after the battle, in
view of the weather and all circumstances, as it would be to anchor on
the Yorkshire or any part of the North-East Coast when an easterly
gale is blowing. But apart from the folly of it, there were none of
the ships that had ground tackle left that was fit to hold a cat.
Without a doubt, Nelson's mind was distracted and suffering when he
gave Hardy the order to anchor. The shadows were hovering too thickly
round him at the time for him to concentrate any sound judgment. Some
writers have condemned Collingwood for not carrying out the dying
request of his Commander-in-Chief. It was a good thing that the
command of the fleet fell into the hands of a man who had knowledge
and a mind unimpaired to carry out his fixed opinions. When Hardy
conveyed Nelson's message, he replied, "That is the very last thing
that I would have thought of doing," and he was right. Had Nelson
come out of the battle unscathed, he would assuredly have acted as
Collingwood did, and as any well-trained and soundly-balanced sailor
would have done. Besides, he always made a point of consulting "Coll,"
as he called him, on great essential matters. If it had been
summer-time and calm, or the wind off the land, and the glass
indicating a continuance of fine weather, and provided the vessels'
cables had been sound, it might have paid to risk a change of wind and
weather in order to refit with greater expedition and save the prizes,
but certainly not in the month of October in that locality, where the
changes are sudden and severe. Collingwood acted like a sound
hardheaded man of affairs in salving all he could and destroying those
he could not without risk of greater disaster.
Collingwood's account of his difficulties after the battle was won is
contained in the following letter to his father-in-law:--
"QUEEN,"
_2nd November, 1805._
MY DEAR SIR,--I wrote to my dear Sarah a few lines when I sent
my first dispatches to the Admiralty, which account I hope will
satisfy the good people of England, for there never was, since
England had a fleet, such a combat. In three hours the combined
fleet were annihilated, upon their own shores, at the entrance
of their port, amongst their own rocks. It has been a very
difficult thing to collect an account of our success, but by the
best I have twenty-three sail of the line surrendered to us, out
of which three, in the furious gale we had afterward, being
driven to the entrance of the harbour of Cadiz, received
assistance and got in; these were the _Santa Anna_, the
_Algeziras_, and _Neptune_ (the last since sunk and lost); the
_Santa Anna's_ side was battered in. The three we have sent to
Gibraltar are the _San Ildefonso_, _San Juan Nepomuceno_, and
_Swiftsure_; seventeen others we have burnt, sunk, and run on
shore, but the _Bahama_ I have yet hope of saving; she is gone
to Gibraltar. Those ships which effected their escape into Cadiz
are quite wrecks; some have lost their masts since they got in,
and they have not a spar or a store to refit them. We took four
admirals--Villeneuve the commander-in-chief, Vice-Admiral
D'Alava, Rear-Admiral Cisneros, Spanish, and Magon, the French
admiral, who was killed--besides a great number of brigadiers
(commanders). D'Alava, wounded, was driven into Cadiz in the
_Santa Anna_; Gravina, who was not taken, has lost his arm
(amputated I have heard, but not from him); of men, their loss
is many thousands, for I reckon in the captured ships we took
twenty thousand prisoners (including the troops). This was a
victory to be proud of; but in the loss of my excellent friend,
Lord Nelson, and a number of brave men, we paid dear for it;
when my dear friend received his wound, he immediately sent an
officer to me to tell me of it, and give his love to me. Though
the officer was directed to say the wound was not dangerous, I
read in his countenance what I had to fear; and before the
action was over Captain Hardy came to inform me of his death. I
cannot tell you how deeply I was affected, for my friendship for
him was unlike anything that I have left in the Navy, a
brotherhood of more than thirty years; in this affair he did
nothing without my counsel; we made our line of battle together,
and concerted the mode of attack, which was put into execution
in the most admirable style. I shall grow very tired of the sea
soon; my health has suffered so much from the anxious state I
have been in, and the fatigue I have undergone, that I shall be
unfit for service. The severe gales which immediately followed
the day of victory ruined our prospect of prizes; our own infirm
ships could scarce keep off the shore; the prizes were left to
their fate, and as they were driven very near the port, I
ordered them to be destroyed by burning and sinking, that there
might be no risk of their falling again into the hands of the
enemy. There has been a great destruction of them, indeed I
hardly know what, but not less than seventeen or eighteen, the
total ruin of the combined fleet. To alleviate the miseries of
the wounded, as much as in my power, I sent a flag to the
Marquis Solano, to offer him his wounded. Nothing can exceed
the gratitude expressed by him, for this act of humanity; all
this part of Spain is in an uproar of praise and thankfulness to
the English. Solano sent me a present of a cask of wine, and we
have a free intercourse with the shore. Judge of the footing we
are on, when I tell you he offered me his hospitals, and pledged
the Spanish honour for the care and cure of our wounded men. Our
officers and men, who were wrecked in some of the prize ships,
were received like divinities; all the country was on the beach
to receive them; the priests and women distributing wine, and
bread and fruit among them; the soldiers turned out of their
barracks to make lodging for them, whilst their allies, the
French, were left to shift for themselves, with a guard over
them to prevent their doing mischief. After the battle I shifted
my flag to the _Euryalus_ frigate, that I might the better
distribute my orders; and when the ships were destroyed and the
squadron in safety, I came here, my own ship being totally
disabled; she lost her last mast in the gale. All the northern
boys, and Graydon, are alive; Kennicott has a dangerous wound in
his shoulder; Thompson is wounded in the arm, and just at the
conclusion of the action his leg was broken by a splinter;
little Charles is unhurt, but we have lost a good many
youngsters. For myself, I am in so forlorn a state, my servants
killed, my luggage, what is left, is on board the _Sovereign_,
and Clavell[16] wounded. I have appointed Sir Peter Parker's[17]
grandson, and Captain Thomas, my old lieutenant, post captains;
Clavell, and the first lieutenant of the _Victory_, made
commanders; but I hope the Admiralty will do more for them, for
in the history of our Navy there is no instance of a victory so
complete and so great. The ships that escaped into Cadiz are
wrecks; and they have neither stores nor inclination to refit
them. I shall now go, as soon as I get a sufficient squadron
equipped, and see what I can do with the Carthagenians; if I can
get at them, the naval war will be finished in this country.
Prize-money I shall get little or none for this business, for
though the loss of the enemy may be estimated at near four
millions, it is most of it gone to the bottom. Don Argemoso, who
was formerly captain of the _Isedro_, commanded the _Monarca_,
one of our captures; he sent to inform me he was in the
_Leviathan_, and I immediately ordered, for our old acquaintance
sake, his liberty on parole. All the Spaniards speak of us in
terms of adoration; and Villeneuve, whom I had in the frigate,
acknowledges that they cannot contend with us at sea. I do not
know what will be thought of it in England, but the effect here
is highly advantageous to the British name. Kind remembrances to
all my friends; I dare say your neighbour, Mr.---- will be
delighted with the history of the battle; if he had been in it,
it would have animated him more than all his daughter's
chemistry; it would have new strung his nerves, and made him
young again. God bless you, my dear sir, may you be ever happy;
it is very long since I heard from home.