1 MANCHESTER ROAD, ISLE OF DOGS, LONDON E14 3BD
0207 987 1970
Please scroll down for the story
of the Battle of Trafalgar
Nelson:
The
HistoryThe Lord Nelson was built by Henry Johnson in 1855. It is a three-storey brick building with stone dressings and a curved corner, characteristic of public houses of the period. Originally, the corner was surmounted by an aedicular niche containing a statue of Lord Nelson, and there was a stone balustrade, but these features have been removed.
The original Fire Station was demolished in 1904 and replaced with the current structure, which is now being converted for residential use.
Lord
Nelson is one of Britain’s greatest national heroes, whose
victory at Trafalgar and ultimate sacrifice saved the nation from
invasion. He won many victories, often using innovative
tactics.
He was wounded in battle, damaging an eye and losing an arm.
He
led from the front and was always at the heart of combat, and for this,
his men and the public loved him.
Born in 1758, the son of a Norfolk clergyman, he went to sea at the age of 12, under his uncle who later became Comptroller of the Navy. He became Captain at the young age of 21 and served mainly in the West Indies during the American War of Independence.
With the outbreak of war with France in 1793, Nelson fought in the Mediterranean, losing the sight in his right eye at the siege of Calvi in Corsica in 1794. He captured two enemy ships and came to fame at the Battle of St. Vincent in 1797, near Cadiz, and was subsequently promoted to Rear Admiral and Knighted. Later that year, he lost his lower right arm in a night attack on Santa Cruz, Tenerife.
Nelson met Lady Hamilton in 1798 at Naples, where her husband, much older than Emma, was Ambassador. Nelson, who was also married, had a torrid affair with Emma Hamilton, often meeting secretly on the Isle of Dogs.
In 1798 he annihilated the French Fleet in the “Battle of the Nile” and was made a Viscount. At Copehagen in 1801 he won a daring victory over the Danes, standing fast although ordered to withdraw. He took over as Commander in the Mediterranean in 1802, until the Battle of Trafalger in 1805.
On 19th October 1805, 33 French and Spanish ships under Admiral Villeneuve, left the safety of Cadiz to sail to Brest. Nelson caught the combined French and Spanish fleet off Cape Trafalgar where Nelson sent his famous signal “England expects that every man will do his duty”.
The enemy was sailing, stretched out in a line, and convention dictated that Nelson should also form a line to attack, but he drove through their line in two places at right angles. Whilst his two sections engaged the rear part of the enemy line, the front French and Spanish ships had to sail on before they could turn about, buying Nelson valuable time and winning him the battle.
By the end of the battle, some 20 enemy ships had been sunk or captured, but not a single British ship was lost. Villeneuve was captured and praised Nelson’s strategy. There were around 1,500 British casualties, including Nelson who was shot by a sniper from Redoubtable's mizzen top. Nelson remained conscious for a while after he was shot, enough time to send messages to his friends and say farewell to Captain Thomas Masterman Hardy of the Victory, his closest friend. He died knowing that he had won a great victory.
Born in 1758, the son of a Norfolk clergyman, he went to sea at the age of 12, under his uncle who later became Comptroller of the Navy. He became Captain at the young age of 21 and served mainly in the West Indies during the American War of Independence.
With the outbreak of war with France in 1793, Nelson fought in the Mediterranean, losing the sight in his right eye at the siege of Calvi in Corsica in 1794. He captured two enemy ships and came to fame at the Battle of St. Vincent in 1797, near Cadiz, and was subsequently promoted to Rear Admiral and Knighted. Later that year, he lost his lower right arm in a night attack on Santa Cruz, Tenerife.
Nelson met Lady Hamilton in 1798 at Naples, where her husband, much older than Emma, was Ambassador. Nelson, who was also married, had a torrid affair with Emma Hamilton, often meeting secretly on the Isle of Dogs.
In 1798 he annihilated the French Fleet in the “Battle of the Nile” and was made a Viscount. At Copehagen in 1801 he won a daring victory over the Danes, standing fast although ordered to withdraw. He took over as Commander in the Mediterranean in 1802, until the Battle of Trafalger in 1805.
On 19th October 1805, 33 French and Spanish ships under Admiral Villeneuve, left the safety of Cadiz to sail to Brest. Nelson caught the combined French and Spanish fleet off Cape Trafalgar where Nelson sent his famous signal “England expects that every man will do his duty”.
The enemy was sailing, stretched out in a line, and convention dictated that Nelson should also form a line to attack, but he drove through their line in two places at right angles. Whilst his two sections engaged the rear part of the enemy line, the front French and Spanish ships had to sail on before they could turn about, buying Nelson valuable time and winning him the battle.
By the end of the battle, some 20 enemy ships had been sunk or captured, but not a single British ship was lost. Villeneuve was captured and praised Nelson’s strategy. There were around 1,500 British casualties, including Nelson who was shot by a sniper from Redoubtable's mizzen top. Nelson remained conscious for a while after he was shot, enough time to send messages to his friends and say farewell to Captain Thomas Masterman Hardy of the Victory, his closest friend. He died knowing that he had won a great victory.
On
9th Jan 1806 a state funeral was held in London. His body lied in state
in the Painted Hall, Royal Naval Hospital, Greenwich, before a long
procession to St Paul's Cathedral by water, where his body was
interred beneath the dome in a coffin made from the wood of the
L'Orient.
The
column was built between 1840 and 1843 to commemorate Admiral Horatio
Nelson's death at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The 5.5m (18ft)
statue of Nelson stands on top of a 46 m (151 ft) granite column. The
statue faces south, towards the Palace of Westminster and along Pall
Mall, where his ships are represented on the top of each flagpole. The
top of the Corinthian column (based on one from the Temple of Mars
Ultor in Rome) is decorated with bronze acanthus leaves cast from
British cannons. The square pedestal is decorated with four bronze
panels, cast from captured French guns, depicting Nelson's four great
victories.
The monument was designed by architect William Railton in 1838, and built by the firm Peto & Grissell. Railton's original 1:22-scale stone model is exhibited at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, London. The sandstone statue at the top was sculpted by E.H. Baily of the Royal Academy; a small bronze plaque crediting him is at the base of the statue. The entire monument was built at a cost of 47,500 pounds, or 3.5 million pounds in 2004 terms.
The Battle of Trafalgar saw the British decisively defeat a combined French and Spanish fleet on 21 October 1805 in the most significant naval battle of the Napoleonic Wars. A Royal Navy fleet of 27 ships of the line destroyed an allied French and Spanish fleet of 33 ships of the line west of Cape Trafalgar in south-west Spain. The French and Spanish lost 22 ships, while the British lost none. The British commander Admiral Lord Nelson died late in the battle, by which time he had ensured his place as Britain's greatest naval hero.
The British fleet was sailing, as they would fight, under signal 72 hoisted on Nelson's flagship. At 5:40 a.m., the British were about 21 miles (34 km) to the north-west of Cape Trafalgar, with the Franco-Spanish fleet between the British and the Cape. At 6 a.m. that morning, Nelson gave the order to prepare for battle.
By 11 a.m. Nelson's entire fleet was visible to Villeneuve, drawn up in two parallel columns. The two fleets would be within range of each other within an hour. Villeneuve was concerned at this point about forming up a line, as his ships were unevenly spaced and in an irregular formation. The French-Spanish fleet was drawn out nearly five miles (8 km) long as Nelson's fleet approached.
As the British drew closer, they could see that the enemy was not sailing in a tight order, but rather in irregular groups. Nelson could not immediately make out the French flagship as the French and Spanish were not flying command pennants.
The battle progressed largely according to Nelson's plan. At 11:45, Nelson sent the famous flag signal, "England expects that every man will do his duty" He had instructed his signal officer, Lieutenant John Pasco, to signal to the fleet the message "England confides [i.e. is confident] that every man will do his duty." Pasco suggested to Nelson that expects be substituted for confides, since the former word was in the signal book, whereas confides would have to be spelled out letter-by-letter. Nelson agreed to the change.
As the battle opened, the French and Spanish were in a ragged line headed north as the two British columns approached from the west at nearly a right angle. The northern, windward column of the British fleet was headed by Nelson's 104-gun flagship Victory. The leeward column was led by the 100-gun Royal Sovereign, the flagship of Vice-Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood. Nelson led his line into a feint toward the van of the Franco-Spanish fleet and then abruptly turned toward the actual point of attack. Collingwood altered the course of his column slightly so that the two lines converged at this line of attack.
Just before his column engaged the allied forces, Collingwood said to his officers, "Now, gentlemen, let us do something today which the world may talk of hereafter". Because the winds were very light during the battle, all the ships were moving extremely slow, and the foremost British ships were under heavy fire from several of the enemy ships for almost an hour before their own guns could bear.
At noon, Villeneuve sent the signal "engage the enemy", and Fougueux fired her first trial shot at Royal Sovereign. Royal Sovereign had all sails out and, having recently had her bottom cleaned, outran the rest of the British fleet. As she approached the allied line, she came under fire from Fougueux, Indomptable, San Justo and San Leandro, before breaking the line just astern of Admiral Alava's flagship Santa Ana, into which she fired a devastating double-shotted raking broadside.
The second ship in the British lee column, Belleisle, was engaged by Aigle, Achille, Neptune and Fougueux; she was soon completely desmasted, unable to maneuver and largely unable to fight, as her sails blinded her batteries, but kept flying her flag for 45 minutes until the following British ships came to her rescue.
For 40 minutes, Victory was under fire from Héros, Santísima Trinidad, Redoutable and Neptune; although many shots went astray others killed and wounded a number of her crew and shot away her wheel, so that she had to be steered from her tiller belowdecks. Victory could not yet respond.
At 12:45, Victory cut the enemy line between Villeneuve's flagship Bucentaure and Redoutable. Victory came close to the Bucentaure, firing a devastating raking broadside through her stern which killed and wounded many on her gundecks. Villeneuve thought that boarding would take place, and with the Eagle of his ship in hand, told his men: "I will throw it onto the enemy ship and we will take it back there!" However Admiral Nelson of Victory engaged the 74 gun Redoutable. Bucentaure was left to be dealt with by the next three ships of the British windward column Temeraire, Conqueror and Neptune.
A general mêlée ensued and, during that fight, Victory locked masts with the French Redoutable. The crew of the Redoutable, which included a strong infantry corps (with 3 captains and 4 lieutenants), gathered for an attempt to board and seize the Victory. A musket bullet fired from the mizzentop of the Redoutable struck Nelson in the left shoulder and passed through his body lodging in his spine. Nelson exclaimed, "They finally succeeded, I am dead." He was carried below decks and died at about 16:30, as the battle that would make him a legend was ending in favor of the British.
Victory ceased fire, the gunners having been called on the deck to fight the capture but were repelled to the below decks by French grenades. As the French were preparing to board Victory, the Temeraire, the second ship in the British windward column, approached from the starboard bow of the Redoutable and fired on the exposed French crew with a carronade, causing many casualties.
At 13:55, Captain Lucas, of the Redoutable, with 99 fit men out of 643 and severely wounded himself, was forced to surrender. The French Bucentaure was isolated by the Victory and Temeraire, and then engaged by Neptune, Leviathan and Conqueror; similarly, the Santísima Trinidad was isolated and overwhelmed without being rescued, surrendering after three hours.
As more and more British ships entered the battle, the ships of the allied centre and rear were gradually overwhelmed. The allied van, after long remaining quiescent, made a futile demonstration and then sailed away. The British took 22 vessels of the Franco-Spanish fleet and lost none. Among the taken French ships were the Aigle, Algésiras, Berwick, Bucentaure, Fougueux, Intrépide, Redoutable, and Swiftsure. The Spanish ships taken were Argonauta, Bahama, Monarca, Neptuno, San Agustín, San Ildefonso, San Juan Nepomuceno, Santísima Trinidad, and Santa Ana. Of these, Redoutable sank, Santísima Trinidad and Argonauta were scuttled by the British and later sank, Achille exploded, Intrépide and San Augustín burned, and Aigle, Berwick, Fougueux, and Monarca were wrecked in a gale following the battle.
As Nelson lay dying, he ordered the fleet to anchor as a storm was predicted. However, when the storm blew up many of the severely damaged ships sank or ran aground on the shoals. A few of them were recaptured by the French and Spanish prisoners overcoming the small prize crews or by ships sallying from Cádiz.
Only eleven ships regained Cádiz, and of those only five were considered seaworthy. Under captain Julien Cosmao, they set sail two days later and attempted to re-take some of the English prizes; they succeeded in re-capturing two ships, and forced Collingwood to scuttle a number of his prizes.
HMS Victory made its way to Gibraltar for repairs carrying on board the body of Admiral Nelson. It put into Rosia Bay, Gibraltar and after emergency repairs were carried out it returned to England. Many of the injured crew were brought ashore at Gibraltar and treated in the Naval Hospital. Those that subsequently died from injuries sustained at the Battle are buried in and near the Trafalgar Cemetery, at the south end of Main Street, Gibraltar.
All of the Royal Marine Corps officers in HMS Victory were killed, leaving the Sergeant Major of Marines (who was first by Nelson's side when he was hit) in command of Victory's Marine detachment. [citation needed]
Less than two months later, the War of the Third Coalition ended with a decisive French victory over Russia and Austria, Britain's allies, at the Battle of Austerlitz. Prussia decided not to join the Coalition and, for a while, France was at peace again. However, it could not longer challenge Great Britain at sea. Napoleon instead established the Continental System in an attempt to deny Britain trade with the continent.
The monument was designed by architect William Railton in 1838, and built by the firm Peto & Grissell. Railton's original 1:22-scale stone model is exhibited at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, London. The sandstone statue at the top was sculpted by E.H. Baily of the Royal Academy; a small bronze plaque crediting him is at the base of the statue. The entire monument was built at a cost of 47,500 pounds, or 3.5 million pounds in 2004 terms.
Battle of Trafalgar
Date: 21 October 1805
Location: Cape Trafalgar, Spain
Result: Decisive British Victory
Date: 21 October 1805
Location: Cape Trafalgar, Spain
Result: Decisive British Victory
| Combatants | |
| United Kingdom | First
French Empire Kingdom of Spain |
| Commanders | |
| 27 ships of the line and 6 others. | France: 18 ships of
the line and 8 others. Spain: 15 ships of the line |
| Casualties | |
| 449 dead, 1,246 wounded |
7,000 captured, 21 ships captured, 1 ship destroyed France: 2,218 dead, 1,155 wounded Spain: 1,025 dead, 1,383 wounded |
The Battle of Trafalgar saw the British decisively defeat a combined French and Spanish fleet on 21 October 1805 in the most significant naval battle of the Napoleonic Wars. A Royal Navy fleet of 27 ships of the line destroyed an allied French and Spanish fleet of 33 ships of the line west of Cape Trafalgar in south-west Spain. The French and Spanish lost 22 ships, while the British lost none. The British commander Admiral Lord Nelson died late in the battle, by which time he had ensured his place as Britain's greatest naval hero.
The British fleet was sailing, as they would fight, under signal 72 hoisted on Nelson's flagship. At 5:40 a.m., the British were about 21 miles (34 km) to the north-west of Cape Trafalgar, with the Franco-Spanish fleet between the British and the Cape. At 6 a.m. that morning, Nelson gave the order to prepare for battle.
By 11 a.m. Nelson's entire fleet was visible to Villeneuve, drawn up in two parallel columns. The two fleets would be within range of each other within an hour. Villeneuve was concerned at this point about forming up a line, as his ships were unevenly spaced and in an irregular formation. The French-Spanish fleet was drawn out nearly five miles (8 km) long as Nelson's fleet approached.
As the British drew closer, they could see that the enemy was not sailing in a tight order, but rather in irregular groups. Nelson could not immediately make out the French flagship as the French and Spanish were not flying command pennants.
The battle progressed largely according to Nelson's plan. At 11:45, Nelson sent the famous flag signal, "England expects that every man will do his duty" He had instructed his signal officer, Lieutenant John Pasco, to signal to the fleet the message "England confides [i.e. is confident] that every man will do his duty." Pasco suggested to Nelson that expects be substituted for confides, since the former word was in the signal book, whereas confides would have to be spelled out letter-by-letter. Nelson agreed to the change.
As the battle opened, the French and Spanish were in a ragged line headed north as the two British columns approached from the west at nearly a right angle. The northern, windward column of the British fleet was headed by Nelson's 104-gun flagship Victory. The leeward column was led by the 100-gun Royal Sovereign, the flagship of Vice-Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood. Nelson led his line into a feint toward the van of the Franco-Spanish fleet and then abruptly turned toward the actual point of attack. Collingwood altered the course of his column slightly so that the two lines converged at this line of attack.
Just before his column engaged the allied forces, Collingwood said to his officers, "Now, gentlemen, let us do something today which the world may talk of hereafter". Because the winds were very light during the battle, all the ships were moving extremely slow, and the foremost British ships were under heavy fire from several of the enemy ships for almost an hour before their own guns could bear.
At noon, Villeneuve sent the signal "engage the enemy", and Fougueux fired her first trial shot at Royal Sovereign. Royal Sovereign had all sails out and, having recently had her bottom cleaned, outran the rest of the British fleet. As she approached the allied line, she came under fire from Fougueux, Indomptable, San Justo and San Leandro, before breaking the line just astern of Admiral Alava's flagship Santa Ana, into which she fired a devastating double-shotted raking broadside.
The second ship in the British lee column, Belleisle, was engaged by Aigle, Achille, Neptune and Fougueux; she was soon completely desmasted, unable to maneuver and largely unable to fight, as her sails blinded her batteries, but kept flying her flag for 45 minutes until the following British ships came to her rescue.
For 40 minutes, Victory was under fire from Héros, Santísima Trinidad, Redoutable and Neptune; although many shots went astray others killed and wounded a number of her crew and shot away her wheel, so that she had to be steered from her tiller belowdecks. Victory could not yet respond.
At 12:45, Victory cut the enemy line between Villeneuve's flagship Bucentaure and Redoutable. Victory came close to the Bucentaure, firing a devastating raking broadside through her stern which killed and wounded many on her gundecks. Villeneuve thought that boarding would take place, and with the Eagle of his ship in hand, told his men: "I will throw it onto the enemy ship and we will take it back there!" However Admiral Nelson of Victory engaged the 74 gun Redoutable. Bucentaure was left to be dealt with by the next three ships of the British windward column Temeraire, Conqueror and Neptune.
A general mêlée ensued and, during that fight, Victory locked masts with the French Redoutable. The crew of the Redoutable, which included a strong infantry corps (with 3 captains and 4 lieutenants), gathered for an attempt to board and seize the Victory. A musket bullet fired from the mizzentop of the Redoutable struck Nelson in the left shoulder and passed through his body lodging in his spine. Nelson exclaimed, "They finally succeeded, I am dead." He was carried below decks and died at about 16:30, as the battle that would make him a legend was ending in favor of the British.
Victory ceased fire, the gunners having been called on the deck to fight the capture but were repelled to the below decks by French grenades. As the French were preparing to board Victory, the Temeraire, the second ship in the British windward column, approached from the starboard bow of the Redoutable and fired on the exposed French crew with a carronade, causing many casualties.
At 13:55, Captain Lucas, of the Redoutable, with 99 fit men out of 643 and severely wounded himself, was forced to surrender. The French Bucentaure was isolated by the Victory and Temeraire, and then engaged by Neptune, Leviathan and Conqueror; similarly, the Santísima Trinidad was isolated and overwhelmed without being rescued, surrendering after three hours.
As more and more British ships entered the battle, the ships of the allied centre and rear were gradually overwhelmed. The allied van, after long remaining quiescent, made a futile demonstration and then sailed away. The British took 22 vessels of the Franco-Spanish fleet and lost none. Among the taken French ships were the Aigle, Algésiras, Berwick, Bucentaure, Fougueux, Intrépide, Redoutable, and Swiftsure. The Spanish ships taken were Argonauta, Bahama, Monarca, Neptuno, San Agustín, San Ildefonso, San Juan Nepomuceno, Santísima Trinidad, and Santa Ana. Of these, Redoutable sank, Santísima Trinidad and Argonauta were scuttled by the British and later sank, Achille exploded, Intrépide and San Augustín burned, and Aigle, Berwick, Fougueux, and Monarca were wrecked in a gale following the battle.
As Nelson lay dying, he ordered the fleet to anchor as a storm was predicted. However, when the storm blew up many of the severely damaged ships sank or ran aground on the shoals. A few of them were recaptured by the French and Spanish prisoners overcoming the small prize crews or by ships sallying from Cádiz.
Only eleven ships regained Cádiz, and of those only five were considered seaworthy. Under captain Julien Cosmao, they set sail two days later and attempted to re-take some of the English prizes; they succeeded in re-capturing two ships, and forced Collingwood to scuttle a number of his prizes.
HMS Victory made its way to Gibraltar for repairs carrying on board the body of Admiral Nelson. It put into Rosia Bay, Gibraltar and after emergency repairs were carried out it returned to England. Many of the injured crew were brought ashore at Gibraltar and treated in the Naval Hospital. Those that subsequently died from injuries sustained at the Battle are buried in and near the Trafalgar Cemetery, at the south end of Main Street, Gibraltar.
All of the Royal Marine Corps officers in HMS Victory were killed, leaving the Sergeant Major of Marines (who was first by Nelson's side when he was hit) in command of Victory's Marine detachment. [citation needed]
Less than two months later, the War of the Third Coalition ended with a decisive French victory over Russia and Austria, Britain's allies, at the Battle of Austerlitz. Prussia decided not to join the Coalition and, for a while, France was at peace again. However, it could not longer challenge Great Britain at sea. Napoleon instead established the Continental System in an attempt to deny Britain trade with the continent.