Battle of Trafalgar

On the 21st October it is the anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar. This year is the 220th anniversary as the Battle of Trafalgar happened in 1805.

The Battle of Trafalgar was a very important battle in the Napoleonic War which was fought between 1803 and 1815. It was a war fought both on land across Europe with large armies and across the world with navies. France was led by Napoleon Bonaparte, and other European countries, including Britain, fought him. Napoleon wanted to rule the whole of Europe, but his main enemy was Britain.

Most of the fighting across the world with navies was by the British and French. Which one would end up with the most powerful navy?

Napoleon wanted to invade Britain. He’d already tried unsuccessfully in 1804. He knew to try again he needed to defeat the Royal Navy first. In defence the Royal Navy put their ships outside important French ports to stop the French ships leaving. However, during a storm some French ships managed to get past the Royal Navy and met up with some Spanish ships. The Spanish King was Napoleon’s brother.

When the Royal Navy finally caught up to them there was a huge battle. The battle was fought near Cape Trafalgar in Spain. 33 ships from France and Spain, led by Admiral Pierre de Villeneuve, were fighting against 27 British ships, led by Admiral Horatio Nelson. Nelson’s ship was called HMS Victory.

It was the French that fired first in this battle. But Nelson and the Royal Navy managed to split the French/Spanish fleet up and attack. The French and Spanish ships tried to force the British ships away, but they failed.

There were thousands of casualties. Some were wounded, some killed. Others were captured. Villeneuve was one of those captured but Nelson was actually killed in this battle. Nelson died as it became clear that the British had won the battle.

When the canon fire and shooting finally stopped 17 French and Spanish ships had been captured and another was totally destroyed. Four managed to escape but were captured a few weeks later, and 11 managed to get back to port. Not a single British ship was captured or destroyed.

After this victory the Royal Navy was the most important and powerful navy in the world for over 100 years. Trafalgar had stopped Napoleon’s plans to invade England forever but the battle hadn’t stopped the war. Napoleon was finally defeated ten years later in 1815 at the Battle of Waterloo, where an Allied land army, commanded by Britain, defeated the French army.