Position:Home>History> Can Someone Explain The Battle Of Trafalgar In Simple English?

Horatio Nelson was the commander of the English Fleet at the time of the battle!. Napoleon was the Emporer of France at the time!. England was fighting Napoleon using a strategy of blockading the parts of Europe controlled by the French!. At the time of the battle, Spain was allied with the French!. The combined Spanish/French fleet attempted to sail out and escape the blockade!. Nelson went after them to try and cripple the French navy!.
One note!. The usual form of naval battle was to have the "ships of the line", two and three decker ships carrying 74 or more cannon, to line up each fleet with its ships in line!. The two fleets would then sail alongside each other, firing away until one of the fleets would break off!. Usually this would result in a few ships lost, but rarely involved a decisive win that would disable the loser!.
Nelso developed a daring strategy for this battle!. He put his fleet into two lines, each sailing parallel to each other!. He then approached the French/Spanish line at a perpindicular or 90 degree angle!. This left his fleet unable to respond effectively to the broadsides of his enemy as his lines approached!. But once the English fleet reached the enemy fleet, the table was turned!. He cut the French/Spanish fleet in half, and proceeded to turn and sail alongside the enemy!. Now half the French fleet was faced with taking on the bulk of the English fleet!. Nelson was able to maul the enemy!. Unfortunately, Nelson was struck by a sniper's bullet during the battle, and died later that night!. But he succeeded in smashing any hope that Napoleon had to rival the English at sea!. After Trafalgar, Napoleon continued to dominate land battles for some years, but the English were never seriously challenged at sea again through the Napoleonic wars!. To summarize, it's the use of a daring strategy to force a definitive outcome that makes the Battle of Trafalgar so important, as well as the issue of settling who would control the seas for the next 10 years of war!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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On 21 October, 1805, the British fleet commanded by Lord Horatio Nelson battled the combined French and Spanish fleets south of Cadiz!. There were 25 British ships of the line (battleships) opposing 33!.

Instead of sailing in parallel to deliver broadsides at one another, Nelson ordered his ships to sail directly toward the enemy, unable to respond to their fire until his ships had cut through the opposing line!. This was an innovation in naval sailing tactics!.

Once into the line, the British ships were able to rake opposing ships (crossing the tee) from stem to stern as well as depriving them of wind, causing them to go dead in the water!.

Despite the general success of the British tactic, there was hard fighting until the Franco-Spanish survivors fled back into Cadiz!. British casualties, including Lord Nelson who was wounded by a French sniper, were 1,587; Franco-Spanish casualties were estimated at 16,000!. Nelson's body was transported back to England in a cask of brandy!.

The British victory crushed any hope Napoleon had for a direct invasion of Britain and established the British fleet as the world's dominant sea power which it maintained for over a 100 years!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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I can give you the basics!. In 1805 the French and Spanish fleet were being blockaded in French ports by the English fleet!. The French Admiral was forced by Napoleon to take his fleet out of port and meet the English!. Given that the English had been at sea continuously while the French and Spanish sailors had been kept in port it gave the English an edge in terms of proficiency and Nelson the English commander was an excellent tactician who out manoeuvered the French and inflicted a crushing defeat!. 22 French and Spanish ships were either captured or destroyed and no English ships were sunk but Nelson was killed by a French sharp shooter!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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