THE BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR.

Hokitika Guardian, 20 October 1923, Page 1

THE BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR.

OCTOBER ”1, 1805. (From the, London Gazette Extraordinary, Wednesday Nov. 0, 1805.) .Reprinted from Loudon* "Times.”) Admiralty Oiiiee, London. Nov. ti, 1805. Dispatches, of which the following are copies, were received at the Admiralty this day, at one o'clock, a.in., from Vice-Admiral Colliugwood, Commander in Chief of His Majesty’s ships and vessels off Cadiz:— Euryalus. off Capo Trafalgar, Oct. 22. 1805.

Sir, —The ever-tu-be-lamontod death of Vice-Admiral l.nrd Viscount Nelson, who in the late conflict with the enemy fell in the hour of victory, leaves to me tile duty of informing my Lords and Commissioners of the Admiralty that on the IMth inst it was communicated to the Commander m Chief, from the ships watching t !:»* motions of the enemy in Cadiz, that the combined fleet had put to sea. ;is they sailed with light winds westerly, his Lordship concluded their destination was the .Mediterranean, and immediately made all sail for the Straights entrance with the British Squadron, consisting of twenty-seven ships, three of them sixty-fours, where his Lordship was in-forin.-.l bv Captain Blackwood (whose vigilance in watching and giving notice of the enemy's movement: lias bet'll highly meritorious) that they had not. yet pas set) the Straights. On Monday, the 21st iiist. at daylight. when Capo Trafalgar bore E. by 8. about seven leagues, the enemy was discovered six or seven miles eastward, the wind about west, and very light. Ihe Commander in Chief immediately made t lie signal for ihe lb-el to bear up In two columns as I hey are iormed in order of sailing, a mode of attack his Lordship had previously directed to avoid the inconveniences and delay in forming a line of battle in the usual manlier. The enemy’s line consisted of thirty-three ships -of which eighteen were French and fifteen were Spanish) commanded in chief by Admiral Yillotieuve. Tiie Spaniards under the direction of Cravina, were with their heads northwards, and formed their line of battle with great closeness and correctness ; hut as the mode of ntta-k was unusual, so the structure of their line was now : il formed a crescent, convening the leeward, so that leading down to tht' centre I had boili their van and rear abaft the beam. Ik-fme the lire 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 very little interval between them, and this with-

out crowding their ships. Admiral Volli-ueuve was in the Bueentaufe hi the ccnlro, and the Prince of Asturias Imre (Ira villa’s flag in the rear: hip the Flench and Spanish ships were mixed without any apparent regard to order of national squadron. As the mode of our attack hied been previously determined mi and eommuuieati'd to Ihe Flag officers and Captains. low signals were necessary in I nolle were mad..- except to direct close order as the lines hole down. The Commauilei'-in-Chiel. in the Victory, led the weather column, and the Royal Sovereign, which bore my flag, the lee. The action began -P ‘ •t' elm a by the leading ships «t the column breaking through ihe cnom.v > hue. t 0 Commander in Chief about the tent.u ship from the vail, the Second in Command about the luelth from the rear, lout im.-: the i neiii.v unoccupied, iho'iifeet'ding ships breaking through in all parts, astern of their leader', and engaging Ihe enemy at the muzzles ii their guns. The c oni lift was severe, the enemy's ships wore loitghl with a gallantry highly honourable to their (Mlieers, but the attack oil them was irresistible, and ii pleased the Almighty Disposer of all events to gram hi' Maj,.sty’s arms a complete and glorious victory. About H p.m. many ol the enemy's ships having struck their colors. i'll,- line gave way. Admiral Cravina v- ith ten >hip' joining their P'iuales In the leeward, stood toward Cadiz. Tin- five headmost ships in their line tacked, and standing to Iho Southward, windward of the British line were engaged, and the sternmosl of them taken, the others went oil, leaving to 11 is. Majesty’s squadron nineteen ships of the line, <of which three are first-rate— the Saiitissima, Trinidad, and the Santa Anna y with three Flag Officers. viz.. Admiral Vil-leiu-iive. the Commander in Cliiei ; Do'i I gnu tis Maria D'Aliva, Vico Admiral; and the Spanish Bear Admiral. Don Batliagar Hidalgo Cisiierea.

After such a victory it may appear unnecTssjirv lo <'iil.iT into oneuiiiiuii* on the particular parts taken by the several Commanders : the conclusion savs more on the* subject than I lia>*

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 accorded, arid never was high merit more conspicuous tlmn in the battle 1 have described. The Achille (a French 74) after having surrendered, by some mismanagement of the Frenchman 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 1 cannot resist the pleasure I have in making it known to their Lordships. The Temcraino was hoarded by accident or design by a French ship on one side and a Spaniard on the other: tin- contest was vigorous, but in Hie end the combined Ensigns were torn from the poop and the British hoisted in their places. Such a battle eould not be fought without sustaining a great loss of men. I have not only in lament in common with the British Nation in the fall of the Commander in Chief, I he loss of a hero w hose, name will la- immortal and his memory ever dear to his countrv: hut my heart is rent with the most poignant grief for tin- death of a friend to whom by many years intimacy and perfect knowledge of the virtues of his mind, which inspired ideas superior to the. common race of men. I was hound by the strongest tits of affect ion : a grief to which the glorious occasion in which lie fell does not bring the consolation which perhaps it ought. His Lordship received a musket hall in his left breast about the middle of tho action and sen! an officer to me immediately with liis last farewell, and soon after expired. I have also to lament the loss q r those excellent officers Captain Dull', of the Mars, and Cooke of the Belleropliou ; 1 have yet heard of no others. I lenr that 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 ael ion. I have not yet had it in my power to collect my reports from the sllil).

The Royal Sovereign having lost her masts, except the loitering foremasts, I called the Euryalus to me while the action continued, which ship lying in hail, made my signals—a service Captain Blackwood performed with great aiu-ntion; after the action 1 shilled mv flag to her, that 1 might more easily communicate any order to. and collect the ships, and towed the Royal Sovereign out to seaward. The whole licet were now in a very perilous position, many dismasted, all shattered, in thirteen fathoms of water off the shoals of Trafalgar, and when I made I he signal lo prepare to anchor few of the ships had an anchor too large, their caliles being shot ; hut the same good Providence which aided us through the day preserved lls through the night, by lln- wind shilling a few points, and drilling the ships off the land, except four ol the captured dismasted ships, which are now at anchor off Trafalgar, and I hope will ride safe until these gales arc over.

Having llnis detailed the proceedings of the licet on l liis occasion, 1 hog to congratulate their Lordships on a vie-t.ory-w-h-ieh T-hojsc "ill add a ray in the glorv of Lis Majesty’s crown, and he attended with iniblie benefit to our country, I la*., >igiie:i'i (.. COLLI NGAVOOD. William Maiden, Esq. The order in which the ships oi the British .Squadron attacked the com hined fleets on the 2!st Oil.. 1805. Van Vieioiy. Tcmeraii'e. Neptune, ( iinquei'oi- . I.eviatliau. Ajax, Orion. Agamemnon. Minotaur. Spnriiaio, Britania. Africa. Bury alus. Sirius. Rheehe. Naiad. I’iel-L- Schooner. Futrepominie ( 111 ter. Roar -Royal Sovereign. Mars. Beilin plnis, Aeflille. Revenge. Swift. Deleiiee. Thunderer, i’rinee. Dreadnought, iSigned) C. ( ()!.!.(NOWOOD. LONDON TIMES COMMENT. To the of filial detail- we are enabled io add the Billowing particulars respecting the deni It ol as great, an Admiral as ever wielded I In* Naval thunder of Britain. When Lord Nelson found that by his skilful manoeuvres he had placed the enemy in such a situation, that thev eould not avoid an engagement, he displayed the utmost animal ion. and with his usual confidence of victory In- said to ( upturn Hardy, and Ihe ofiieers who surrounded him on the quarter-deck, ‘ Now they eaiinol escape Us; I think we shall at least make sure of twenty of them. I shall probably lose a leg, hut that will In- purchasing a victory cheaply. ’ About two hours helore the close ol the action his Lordship received a wound in the shoulder from a musket hall, which was fired from the lops of the Santisima Triuadiula, with which ship he was closely engaged. The hall pent*, t ruled his breast, and he instantly tell: he was immediately carried below, and the surgeons pronounced the wound mortal. Ills Lordship reei-iicd ihi* intelligence with all lhe firmness and pious resignation to Ihe will ol Divine Erovidenoo. of which lie has given such frequent and signal examples, during his brilliant course of peril and of glory. He immediately sent an officer to Admiral Collingweod, the second in command, with his instructions for continuing the action which he had so gallantly commenced, and the melancholy bequest of his last farewell. During the short interval between his receiving the wound and Ids final dissolution he remained perfectly collected displaying in his last moments the heroism that had marked every action of his glorious life. In that Irving moment cut off lrom nature and from glory’s cause, all his anxiety, all his thoughts were directed to his country and her fame.

A few minutes before he expired be sent for Captain Hardy ; when the Captain name he enquired how many of the enemy's ships had struck. The Captain replied that, ns nearly as lie could ascertain, fifteen sad of the lino hau struck their colours. His Lordship then, with that fervent piety which so k trough' marked his character, returned thanks to the Almighty, then turning to Captain Hardy lie said: "1 know I am dying. 1 could have wished to have survived to breathe my last upon British ground, but the will of God be done!" Tu a few moments he expired. If ever there was a man wlm deserved to he "praised, wept, and honored" by his country, it is Lord Nelson. His three great naval achievements have eclipsed the brilliancy of the most dazzling victories in the annals ot English daring. 17 ever a hero merited the honors of a public funeral and a public mourning, it is the pious, the

modest, and the gallant Nelson, the darling of the British Navy, whose death has plunged a whole nation into the deepest grief and to whose talents and bravery even the enemy ho has conquered will bear testimony. 'The action appears to have been gallantly contested by the French and Spaniards. Their object in risking an encounter with such a licet, commanded by such a man, must have been one of imperious necessity at this moment; no less we .suspect than a hold effort to acquire a complete ascendence in the Mediterranean. Had they succeeded in liberating that portion of the Spanish Navy which is confined to the port of Carthagena by the bare apprehension of an English Squadron, their united force would have amounted to upwards of forty sail of line. There are also some ships off Toulon, and ihe Roiielifort squadron, with its usual success, might have perhaps also added its troops to the combined force. With such a port as Toulon to take refuge in a fleet of this extent, under ’Commanders of common capacity, must have occupied a very large portion indeed of our naval strength.

Captain Sykes, of the Nautilus, and Lieutenant Lnconotiero of the Rickie Schooner, arrived at the Admiralty together about half-past one o’clock yesterday morning. The former did not, as was generally understood, arrive from the scene of action : ho fell in by accident, with the Rickie schooner, and on learning the intelligence proceeded immediately to Lisbon with the information. from whence he was .sent with dispatches, by Mr Gainhrior, the British Consul, to England, and landed at Plymouth. Lieutenant Laponotiere made the Port of Falmouth, and by a singular coincidence, mot Captain Sykes at the gates of the Admiralty. This active officer was yesterday piouioted to the rank of Commander. Immediately on the arrival of the dispatches, Lord Barham rose from his hod io peruse them, and continued at business till live o’clock', when a messenger was sent off lo liis Majesty’s at Windsor.

Admiral Collingwood’s conduct has obtained the fullest approbation, and last night dispatches were sem. off to Plymouth to he forwarded to him by the Aeasta. containing a commission which appoints him to the command of the ships in ihe Mediterranean with the same powers as Lord Nelson had. The several ships of the line at Portsmouth and Plymouth are ordered to put- to sea without loss of time. I reinforce Admiral Collingwood. There was a partial illumination throughout the metropolis last night. A general one will take place this evening.