OF the major European Powers England alone escaped disaster. The sea, which was ever a mystery to Napoleon, saved England. And because of the security given by the sea, England became the greatest and most relentless of his enemies. I have told you how, right at the beginning of his career, Nelson destroyed Napoleon’s fleet in the Battle of the Nile.* On October 21, 1805, Nelson won a greater victory still against the combined French and Spanish fleets off Cape Trafalgar on the south coast of Spain. It was just before this sea battle that Nelson gave his famous signal to his fleet: “England expects that every man will do his duty”. Nelson died in the hour of triumph,* but his victory, proudly cherished by the English people and commemorated in the Nelson column and Trafalgar Square in London, destroyed Napoleon’s dream of invading England.
* That was on August 1st-3rd, 1798, during the French Revolutionary Wars. See The Battle of the Nile. Two years later, Napoleon’s hopes of subduing the Royal Navy received a boost by the re-formation of the League of Armed Neutrality, an alliance of European States piqued by Britain’s dominance at sea, but Nelson defeated a Danish fleet at Copenhagen in 1801 and confirmed the Royal Navy’s supremacy. See ‘Really, I do not see the signal!’.
* Admiral Horatio Nelson (1758-1805), 1st Viscount Nelson, was shot by a French sniper from aboard the Redoubtable. He had however by this time masterminded a brilliant coup, leading 33 ships against 41, and capturing or destroying 22 enemy ships without losing one of his own. The psychological blow was even greater. On Nelson’s preparations for the battle, see Call of Duty.