French Revolution : Battle of Trafalgar by MIKAYLA HUGHES

City : Cape Trafalgar , Spain

During: The French Revolution

The Battle Of Trafalgar was war between the British Royal Navy and the combined forces of the French and Spain Natives. Into five hours of fighting the British finally defeated the fleet, destroying 19 ships.Even though no British ships were lost 1,500 men died. A hidden French sniper hit Admiral Lord Nelson in his chest & his shoulder.Then he was taken down to the ground & after 30 minutes he died shortly after the battle . His last words were “Now I am satisfied. Thank God I have done my duty.” The battle signified that Napoleon would not invade Britain . After he died a column was named Trafalgar Square, along with numerous streets.32 ships were British , 23 French ships & 15 Spanish ships.4,000 troops including riflemen from the Tyrol. 3 battleships were loaded with more than 90 guns each . The Spanish ships carried 120 guns & Santa Anna had 112 guns on their ships . In order to shoot their shots efficiently the guns were double shoot with a “ grape shoot” an top of the ball . The French crew was unable to stop the amount of force. The Royal sovereign fired it’s first attack at the “ stern” of the Spanish Santa Anna ship causing great damage to the first ship . The amount of force done by the guns at a close distance easily set on fire to the opposite side of the enemy.The burning fires were hard to burn out / control during the battle. Many of the ships carried variety of small weapons on the top deck & in the rigging, from swivel guns firing grapeshot or canister.

The spectacular brilliance of British officer Admiral Lord Nelson and his philosophical thinking caught my attention when I was doing my research on the Battle of Trafalgar. Lord Nelson’s way of approaching and defeating his enemies in the Battle of Trafalgar by strategically dividing his 27 ships into two smaller ships to attack the French and Spanish fascinated me. I believe Nelsons knowledge surpassed any other person’s way of thinking during that time period.

I can only imagine his way of war was first a dream that he had and at the time of his death he felt that he had not only saw his dream come to life but also felt a sense of accomplishment. At the time of his death he felt as though he had diligently served his country well by preventing Napoleon's Bonaparte army from advancing and invading the place he called home. Lord Nelson and his development of the art of war was another attraction that influence me to write about this topic. I can only imagine the phrase Lord Nelson spoke before dying “Think God I had done my duty” put peace in his heart and happiness in his mind. Lord Nelson was considered a national hero for his accomplishment and knowledge as a way of winning wars. As the success to Lord Nelson's art of war Napoleon's ambition to conquer the world was stop. Under the government rule of Napoleon society would not have the freedom to choose as it is in the world today. The way of living would be restrictive such as: the freedom of speech and the right to choose religion would be stricken.