The Battle of Trafalgar

by Geoffrey Bennett

1805.

Off the Cape of Trafalgar, an epic sea battle was taking place which will be remembered throughout history.

The battle of Trafalgar has now passed into national mythology.

The expertise, courage and determination and confidence which gave Britain a victory of spectacular finality in October 1805 also provided her with one of her great legendary figures – a naval hero in life but much more like a national, if secular, saint in death.

However like the noise and smoke of battle, legends have a habit of obscuring facts and having lodged into the popular imagination are transcribed to history books.

In this masterly history, Geoffrey Bennett sets the battle in the context of the world-wide struggle of Napoleon, describes the ships, their crews and the tactics of the action.

In his scholarly but immensely readable account of the battle he discusses the preparatory manoeuvres and the mechanics of naval warfare in the age of sail.

'Excellent balanced accounts and judgements' Richard Hough, author of 'The Great War at Sea: 1914-18'.

Captain Geoffrey Bennett RN (1909-1983) served in the Royal Navy from 1923 until 1958, during which time he was for three years Naval Attache in Moscow. He is the author of several distinguished books on the history of naval warfare, including ‘The Battle of Jutland’, ‘Coronel and the Falklands’ and ‘Naval Battles of the First World War’.

Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent publisher of digital books.

Genres: History, Naval History

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Captain Geoffrey Martin Bennett DSC, FRHS (1908–1983) was a British Royal Navy officer and author. He also wrote fiction as "Sea-lion".

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a first-rate account of the lead up, fighting and aftermath of the Battle of Trafalgar. Written by a military veteran, he gives you the details you might not get in another forum. I really like that.
Different ship ratings and what they were made of: With hulls of seasoned oak — ships armed with 74 guns required the timber from 2,000 trees, each 100 or more years old (copper-sheathed below water against the destructive teredo worm, and with masts and yards of pine, chiefly from the Baltic — 12,000 tons being landed annually at Chatham) these ships were classed according to their armament. The largest, mounting 100-120 guns, were first rates: those with 90-98 guns second rates: those with 64-84 guns third rates.

Guns and what they used, how effective are they and at what range:
The guns were muzzle-loading. The maximum range was limited to 2,500 yards — 1¼ nautical miles — by the inefficiency of the only available propellant, gunpowder, of which the Victory carried 35 tons in her magazines, sited for protection below the water-line. Solid round shot (cannon balls) were normally used: a three-decker carried 120 tons of them in her shot lockers. Being heavier than fused powder-filled shot, these had a longer range and struck with greater force, causing more damage to an enemy ship’s hull: at the ‘point blank’ range of 400 yards, the heaviest could penetrate 3 feet of timber from which the splinters were lethal to any man in their path. Powder-filled shot were also believed to be too dangerous to be carried by ships-of-the-line…

Special guns and why they were used (or not):
Guns of various calibres were supplemented by two special types. In 1774 General Robert Melville conceived and Charles Gascoigne designed a light, short-barrelled, large bore weapon which could fire a ball as heavy as 68lbs using a charge of only 5½lbs. Produced by the Carron Ironworks in Stirlingshire (Scotland), carronades, which were of less than half the length and weight of a gun firing a ball of the same size, caused such devastating damage at close range — about 500 yards — that the Royal Navy welcomed them as supplementary to their ships’ normal armament. By 1800 most British ships-of-the-line mounted two or four of these ‘smashers’ on their forecastles. The French navy, with its preference for long-range action, was slow to adopt them. The Spanish and Dutch navies rejected them.

The pictures we have of the Age of Sail can be supplemented with the pen:
Contemporary paintings, may give a fair impression of how ships-of-the-line must have looked in the heyday of sail; but a word picture is also needed: ‘She had just tacked, and was close aboard on our lee quarter, within musket-shot at the farthest, bowling along upon a wind, with the green sea surging along her sides. The press of canvas laid her over, until her copper sheathing was high above the water. Above it rose the jet black bands and chrome yellow streaks of her sides, broken at regular intervals by ports from which cannon grinned, open-mouthed. Clean, well-stowed hammocks filled the nettings, from taffrail to cat-head. Aloft a cloud of white sail swelled to the breeze, bending the masts like willow-wands, straining shrouds and backstays as taut as the strings of a violin, and tearing her bows out of the long swell until ten yards of her keel were clear of the sea, into which she plunged again burying everything up to the hawse holes. We were so near that I could see the faces of the men at their quarters in their clean white frocks and trousers, the officers and the marines clearly distinguishable by their blue or red coats. High overhead, the red cross of St George blew out from the peak, like a sheet of flickering flame, while from the main truck her captain’s pendant streamed into the azure heavens like a ray of silver light.’

Eating aboard ship was not romantic in any way-yuck:
As one midshipman wrote: ‘We live on beef which has been ten or eleven years in the cask and on biscuit which makes your throat cold on eating it owing to the maggots, which are very cold when you eat them! like calf’s-foot jelly or blancmange — being very fat indeed … We drink wine, which is exactly like bullock’s blood and sawdust mixed.’

Bennett takes some time to get to the battle. Before you get there, you will be acquainted with all the captains, admirals and commanders important to the war. Napoleon’s intention to invade or at least threaten England is covered as it impacted the French movements. Strategy and battle tactics are well-covered. One thing that stood out for me is how slowly the ships moved on the day as the winds were very light. Due to Nelson’s tactics for the battle, the British ships took many casualties before they were in position to engage. But discipline and training won out, with the British gunners firing 3 shots for every one of the opposition, according to the author. The majority of the battle is told from the British side. I liked this scene as the ships converge ever so slowly:

In such a bustling … trying, as well as serious time, it was curious to notice the different dispositions of the British sailor. Some would be offering a guinea for a glass of grog, whilst others were making a sort of verbal will, such as: “If one of Johnnie Crapeau’s shots (a term given to France) knocks my head off, you will take all my effects; and if you are killed and I am not, why I will have all yours”; and this was generally agreed on.’

While there are many tales of bravery from the winning side, Bennett included this vignette from a French ship.
The Victory and the Téméraire found the Redoutable to be the toughest of foes. Captain Lucas had neglected no measure (and here I translate and abridge the account which he wrote after being brought to England as a prisoner-of-war): ‘to train the crew in every sort of drill. My ideas were always directed towards fighting by boarding. I so counted upon its success that everything had been prepared to undertake it with advantage. I had had canvas pouches to hold two grenades made for all captains of guns. In all our drills, I made them throw a great number of grenades. They had so acquired the habit of hurling them that on the day of battle our topmen were throwing two at a time. I had 100 carbines fitted with long bayonets on board. The men were so well accustomed to their use that they climbed half-way up the shrouds to open musketry fire. All those armed with swords were given broadsword practice every day, and pistols became familiar weapons to them. When the drum beat to quarters, each man went to his station fully armed, and with his weapons loaded; he placed them near to his gun in nettings nailed between each beam. The crew had such confidence in this manner of fighting that they often urged me to board the first ship with which we should engage.’
The aftermath of the battle in days, months and years is covered. Bottomline-command of the sea brings freedom of action and the Brits and their allies took full advantage. I’m just glad we colonials didn’t have to face Nelson if our little tiff from 1812-1814. 4 Stars

[Rindis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bennett's book on Trafalgar is fairly typical of such books. As a popular history book, it wisely starts with a couple chapters of background, including how naval combat worked in the Age of Sail, and after that he moves on to more direct background, with one chapter dedicated to discussing the personalities and careers of the various commanding officers involved.

Bennett occasionally takes time out to present important dispatches; for instance, between chapters 6 and 7 he inserts Nelson's (abridged) memorandum to his fleet as they crossed the Atlantic in pursuit of Villeneuve, and then gives an important paragraph of Villeneuve's instructions as a comparison. Near the end, he gives Collingwood's two main dispatches after the Battle of Trafalgar. I found the latter to be bit much, but it is certainly good to have them available in the book, which also quotes from a variety of sources throughout the main text.

For anyone familiar with the battle, all the main elements you expect are here, and told quite lucidly. This isn't a book to discover new insights with, but that isn't what's needed for the intended audience. If you only know the highlights of the battle (spoiler: Nelson dies), this is a good telling of the entire battle. I would recommend Alan Shom's Trafalgar: Countdown to Battle instead of this book, as it is more comprehensive than this, and Bennett doesn't gain anything with his slightly tighter focus, though this is a shorter read.

My version of this book is no longer available (dead ASIN), but there is still a Kindle version with the same cover (and I believe, publisher) currently available. Hopefully, it's a cleaned up copy of my version, which is already in fairly good shape, though there are some notable OCR goofs (one nonsense sentence becomes clearer if you substitute "15" for "is", and a 'go-gun' ship is... startling). If the current version got another pass through edit, it should be in good shape.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have an absurd amount of affection for Nelson. Like, an ABSURD amount. Some imperialist, colonialist dead admiral and I am like *be still my beating heart*. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s conditioned in to me because I’m British, and it’s a lingering trace of our history. Which is weird, really, because I’m also self-aware of the ugly legacy that it’s left behind. So it’s like, I love Nelson, but....with critical judgement too haha.

ANYWAY. Post-imperial narratives behind, I do think this is a fascinating period of history. Portsmouth Historic Dockyards is one of my favourite places to visit, and I read this book around the first time I went back to it in years. This book holds up because it is such an interesting era, and a dramatic battle. I appreciated the inserts of primary sources - diaries and letters from the time - but overall, the writing style did not really grab me.

It was kind of in that ‘older’ mid-late 20th century style of history writing, facts, facts, facts, list of events, this happened then this then this. Not a bad thing, necessarily, but you have to be able to exude a real engaging style to make it work. The run-up to Trafalgar in the book was definitely the weak point, like a whistle-stop tour of battles before. Granted, it is about Trafalgar but I felt like it should have been *all* about Trafalgar or had a bit of a cleaner few opening chapters. As it stood, it felt like a bit like a waaay extended intro.

BUT I thought the chapters on the titular battle itself were pretty good. The one about Nelson’s death was probably the most engaging because the author stepped back a little and gave us a view almost like we were there. Mostly, though, the whole book worked because Nelson is/was such an interesting man (I say is/was because I think the aftermath of his death and how he has been used by history is also really intriguing, for bad and for good).

[Alan Robisch · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent read. I learned about the battle as well as the tactics involved in the fight. I recommend it to anyone who likes a good story

[Antonio Jiménez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy bueno

[Bob Downton · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent account

Excellently written and superbly researched. An excellent account from both sides of the battle and, indeed, the lead up to it.