21 October 1805, afternoon
The mêlée
Redoutable’s crew, with a strong body of infantry aboard, prepare to board Victory, and a musket ball fired from her mizzentop strikes Nelson in the shoulder and passes through his spine. He is carried below. Temeraire comes alongside and fires into the French gathered on Redoutable’s deck, and at 13:55 Captain Lucas surrenders with 99 fit men of 643. Bucentaure is taken with Villeneuve aboard, and the Santísima Trinidad surrenders after three hours.
The fall of Nelson on the deck of HMS Victory, painting by Denis Dighton, about 1825Wikimedia Commons, Denis Dighton, Public domain (The Fall of Nelson, Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805.jpg)
As more British ships come into action, the allied centre and rear are overwhelmed one ship after another. The van under Dumanoir makes a late attempt to help, fails to break through and sails away with four ships. Gravina is wounded and dies months later, the Spanish captains Churruca and Alcalá-Galiano are killed, and Achille blows up. Nelson dies at half past four, three hours after he was hit.
The death of Nelson in the cockpit of HMS Victory, painting by Arthur William DevisWikimedia Commons, Arthur William Devis, Public domain (DeathofNelsonDevis.jpg)
The British take 17 ships of the line and destroy one without losing a ship of their own. They have 458 killed and 1,208 wounded, the allies 4,395 killed, 2,541 wounded and 7,000 to 8,000 captured. In the storm that follows many of the prizes sink or are wrecked, and only eleven allied ships reach Cádiz.
Sources
- Mark Adkin, The Trafalgar Companion (2005).
- Tim Clayton and Phil Craig, Trafalgar: The Men, the Battle, the Storm (2004).
- Roy Adkins, Trafalgar: The Biography of a Battle (2004).
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