Trafalgar

Battle of, was fought on October 21, 1805, against the combined fleets of France and Spain, under the French admiral Villeneuve. The British Fleet consisted of 27 sail of the line, 4 frigates, x schooner, and x cutter, while the combined Franco Spanish Fleet consisted of 33 sail of the line, 5 frigates, •and 2 brigs. Villeneuve formed his fleet in a double line in close order, and Nelson attacked in two lines, Colling wood leading the first. He ran his own ve el, the famous "Victory," on the "Redoubtable" with the intention of breaking the line, and soon forced her to strike her colours, Dut not before Nelson had been mortally wounded by the musket fire from her tops. He lived long enough to know that 20 of the enemy's ships had struck, while he had only lost 1587 men.