Chapter IV: The Defence of the Thames (12)

The _Redoubtable_ struck within twenty minutes after the fatal shot had been fired from her. During that time she had been twice on fire; in her forechains, and in her forecastle. The French, as they had done in other battles, made use in this of fire-balls and other combustibles--implements of destruction which other nations from a sense of honour and humanity have laid aside--which add to the sufferings of the wounded without determining the issue of the combat; which none but the cruel would employ, and which never can be successful against the brave. Once they succeeded in setting fire, from the _Redoubtable_, to some ropes and canvas on the _Victory's_ booms. The cry ran through the ship and reached the cockpit. But even this dreadful cry produced no confusion; the men displayed that perfect self-possession in danger by which English seamen are characterised; they extinguished the flames on board their own ship, and then hastened to extinguish them in the enemy, by throwing buckets of water from the gangway. When the _Redoubtable_ had struck, it was not practicable to board her from the _Victory_; for though the two ships touched, the upper works of both fell in so much that there was a great space between their gangways, and she could not be boarded from the lower or middle decks because her ports were down. Some of our men went to Lieutenant Quilliam and offered to swim under her bows, and get up there; but it was thought unfit to hazard lives in this manner.

What our men would have done from gallantry, some of the crew of the _Santissima Trinidad_ did to save themselves. Unable to stand the tremendous fire of the _Victory_, whose larboard guns played against this great four-decker, and not knowing how else to escape them nor where else to betake themselves for protection, many of them leapt overboard and swam to the _Victory_, and were actually helped up her sides by the English during the action. The Spaniards began the battle with less vivacity than their unworthy allies, but continued it with greater firmness. The _Argonauta_ and _Bahama_ were defended till they had each lost about four hundred men; the _San Juan Nepomuceno_ lost three hundred and fifty. Often as the superiority of British courage has been proved against France upon the seas, it was never more conspicuous than in this decisive conflict. Five of our ships were engaged muzzle to muzzle with five of the French. In all five the Frenchmen lowered their lower-deck ports and deserted their guns; while our men continued deliberately to load and fire till they had made the victory secure.

The total British loss in the battle of Trafalgar amounted to one thousand five hundred and eighty-seven. Twenty of the enemy struck. Unhappily the fleet did not anchor, as Nelson, almost with his dying breath, had enjoined; a gale came on from the south-west; some of the prizes went down, some went on shore; one effected its escape into Cadiz; others were destroyed--four only were saved, and those by the greatest exertions. The wounded Spaniards were sent ashore, an assurance being given that they should not serve till regularly exchanged; and the Spaniards, with a generous feeling which would not, perhaps, have been found in any other people, offered the use of their hospitals for our wounded, pledging the honour of Spain that they should be carefully attended there. When the storm, after the action, drove some of the prizes upon the coast, they declared that the English, who were thus thrown into their hands, should not be considered as prisoners of war; and the Spanish soldiers gave up their own beds to their shipwrecked enemies. The Spanish vice-admiral, Alva, died of his wounds. Villeneuve was sent to England and permitted to return to France. The French government say that he destroyed himself on the way to Paris, dreading the consequences of a court martial; but there is every reason to believe that the tyrant, who never acknowledged the loss of the battle of Trafalgar, added Villeneuve to the numerous victims of his murderous policy.

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Transcriber's Notes

Obvious typographical and punctuation errors have been corrected.
Ambiguous end-of-line hyphenation has been preserved.
Inconsistencies in punctuation and hyphenation have been preserved:
several authors contributed to this book.
Words printed in reverse order have not been corrected.

Page 22: "Trenche-le·mer" changed to "Trenche-le-mer" (Richard's
own ship being named "_Trenche-le-mer_,")
Page 86: "there" changed to "three" (We continued the fight with
the carmosel three)
Page 173: "a-ground" is spelled "aground" elsewhere in book (their
ships being a-ground,)
Page 218: "disturbace" changed to "disturbance" (from receiving any
disturbance upon his)
Page 229: missing opening quotation mark added ("had but just come)
Page 347: missing word added in brackets (The return of [those])
Page 377: missing word added in brackets (Nelson was therefore sent
[on] a voyage)