Napoleonic Wars: A British fleet led by Lord Nelson defeats a combined French and Spanish fleet under Admiral Villeneuve in the Battle of Trafalgar.

The Battle of Trafalgar was a fleet action which took place on 21 October 1805 between the Royal Navy and a combined fleet of the French and Spanish navies during the War of the Third Coalition. As part of Napoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom, the French and Spanish navies planned to take control of the English Channel and provide the French invasion army with safe passage to Britain.

The allied fleet, under the command of French Vice-admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, sailed from the port of Cádiz in southern Spain on 18 October 1805. It encountered a British fleet under Vice-Admiral of the White Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson in the Atlantic Ocean along the southwest coast of Spain off Cape Trafalgar.

The Battle of Trafalgar by William Clarkson Stanfield
The Battle of Trafalgar by William Clarkson Stanfield (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
HoratioNelson1
HoratioNelson1 (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Cuthbert Collingwood, Baron Collingwood by Henry Howard
Cuthbert Collingwood, Baron Collingwood by Henry Howard (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Amiraldevilleneuve
Amiraldevilleneuve (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Watch: Nelson's Battles in 3D: Trafalgar

From the Epic History channel.

Sources and further reading: Wikipedia — Battle of Trafalgar, Napoleonic Wars, Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, Pierre-Charles Villeneuve (CC BY-SA). Images: Wikimedia Commons.