Battle of Cape Finisterre (1805)

• 1. Strategic Background And Naval Maneuvers

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  The fragile Peace of Amiens collapsed in 1802 when Napoleon formally annexed the Italian state of Piedmont. Britain declared war on France once again on the 18th of May 1803. By 1805, Napoleon's Armée d'Angleterre numbered 150,000 men encamped at Boulogne. This army stood ready to cross the English Channel and defeat British militias. The plan required the French navy to escape blockades at Toulon and Brest. They would threaten attacks on the West Indies to draw off British defenses from the Western Approaches. French Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve sailed from Toulon on the 29th of March with eleven ships of the line. He evaded Admiral Nelson's blockading fleet and passed the Strait of Gibraltar on the 8th of April. At Cádiz, he drove off a British squadron and joined six Spanish ships of the line. The combined fleet reached Martinique on the 12th of May. Villeneuve waited for Admiral Ganteaume's Brest fleet but it remained blockaded in port. On the 7th of June he learned that Nelson had arrived at Antigua. Villeneuve left for Europe on the 11th of June having failed his objectives in the Caribbean.

• 2. The Engagement At Cape Finisterre

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  News of the returning French fleet reached Vice Admiral Robert Calder on the 19th of July. He was ordered to lift his blockade of Rochefort and Ferrol to intercept Villeneuve. The fleets sighted each other at about 11:00 on the 22nd of July. Action began at about 17:15 as the British fleet bore down on the Franco-Spanish line. Hero led by Captain Alan Gardner formed the vanguard. Poor visibility turned the battle into a confused melee. Malta commanded by Sir Edward Buller found itself surrounded by five Spanish ships during the approach. A fierce engagement saw Malta suffer five killed and forty wounded while sending devastating broadsides. At about 20:00, Buller forced the Spanish 80-gun San Rafael to strike. He then sent boats to take possession of the Spanish 74-gun Firme. Calder signalled to break off the action at 20:25 aiming to continue the next day. In failing light and confusion some ships continued firing for another hour. Daybreak on the 23rd of July found the fleets separated. Calder declined to attack again against superior odds.

• 3. Command Decisions And Court Martial

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  Calder was unwilling to attack a second time against superior odds. He had to protect the damaged Windsor Castle and Malta with her large captured Spanish prizes. He considered the possibility that previously blockaded fleets at Rochefort and Ferrol might put to sea. Accordingly he declined to attack and headed northeast with his prizes. Villeneuve's report claims he intended to attack but in very light breezes it took all day to come up to the British. He decided not to risk combat late in the day. On the 24th of July a change in wind put the Franco-Spanish fleet to windward of the British. Instead of attacking Villeneuve turned away to the south. When he arrived at A Coruña on the 1st of August he received orders from Napoleon to proceed immediately to Brest. Perhaps believing a false report of a superior British fleet in the Bay of Biscay, he returned to Cádiz arriving on the 21st of August. Calder was relieved of his command and court-martialled. He was sentenced to be severely reprimanded for failure to renew the battle on 23 and the 24th of July. He never served at sea again.

• 4. Casualties And Material Losses

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  Both sides claimed victory in the aftermath though Britain held more right. The British lost no ships with losses of 41 officers and men killed and 162 wounded. The Franco-Spanish suffered losses of 476 officers and men killed and wounded. A further 800 sailors fell ill according to Villeneuve's report to Paris on the day of the battle. The Spanish had lost two ships of the line, the Firme and the San Rafael which were captured in a battered state. Over 1,200 sailors and marines were taken prisoner. The French ships Atlas, Pluton and the Spanish Espana were also badly mauled. Villeneuve reported that everything capable of going wrong was doing so. The combined squadron captured and burned an English 14-gun privateer on the 30th of June. On the 3rd of July the fleet recaptured Spanish galleon Matilda carrying an estimated 15 million franc treasure from English privateer Mars. The Atlantic crossings had been very difficult for tired crews and scarce victuals.

• 5. Napoleon Invasion Plans Abandoned

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  The withdrawal to Cadiz ruined all hopes of Napoleon to make an invasion and landing in England. Napoleon wrote: Gravina is all genius and decision in combat. If Villeneuve had had those qualities, the battle of Finisterre would have been a complete victory. Instead the Armée d'Angleterre, renamed the Grande Armée, left Boulogne on the 27th of August. They moved to counter the threat from Austria and Russia. A few weeks after the battle he expressed frustration at Villeneuve's lack of élan. Villeneuve and the combined fleets remained at Cádiz until they came out to their destruction at the Battle of Trafalgar on the 21st of October. The two captured Spanish ships of the line Firme and San Rafael were taken into Plymouth. Whilst there they were turned into prison hulks. The failure to reach Brest forced Napoleon to abandon his plan of invading Britain entirely.

• 6. Aftermath And The Road To Trafalgar

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  Villeneuve failed to push on Brest and retired to refit at Vigo. He then slipped into Coruña and on the 15th of August decided to make for Cadiz. The French fleet stayed at Cádiz until the Battle of Trafalgar three months later. Villeneuve reported to Paris that he had 800 of his fleet sick. Everything capable of going wrong was doing so during the Atlantic crossings. The British fleet of ten ships reached Antigua on the 4th of June before returning to Europe. On the 9th of July the French ship Indomptable lost its main spar in a gale. The Atlantic crossings had been very difficult according to Spanish Admiral Gravina who had crossed the Atlantic eleven times. So with some ships in bad condition, tired crews and scarce victuals, the combined fleet sighted land near Cape Finisterre on the 22nd of July. The battle marked a turning point where strategic failures led directly to naval destruction.