The French continued to be frustrated by British Naval supremacy which had such a seriously debilitating effect upon French maritime trade.
France’s merchant fleet was constantly harried and attacked by the Royal Navy. This was combined with the British policy of blockading the French navy in port so that they were unable to protect their merchant shipping trade with the French colonies. The French economy was in a poor state.
British blockade effective
The French Navy, were they to take the risk of venturing out of port to support their merchant fleet, would risk immediate confrontation with the Royal Navy lying in wait.
Already bloody noses had been inflicted on the Spanish navy at St. Vincent (1797) and the French navy at the Battle of the Nile (1798).
Meanwhile for years Britain’s trade and profits flourished with their colonies and more widely.
Napoleon Frustrated ...
Solution: Invasion of the British Isles
Invasion was the solution to free the French from this British straight-jacket. Napoleon gave orders for the construction of a flotilla of flat-bottomed craft designed to transport troops, horses and cannonade across the channel.
The threat was taken seriously. In 1801 Nelson was given command of the forces to oppose the assembly of this flotilla at Boulogne for the invasion of England, a decision taken by the Admiralty to calm the nerves of a panicky populace. In August 1801 a raiding force was sent to destroy the transports, but repulsed by the French.
Napoleon’s plan
112,000 soldiers were encamped by the embarkation ports, with reserves behind them, and with almost 2,000 boats to transport them. The flotilla designed to transport the French army across the channel required naval protection.
Napoleon’s ambitious plan was for five French squadrons of ships of the line, all blockaded in port, to escape and rendezvous at Martinique in the West Indies, to return in good time to form the protective shield for the flotilla. Napoleon in his optimism calculated a window of four days enough for the crossing to be completed.
Villeneuve at Cadiz, ready to fight
Villeneuve was made Commander-in-Chief of the combined French and Spanish navies. By the time he returned from the West Indies pursued by Nelson the French plan was already under strain.
Villeneuve had suffered losses to Admiral Calder who intercepted Villeneuve’s squadron, and 3 ships of the line unable to go to sea as the sailors were suffering from sickness including scurvy.
Effect of scurvy on French Navy
They hadn’t adopted the practice of providing fruit and vegetables, and fruit juice introduced by the British Navy. As serious, Admiral Ganteaume remained blockaded at Brest with 21 ships of the line, unable to take part in the forthcoming battle.
But with Napoleon on the point of relieving him of his duties, Villeneuve resolved on a fight with a total of 35 ships of the line under his command.
