However, none of this affected Napoleon's superb confidence.
Constant records that Napoleon diverted himself with the charms of a
beautiful Genoese courtesan. As late as the morning of 23 August he "was
still able to write that in his imagination he saw the tricolour fluttering
over the Tower of London. Then a messenger arrived with news that
Villeneuve had retreated to Cadiz where he was now bottled up. By all
accounts, this time Napoleon completely lost control of himself and was
frothing at the mouth like a madman. After an outburst of violent and
unprecedented rage, which his followers thought would probably end in
an apoplectic fit, Napoleon that night allowed himself a few snatches of
sick fr ustration as he wrote: 'What a Navy! What sacrifices all for
nothing! All hope is gone! Villeneuve, instead of entering the Channel,
has taken refuge in Cadiz. It is all over.'
After 23 August 1805 the invasion of England was never again a live
option for Napoleon. Blaming Villeneuve for the deb:kle, on 18
September he sent Admiral Rosily to Cadiz as the new Admiral of the
Fleet together with a letter of dismissal for Villeneuve. This turned out to
be another of Napoleon's psychological errors. To forestall the shame of
replacement, Villeneuve took the Franco-Spanish armada out of Cadiz
and into the jaws of the powerful fleet Nelson had assembled on the
Atlantic side of Gibraltar. The battle of Trafalgar, fought on 21 October,
resulted in catastrophic defeat for Villeneuve arid was one of the most
glorious episodes in the history of the Royal Navy. Supremely important
in the history and legend of England and Horatio Nelson, Trafalgar is a
mere footnote in the story of Napoleon, who had already called off his
invasion plans two months before the battle. Yet Trafalgar always
haunted Napoleon. After 1805 he rarely risked his warships. Four more
ships of the line were captured two weeks after Trafalgar, five were taken
off Santo Domingo in February 1806, five destroyed by fireships in the
Basque roads in April 1809 and two destroyed in the Mediterranean in
October the same year. But that completes the tally in the Emperor's ill
fated attempt to wage naval warfare against England.
These were rare opportunities for the Royal Navy, since Napoleon
after Trafalgar kept his squadrons in port as a permanent threat- one the
British did not take lightly as he continually added to the number of his
capital ships. A war of nerves developed, with the Emperor constantly
fomenting rumours of invasion, particularly of Ireland or the colonies. He
encouraged his privateers to prey on British shipping and tried to secure
the fleets of neutral European powers. His clever policy of keeping
warships in full readiness in French ports meant that the Royal Navy
could never relax and, more importantly, that Britain had to maintain its
marcin
(Marcin)
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