Nelson had, on the first of August, 1798, destroyed the French fleet
in the bay of Aboukir. In 1800 he had been raised to the peerage. In
1801 he had bombarded Copenhagen; and for that doubtful achievement
had been made a viscount. One of his arms was gone, and he was
covered with the scars of battle. Villeneuve had also a well-earned
reputation. Could he but add to his previous services the defeat of
Nelson, his fame would be established for all time.

It was on the twenty-first of October, 1805, that the combined
squadrons of France and Spain on the one side, and the fleet of Great
Britain on the other, came face to face off the Cape of Trafalgar. The
rocks of Gibraltar might be seen in the distance. The sea was calm and
the sky clear. The combatants discerned in advance the greatness of
the event that was at hand.

The conflict that ensued ranks among the great naval battles of the
world. Lord Nelson, with all his heroism, was a vain man, capable of
spectacular display. He clad himself in the insignia of the many
orders to which he belonged, and might be conspicuously seen from the
decks of the French ships. In fact, he seemed to court death almost as
much as he strove for victory. In the beginning of the engagement he
displayed from his pennon, where it might be read by the whole fleet,
this signal: "England expects every man to do his duty."

On the display of this signal the British fleet rang with cheers. The
shouting was heard as far as the opposing Armada. The tradition goes
that Villeneuve said on hearing the shouts of the British marines:
"The battle it lost already." The admirals of the allied fleet
arranged their vessels in parallel lines, so that each ship of the