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Trafalgar

In October 1805 the war against Napoleon reached a crucial point. The British fleet under Nelson met the combined fleets of France and Spain off Cape Trafalgar near Cadiz in southern Spain. A victory here would end the threat of invasion of Britain, and allow British troops to be used on mainland Europe against Napoleon.

The fleets spotted each other at dawn on 21st of October 1805. It was a bright, sunny day with little wind, and the British fleet spent the whole morning slowly drifting towards their enemy. The peace of the scene is described in James's nineteenth century Naval History:

"According to the average time noted down on board the different ships of the British fleet, it was just at noon, the wind very light, the sea smooth with a great ground swell setting from the westward, and the sun shining in a beautiful manner upon the fresh painted sides of the long Line of French and Spanish ships, that Fougueux... opened by signal a fire upon the Royal Sovereign."

Twenty five minutes earlier Nelson had run up signal flags on his ship, the Victory, which gave his famous message to his fleet, "England expects that every man will do his duty." Captain Blackwood, an officer aboard the Victory described the reaction to this message: "The shout with which it was received throughout the fleet was truly sublime." This message is still displayed today on the rigging of HMS Victory at Portsmouth Dockyard.

Nelson was often reported as having the ability to inspire men. On the Victory, apart from four hundred and forty one Englishmen, there were sixty three Irishmen, sixty four Scots, eighteen Welshmen, three Shetlanders, two men from the Channel Islands, one Manxman, twenty two Americans, seven Dutchmen, six Swedes, four Italians, four Maltese, three Norwegians, three Germans, two Swiss, and even three Frenchmen! Nelson made them all "English".

Of course the battle itself was predictably gruesome, the British ships breaking through the French and Spanish lines to fire through the poorly protected stern sections of the enemy vessels. During the battle Nelson was hit by a bullet fired by a sniper in the rigging of the French ship Redoubtable. He was taken below and died four hours later. The bullet was removed, and is on display at Windsor Castle.

Britain, England, whatever you call the thing that people get behind, is the mixture of people illustrated by the crew of HMS Victory. Trafalgar is perhaps Britain's most famous victory, and has long been part of the country's identity. In honour of her role in the battle HMS Victory, even as she sits in dry dock at Portsmouth Dockyard, is officially still on active service. She is the oldest British commissioned naval ship in the world. And yet this defining monument of identity is also a reminder that there are no clear dividing lines in the world. Trafalgar and HMS Victory might define Britain, but they also illustrate that such definitions are ultimately as changeable as the sea in which the battle took place.