Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Trafalgar 1805 DOCUMENTARY

Napoleon Bonaparte fought all his battles on land, but no other battle influenced his military and political decisions as the battle of Trafalgar that was fought in 1805 off the coast of Spain between the allied Franco-Spanish fleet lead by the admirals Pierre-Charles Villeneuve and Federico Gravina and the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom commanded by the admirals Horatio Nelson and Cuthbert Collingwood. This is our first video on the War of the Third Coalition and second video in this series. We hope to have much more and cover all the Napoleonic Wars.

List of Episodes:
Battle of Trafalgar 1805 - You are right here!
And much more in 2018!

The trailer for the series on the Napoleonic wars:

We are grateful to our patrons, who made this video possible: Koopinator,, Daisho, Łukasz Maliszewski, Nicolas Quinones, William Fluit, Juan Camilo Rodriguez, Murray Dubs, Dimitris Valurdos, Félix Gagné-Dion, Fahri Dashwali, Kyle Hooton, Dan Mullen, Mohamed Thair, Pablo Aparicio Martínez, Iulian Margeloiu, Chet, Nick Nasad, Jeyares, Amir Eppel, Thomas Bloch, Uri Sternfeld, Juha Mäkelä, Georgi Kirilov, Moe Mia, Daniel Yifrach, Brian Crane, Muramasa, Gerald Tnay, Hassan Ali and Richie Thierry.

Inspired by: BazBattles, Invicta (THFE), Epic History TV, Historia Civilis and Time Commanders

Machinimas made on the Napoleon Total War

Songs used:

Epidemicsound:
Slaves - Gunnar Johnsén
At The Front - Johan Hynynen
Battle Ostinato 3 - Valdemar Hansen

Total War Napoleon:
Richard Beddow - Corsica, Humble Beginnings
Ian Livingstone - The Battle At Arcole
Richard Beddow - HMS Victory
Richard Beddow - The End

[blackadder]

I love how Nelson died just after receiving the news of the victory, at least he died knowing he fulfilled his duty.

[Crichjo]

Dying just after finding out you won possibly the greatest naval battle in history, is one badass way to go. Nelson is the definition of a great man.

[kamilszadkowski]

Napoleon made a terrible mistake by sending his Polish troops to crush the Haitian rebellion. Poles, seeing that Haitians are fighting for freedom, were very often deserting and switching sides to help them win their independence. Two polish infantry battalions were formed under the Haitian banners. Many other Poles were fighting as irregulars.

After successful rebellion many Polish legionaries stayed in Haiti as they were accepted as Haitian citizens. Polish minority exist in Haiti to this day.

[dean]

Can you imagine the overwhelming welcome Nelson would have recieved upon his return to Great Britain had he survived. He'd have been hailed as Royalty. But something tells me Nelson would have preferred it to happen just the way it did. Going out in a blaze of glory, surrounded by his men, having secured one of the greatest victories in British history.

[Edax_Royeaux]

I feel the need to point out that duel between HMS Victory and Redoutable was not a normal one, as Redoutable closed her gun ports and had all available men move topside to engage in a musket duel with HMS Victory. This unorthodox tactic took Nelson by surprise, as tradition dictated that he stay topside with his men. With the medals on his uniform glinting in the sun, he was a sitting duck to the French sharpshooters, which rendered the topdeck of HMS Victory a no-mans-land. So it isn't quite correct to say that Redoutable had badly damaged HMS Victory, but rather had silenced HMS Victory's guns, and took her out of the fight.

[galerinha]

When your commander is napoleon and you still disobey orders...

[samueljackson]

Britain's ultimate weapon

Tea, biscuits and Lord nelson

[trotski]

Napoleon said of the Royal Navy “Wherever wood will float there you will find the British “ He was right 🇬🇧

[scottwhitley]

Nelson- England expects that every man do his duty.

Scottish, Welsh and Irish sailors- guess we can sit back and relax today lads.

[EndOfSmallSanctuary]

Nelson's incredible victory at Trafalgar single-handedly (no pun intended) saved the United Kingdom from a French invasion (that the British would almost certainly lose). He's a national hero on the level of Alfred and Churchill, without a doubt.

[loganstroganoff]

I'm American but I've always been fascinated with British naval history and particularly lord nelson. Last month I visited London and saw his statue in st pauls and then his tomb in the crypt. I'm not ashamed to say I was moved to tears standing in front of his tomb thinking of his final moments and the incredible bravery he displayed.

[adrianbrunner]

This is a great animation. So nice to see the little flags on the ships, the shooting ships, the burning ships and at least the half-destroyed ships with de sails in the water. ^^

[hollin]

I was able to visit the English Maritime Museum in London. They have the uniform Nelson was wearing at the Battle of Trafalgar. Being an American this may sound weird, but the sight of it had me a bit teary eyed. Something about the man’s sense of honor makes him a hero to those who love European / English history.

[Malice]

I've been re watching this for an hour and it slowly dawned on me the genius of Lord nelson. The tactic of having the first ship pick the enemy flagship to go against while the captains behind him are there to support this thrust and overwhelm the enemy locally at close range is aggressive in a battlefield that demands conservative tactics. That he died yet his ship fought on and his second was able to command the fleet accordingly without losing moral while the enemy fleet was broken after their admirals loss makes him a legend. I do wonder if he was truely able to know he had won the day and the age for his empires navy or if he died too soon.

[klemthegem]

What a Victory. Two of the worlds best Admirals Nelson & Collingwood.

[farhanatashiga]

If only the French admiral wasn't so

[orlandofurioso]

So basically Villeneuve was leading the fleet without Napoleon's permission?

[ThatOtherTom]

Admiral Nelson insisted on having cloth versions of his war medals sewn into his uniform, making him stand out and be an obvious target for the sharpshooters. He also insisted on being out in the open, which was also how he lost his arm earlier in his career.

[yourlocalt]

Clicked faster than german invasion of poland in ww2

[johnwilletts]

There were solid reasons for Britain’s more professional seamanship. Britain is an Island, who’s economy was and still is dependent on trade. So we had a massive merchant fleet. The Royal Navy took much of its manpower from those skilled experienced professional seamen. For both warrant officers and commissioned officers, the Navy offered a career, that could transform the life of a smart men from modest middle class backgrounds. Good pay with the prospect of prize money (When an enemy ship was captured, its value was shared amongst the crew, with officers getting more). Then came social climbing. Lord Nelson was one of the twelve children of a country priest. When he married, his best man was navy officer and future king George 1V. Like Nelson many officers joined the navy at the age of 12. Their whole Education and culture was based on seamanship and aggressive naval action. The French Navy did not have such a large pool of skilled men to choose from. They would even make up the numbers by drafting soldiers. Many of the French senior offices had been lost due to political reasons.