ar, but the
British fleet was kept by adverse winds from reaching the Atlantic till
April 5.

The enemy had thirty-five days start on their run to the West Indies,
and Nelson, misled by false information, sought them among the islands,
until he learned at Antigua on June 9 that they had sailed again for
Europe. He made all speed across the Atlantic, and again sought the
enemy vainly, until he joined Admiral Cornwallis off Ushant on August
15. The same evening he was ordered to proceed with the Victory and
Superb to Portsmouth.

_V.--Trafalgar_

Here, at last, he heard news of the combined fleets; Sir Robert Calder
had fallen in with them near Finisterre and had fought an indecisive
engagement.

On September 14, 1805, he passed through the crowds at Portsmouth, many
of whom were in tears, many kneeling and blessing him as he passed. He
arrived off Cadiz on September 29 with twenty-three ships, and on
October 9 he sent Collingwood his plan of attack--what he called "the
Nelson-touch." These tactics consisted in cutting through the line of
the enemy in three places.

On the morning of the 19th the enemy came out of the port of Cadiz, and
all that day and night, and the next day, the British pursued them. At
daybreak of the 21st, the combined fleets were distinctly seen from the
Victory, about twelve miles to leeward. Signal was made to bear down on
the enemy in two lines, and all sail was set, the Victory leading.

Nelson now retired to his cabin and wrote in his diary a prayer
committing himself and the British cause to Heaven, and then wrote a
memorial setting forth Lady Hamilton's services to Britain, and leaving
her and her daughter Horatia as a legacy to his country.

Villeneuve, commanding the enemy, was a skilful seaman, and his plan of
defence was as original as the plan of attack. He formed the fleet in a
double line, every alternate ship being a cable's length to windward of
her second ahead and astern. Nelson, certain of triumph, issued his last
signal: "England expects every man to do his duty," which was received
throughout the fleet with acclamations.

The English lines, led by Nelson and by Collingwood, swept down upon the
hostile fleet, the Victory steering for the bow of the Santissima
Trinidad. At four minutes after twelve she opened fire, and almost
immediately ran against the Redoubtable. Four ships, two British and two
French, formed as compact a tier as if they had been moored together,