Unit 1: The French Wars 1793-1815

The of ships in the Combined fleet (Trafalgar)?

33

Number of men Villeneuve had (Trafalgar)?

30k

Number of ships in the British fleet?

27

Nelsons flagship in Trafalgar?

HMS Victory

Name of Collingwood’s flagship?

Royal Sovereign

Number of guns French had?

2568

Number of Villeneuve’s battleships taken?

18

How many minutes was Nelson’s flagships under fire for before she opened fire herself?

45 minutes

How many miles offshore did Nelson want to keep his ships?

50

How many men did the British have?

20k

A British crew could fire three shots every how many minutes?

5

How many of the Combined Fleet were French ships?

18

How many guns did the British have?

2148

How many ships of the Combined Fleet were Spanish ships?

15

How many British captains fought at Trafalgar?

29

How many British captains who fought at Trafalgar became admirals?

22/29

What was the aim of Trafalgar?

lure Villeneuve out of port

Tactics at Trafalgar?

• Keep ships 50 miles offshore

• line of frigates to report any enemy movement

• inspire confidence in captains

• stressed the importance of battling quickly and not firing until yards away

When was Trafalgar?

21st October 1865

What were Nelsons dying words?

“thank god, I did my duty“

Why was the plan for Trafalgar dangerous?

Who was Villeneuve? What were Napoleons orders?

Admiral of the Combined Fleet

supposed to go to Italy and keep Austrians busy

What was French strategy’s at Trafalgar?

close as possible to grapple them jump on board and have a hand to hand fights

Number of British ships lost?

0

Why was Trafalgar victory significant?

France would never attempt to invade Britain again or contest its military

What was the cause of the Battle of Nile?

• Napoleon plans to invade Egypt to destroy trading routes to India + shortest routes + backbone of finance

What happened at Battle of Nile?

1st July 1798

• Sunset surprise attack, lamps along boat

• Folay on Goliath discovers they can get between Aboukir bay and ships (autonomy via Nelson)

• HMS Vanguard

What was French weaknesses during the Battle of Nile?

• Thought B couldn’t get between them at Aboukir Bay

• Many crew getting supplies on shore

• Guns not prepared on bay side (furniture pushes against side)

What were the top four consequences of the Battle of Nile?

• Austria, Russia and turkey in coalition with B

• rewards 10k by East India Company

• Napoleon + personal army escaped after being trapped in Egypt

• 11/13 captured/destroyed

What was the significance of the Battle of Nile?

• “Band of Brothers“ formed

• Francios Bruey shown courage after losing a leg and saying strap me onto a chair but he will not escape

What was the cause of Battle of Cape St. Vincent?

Spain's sudden decision to switch sides in the French Revolutionary Wars, creating a massive naval alliance with France that threatened to crush the British Royal Navy and clear the way for an invasion of Britain

What happened at Battle of Cape St. Vincent?

• HMS Captain (74 guns)

• B 15 ships and Spain’s 27

• Admiral Jervis splits fleet (15 + 18)/ disorganized tried to regroup Nelson drives ship right into middle to block

What was the consequence of Battle of Cape St. Vincent?

• captured four major Spanish warships

• forcing the remaining Spanish fleet to retreat to the safety of Cádiz

• prevented the Spanish and French navies from combining forces halting plan to invade B

What was significant about Battle of Cape St. Vincent?

• proving the success of unorthodox naval tactics

• forced out of war

Who was Nelson?

• Lord Admiral Horatio Nelson

• Captain at 20 joined at 12 (1771)

• Hit by French cannonball gravel lost almost all sight

What was Nelson famous for?

• Band of brothers: insane trust in captains, allowing flexibility in how to handle there ships

• “Hero of Nile“

What did Nelson say before Trafalgar?

“No captain can do very wrong if he places his ship that of alongside his enemy“

What was lacking in Franco-Spanish gunnery (Trafalgar)?

• less advanced then B

• Nelson knew he could get through danger zone of 600-700 yards in 12-15 minutes without crippling damage

• reloading sluggish

Why did the Combined Fleet have no chance to do anything serious(Trafalgar)?

• stuck in port due to blockade

• slower firing ships

What was wrong with French manpower (Trafalgar)?

• lack of experienced officers

• falling short of full complement

• unskilled, little experience

How long did the Great French Wars last?

1793-1815

What date did Prime Minister Pitt declare war against France? What did he call this war?

31st January 1793

“War of extermination“

What four reasons caused the war between France and Britain?

1. France supported the independence of USA

2. French executed their king and had a revolution (worried similar ideas would spread to Britain)

3. Wanted to colonies/ the creation of the British Empire

4. Trade - Napoleon had made it illegal to buy British products

What does Harvey describe the Great French Wars as?

“first global war“

When was the Peninsular War?

1808 - 1814

When was the Battle of Waterloo?

18th June 1815

What did Napoleon say about England in terms of destruction?

“Let us concentrate all our efforts on the navy to annihilate England. That done, Europe is at our feet.“

How many coalitions were there during the Revolutionary wars?

2

How many coalitions were there during the Napoleonic wars?

5

What country was apart of all coalition throughout the French Wars?

Britain

Which two members made peace with France thus withdrawing from coalition? And when?

Spain

Papal States - 1801

Which country did France defeat 5 times?

Austria

What did Napoleon say about France’s needs?

“France has more need of me than I have need of France”

What does Tousignant question about Napoleon as a Leader?

Was he…

• “power-hungry dictator whose wars left more than three million people dead”

• “military genius“

What does Zamoyski argue?

his identity as a “towering genius is flawed“

“What motivated Napoleon was his profound insecurity“

How did The Times summarise the death of Horatio Nelson? Anything else?

“The great and gallant Nelson is no more“

outpour of public grief that wouldn’t be matched until the death of Princess Diana 200 years later

When was Nelson’s famous Mediterranean battle? Why was it significant? What was he labelled?

• April 1798

• 11/13 battleships destroyed or captured

• trusted his captains implicitly allowing them autonomy to decide how to carry it out

• “Hero of the Nile”

When was the Battle of Trafalgar?

21st October 1805

How does Historian Dr Zack White describe the Duke of Wellington?

“He was only second to Napoleon in his military skill at the time“

“worst elitist prejudices“

“devoted servant of the nation and monarchy“

What did Wellington call the British army of numerous occasions?

“scum of the earth“

When and where did Wellington get sent during the Napoleonic Wars?

1808 takes on French in Portugal

What was the nature of Wellingtons most significant battle at Waterloo?

• Shattered Napoleons dream of European dominance

• It was not singlehandedly his victory it included Russia, Austria and the British around three quarters of a million men

How does Dr Zack White describe the the nature of Wellingtons most significant battle at Waterloo?

“lovely little narrative“

“ignores significance“ (of other troops)

How many years did Nelson serve in command?

8

How is the Duke of Wellington described?

leading military commander, politician, prime minister in 19th century Britain

When was the famous Battle of Waterloo?

18th June 1815

What was significant about Nelsons death at Trafalgar?

He was mourned by the entire world only replicated 200 years later with Lady Diaba

What does Harvey R. write about the French Wars?

“first of the modern great conflicts“

When were the French wars?

1793-1815

What years was Britain established as a major European power via her empire?

1714-1837

How many colonial losses had North America experiences during Britain’s colonization rise?

13 losses

When was the slave trade abolished?

1807

When had Britain becomes the worlds first industrial nation?

1760

What was Frances international role prior to the French Wars?

• They large colonies in North America

• Involved in many wars like 7 Year War, War was Austrian Succession

• They had a strong military/defeated but conquered New France, Caribbean colonies

What was the economy of France prior to the French Wars?

• Growing economy increased wages for workers but they benefitted less than large landholders

• ports = transport of goods

• A lot of royal debt almost lost all North American colonies

• War x only reason for bad economy = increased paper money causing inflation to go up by 3500%

What did French society look like prior to the French Wars?

• Joyce Applery: “Lacked what England had in an abundance a network of rivers and canals“

• By 1700 France had a population of 19 million 3x England

• Class tension by mid 1700s 600k nobles and crime in poverty

What did French politics look like prior to the French Wars?

• It was going from a monarchy to a republic

• Louis XVI/ Marie Antoinette ended 1000+ years of monarchy (1793)

• Perceived as weak thus embroiled in European wars

• Due to the number of executions the Guillotine became a symbol of the revolution

What was a ship-of-the-line capable of?

Firing 1 + ½ tonnes of iron shots in a asingal broadside

What and When were the 7-Year-Wars?

1756 - 1763

• unfinished rivalries from the War of the Austrian Succession, Austria's quest to reclaim the region of Silesia from Prussia, and a fierce imperial struggle for global supremacy between Britain and France

What was the majority diet apart of a crew?

salt, mouldy biscuits, alcohol, beef, pork, oat meal

fresh food was rare

How many men were needed for a gun crew?

6 men/gun

What were conditions and pay like for the 1793 Royal Navy (B)?

• sailors better than like army

• better access to food/medicine

• doctors on ship better survival rates

What were incentives (Head Money) like for the 1793 Royal Navy (B)?

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What were incentives (Rise Money) like for the 1793 Royal Navy (B)?

What was discipline like for the 1793 Royal Navy (B)?

What was recruitment like for the 1793 Royal Navy (B)?

What were reforms like for the 1793 Royal Navy (B)?

Were naval officers and main crew membered prepared for 1793 (B)?

Was gunnery prepared for 1793 (B)?

What were ships like for 1793 (B)?

Which country joined France and when?

Spain Aug 19 1796

What did the French lack in the beginning? What did this cause?

• trained officers

• couldnt leave harbour

Who commanded the British Mediterranean fleet and when?

Admiral Hood - Aug 1793

How many French warships surrendered at Toulon?

20

What was the result at Toulon 1793?

• abandoned at arrival of French troops in December

Where were the French based in the early wars? Thus, what did the British do?

Brest, Northwest France

Blockaded there

How long did it take to train a sailor? How did the French try to overcome this?

• 4 years

• Recruits came from: untrained or experienced taken from French merchant fleets

• stripped trading fleets to crew Ships of the Line → never found able ones

When was the Glorious First of June? What happened?

1794

• blockade of French ports at Brest

• Howe sailed to intercept French fleet returning from the USA

What was the result of the Glorious First of June?

• Captured/sank 7 french ships

• 7000 prisoner/killed vs 1200 to GB

• Nelson lost sight of right eye at siege of Calvi, Corsica

What was the number of the French fleet in comparison to the British fleet at the Glorious First of June?

F = 26

GB = 25