Quotes About Warfare

They were aiming for the Straits of Gibraltar. It was the obvious place to intercept the French

It would take the fleets all day just to catch sight of each other, let alone come to quarters

They were complemented by another twenty-nine ships of the line, five frigates and two brigs – a total of forty vessels in all.

Each gun fired in turn, straight into the unprotected stern of the Santa Ana,

Napoleon had been in the thick of it, leading from the front.

Napoleon had 60,000 troops in Italy, scattered in different locations.

With almost fifty guns already loaded and still working on the starboard side, the Spanish won.

The crossfire was so heavy that French and Spanish cannon balls smacked into each other

90,000 artillery rounds, 32,000 reserve muskets

Captain Harvey held his fire until the Fougueux's yardarms were almost touching the Téméraire's

At his command, three decks of guns fired simultaneously into the Fougueux,

The enemy hauled our colours down and the slaughter ceased entirely after a while.

There was nothing to be gained from fighting the British off Brest.

But Napoleon saw everything in military terms.

The enemy ships in her path included the Santissima Trinidad, the Redoutable and the Bucentaure,

The Victory was still about 1,000 yards from the enemy, not yet in proper range.

The French waited a couple of minutes and fired again. That shot fell alongside.

all firing at the Victory in unison. Their purpose was to dismast the British flagship

The French and Spanish ships were bigger and better armed, but the British were better sailors.

the French and Spanish should have closed their line,

In the sinking of the Dorothea, they had seen the future of naval warfare.

Villeneuve looked at Lieutenant Fulcran Fournier and gave him the nod. It was time to surrender.

as were the chaloupes canonnières,

The bateaux canonniers were more seaworthy, but could not traverse their guns.