h were no match for the British under Nelson's
piercing genius as a naval strategist, or in the flashes of dazzling
enthusiasm with which he led those under his command to fight, but it
must also be admitted, and has been over and over again, that
Villeneuve was a skilled seaman who was not likely to allow any
amateur navigators in his service, and we shall see that in the plan
of defence this great French Admiral showed that he was fertile in
naval skill when the time came for him to fight for existence against
the greatest naval prodigy in the world.

Whatever the reason was that caused Villeneuve not to make for the
Mediterranean, it certainly cannot be ascribed to lubberly navigation,
and Nelson should never have tried to sustain his perfectly sound
belief by seeking refuge in that untenable direction. God bless him
all the same.

On his arrival at Gibraltar on the 20th July, 1805, he set foot on
shore for the first time for two years less ten days. This in itself
was a great feat of hard endurance for a man who had to carry so heavy
a burden of continuous physical suffering and terrible anxiety.
Maddened and depressed often, stumbling often, falling often, but
despairing never, sorrow and sadness briefly encompassed him when fate
ordained disappointments. But his heart was big with hope that he
would accomplish complete victory before the sentence of death came,
which he never ceased to forebode. He was a human force, not a
phenomenon. On the 22nd July, Sir Robert Calder and Villeneuve fought
a drawn or indecisive battle. Only two Spanish ships of the line were
taken. The French Admiral put into Vigo on the 28th, and managed to
slip out, and arrived at Ferrol without being intercepted. Nelson
provisioned his ships for four months, and sailed from Tetuan on the
23rd. On the 25th he passed through the Straits with the intention of
going to Ferrol, Ireland, or Ushant, whichever his information and
judgment told him was the best course to pursue. He experienced strong
northerly winds along the Portuguese coast, which prevented him from
joining the Channel Fleet off Ushant until August 16th, and as no news
had been received of the French being in the Bay of Biscay or off the
Irish coast, he was ordered by Cornwallis to Portsmouth, and anchored
at Spithead on the 18th August. His reception from every quarter was
most cordial, as well it might be! But the thought of how much greater
it would have been if he had not been