, in the hope of setting our's on
fire. The French were commanded, in chief, by Admiral Villeneuve; and
not by Admiral Decrees, as Lord Nelson had lately supposed would be the
case; with Rear-Admirals Dumanoir and Magon: The Spaniards, by Admiral
Gravina, commander in chief; with Admirals Don Ignacio Morea D'Alva, Don
Domingo Guadalharas, and Commodore Don Baltazar. The structure of the
enemy's line was somewhat new, as well as the intended mode of attacking
them. It formed a crescent, convexing to leeward: every alternate ship
being about a cable's length to windward of it's second a-head and
a-stern, so as to seem a kind of double-line; leaving between them, when
on their beam, a very small interval, and this without crouding their
ships. Admiral Villeneuve, in the Bucentaure, occupied the centre; and
Admiral Gravina's flag was borne by the Prince of Asturias, in the rear:
but the French and Spanish ships appear to have been mixed, without any
regard to national arrangement.

The mode of attack having been long determined on by Lord Nelson, and
recently communicated, as has been seen, on the 10th instant, to the
flag officers and captains, few signals were necessary. On first
discovering the combined fleet, his lordship had immediately made the
signal to bear up in two columns, as formed in the order of sailing, to
avoid the inconvenience and delay of forming a line of battle in the
usual manner. Lord Nelson, as commander in chief, led the weather
column, in the Victory; and Vice-Admiral Collingwood, as second in
command, that of the lee, in the Royal Sovereign. The following are the
respective ships of which the two British lines were composed--

BRITISH VAN, OR WEATHER COLUMN.

Ships. Guns. Commanders.

1. Victory 110 Admiral Lord Nelson, and Capt Hardy.
2. Temeraire 98 Capt. Harvey.
3. Neptune 98 Capt. Freemantle.
4. Conqueror 74 Capt. Pellew.
5. Leviathan 74 Capt. Bayntun.
6. Ajax 74 Lieut. Pilfold.
7. Orion 74 Capt. Codrington.
8. Agamemnon 64 Capt. Sir Edward Berry.
9. Minotaur 74 Capt. Mansfield.
10. Spartiate 74 Capt. Sir Francis Laforey.
11. Britannia 100 Rear-Admiral Northesk, and Capt. Bullen.
12. Africa 64 Capt. Digby.

REAR,