Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815)

Napoleon’s six-year-long campaign (1808-1814) to bring Spain and Portugal into his united Europe was frustrated by Arthur Wellesley.

Napoleon Bonaparte declared himself Emperor of the French in 1804, with the aim of bringing order to the chaos of a disunited Europe through his ‘Napoleonic Code.’ Spain initially welcomed Napoleon’s vision, but when his true ambitions became clear the Spanish appealed for help from Napoleon’s most powerful enemy: the United Kingdom.

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The Whitby man held his nerve to keep five enemy ships busy at Trafalgar, and subsequently led Nelson’s funeral procession.

The Battle of Trafalgar near Spain on October 21st, 1805, in which the victorious Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson was shot and killed, is one of the defining events in British history. Many played a vital part in it, including Captain Robert Moorsom of Whitby in Yorkshire.

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High praise from someone who knew him better than most.

The Revd Alexander Scott was the chaplain on Nelson’s ship, and was with him when the great Admiral died at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. This is what he wrote about his friend.

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