Nelson destroyed the enemy fleet at Trafalgar on October 21, 1805. The British ships broke the French and Spanish line off the coast of Spain and shattered it, ending Napoleon's plan to cross the Channel. Nelson paid for the victory with his life.
He had signaled the fleet as the battle opened. The famous message, that England expected every man to do his duty, ran up the masts, and the ships closed in two columns straight at the enemy line. The tactic was risky and brutal, and it worked.
The fighting was close. It was savage. Ships locked together and fired into each other at point-blank range, and the decks ran with blood, and Nelson, walking the quarterdeck in his dress uniform, was hit by a musket ball fired from a French ship. He was carried below.
He lived long enough to know. He won. Told that a dozen enemy ships had struck, he said his duty was done, and he died a few hours later as the victory was completed. His body was brought home in a cask of brandy, and the nation mourned him as its greatest admiral.
Trafalgar gave Britain command of the sea. Napoleon could not invade, and for a century no rival challenged the Royal Navy's dominance. The battle is remembered for the victory and for the man who died winning it, and the two have never been separated.