A detail of the painting displaying the English flagship HMS Victory and the French flagship FNS Bucentaure. The Victory remains in commission with the Royal Navy yet today and serves as a historical ship, national monument and flagship of the Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command. Set up on blocks at the dockyard in Portsmouth, thousands of visitors walk her decks each year.

There are a handful of military battles throughout history for which the words epic or world-altering are appropriate. The Battle of Hastings (1066) and the Naval Battle at Lepanto (1571) are two. In modern times, Stalingrad qualifies as does the siege at Dien Bien Phu.

In downtown Mineola, on the wall of the RNA Tavern, is another. There, one will find a reproduction of a famous painting of the Battle of Trafalgar.

Some 218 years ago  this Saturday, the English fleet under the command of Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson decimated the combined French and Spanish Fleets off the southwestern coast of Spain.

The battle largely removed the naval component from Napolean’s forces, removed the persistent threat of the invasion of England and altered the concept of naval warfare forever.

The indomitable commander of the English Fleet, Horatio Nelson, had been seeking a capital ship engagement against the combined fleet throughout the war. The search had taken him across the Atlantic and back, throughout the Mediterranean and to the North Sea. 

When he learned that the combined fleet was in port in Cadiz, Spain with intent to sail for the Mediterranean, he sensed his chance. With frigates dispatched to monitor for signs that the combined fleet was putting to sea, Nelson held his battleships just over the horizon.

In a series of instructions to his captains, Nelson spelled out his tactical plan – a plan which discarded much of the tactical guidance of the day.

Nelson divided his force. The two lines of action would attack the combined fleet in a slicing movement, with the English ships passing through the enemy’s battle lines.

His written direction to his captains famously stated, “No captain can do very wrong if he places his ship alongside that of an enemy.” In the world of naval warfare such general and empowering guidance was, in that age, considered practically heresy.

As the English fleet began to close on the combined fleet, Nelson had the most famous signal in the history of naval warfare hoisted. It read: “England Expects That Every Man Will Do His Duty.”

The battle was by no means a foregone conclusion. The English brought fewer ships into the fight. They were also outgunned and faced a very competent force. 

However, the tactical surprise achieved by Nelson, the gunnery expertise of the English crews and the empowerment of the English captains rendered a stunning victory. 

War at sea in the age of sail was especially brutal. Cannons carried aboard ship were designed to hole the thick wooden sides of the enemy. A broadside fired into a ship would send a multitude of deadly splinters throughout the decks. 

Other loads used in the cannons included a variety of devises to sweep the decks of people. Yet other munitions were incendiary, used to set sails aflame. 

Once combatants were alongside or nearly so, the noise and smoke would become disorienting and often accompanied by sudden death or maiming.

Boarding an enemy ship was yet a common practice in 1805. Hand-to-hand combat often awaited those not felled by cannon. 

In an effort to maximize the ability to kill the enemy, the combined fleet stationed sharpshooters in the mast-tops. These sharpshooters were firing muskets from some distance, so it is unlikely that the marine who fired the musket ball into Nelson’s chest, knew it.

Nelson, who had been maimed twice – he lost an eye during the capture of Corsica in 1794 and lost an arm during an attack on the Canary Islands in 1797 – was fatally wounded.

He lived long enough to understand that the English had carried the day. 

The victory was complete. The French and Spanish suffered approximately 7,000 casualties with a like number taken prisoner. Only 11 of the 33 ships of the combined fleet were able to struggle back into Cadiz. The English captured 17 enemy ships and left one ablaze. 

As best described by Colin White of the Royal Navy Museum in Portsmouth, England, “The psychological influence of Trafalgar was immeasurable. It demonstrated that the Royal Navy had superiority in training, professionalism and expertise in naval tactics – superiority that set it apart from any of its rivals. The battle confirmed Britain’s command of the seas. Above all, the battle gave the Royal Navy an unmatched tradition of victory that is still potent even 200 years later.” 

The painting hanging in the RNA Tavern is a reproduction of Clarkson Frederick Stanfield’s oil on canvas “The Battle of Trafalgar.” Stanfield completed the painting in 1836 for the Senior United Service Club.

It is likely that Stanfield spoke to a number of Royal Navy sailors who had participated in the battle. He had served in the Navy from 1808-1812 on the HMS Namur. Stanfield became a painter of some repute for his seascapes and landscapes.

Center in the painting is Nelson’s flagship, HMS Victory. To the left of Victory is the French ship of the line FNS Redoubtable, lashed together with the HMS Temiraire. On the right side of the painting, the flagship of the combined fleet, FNS Bucentaure is depicted. She has her main and mizzen masts dismasted. 

The detail of the painting certainly supports first-hand knowledge of experience at sea.

Just how that reproduction came to be in the RNA Tavern is yet a part of this story. Owner James McPherson explained, “It has always been one of those family legends, that we had a Scottish relative who was in the Battle of Trafalgar, so when selecting items to decorate the tavern, it was an easy choice.”

According to the authoritative research body of the battle, 1805club.org, there were actually five McPhersons in the battle. Two of the sailors were born in England, one in Ireland, one in Scotland (Dunbarton) and one in the United States (Boston). All survived the battle, although two were maimed. 

As with many family legends, there is some truth contained therein.

Grand Saline native James McPherson is hoping that the painting on the wall of the tavern lends a bit of history and a bit of conversation to the environment he maintains at the RNA. The well-appointed cigar and brandy tavern is a warm, clean and well-appointed establishment. 

“We are hoping to offer Mineola an example of a classy place to enjoy a libation and good company,” he remarked.