Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1896-11-25
BATTLE TRAFALGAR.
THE Personal EXPERIENCE OF A
FRENCH OFFICER.
a Spirited Account OF n Captain of
Marines British Inhumnnity
Chnrgcd-Aid Was Refused to
Captured and sinking ship.

| extract from the unpublished memoirs
of Pierre Servaux, n captain Of marines
on board the French vessel Fouguenx
The Captain Is very severe upon the con-
/ duct of the English after the battle, but,
independently Of such structures his mar
rative is very interesting as a descrip-
ton Of part Of the great naval battle.
"In the month Of September
ls05," he says, I'VE set sail under com
mand of the French admiral. Villeneuve.
and the Spanish vice-admiral, Gravina,
leaving the bay Of Ferrol. a few days
afterward we reached Cadiz, and re-
NAMED anchored in the harbor until the
10Th of October. when the signal to make
sail and prepare for action was given
by the French admiraPs ship. At II
o'clock we lett to- harbor, and the order
WAS given to fort the fleet in three col
umns. whether the order was badly un-
derstood, or whatever was the cause,
several captains Of both French and
Spanish vessels failed to form in line,
and. when the English fleet was sighted,
the Spanish and French fleets We're,
so 70 say. I'm disorder. The two fleets
observed each other during the whole
night. and never ceased making signals.
at daybreak on the 21st of October
we found the French feet In about the
same position that it was i'm the evening
before; several vessels had fallen off, and
one Spanish vessel was at least three
miles to leeward The admiral gave sig
nal to form I'm line Of battle, but no bet
ter result was obtained. The English,
favored by a little breeze, manoeuvred
very much better than We did. They
formed easily IN two columns. one having
in the lead the Victory, with 40 guns
commanded by Admiral Nelson. The
other column followed he Prince Sow
ereign, also with 10 suns. and com
nanded by Admiral Collngwood. The
English fleet advanced TO cut the poorly
formed line Of the French and Spanish
vessels, which. for the most part, left
too ereat a distance between them and
their leader.
THE Fougueux on which l served as
master-at-arms, mad for her leader the
Spanish vessel Saint Anne, with 10 guns.
BY bad manoeuvres she left more than a
cable length between her and the vessel
ahead. and In that way made II easy
for the enemy's vessels to pass through
f. was precisely toward this point that
Admiral Collingwood bore down to cut
the line, and. as It was necessary that he
should cross our bow, II was with him
that we became engaged.
AT a quar- ter-past Il the Fougueux,
with sevonty-four guns, opened fire upon
the English admirars ship, which was far
superior 10 our vessel I'm height, in artil-
lery. and In men. Her third battery and
castles lowered over our deck and en-
sbied the enemy to observe al our crew
and marines. According to our usual bad
habit. we fred more than a hundred shots
before the English vessel burned a match.
IT was only when we were broadside on
and yards against yards that they gave
us a broadside Of ffty-fve cannon charged
with shot and shrapnel. l thought that
the FougueuX was pulver.zed. The
quantity of projectilos that reached her
hull and rigging on the starboard side
made her heel fearfully to port. A great
part Of her sails and rigging was cut,
and the deck was swept Of a considerable
portion OF our crew and marines. our
batteries We're somewhat less badly
treated; and. after ALL there were only
about thirty Of our men put hors de COM
bat. This somewhat lively reconnaissance
did not discourage our men, and a we'll
sustained fire showed the English that we,
too, had guns.
"The English vessel having passed US,
end6avOred to cut the line between us
and the Saint Anne. which, during Our
engagement, didn't fire O. single shot. but
continued 10 travel on, without taking in
sail. This made an easy passageway for
the enemy. As soon as our Commander
found himself in the Engllshman's water.
bOwsprit on stern almost, he bore on
BY this movement we took the English
ship by the port buttocks. so that all she
could do was to send a few shots from
her stern guns. while she received point
blank our entire broadside, which en-
hladed her batteries. Soon We saw her
mizzenmast come down Then her steer
ing gear was damaged, for it became
evident that she could not work. Her
sails huttered TO the wind; her sheets
and running rigging were cut by cur
shrapnel. and for some time she ceased
firing. We redoubled our fire and saw her
main tOpmast come down. At that
moment we perceived on the mizzen-
mast two signal flags. which made US
suppose that she WAS calling for help
In this we were not deceived. for shortly
aftorward two English vessels came down
upon us one taking US on the starboard
bullock and the other on the stern, and
for more than an hour they rained shot.
shrapnel, and bullets upon us, which
brought death among our crew.
"Our mizzenmast was cut on level
y
hanging down, and a fire broke gut IN
the gallery and in the stern. Notwith-
standing the rain Of iron that was fall
ing upon us We managed to put it out.
and with our battle-aXcs we got rid of
the masts. yards, and rigging that were
hanging over our batteries, and causing
danger of communicating fire ON board
the vessel At this moment the cOm-
mander ordered me to look into -he in
terror Of the ship and see If the sheet Of
the mainsail was not liable 70 catch fire
from the discharge Of the second battery.
As / was passing over the gangway into
the main shrouds they let 20 the entire
starboard broadside. The defamation and
shock were so great that I came near
falling into the sea, and blood came from
my nose and ears but that did not pre-
vent me from performing my duty.
soon our mainmast came down.
Fortunately, It was cut ten or twelve
feet above the deck. and fell on the port
side. We cut the starboard shrouds and
succeeded rather slowly in getting rid
of It.
"Our fire was still well sustained, but
the superiority in the number Of guns,
and the advantageous position Of the Eng
lsh vessels enabled them to decimate
us In fearful manner. More than
half of the crew was either killed or
wounded. Finally our last mast came
down. Our flag alone remained, and our
brave captain and crew were In nowise
disposed to strike IT, Then another YES
sci the Temeraire, OF 10 gun7 also
came TO attack US. Favored by the cur
rent. she came alongside. A discharge
from her artillery and a plunging fire
finished the sweeping OF our decks. At
the order 10 board, repeated in the bat
teries. from sixty 20 eighty men APP
peared upon the deck. armed with sabres
and battleaxes From the three decks OF
the Englishman the enemy was able 10
fire at US with ease. while from the third
1 Ii .lLl-l-