On October 21, 1805, Nelson engaged in his final battle, the Battle of Trafalgar. Napoleon Bonaparte had been massing forces once again for the invasion of the British Isles. On the 19th, the French and Spanish fleet left Cadiz, intent on clearing the Channel for this purpose. Nelson, with twenty-seven ships, engaged the thirty-three opposing ships. The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) proved the most significant naval engagement of the Napoleonic Wars, and the pivotal naval battle of the 19th century. The British Royal Navy led by Horatio Nelson destroyed a combined French and Spanish fleet and in doing so guaranteed to the United Kingdom uncontested control of the world's oceans for more than 100 years. Because the British won the Battle of Trafalgar, they, not the French, would rule an expanded empire that included India, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, around the world and world economy with London, not Paris, as the pre-eminent financial seat of Europe. The Battle of Trafalgar
It was the year of 1805, the year when it seemed that at long last Napoleon would invade England, which, for twelve years, had stood in the path of the Grand Armée´s complete domination of Europe. It was the year when, in the face of all the evidence to the contrary, Napoleon had suddenly convinced himself that his united fleet could annihilate any squadron which the English could put to sea to meet it. In 1805 under Napoleon, the French were masters of the European continent, the British still ruled the seas. The British, during the course of the war, managed to impose a fairly effective blockade on France. This blockade had the effect of keeping the French from fully mobilizing her own naval resources. So the French were unable to invade England although Britain could always land in France. Disgusted with this situation, Napoleon Bonaparte determined to sweep the Royal Navy from the seas, and issued orders for the French Navy to combine with forces from the Spanish Navy, (Napoleon ruled Spain), break the English blockade, then, escort an invasion force of some 350,000 French soldiers to the shores of England. Now, Napoleon had had has naval troubles with the British before. The French occupation of Egypt was ultimately undone when Nelson smashed the French Fleet off Alexandria. Were this all Nelson did, he would be still be regarded as a famous admiral, but his greatest day was yet to come. In August of 1805, he wrote to his admirals: „Come into the Channel. Bring our united fleet and England is ours.