Vicar's letter

There were perhaps three main factors that accounted for this overwhelming victory. First, there was the morale and training of the British sailors. They knew that Napoleon had had an invasion force at Boulogne and if the French could control the English Channel, an invasion would happen. They were defending their country. They were well trained; the British could generally fire 3 broadsides for every one from the enemy. Secondly, the British tactics were to let each captain decide for himself what to do without waiting for orders, initiative was encouraged; the French and Spanish fleets had to wait for orders from the Admiral. British captains were both accomplished seamen as well as trained fighters. The French and Spanish fleet had officers trained only in fighting while others worked the ships. Thirdly, there was the leadership of Nelson. He was a courageous and inspiring figure; always ready to lead from the front, to take risks, to encourage and affirm his captains and all who served under him. He put himself out to ensure his sailors had the food and supplies he believed they needed. He was a firm and fair officer.

It is right we still honour this great victory which defended our country through great heroism and imaginative daring tactics. At the same time there is a sense in which we are rightly shocked by the violence it all involved. The overarching British strategy was to kill and wound as many of the enemy as possible. Where possible, and it often was, a British ship would slowly pass the stern of an enemy ship sending cannon ball after cannon ball down the whole length of their gun decks causing great destruction and havoc.

What we often find more difficult to reconcile is this terrible strategy of death and destruction combined with the profound sense of dependence on the providence of God for everything especially the outcome of battle both as far as the survival of individual persons is concerned as well as the overall victory. The prayers, the expressions of trust in and thankfulness to God, shown by Nelson, by his 2^nd in command, Admiral Collingwood, in his report of the battle as well as in letters home by many participants, are, I find, immensely moving.

Remembering Trafalgar, as all our remembering is both a remembering of the courage, heroism and cost of war, remembering the freedoms for which wars have been fought so that we both use and defend our freedom’s well and also commit ourselves to doing all we can to avoid future wars which above all, requires collaboration between nations which far too often eludes us.

The two greatest enemies we face today are from terrorists and from those who would acquire and use nuclear weapons. How these are countered is a terrible responsibility of governments and their security agencies. How to do this without unnecessarily restricting our traditional liberties is a great challenge. I hope that difficult as it is, our nation may engaged in reasoned discussion about these matters. It is extremely hard as there are good reasons for not disclosing too much about both threats and defences; it is hard to know how much to trust, given poor track records and inevitable uncertainty and so the need for educated estimations.

I hope that church people may take the lead in working away at these issues at the depth they require and as they do so, to constantly seek God’s grace and guidance. May God guide us all in both our remembering and in our working away at these important issues.

Christopher Morgan - Jones

Go to Next Page

Go to Previous Page

Go to Index Page

Go to Home Page