Editing Battle of Trafalgar (section)

===Pursuit of Villeneuve===
[[File:Nelson's Search in the Mediterranean.png|thumb|upright=1.2|Nelson's search in the Mediterranean]]
Early in 1805, [[Vice Admiral]] Lord Nelson commanded the British fleet blockading the Mediterranean port of [[Toulon]]. Unlike [[William Cornwallis]], who maintained a [[Blockade#Close, distant, and loose blockades|close blockade]] off Brest with the [[Channel Fleet]], Nelson adopted a loose blockade in hope of luring the French out to battle, saying, "to be able to get at the enemy you must let ''them'' come out to ''you'', if ''you'' cannot get at ''them''."<ref>{{cite journal |title=Rear Admiral Bertie |journal=Naval Chronicle |date=1811 |volume=26 |page=23}}</ref>{{sfnp|Lavery|2009|p=171}} However, Villeneuve's fleet successfully evaded Nelson's when the British were blown off station by storms. Nelson commenced a search of the Mediterranean, supposing that the French intended to make for [[Egypt]], but Villeneuve instead took his fleet through the [[Strait of Gibraltar]], rendezvoused with the Spanish fleet in Cádiz, and sailed as planned for the Caribbean. Once Nelson realised that the French were crossing the Atlantic, he set off in pursuit.{{efn|Admirals of the time, due to the slowness of communications, were given considerable autonomy to make [[Naval strategy|strategic]] as well as [[Naval tactics|tactical]] decisions.}}[[File:The Chase to the West Indies.png|thumb|upright=1.2|The Chase to the West Indies]] He missed them by just days in the West Indies as a result of false information.{{Sfnp|Hannah|2021|page=106}}