Editing Battle of Trafalgar (section)

===Cádiz===
Having lured the British to the West Indies, Villeneuve returned from the Caribbean to [[Europe]], intending to break the blockade at Brest.{{sfnp|Best|2005|p=121}}  Nelson, still in fear for Egypt, made to return to the Mediterranean. The fast sailing corvette taking word of his plans back to the admiralty spotted the French heading further north. On receiving this intelligence [[Lord Barham]] immediately ordered Admiral Cornwallis to combine his squadron with that of Vice Admiral [[Robert Calder|Calder]] off Ferrol and to stretch out thirty to forty leagues into the Atlantic to block the French from entering the Channel.{{Sfnp|Hannah|2021|page=186}}

Calder intercepted the French resulting in an inconclusive engagement during the [[Battle of Cape Finisterre (1805)|Battle of Cape Finisterre]] in which two of the Spanish ships were captured. Villeneuve abandoned his plan and sailed back to [[Ferrol, Galicia|Ferrol]] in northern Spain.{{sfnp|Best|2005|p=137}} There he received orders from Napoleon to return to Brest according to the main plan.{{sfnp|Best|2005|p=141}}

Napoleon's invasion plans for Britain depended on having a sufficiently large number of ships of the line protecting his port of [[Boulogne]] on the English Channel. This would require Villeneuve's force of 33&nbsp;ships to join Vice-Admiral [[Honoré Joseph Antoine Ganteaume|Ganteaume]]'s force of 21&nbsp;ships at Brest, along with a squadron of five ships under Captain Allemand, which would have given him a combined force of 59&nbsp;ships of the line.

When Villeneuve set sail from Ferrol on 10&nbsp;August, he was under orders from Napoleon to sail northward toward Brest. Instead, he worried that the British were observing his manoeuvres, so on 11 August, he sailed southward towards Cádiz on the southwestern coast of Spain.{{sfnp|Best|2005|p=142}} With no sign of Villeneuve's fleet, on 25&nbsp;August, the three French army corps' invasion force near Boulogne broke camp and marched into Germany, where it was later engaged. This ended the immediate threat of invasion.{{sfnp|Stilwell|2005|p=32}}{{sfnp|Best|2005|p=157}}

The same month, Admiral Lord Nelson returned home to Britain after two years of duty at sea.{{sfnp|Best|2005|p=145}} He remained ashore for 25&nbsp;days and was warmly received by his countrymen.{{sfnp|Best|2005|pp=161–162}} Word reached Britain on 2&nbsp;September about the combined French and Spanish fleet in Cádiz harbour.{{sfnp|Lee|2005|p=268}} Nelson had to wait until 15&nbsp;September before his ship, {{HMS|Victory}}, was ready to sail.{{sfnp|Lee|2005|p=273}}

On 15&nbsp;August, Cornwallis decided to detach 20&nbsp;ships of the line from the fleet guarding the English Channel to sail southward to engage the French and Spanish forces in Spain,{{sfnp|Lee|2005|p=283}} leaving the Channel with only 11&nbsp;ships of the line.{{sfnp|Lee|2005|pp=283–284}} The detached force formed the nucleus of the British fleet at Trafalgar. This fleet, under the command of Vice-Admiral Calder, reached Cádiz on 15 September. Nelson joined the fleet on 28 September to take command.{{sfnp|Best|2005|p=170}}

Hoping to lure the combined Franco-Spanish force out from Cádiz harbor and engage it in a decisive battle, Nelson kept his main force out of sight approximately {{convert|50|mi|km}} offshore{{sfnp|Lee|2005|p=288}} and sent a squadron of [[frigate]]s (faster, but too small for the line of battle) to keep watch on the harbour.{{sfnp|Lee|2005|p=288}} This was led by Captain [[Henry Blackwood|Blackwood]] aboard {{HMS|Euryalus|1803|6}}, with five frigates, a [[schooner]], and a [[brig]].{{sfnp|Best|2005|p=190}}