The Napoleonic era was the golden age of fighting sail. The largest ships in the British Royal Navy could each fire more pounds of metal in one discharge of their guns than could all of the Duke of Wellington's artillery at Waterloo!
After leaving port, ships were remarkably self-sufficient. They carried food for four months and ammunition for years. Their crews could repair almost any damage. Their commanders often operated out of communication for weeks at a time. They had opportunities for initiative and adventure that no longer exist.
On land Napoleon had many enemies; at sea only one mattered -- Great Britain. The naval struggle between England and France had been ongoing for many years before the French Revolution and it continued with only brief interruptions until 1815. Remarkably, the British Royal Navy won every major sea battle and nearly all of the smaller engagements. Why?
In a recent study, Lt. Colonel Gregory Pfeiffer offered four reasons for Britain's naval dominance:
1) Technical competence.
Learning to run a sailing ship was far more complex than becoming an officer of a land-based military unit such as an infantry battalion. Use of a sextant to determine a ship's position and understanding the myriad factors of wind, ocean currents, etc., took years to master. France had numerous competent naval officers at the start of the Revolution, but since many of them were aristocrats or assumed to be royalist sympathizers, thousands were forced to flee or lose their lives. In just a few years, France's navy was stripped of its capable officers and it never recovered.
2) Strategic and tactical superiority.
With experienced officers and well trained crews, ships can maneuver better and fight better. The British blockade of France's major ports prevented French warships from sailing often enough to enable the officers and crews to get the experience needed to contest Britain's control of the seas. This led to the French strategy of avoiding battles and firing at British ships' sails and rigging to slow a pursuit. The British, by contrast, sought to fight and capture vessels.
3) Superior leadership.
In addition to Admiral Nelson, Britain had other good naval officers who knew how to outfight their opponents and did so. The more battles they fought and won, the better the British became at continuing to do so.
4) More aggressive attitude.
Winners develop positive, winning attitudes. French officers and crews fought bravely, but not with the same confidence as that which developed and grew in the Royal Navy.
Ironically, even during this period of Britain's naval supremacy, French ship design was considered the best in the world, and captured French ships were much-sought prizes to convert into Royal Navy vessels. However, without qualified officers and crews, great French ship designs were wasted.
The naval war was not a mere sideshow to the land war. Nelson's victory at the battle of the Nile doomed General Bonaparte's expedition of Egypt and his victory at the Battle of Trafalgar virtually destroyed French naval power. The Royal Navy's dominance of the sea enabled it to keep Wellington's army and its Portuguese and Spanish allies in the Peninsula supplied. Napoleon's inability to cross the English Channel and invade Britain led him to create the Continental System to deny Britain trade with the continent. This in turn resulted in the invasion of Russia in 1812, and the disaster there, although it could not have been foreseen, was Napoleon's first major setback of huge proportions. It is no exaggeration to credit Britain's successful naval war against France as one of the most critical elements in the decline and fall of Napoleon's empire.
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