Horatio Nelson stared out at the enemy fleet from his quarterdeck.

It was a sunny and warm Spanish morning with a very light breeze,

but the weather measurements told Nelson that a storm was coming, just beyond the horizon.

He was confident but nervous.

The plan that he had drawn up was unconventional, to say the least.

Naval battles usually had a predictable cadence.

The two fleets would try to outmaneuver each other to get the wind in their favor, and then inevitably, each fleet would form up into a single great line.

The two forces would line up line to line and would pound each other with their cannons from

some distance until one fleet was beaten into submission. Realizing their defeat, the surviving

ships would sail to safety as quickly as they could, and the victors would pursue his opportunity allowed.

It had a performative aspect to it, almost like a deadly dance.

At the Battle of the Nile, Nelson had disrupted this normal pattern somewhat, but this was something even more daring.

Nelson planned to place his lines, he would split his fleet into two for this battle, perpendicular to the enemy and charged straight at them.

His ship, the HMS victory, would be the tip of the spear, meaning that as they approached the enemy, he would be exposed to the enemy's broadside.

With the wind blowing very lightly, the victory was advancing at no more than a walking pace, just a few miles an hour.

This meant that Nelson and his ship would be under fire for more than 30 minutes before

they could return a shot.

The victory crept along, slowly moving toward the French.

Nelson's confidence in victory was as high as ever, but standing prominently on the quarter

deck, looking at the enemy fleet with hundreds of cannons pointed directly at him,

Nelson began to sense fate, closing in on his own life. As the victory neared the range of the enemy's guns,

Nelson went to say goodbye to one of his captains, Henry Blackwood. Blackwood would take a small boat to the rear of the fleet and command the smaller ships and frigates. Should Nelson fall, Blackwood

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