At Cádiz the combined French and Spanish fleets were kept under blockade by Nelson. In September, Villeneuve was ordered to sail for Naples and attack British shipping in the Mediterranean, but he was initially unwilling to move.

However, in mid-October he learned that Napoleon was about to replace him as commanding officer and order him to Paris to account for his actions (Napoleon had written to the Minister of Marine, "Villeneuve does not possess the strength of character to command a frigate. He lacks determination and has no moral courage"). Before his replacement could arrive, Villeneuve gave the order to sail on 18 October.

Inexperienced crews and the difficulties of getting out of Cádiz meant that it took two days to get all 34 ships out of port and in some kind of order. On 21 October 1805 Villeneuve learned of the size of the British fleet, and turned back to Cádiz, but the combined fleets were intercepted by Nelson off Cape Trafalgar. Nelson, though outnumbered, won the Battle of Trafalgar, and Villeneuve's flagship Bucentaure was captured along with many other French and Spanish ships.

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Aftermath of Trafalgar and death

Villeneuve was sent to England, but released on parole. He lived in Sonning and returned to France in 1806. On 22 April he was found dead at the Hotel de Patrie in Rennes, with six stab wounds in the chest. Despite the strong likelihood that he was murdered by agents of Napoleon, a verdict of suicide was recorded. He was buried without ceremony.

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Legacy

Historians have not been kind to Villeneuve. According to the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, "His decision to leave Cádiz and give battle in October 1805, which led directly to the Battle of Trafalgar, cannot be justified even on his own principles. He foresaw defeat to be inevitable, and yet he went out solely because he learnt from the Minister of Marine that another officer had been sent to supersede him... It was provoked in a spasm of wounded vanity."

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