1805 - Political Events

Political Events

The emperor Napoleon turns the Italian Republic into the Kingdom of Italy and crowns himself with the old iron crown of the Lombard kings May 26 in the cathedral at Milan (see 1802). The new kingdom will survive until 1814. He appoints his stepson Eugène Beauharnais viceroy June 7, but a Third Coalition mobilizes against him: Austria, Russia, and Sweden make alliances with Britain, while Napoleon gains support from Spain, Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden, Hesse, and Nassau.

French troops mass at Boulogne to cross the Channel and invade the British Isles. Two squadrons of French ships are hastily put together under the command of Vice-Admiral Pierre-Charles-Jean-Baptiste-Silvestre de Villeneuve, 42, to escort the landing barges, but the admiral and the minister of marine have no confidence in the ships, the officers, or the untrained crews. Villeneuve sails south rather than enter the Channel, and Viscount Nelson blockades him in the harbor of Cádiz.

Napoleon breaks camp at Boulogne and proceeds by forced marches into Germany. A 6,000-man army under the command of General Pierre Antoine Dupont, 40, obtains the surrender October 17 at the village of Ulm (Haslach) of a 30,000-man Austrian army under Baron Karl Mack von Leiberich, 53.

The Battle of Trafalgar October 21 ends French pretensions as a sea power. Ordered to leave Cádiz and land troops at Naples, Admiral Villeneuve aboard his flagship Bucentaure has slipped out of port October 19 with 18 French and 15 Spanish ships manned largely by untrained conscripts, but a Royal Navy fleet of 27 ships under the command of Viscount Nelson catches the combined French and Spanish fleet 22 miles off Cape Trafalgar (Taraf-al-Ghar in Arabic) on the Spanish coast near Gibraltar. Signal Number 16, hoisted by Nelson just before noon, says, "Engage the enemy more closely." He follows it with a signal to the fleet, saying, "England expects that every man will do his duty." Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood aboard the Royal Sovereign engages the 16 ships at the rear of Villeneuve's line; Nelson's smaller, 12-ship squadron attacks the front and center of the line, breaking through and scattering the enemy ships. The battle continues for 5 hours, with the 7-year-old Royal Navy warship Téméraire using her 98 guns to good effect. Villeneuve is captured; the British take 19 or 20 of his 33 ships as prizes; 7,000 of his men are killed or wounded and 7,000 taken prisoner (British casualties total 449 killed, 1,241 wounded), but although the British do not lose a single ship a French sharpshooter picks off Nelson from his command post on the flagship Victory, mortally wounding the great admiral, who dies at age 47 half an hour before the end of the engagement. Former prime minister William Pitt is hailed as the savior of Europe; "England has saved herself by her exertions," he replies, "and will, I trust, save Europe by her example."

St. Petersburg-born strategist Mikhail (Illarionovich) Kutuzov, 60, commands a Russian corps that defeats Napoleon's forces November 11 in a hard-fought battle at Dürrenstein; he tries to hold back the French advance, but Napoleon caps his victory at Ulm by taking Vienna November 13. Cavalry officer Karl Philipp Schwarzenberg, now 34, saves his troops, wins appointment as vice president of the Supreme Imperial War Council (Hofkriegsrat), and draws up plans for a popular militia to defend the Austrian homeland.

The Battle of Austerlitz in Moravia December 2 gives Napoleon's 75,000-man army a resounding victory over combined Russian and Austrian forces, much to the dismay of William Pitt. About 74,000 of the 90,000 allied forces are Russian. General Kutuzov tries to dissuade the other allied generals and the czar from joining battle, but Aleksandr I insists on going ahead, Kutuzov naps while the battle orders are read, and the czar falls into a trap set by Napoleon. Jean-Baptiste Bessières leads a charge of 9,000 guards against the Russian lines, but General Dmitri Sergeevich Dokhturov, 49, commands the Russian first column that fights its way through the French lines and rescues the allied Austrian-Russian army that had been considered lost. Some 20,000 Russians, 6,000 Austrians, and 9,000 Frenchmen are killed in the bloodbath that will become known as the "Battle of the Three Emperors" (Napoleon, Austria's Franz I, and Russia's Aleksandr I Pavlovich). General Kutuzov is among the wounded, and the French success dissuades Prussia from joining the Third Coalition.

Napoleon issues a proclamation at Schönbrunn in December dethroning the Bourbons in Naples (see 1799). Queen Maria Carolina calls on the British and Russian fleets to support her (but see 1806).

The Treaty of Pressburg (Bratislava) signed in the Hall of Mirrors at the city's Primate's Palace (Primaciainy Palac) December 26 ends hostilities between France and Austria. Franz I cedes Piedmont, Parma, and Piacenza to France; Bavaria is elevated to a kingdom under Mannheim-born Maximilian I Joseph, 49 (who will reign until his death in 1825), and receives the Tyrol, the free city of Augsburg, the free city of Nuremberg, Brandenburg, and other territory but yields Würzburg to the elector of Salzburg, whose city is given to Austria along with Berchtesgaden and the estates of the Teutonic Order; Württemberg and Baden are recognized as kingdoms and given what remain of the western lands of the Hapsburgs.

Egypt gains virtual independence from the Ottoman Turks, whose forces are driven out by Mohammed Ali, 36, a former tobacco merchant from Kavalla who came to Egypt in 1799 as commander of an Albanian contingent, was appointed governor by the Ottoman sultan, has intervened in political intrigues among Turkish officials and the Mamelukes, and is proclaimed pasha by Mameluke supporters. He sets out to modernize the country, luring Europeans to Alexandria in an effort to revive trade, and within a few decades the city will once again be a thriving port and the center of Egypt's cotton industry.

The Laotian king Anouvong (Chao Anou) comes to power as ruler of Vien Chan, beginning a 23-year reign in which he will try to gain independence from Siamese suzerainty (see 1778; 1806).

General Gerard Lake suffers a defeat at Bharatpur early in the year, has to make peace with the Maratha in April, and is removed from his command. The governor general of India Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquis Cornwallis, dies at Ghazipur October 5 at age 66. Forced to surrender at Yorktown in 1781, he served as India's governor general from 1786 to 1793 and as lord-lieutenant of Ireland from 1798 to 1801; he was reappointed to his Indian post last year. Sir George Barlow takes his place as acting governor general and in November revises the Treaty of Surji-Arjungaon that was signed at the end of 1803. In accordance with London's new policy of withdrawal, he withdraws the East India Company's protectorate over Rajasthan, abrogates the defensive treaty with Daulat Rao Sindhia, and restores Gohad and Gwalior to him (but see 1817).

The Michigan Territory is created January 11, separate from the Indiana Territory, with Detroit as its capital (see 1701; statehood, 1837; Illinois Territory, 1809).

The impeachment trial of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase opens in the Senate February 4 with Chase reading aloud the charges that have been brought against him in the House of Representatives and giving his response (see 1800). He declares himself satisfied that the opinion he gave in the trial of John Fries was correct as to the law that it stated, that its correctness should not be subjected to examination in an impeachment trial, and that the lawyers who said he "did, in his judicial capacity, conduct himself in a manner highly arbitrary, oppressive, and unjust" knew that the facts were against them and had tried to "excite odium" against the court in an effort to obtain a presidential pardon for their client. The Senate votes March 1 to acquit, although the votes are narrowly divided on some of the eight articles of impeachment. Justice Chase retains his seat on the high court, but some congressmen propose amending the Constitution to provide for removal of a Supreme Court justice upon a joint address of both houses of Congress to the president.

Seven U.S. marines participate in a harrowing march across the Libyan desert to capture Derna on orders from President Jefferson; a treaty signed June 4 ends hostilities between the United States and Tripoli, whose corsairs (pirates) have preyed on U.S. shipping in the Mediterranean, but the United States is obliged to pay a $60,000 ransom for the release of crewmen from U.S.S. Philadelphia, who have been imprisoned since 1803 (see Decatur, 1804; 1815).

Former British colonial governor Thomas Pownall dies at Bath February 25 at age 72; former Continental Army general Horatio Gates on his Manhattan farm April 10 at age 77. Victorious at Saratoga in 1777, he was blamed for the defeat at Camden 3 years later; former general and (later) South Carolina governor William Moultrie dies at his native Charleston, South Carolina, September 27 at age 74.