because his disobedient admiral didn't follow orders, and his Spanish ally took orders from that disobedient admiral ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRtUrvmok-c
Fortunately the French Navy was much better 25 years earlier ... or there would be no Yorktown victory for the US.
A campaign he did win, at his peak strength, the first victory at Ulm being nearly bloodless ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhQe2cjr5XQ
I have a 19th century reproduction bronze commemorative medal, that celebrated the victory at Ulm.
Villeneuve should have been shot for his actions before Trafalgar.
Quote from: Minimalist on June 18, 2019, 12:43:52 AM
Villeneuve should have been shot for his actions before Trafalgar.
Better before than after. I suspect residual aristocratic idiocy in the Napoleonic Navy, that had been guillotined out of the Army.
His ships and crews were in need of repair/rest following a long voyage to the Carribean and back not to mention Cape Finistere on his return. He had no common tactical doctrine with his Spanish "allies" and only sailed when he learned that Napoleon had sent a map maker to replace him. Trafalgar was the result.
Quote from: Minimalist on June 18, 2019, 11:25:22 AM
His ships and crews were in need of repair/rest following a long voyage to the Carribean and back not to mention Cape Finistere on his return. He had no common tactical doctrine with his Spanish "allies" and only sailed when he learned that Napoleon had sent a map maker to replace him. Trafalgar was the result.
Typical EU cluster f**k.
I think you can say fuck here without the asterisks.
Quote from: Minimalist on June 19, 2019, 10:18:53 PM
I think you can say fuck here without the asterisks.
My paramour prefers I use my asterisks ;-)
Well, basically the Spanish expediton by the British in combination with the Russian disaster did Napoleon in.
Gerard
Quote from: Gerard on July 08, 2019, 01:04:27 PM
Well, basically the Spanish expediton by the British in combination with the Russian disaster did Napoleon in.
Gerard
The British army, allied with Portugal, had access to plenty of port ;-) In Russia the French had no access to vodka, nes pas?
No access to vodka - in Russia!? How is that even possible?
Quote from: Unbeliever on July 08, 2019, 03:38:13 PM
No access to vodka - in Russia!? How is that even possible?
You had to kill a Russian to get to the supply!
I guess their vodka is something they'd protect with their lives...
Quote from: Unbeliever on July 08, 2019, 03:51:15 PM
I guess their vodka is something they'd protect with their lives...
That and ice cream. They eat it outside, from a vendor, in the middle of a blizzard, in mid-Winter. Thus ... don't invade Russia!
Is that because vodka is safer to drink than the local water?
Quote from: Cavebear on July 20, 2019, 09:49:22 AM
Is that because vodka is safer to drink than the local water?
Of course. So is wine. Local sanitation is so 20th century. But the Czar had a monopoly on vodka. You were required to drink it regularly, as part of your taxation.
Quote from: Baruch on July 20, 2019, 11:01:41 AM
Of course. So is wine. Local sanitation is so 20th century. But the Czar had a monopoly on vodka. You were required to drink it regularly, as part of your taxation.
Yeah, cholera from the local water pumps in London. But the solution isn't to drink vodka. It is to clean the water supply... You go for avoiding the problem. I go for solving it rationally.
Quote from: Cavebear on July 20, 2019, 11:08:27 AM
Yeah, cholera from the local water pumps in London. But the solution isn't to drink vodka. It is to clean the water supply... You go for avoiding the problem. I go for solving it rationally.
Premature before 1850, but you were the alien who helped the Egyptians build the pyramids.
Quote from: Baruch on July 20, 2019, 11:37:06 AM
Premature before 1850, but you were the alien who helped the Egyptians build the pyramids.
Why do I think you don't really mean that but are just pulling on legs...?
Quote from: Cavebear on July 20, 2019, 01:02:44 PM
Why do I think you don't really mean that but are just pulling on legs...?
Irony is totally lost on you. Your shirts must all be wrinkly. ;-)
Quote from: Baruch on July 20, 2019, 03:28:38 PM
Irony is totally lost on you. Your shirts must all be wrinkly. ;-)
Beware irony and sarcasm when the other person can't see you wink or smile...
Quote from: Cavebear on July 20, 2019, 03:53:29 PM
Beware irony and sarcasm when the other person can't see you wink or smile...
You have to read between the bits and bytes.
Quote from: Baruch on July 20, 2019, 03:56:21 PM
You have to read between the bits and bytes.
I used to know a really good pun about reading between the lions (NYC Library, I'm sure) but some things fade from underuse. Modern life advances. So there are bits of this and a few bites of that, and a whole new pun is bourne...
OK... "What is it called when an IT person gets surgery on their fingers?
Tech knuckle support."
Ooh, bad Cavebear, bad. No deer for you today!
Ouch.
Quote from: Minimalist on August 01, 2019, 11:28:13 AM
Ouch.
Sorry. Do you know the one about the staid lions and the immortal porpoises? Its in my brain somewhere but I would have to nearly recreate it from scratch from bits and pieces.