Trafalgar was one of several possible campaign battles

The campaign did not have to culminate off Cape Trafalgar. Had Villeneuve pressed toward Brest, Cornwallis rather than Nelson would probably have held senior command in a major Channel battle. Calder's limited action at Cape Finisterre might also have become the decisive clash if he had accepted a melee and pressed his temporary advantages. Earlier still, Nelson might have caught Villeneuve in the Caribbean had he searched north from Barbados toward Antigua. Trafalgar's location and form emerged from successive choices, missed contacts, and command temperaments. Decisive battle appears here as a contingent product of campaigning rather than an inevitable appointment with history.