Pierre-Charles Villeneuve's profile begins with Bucentaure, his 86-gun second-rate flagship and the namesake of her class. The two pictures of the ship are presented as renditions and treated cautiously. Villeneuve's war record ran from Fort Royal through the Battle of the Nile, the siege of Malta, Cape Finisterre, and Trafalgar. He escaped the Nile after recognizing that the battle was going badly, while the Combined Fleet lost two ships at Cape Finisterre. Napoleon repeatedly selected him partly because he seemed lucky, despite serious doubts about his reliability. Apparent good fortune could become a command qualification when Napoleon needed an admiral for an exceptionally difficult campaign and had few convincing alternatives.
Chapter · 6:51-8:34
Villeneuve's record and Napoleon's faith in luck
Villeneuve's uneven war record explains both Napoleon's recurring reliance on him and the anxiety he inspired as commander of the Combined Fleet.