Note 89 — Front matter (continued 4)

The capture of Admiral Villeneuve's frigate the Didon, sent out on a mission of the highest importance, by the British frigate Phœnix, prevented Villeneuve's junction with another French fleet cruising in the Bay of Biscay. Hearing nothing of his colleague, Villeneuve, after leaving Ferrol, became nervous and turned south, instead of pushing on across the Bay for Brest as Napoleon expected him to do.