Gastone Breccia
Giulio Einaudi, Turin, 2024
pp. XIII+321
A book entirely dedicated to the naval battle of Trafalgar may seem superfluous today, considering the endless literature that exists on the subject, but the author has been able to offer the reader a text of great interest and depth, richly and analytically documented, which combines the account of the different phases of the battle with personal reflections, connections and insights of different nature. For example, one of the beliefs expressed by Gastone Breccia is inherent to the purpose of the battle, the understanding that pushed Nelson to seek this clash: not to save Great Britain from an (im)possible invasion of France, but rather to achieve that dominion over the seas that it will last so long: “Trafalgar marked the beginning of British dominance of the world's seas, essentially unchallenged for over a century” (p.251).
The work of Gastone Breccia (teacher of Byzantine history and Military History at the University of Pavia, expert in military theory, guerrilla warfare and counter-guerrilla warfare, careful observer of contemporary military history, author of numerous works) opens with a revisitation of the life of Horatio Nelson, focusing on his first seafaring experiences and, above all, on his learning that arose from such experiences and that would have built, over time, that Nelson touch which many have spoken and written about.
From the first pages, the text is counterpointed by maps and charts which faithfully reproduce the deployments of the vessels engaged in the various battles, as well as the reproduction of the first page of the Trafalgar Memorandum kept in London at the British Library. But, continuing with a note on structure of the text, the richness of the apparatus of the texts must be underlined Footnotes (which take up about thirty pages), followed by Catalog of ships (each ship is coded by year, rank, crew, guns and losses, and who was in command is indicated) and some Appendices including Minimum glossary of seafaring terms. To have an example of the precision with which this book was composed, you can consult, on page 78, the table 2.1. by title The monthly pay of officers, petty officers and sailors, expressed in pounds (£), shillings (s) and pence (d) in which the salaries are declined, from the Admiral to the simple sailor.
It is certainly very interesting to read the story of the different phases of the battle with the key of leadership styles and, most importantly, observing Nelson's leadership style. In this sense, some points emerge that constitute Nelson's command style: (1) the orientation to leave great initiative to the captains during the battle, but only after having established and also precisely shared the global framework of the maneuvers and the overall strategy of the 'attack; (2) setting an example for one's fighters to the point of extreme risk, that is, showing oneself fearless on the command bridge with one's uniform evidently adorned with decorations that made him easily visible and recognizable in the eyes of the enemy - to the point that a shooter shot him to death: “Nelson dies while the battle gradually dies down and his legend begins” (p. XI).
A careful observer of spaces and skilled in exploiting not only the timing of the different phases of the fight but also the fleeting moments of weakness of the opponent, Nelson emerges as a strategist who loves the unexpected and knows how to exploit it to his advantage, especially in the search for the close range combat: “Nelson knew well how useless it is, in war, to develop too detailed plans, because they always end up being upset by unpredictable elements, and it is therefore better to have only a general outline of the action” (p. 64). Able to adapt the basic principles of warfare to specific circumstances, Nelson also employed experienced sailors who had repeatedly practiced basic maneuvers and were, therefore, quick and effective when an order was given.
The different phases of the battle are integrated by the report and analysis that Breccia carries out both of the phases preceding the actual battle and those - very interesting and probably little frequented - of what happened after the end of the battle, when a terrible storm began to rage which devastated men and ships: it must, in fact, be considered that we are talking about extremely complex war machines just like the vessels were at that time: “those who went on board for the first time were amazed by the size of the hull, the dizzying height of the masts, and above all the incredibly extensive and intricate network of standing and running rigging necessary to support them and maneuver the spars and sails” (p.93).
Gastone Breccia took care of the volume of around eight hundred pages The art of war. From Sun Tzu to Clausewitz, published by Einaudi in 2009, while to find out more about this important work on the battle of Trafalgar, and follow a multi-voiced debate on the text, we recommend viewing the presentation/discussion of the book at the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlOCjXkKZVQ
Andrea Castiello d'Antonio
