Departing from Brest on 13 December 1805, it was 12 days before the Admiralty in London were aware of the French movements, by which time the French squadrons were deep in the Atlantic, one under Vice-Admiral Corentin-Urbain Leissègues intending to cruise in the Caribbean and the other, under Contre-Admiral Jean-Baptiste Willaumez, sailing for the South Atlantic. Two British squadrons were hastily mustered and dispatched in pursuit, one under the command of Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Strachan and the other under Rear-Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren. These squadrons were joined by a third under Rear-Admiral Sir John Thomas Duckworth, who had deserted his station off Cadiz when he learned news of a French squadron to his south and subsequently crossed the Atlantic in pursuit of Willaumez. Alth