British Army during the Napoleonic Wars led to the Battle of Trafalgar, a French fleet carrying 6,500 troops briefly captured Dominica and other islands but subsequently withdrew. In 1808, once the British were allied to Portugal and Spain, they were able to concentrate their forces and capture the French possessions one by one; Cayenne and Martinique in 1809, and Guadeloupe in 1810. Haiti was left to the insurgent armies. In 1805 news arrived in London that Napoleon had broken up his invasion camp at Boulogne, and was marching across Germany. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom William Pitt immediately equipped an army of 15,000 men,
Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands Despite the failure of the Japanese ground offensive and the loss of "Yura", the rest of the Combined Fleet continued to maneuver near the southern Solomon Islands on 25 October with the hope of encountering Allied naval forces in battle. The Japanese naval forces now comprised four carriers, because had suffered an accidental, damaging fire in her engine room on 22 October that forced her to return to Truk for repairs. The Japanese naval forces were divided into three groups: The "Advanced" force consisted of the carrier , plus two battleships, four heavy cruisers, one light cruiser, and 10 destroyers,