Nelson, who had received letters on Christmas Day giving him permission to go home, reconnoitred Toulon, and moved on to Maddalena where he received the long-awaited signal that Villeneuve had put to sea. He did not learn for a month that the sortie had proved abortive as the French fleet, damaged by storm, had limped back into Toulon, while his own ships were prevented by the weather from advancing to block the Straits.