Nelson, who had been the victor in his lawsuit with Earl St. Vincent about prize money, had suffered a severe blow when, the previous winter as a result of a precedent established on that occasion, 10,000 from captured Spanish frigates went not to him but to Sir John Orde, newly appointed Commander in Chief of the Cadiz station, on the grounds that Nelson was absent and returning home. His anticipated return to England had in fact been cancelled. When in April 1805 Nelson learned that the French fleet had slipped through the straits of Gibralter, he was becalmed and unable to pursue it until May.