And this his second, the Temeraire, actually did.
But, as we have seen by Instruction XXIV.

of 1799, the old rule of 1790 had been altered, and if Nelson intended to execute Hoste's plan of attack he, as 'leading ship,' would or should have engaged the enemy's 'leading ship,' leaving the rest as they could to engage the enemy of 'greatest force.' The only explanation is that, if he really intended to attack the van, he again changed his mind when he fetched up with Villeneuve, and could not resist engaging him.

More probably, however, the signal was wrongly repeated by the Euryalus, and as made by Nelson it was really an intimation to Collingwood that he meant to cover the attack on the rear and centre by a feint on the van.[34] However this may be, the French appear to have regarded Nelson's movement to port as a real attack.

Their best account (which is also perhaps the best account that exists) says that just before coming into gun-shot the two British columns began to separate.

The leading vessels of Nelson's column, it says, passed through the same interval astern of the Bucentaure, and then it tells how 'les vaisseaux de queue de cette colonne, au contraire, serrerent un peu le vent, comme pour s'approcher des vaisseaux de l'avant-garde de la flotte combinee: mais apres avoir recu quelques bordees de ces vaisseaux ils abandonnerent ce dessein et se porterent vers les vaisseaux places entre le Redoutable et la Santa Anna ou vinrent unir leurs efforts a ceux des vaisseaux anglais qui combattaient deja le Bucentaure et la Santisima Trinidad.'[35] This is to some extent confirmed by Dumanoir himself, who commanded the allied van, in his official memorandum addressed to Decres, December 30, 1809.