The Spaniard, wearing a red shirt and turban, looks towards Nelson whose blood-stained sword is poised ready to stab him. A further Spaniard tries to spear Nelson with a boarding pike, which is being deflected by Sykes. He stands behind Nelson with his cutlass drawn back, about to deflect the blow of the Spanish swordsman who is aiming to split Nelson's skull. This attacker is also about to be shot by Captain Fremantle, who has a pistol raised high, from his position just to the right of Sykes. The British boat is lower in the water than the crowded enemy launch, emphasising the disparity of forces, while Nelson, Sykes and Fremantle form a unified, shoulder-to-shoulder group of brothers in arms.

Westall has employed a language of dramatic gesture and expression to emphasise the mayhem of combat, producing a staged result to heighten the overall impact. The synchronisation of arm gestures also highlights the theatricality of the image and the neat, uniformed, co-ordinated appearance of the British trio contrasts with the unkempt appearance and wilder action of the Spanish enemy, adding to the sense of staged unreality.