On the 18th of May, 1804, Napoleon was invested with the dignity of _Emperor of the French_, and on the 26th of May of the following year he was crowned _King of Italy_ at Milan. Further measures of defence were adopted by Great Britain, and the “_Additional Force Act_” was passed on the 14th of July, 1804, by which a _second battalion_ was added to the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, to be formed of men raised in the county of Chester, for limited service. The regiment embarked at Jersey for England on the 9th of November, and on the 27th of that month arrived at Portsmouth, whence it marched to Winchester, and received a further number of volunteers from the Militia. On the 12th of December the Court of Spain issued a declaration of war against England, in consequence of the capture of some frigates off Cadiz, which had been intercepted while on their way to France with cargoes of treasure,--Spain having agreed to furnish a powerful aid to Napoleon. [Sidenote: 1805] By July, 1805, the second battalion was fully embodied, and in October proceeded from Chester to Winchester, where the first battalion was stationed. While the French were pursuing their victorious career in Germany, they experienced dreadful reverses from the navy of Great Britain. On the 21st of October the combined fleets of France and Spain were completely defeated off Cape _Trafalgar_. The victory was, however, clouded by the death of Admiral Viscount Nelson, to whose memory the highest honors were paid by a grateful and admiring nation. [Sidenote: 1806] On the 9th of January, 1806, the THIRTY-FIRST regiment was present at the funeral of Admiral Viscount Nelson, and formed part of the line between which the procession passed on its way to St. Paul’s Cathedral, in which the Admiral’s remains were interred, and where a monument was erected by order of Parliament. In November of the preceding year a squadron of English and Russian vessels landed some troops at Naples without any opposition from the Neapolitan Court. The French Emperor, on receiving intelligence of this transaction, issued a proclamation that “_the Neapolitan dynasty had ceased to reign_,” and an army, under his brother, Joseph Bonaparte, assisted by Marshal Massena, marched for Naples. On the 15th of February the French entered that capital, and soon obtained possession of the whole kingdom, excepting Gaeta; Ferdinand IV. and his Court having previously retired to Sicily. A decree was shortly issued by Napoleon, conferring the crown of Naples on his brother Joseph, who was proclaimed King on the 30th of May. England being desirous of preserving Sicily from the dominion of France, troops were embarked for that island;--on the 26th of April the _first battalion_ of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment embarked at Tilbury-fort, and landed at Messina on the 26th of July.