The Battle of Copenhagen
(1801)
“_I have a right to be blind sometimes._”
NELSON.
Admiral Mahan, the most scientific of biographical historians, assures
us that the fullest and most interesting account of the Battle of
Copenhagen is that of Colonel William Stewart, an eye-witness of the
thrilling scene and “a very fine gallant man” according to Nelson.
The following particulars are therefore extracted from his graphic
narrative:
“The Action began at five minutes past ten. In about half an hour
afterwards, the first half of our Fleet was engaged, and before
half-past eleven, the Battle became general. The _Elephant’s_ station
was in the centre, opposite to the Danish Commodore.... The judgment
with which each Ship calculated her station in that intricate Channel,
was admirable throughout. The failure of the three Ships that were
aground, and whose force was to have been opposed to the Trekroner
battery, left this day, as glorious for seamanship as for courage,
incomplete.... The gallant Riou, perceiving the blank in the original
plan for the attack of the Crown Battery, proceeded down the Line with
his Squadron of Frigates, and attempted, but in vain, to fulfil the
duty of the absent Ships of the Line. His force was unequal to it; and
the general signal of recall, which was made about mid-action by the
Commander-in-Chief, had the good effect of, at least, saving Riou’s
Squadron from destruction.
“About one P.M., few if any of the Enemy’s heavy Ships and Praams had
ceased to fire. The _Isis_ had greatly suffered by the superior weight
of the _Provestein’s_ fire; and if it had not been for the judicious
diversion of it by the _Desirée_, Captain Inman, who raked her, and
for other assistance from the _Polyphemus_, the _Isis_ would have been
destroyed. Both the _Isis_ and _Bellona_ had received serious injury by
the bursting of some of their guns. The _Monarch_ was also suffering
severely under the united fire of the _Holstein_ and _Zealand_; and
only two of our Bomb-vessels could get to their station on the Middle
Ground, and open their mortars on the Arsenal, directing their shells
over both Fleets. Our Squadron of Gun-brigs, impeded by currents,
could not, with the exception of one, although commanded by Captain
Rose in the _Jamaica_, weather the eastern end of the Middle Ground,
or come into Action. The Division of the Commander-in-chief acted
according to the preconcerted plan; but could only menace the entrance
of the Harbour. The _Elephant_ was warmly engaged by the _Dannebrog_,
and by two heavy Praams on her bow and quarter. Signals of distress
were on board the _Bellona_ and _Russell_, and of inability from the
_Agamemnon_. The contest, in general, although from the relaxed state
of the Enemy’s fire, it might not have given much room for apprehension
as to the result, had certainly, at one P.M., not declared itself in
favour of either side. About this juncture, and in this posture of
affairs, the signal was thrown out on board the _London_,[54] for the
Action to cease.
[Illustration: “I really do not see the signal”
Stephen Reid]
“Lord Nelson was at this time, as he had been during the whole Action,
walking the starboard side of the quarter-deck; sometimes much
animated, and at others heroically fine in his observations. A shot
through the mainmast knocked a few splinters about us. He observed to
me, with a smile, ‘It is warm work, and this day may be the last
to any of us at a moment’; and then stopping short at the gangway, he
used an expression never to be erased from my memory, and said with
emotion, ‘but mark you, I would not be elsewhere for thousands.’ When
the signal, No. 39, [to discontinue the engagement], was made, the
Signal Lieutenant reported it to him. He continued his walk, and did
not appear to take notice of it. The Lieutenant meeting his Lordship
at the next turn asked, ‘whether he should repeat it?’ Lord Nelson
answered, ‘No, acknowledge it.’ On the Officer returning to the poop,
his Lordship called after him, ‘Is No. 16 [for close action] still
hoisted?’ the Lieutenant answering in the affirmative, Lord Nelson
said, ‘Mind you keep it so.’ He now walked the deck considerably
agitated, which was always known by his moving the stump of his right
arm. After a turn or two, he said to me, in a quick manner, ‘Do you
know what’s shown on board of the Commander-in-chief, No. 39?’ On
asking him what that meant, he answered, ‘Why, to leave off Action.’
‘Leave off Action!’ he repeated, and then added, with a shrug, ‘Now,
---- me if I do.’ He also observed, I believe, to Captain Foley,
‘You know, Foley, I have only one eye--I have a right to be blind
sometimes’; and then with an archness peculiar to his character,
putting the glass to his blind eye, he exclaimed, ‘I really do not
see the signal.’[55] This remarkable signal was, therefore, only
acknowledged on board the _Elephant_, not repeated. Admiral Graves did
the latter, not being able to distinguish the _Elephant’s_ conduct:
either by a fortunate accident, or intentionally, No. 16 was not
displaced. The Squadron of Frigates obeyed the signal, and hauled
off. That brave Officer, Captain Riou, was killed by a raking shot,
when the _Amazon_ showed her stern to the Trekroner. He was sitting
on a gun, was encouraging his men, and had been wounded in the head
by a splinter. He had expressed himself grieved at being thus obliged
to retreat, and nobly observed, ‘What will Nelson think of us?’ His
Clerk was killed by his side; and by another shot, several of the
Marines, while hauling on the main-brace, shared the same fate. Riou
then exclaimed, ‘Come then, my boys, let us die all together!’ The
words were scarcely uttered, when the fatal shot severed him in two.
Thus, and in an instant, was the British service deprived of one of
its greatest ornaments, and society of a character of singular worth,
resembling the heroes of romance.
“The Action now continued with unabated vigour. About two P.M., the
greater part of the Danish Line had ceased to fire: some of the
lighter Ships were adrift, and the carnage on board of the Enemy,
who reinforced their crews from the Shore, was dreadful. The taking
possession of such Ships as had struck, was, however, attended with
difficulty; partly by reason of the batteries on Amak Island protecting
them, and partly because an irregular fire was made on our Boats, as
they approached, from the Ships themselves. The _Dannebrog_ acted
in this manner, and fired at our boat, although that Ship was not
only on fire and had struck, but the Commodore, Fischer, had removed
his Pendant, and had deserted her. A renewed attack on her by the
_Elephant_ and _Glatton_, for a quarter of an hour, not only completely
silenced and disabled the _Dannebrog_, but, by the use of grape,
nearly killed every man who was in the Praams, ahead and astern of
that unfortunate Ship. On our smoke clearing away, the _Dannebrog_
was found to be drifting in flames before the wind, spreading terror
throughout the Enemy’s Line. The usual lamentable scene then ensued;
and our Boats rowed in every direction, to save the crew, who were
throwing themselves from her at every port-hole; few, however, were
left unwounded in her after our last broadsides, or could be saved.
She drifted to leeward, and about half-past three blew up. The time
of half-past two, brings me to a most important part of Lord Nelson’s
conduct on this day, and about which so much discussion has arisen:
his sending a Flag of Truce on shore. To the best of my recollection,
the facts were as follow. After the _Dannebrog_ was adrift, and had
ceased to fire, the Action was found to be over, along the whole of
the Line astern of us; but not so with the Ships ahead and with the
Crown batteries. Whether from ignorance of the custom of war, or from
confusion on board the Prizes, our Boats were, as before mentioned,
repulsed from the Ships themselves, or fired at from Amak Island. Lord
Nelson naturally lost temper at this, and observed, ‘That he must
either send on shore, and stop this irregular proceeding, or send
in our Fire-ships and burn them.’ He accordingly retired into the
stern gallery, and wrote, with great dispatch, that well-known Letter
addressed to the Crown Prince,[56] with the address, ‘To the Brothers
of Englishmen, the brave Danes, &c.’:[57] and this Letter was conveyed
on shore through the contending Fleets by Captain Sir Frederick
Thesiger, who acted as his Lordship’s Aid-de-camp; and found the Prince
near the Sally-port, animating his people in a spirited manner.
“Whether we were actually firing at that time in the _Elephant_ or
not, I am unable to recollect; it could only have been partially, at
such of the farther Ships as had not struck. The three Ships ahead
of us were, however, engaged; and from the superiority of the force
opposed to them, it was by no means improbable that Lord Nelson’s
observing eye pointed out to him the expediency of a prudent conduct.
Whether this suggested to him the policy of a Flag of Truce or not, two
solid reasons were apparent, and were such as to justify the measure:
viz., the necessity of stopping the irregular fire from the Ships which
had surrendered--and the singular opportunity that was thus given, of
sounding the feelings of an Enemy, who had reluctantly entered into
the war, and who must feel the generosity of the first offer of amity
coming from a conquering foe. If there were a third reason for the
conduct of the noble Admiral, and some of his own Officers assert this,
it was unnecessary that it should have been expressed; it was certainly
not avowed, and will for ever remain a matter of conjecture.[58]
While the Boat was absent, the animated fire of the Ships ahead of
us, and the approach of two of the Commander-in-chief’s division,
the _Ramilies_ and _Defence_, caused the remainder of the Enemy’s
Line to the eastward of the Trekroner to strike: that formidable Work
continued its fire, but fortunately at too long a range to do serious
damage to any one except the _Monarch_, whose loss in men, this day,
exceeded that of any Line-of-Battle Ship during the war. From the
uninjured state of this Outwork, which had been manned at the close of
the Action with nearly 1500 men, it was deemed impracticable to carry
into execution the projected plan for storming it; the Boats for this
service had been on the starboard side of each Ship during the Action.
The firing from the Crown Battery and from our leading Ships did not
cease until past three o’clock, when the Danish Adjutant-General,
Lindholm, returning with a Flag of Truce, directed the fire of the
battery to be suspended. The signal for doing the same, on our part,
was then made from our Ship to those engaged. The Action closed after
five hours’ duration, four of which were warmly contested.
“The answer from the Prince Regent was to inquire more minutely into
the purport of the message. I should here observe, that previous to
the Boat’s getting on board, Lord Nelson had taken the opinion of his
valuable friends, Fremantle and Foley, the former of whom had been
sent for from the _Ganges_, as to the practicability of advancing with
the Ships which were least damaged, upon that part of the Danish Line
of Defence yet uninjured. Their opinions were averse from it; and,
on the other hand, decided in favour of removing our Fleet, whilst
the wind yet held fair, from their present intricate Channel. Lord
Nelson was now prepared how to act when Mr Lindholm came on board, and
the following answer was returned to the Crown Prince by Captain Sir
Frederick Thesiger: ‘Lord Nelson’s object in sending the Flag of Truce
was humanity’; etc.[59] His Lordship, having finished this letter,
referred the Adjutant-General to the Commander-in-chief, who was at
anchor at least four miles off, for a conference on the important
points which the latter portion of the message had alluded to; and to
this General Lindholm did not object, but proceeded to the _London_.
Lord Nelson wisely foresaw, that, exclusive of the valuable opportunity
that now offered itself for a renewal of Peace, time would be gained
by this long row out to sea, for our leading Ships, which were much
crippled, to clear the shoals, and whose course was under the immediate
fire of the Trekroner. The Adjutant-General was no sooner gone to the
_London_, and Captain Thesiger despatched on shore than the signal
was made for the _Glatton_, _Elephant_, _Ganges_, _Defiance_, and
_Monarch_, to weigh in succession. The intricacy of the Channel now
showed the great utility of what had been done; the _Monarch_, as
first Ship, immediately hit on a shoal, but was pushed over it by the
_Ganges_ taking her amid-ships. The _Glatton_ went clear, but the
_Defiance_ and _Elephant_ ran aground, leaving the Crown Battery at
a mile distance; and there they remained fixed, the former until ten
o’clock that night, and the latter until night, notwithstanding every
exertion which their fatigued crews could make to relieve them. Had
there been no cessation of hostilities, their situation would certainly
have been perilous; but it should be observed, on the other hand, that
measures would in that case have been adopted, and they were within our
power, for destroying this formidable Work.
“The _Elephant_ being aground, Lord Nelson followed the
Adjutant-General, about four o’clock, to the _London_, where that
negotiation first began, which terminated in an honourable Peace.
He was low in spirits at the surrounding scene of devastation, and
particularly felt for the blowing up of the _Dannebrog_. ‘Well!’ he
exclaimed, ‘I have fought contrary to orders, and I shall perhaps be
hanged: never mind, let them.’ Lindholm returned to Copenhagen the same
evening, when it was agreed that all Prizes should be surrendered, and
the suspension of hostilities continue for twenty-four hours; the whole
of the Danish wounded were to be received on shore. Lord Nelson then
repaired on board the _St George_, and the night was actively passed
by the Boats of the Division which had not been engaged, in getting
afloat the Ships that were ashore, and in bringing out the Prizes. The
_Desirée_ frigate, towards the close of the Action, going to the aid of
the _Bellona_, became fast on the same shoal; but neither these Ships,
nor the _Russell_, were in any danger from the Enemy’s batteries, as
the world has frequently since been led to suppose.”
In sending a copy of Nelson’s Report to the Admiralty, Sir Hyde Parker
paid a worthy tribute to the conduct of his second-in-command and of
his “entire acquiescence and testimony of the bravery and intrepidity
with which the Action was supported throughout the Line. Was it
possible,” he continues, “for me to add anything to the well-earned
renown of Lord Nelson, it would be by asserting, that his exertions,
great as they have heretofore been, never were carried to a higher
pitch of zeal for his Country’s service.
“I have only to lament that the sort of attack, confined within an
intricate and narrow passage, excluded the Ships particularly under my
command from the opportunity of exhibiting their valour; but I can with
great truth assert, that the same spirit and zeal animated the whole of
the Fleet; and I trust that the contest in which we were engaged, will
on some future day afford them an occasion of showing that the whole
were inspired with the same spirit, had the field been sufficiently
extensive to have brought it into action.”
Sentiments so ably expressed are delightful reading. Nelson, if less
dignified in his language, never failed to show his warm appreciation
of those who worked under him. Caring little for literary form, he
invariably blurted out the naked truth. His despatches were marked
by the same forcible characteristics exhibited in his conduct when
engaging the enemy. “The spirit and zeal of the Navy,” he tells a
correspondent who had congratulated him on the victory, “I never saw
higher than in this Fleet, and if England is true to herself, she may
bid defiance to Europe. The French have always, in ridicule, called us
a Nation of shopkeepers--_so_, I hope, we shall always remain, and,
like other shopkeepers, if our goods are better than those of any other
Country, and we can afford to sell them cheaper, we must depend on our
shop being well resorted to.”
An armistice for a term of fourteen weeks was agreed upon on the 9th
April 1801. This period would allow Nelson to settle with the Russian
fleet and return to Copenhagen, as he himself bluntly admitted during
the negotiations. Unused to such “straight talk” in diplomatic
overtures, one of the Danish Commissioners began to speak of a renewal
of hostilities. It merely added fuel to Nelson’s fire, and drew from
him the comment, made to one of his friends who was standing near,
“Renew hostilities! Tell him we are ready at a moment; ready to bombard
this very night.” The remark was quite sufficient to silence the man
who talked thus lightly of war.
An opportunity to teach the Russians a lesson did not come in Nelson’s
way. Scarcely more than a week passed from the time the signatures
had dried on the parchment when to Parker was sent news of the murder
of Paul I. With the death of the monarch Russian policy underwent a
complete change so far as Great Britain was concerned. The castles in
the air for the overthrow of the British rule in India, which the Czar
and Napoleon had hoped to place on solid foundations, melted away as
mist before the sun. Paul’s successor, Alexander I., knowing full well
the enormous importance of the British market for Russian goods, lost
no time in coming to terms with England. Shortly afterwards Sweden,
Denmark, and Prussia followed his example. The much-boasted Maritime
Confederacy was quietly relegated to the limbo of defeated schemes for
the downfall of the great Sea Power.
Meanwhile Sir Hyde Parker had been recalled from the Baltic, and had
placed his command in the hands of Nelson on the 5th May. The latter
proceeded from Kiöge Bay, his station since the birth of amicable
arrangements with the Danes, to Revel, where he hoped to meet the
Russian squadron he had been so anxious to annihilate before the battle
of Copenhagen.
“My object was to get to Revel before the frost broke up at Cronstadt,
that the twelve Sail of the Line might be destroyed,” he writes to
Addington, Pitt’s successor as Prime Minister, on the 5th May. “I shall
now go there as a friend, but the two Fleets shall not form a junction,
if not already accomplished, unless my orders permit it.” “My little
trip into the Gulf of Finland,” he tells Lord St Vincent, “will be, I
trust, of National benefit, and I shall be kind or otherwise, as I find
the folks.” Revel harbour was bare when he entered it, the squadron
having sailed for Cronstadt a few days before. However, on the 17th
May, he was able to inform Vansittart, “I left Revel this morning
where everybody has been kind to us.” He eventually returned to Kiöge
Bay, where he remained until he was relieved at his own request owing
to ill-health. “I have been even at _Death’s_ door, apparently in a
consumption,” he tells Ball, probably with a touch of exaggeration.
On the 19th June he set sail in a brig for home, arriving at Yarmouth
on the first day of the following month. His last act before he
quitted the fleet was to congratulate the men on the work they had
accomplished; his first act when he stepped on shore was to visit the
hospitals to which the wounded had been conveyed after the battle of
Copenhagen. As for his own reward, the King had seen fit to create him
Viscount Nelson of the Nile and Burnham Thorpe.
“_Let us think of them that sleep
Full many a fathom deep
By thy wild and stormy deep
Elsinore!_”