CHAPTER VII. COPENHAGEN. 1801. The Northern Confederacy.—Sailing of the Expedition.-Arrival at the Scaw. Doubts and Delays.-Passage of the Sound.-Nelson's Passage of the Inner Channel.-The Attack.-The Letter of Truce.The Armistice and Submission of Denmark. FROM the end of the year 1800 only one active ally remained to aid England in her contest with France; every power but the Porte had submitted to the enemy, or withdrawn of its own accord from active measures. Unable, therefore, to effect much on land, save in Egypt, England swept the seas with her fleets, crushed the commercial traffic of France, and forced the French to depend on chance for their supplies. Such a kind of war, of necessity placed the greatest part of the carrying trade of the world in the hands of neutrals, and many an attempt was made to carry the protection of neutral flags to the extent of protecting French goods, and even warlike stores from British capture. From our determination to prevent this conduct, arose the great Northern confederation of the maritime powers of Russia, Sweden, and Denmark. Paul, the Emperor of Russia, the head of the confederacy, had long been estranged from us and our Austrian allies. Afflicted with madness, he had all the slyness incident to the disease, coupled with a love of flattery that laid him open to the machinations of others, and of revenge that blinded him to all consequences. Disgusted at the termination of Suwarrow's campaign in Italy and Switzerland, flattered by the return of the Russian prisoners by Napoleon, and hurt at the neglect of the interests of his troops exhibited by us in the ill-fated expedition to 88 LIFE OF HORATIO, VISCOUNT NELSON. Holland, Paul gladly seized on the question of neutral rights to raise a coalition against his former allies. To Sweden and Denmark the question was of paramount importance, as they were the great neutral maritime powers, and were willing to risk much to compel us to acknow ledge that "free ships make free goods, and that the flag covers the merchandise." For a time no overt act was committed, even by Russia, but when Malta surrendered to our arms, and Paul's claim, as grand master of the order, was neglected, and an English fleet appeared in the Baltic, the emperor seized our ships, and imprisoned our men and merchants in the face of a treaty that allowed them one year to return home in the event of war. This was in November 1800, and Denmark and Sweden soon joined the confederacy, and every preparation was made to send to sea the united fleets of the North, capable of numbering nearly forty sail of the line. In this crisis the English ministry determined to anticipate the coalition, and strike a blow before the allies were fully prepared, without waiting for any formal declaration. Early in 1801 a vast fleet was collecting, to which Sir Hyde Parker was unfortunately appointed chief, and Nelson only second in command. Before mid-day, on the 27th of February, Nelson arrived at Portsmouth, and immediate orders for the embarkation of the troops were issued. "Not a moment," said Nelson, was to be lost in embarking the troops, for he intended to sail next tide." Within two hours the work was completed, and shortly after Nelson hurried on board the St. George, at Spithead, and set sail for St. Helens in such haste that he carried with him the carpenters and painters who were putting the cabins in order, under a promise of sending them back on the following morning. By daylight on the next day the fleet sailed. During the voyage Nelson's activity betrayed itself in a dangerous interference with the sailing master's duty. When off Dungeness the wind felt short, and the ship was to be put about. Nelson would give the orders, and the consequence was that the St. George missed stays. "Well, now," said he rather peevishly, to the master of the watch, "see what we have done. Well, sir, what do you mean to do now." "I don't exactly know, my lord," replied the master,, "but I fear she wont do." "Well, well," replied the admiral, turning towards his cabin door, "if you don't know what to do with her, no more do I, so work the ship as you like." In the Downs Nelson stayed merely a few hours, and then made for Yarmouth, and anchored in the roads on the 6th of March. Sir Hyde Parker was on shore, and apparently little eager for the North Sea at that time of year; but Nelson hated delay, and clearly foresaw that immediate action was absolutely necessary. Up and breakfasting by six every morning, he was on shore at Sir Hyde's by eight o'clock, and then grumbling at transacting business at so late an hour. Few men knew the value of time better than Nelson. "Time, time," he once said to Colonel Twiss, the commandant of engineers, "time is everything. Five minutes makes all the difference between a victory and a defeat.” In this case, indeed, time was of the essence of victory; an immediate dispatch of such of the fleet as was then ready, would have anticipated the defences of the Danes, hardly as yet thought of, and if not paralysed the Northern confederacy, would have given quite time enough for the other ships to join before the union of the Swedish and Russian squadrons could take place. Impressed with the benefit and necessity of such a plan, and in no way entrusted with the full designs of the government, Nelson fretted and fidgetted himself and his commander until the wished-for order to sail arrived, and on the 12th the vast fleet of forty pendants, of which sixteen flew on line-of-battle ships, sailed from the roads of Yarmouth. The progress of the fleet was impeded by wild weather, and time was lost off the Naze point in waiting for some of the scattered ships of the squadron. On the 19th Scaw point, at the entrance of the Cattegat, was reached, and then, though a fair wind blew for passing down the strait, another delay took place. Mr. Vansittart started in a frigate for Copenhagen, and the fleet anchored for twentyfour hours. The delay was fatal to the terms proposed by England, and on the 24th the envoy returned and found the fleet at anchor off the point of Elsineur. "All I have gathered of our first plans," wrote Nelson, "I disapprove most exceedingly. Honour may arise from them, but good cannot. I hear we are likely to anchor off Cronenburg Castle, instead of Copenhagen, which would give weight to our negotiation. A Danish minister would think twice before he would put his name to war with England, when the next moment he would see his master's fleet in flames, and capital in ruins. But out of sight, out of mind, is an old saying. The Dane should see our flag every moment he lifted his head. Sir H. is on board sulky. Stewart tells me his treatment of me is now noticed. Dickson came on board to-day to say all were scandalized at his gross neglect. I declare solemnly that I do not know I am going to the Baltic, and much worse than that I could tell you. Entre nous; there is an appearance of a desire to sacrifice; for he has given me support in the order of battle. Burn this letter, then it can never appear, and you can speak as if your knowledge came from another quarter. We are as slow in our motions as ever; but I hope all for the best." Until the 21st Nelson knew of Sir Hyde's instructions but by report alone. On that day the news of the Danish feeling, and of their state or preparation reached the admiral, and now that danger was at hand, Nelson was summoned to Sir Hyde, and on the morrow, the hero of the Nile, acting on his old principle, that the boldest measures are the safest, delivered his deliberate opinion to his commander in the following letter: "The conversation we had yesterday has naturally, from its importance, been the subject of my thoughts, and the more I have reflected the more I am confirmed in opinion, that not a moment should be lost in attacking the enemy; they will every day and hour be stronger; we never shall be so good a match for them as at this moment. The only consideration in my mind is, how to get at them with the least risk to our ships. By Mr. Vansittart's account, the Danes have taken every means in their power to prevent our getting to attack Copenhagen by the passage of the Sound. Cronenburg has been strengthened, the Crown Islands fortified, in the outermost of which are twenty guns, pointing mostly downwards, and only eight hundred yards from very formidable batteries, placed under the citadel, supported by five sail of the line, seven floating |