GAINST the combination of the northern powers, the British ministry had not neglected to provide the means of vigorous resistance. An armament of 54 sail, of which 14 were ships of the line, was collected at Yarmouth. They were manned with the flower of the British army, supported by several regiments of marines and riflemen. Sir Hyde Parker was appointed to the chief command; and under him the victor of the Nile, the heroic Nelson. Admiral Graves also accompanied the expedition; and several corps of marines were placed beneath the orders of lieutenant-colonel Stuart.

The equipment sailed for its des1801. tination on the 11th of March; the Invincible, of 74 guns, being left behind to convey cannon and ammunition for the gun-boats and floating batteries. This vessel commanded by captain Rennie, but having rear-admiral Totty on board, struck on a ridge of sand called the Hippisburg, situated sixteen miles from the town of Winterton, in Norfolk, and foundered in deep water with her captain, great part of her crew, and several passengers. About 400 persons miserably perished, and only 195 were saved. The loss was owing to

the ignorance of a pilot, who became the victim of his own unskilfulness. The destruction of the Invincible did not retard the proceedings of the fleet. It approached the Cattegat, and, after some impediments arising from the weather, prepared to pass the Sound, but not before sir Hyde Parker had endeavored to ascertain the disposition of the Danes, by a letter to the governor of Cronberg castle, which defends that pass, enquiring whether he had received orders to fire upon the British fleet in its passage to the Sound, as the first shot must be deemed a declaration of war on the part of Denmark. M. Stricker, the governor of Cronberg, returned for answer, "As a soldier, I cannot meddle with politics, but I am not at liberty to suffer a fleet, whose intentions are not yet known, to approach the guns of the castle where I have the honor to command.". The British admiral stated in reply, that he considered this answer as a declaration of war; and, on the ensuing day, the wind blowing favorably, the whole fleet entered the Sound. In their passage, they kept as near as possible to the Swedish side, where little impediment was offered, answering the Cronberg cannon with equal spirit; but the shot of neither

party was effectual on account of the distance, and in four hours the British fleet uninjured, came to anchor about six miles from the island of Huin.

At Copenhagen the intelligence that a British fleet, had appeared off the Sound, created great and general alarm. But the inhabitants did not suffer any vain hopes and unfounded expectations to impede their defensive exertions. They adopted every means of self-protection, which their population, their navy, and their batteries could afford. Even the students of the university formed themselves into a corps, amounting to twelve hundred, and the professors and tutors whose years did not allow of similar exertions, contributed by their purses to the reward and encouragement of those fellow-citizens who so gallantly stood forward in the hour of danger.

During the first two days after the British fleet had arrived off Copenhagen, the wind was unfavorable to its progress, but on the third, the Danes observed the English frigates and lighter-vessels, employed in taking soundings, while admiral Parker and lord Nelson divided their force, the latter taking the command of twelve men of war, four frigates, as many sloops and several fire-ships and bombs, while the residue continued with Sir Hyde Parker. The two admirals had ascertain ed the soundings and fixed buoys for their guidance, and having accurately surveyed the defences of the enemy, formed the plan of an attack, to be conducted by lord Nelson, who shifted his flag on board the Elephant, and anchored off Draco Point. He was supported by admiral Graves, and accompanied by colonel Stewart and his marines.

The Danes entrusted their defence to the following force, as enumerated by one of themselves, and the more likely to be correct, as it exceeds the estimate of lord Nelson. Three ships of 74 guns, five of 64, one of 58, two of 50, one of 44, one of 26, a floating battery of 24, four prames and bombs of 20, seven brigs, sloops, and floating batteries of 18, eleven gun-boats, having each two guns, and the battery of

VOL. I.

the three crowns which mounted eight 36 pounders, fifty-six 30 pounders, three mortars, mortars, and two carronades. Of the vessels many appear to have been without masts, but they were not less useful in their assigned position. The vessels in the best condition; two of the seventy-fours, three frigates of 44 guns, and two brigs of 18 guns each, were stationed in the inner roads, and therefore were rendered incapable of assisting in the action. The ships on which the Danes chiefly relied, were judiciously posted in such a manner as to prevent the British fleet from injuring Copenhagen; which was further protected by the citadel, and by batteries in the new dock yard, as well as on the isle of Amack, but none of these were brought into action. It was determined to assail the enemy from the southward; lord Nelson conducting the greater force, while admiral Parker should weigh to menace the crown batterics, and the ships at the entrance of the arsenal, and to cover his coadjutor's disabled ships as they came out of action.

On the ensuing morning, April 2nd, 1801. the wind blowing from the desired point, this plan was put in execution. The ships were under weigh before ten o'clock; admiral Parker bearing up against wind and current to assail the battery, while the hero of Aboukir bore down on the line. M. Fiscker, the Danish commodore, hoisted the flag of defiance on board the Danbrog of 64 guns, and all bis. ships being moored with four anchors, and numerously but indiscriminately manned, were placed with their broad-sides to the approaching foe.

The passage to be cleared by lord Nelson's ships, was, notwithstanding all his measures of precaution, extremely difficult and intricate. The Edgar led the van, her captain, George Murray, exhibiting a noble example of intrepidity, and succeeded in attaining her destined station. But the Bellona and Russel unfortunately grounded, and the Agamemnon unable to weather the shore of the middle ground, was. obliged to anchor beyond cannon-shot. The Polyphemus remained at too great a distance, but this misfortune was amply

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compensated by the favorable position of La Desirée frigate, which raked the enemy's most southerly vessel from stem to stern, without her being able to return a shot, and after she had been previously saluted by the fleet in passing.

The British sailors behaved with their usual valor, the Danes animated by every patriotic feeling fought like men, who, with their own characters, were to establish the safety of their country. They were stimulated by the immediate presence of the heir apparent to the kingdom, called the crown prince, who, from the peep of dawn, had taken his station on a battery, and amidst showers of shells and balls encouraged the proceedings of the combatants. Soon after ten o'clock the Danbrog taking fire, the commodore was obliged to shift his flag to the Holstein another 64, but captain Braun of the Danbrog continued fighting till he lost his right hand, and Lemming, who succeeded him, persevered notwithstanding the flames which surrounded him, till the close of the engagement, immediately after which the vessel blew up. Early in the action captain Thura of the Indfoedfretten, a sixty-four, was slain and all his subalterns, except one lieutenant aud one marine officer, were either killed or wounded. In the state of confusion attending this destruction, the colours were accidentally struck, but as the vessel was moored within reach of a Danish battery no attempt was made to take possession. A boat was dispatched from the ship with the tidings of the commander's death to the prince regent, who turning to those around him said, "Gentlemen, Thura is killed. Which of you will take the command?"-" I will," replied Mr. Schroedersee, in a feeble voice, and repaired instantly on board. This gentleman had been a captain in the navy, but on account of extreme indisposition had lately resigned. The hour of emergency seemed to invigorate his wasted form, and in the hope of serving his country, he forgot his personal infirmities. The crew perceiving new commander coming along side, hoisted their colors, and fired a broadside When he came on deck he found great

numbers killed and wounded, and therefore instantly called to those in the boat, to get quickly on board. It was his last effort, a ball struck him, and he fell lifeless on the deck. Nissen, a lieutenant of the navy, next assumed the command, and continued to fight the ship during the remainder of the day. The eleven gun-boats had retired from the moment the British fleet bore down.

It appears to have been the intention of lord Nelson, that when the ships of the Danish line, which were first attacked, should have been subdued, the British vessels which had opposed them should cut their cables, and sail to a station a-head of the line; but as part of this plan depended on the Agamemnon, which could not clear the middle ground, the Monarch and the Defiance sustained great loss from the fire of the batteries, and the two outer ships in the mouth of the harbor, and the same disaster attended six frigates and sloops, employed under captain Riou to support the attack on the battery and on those vessels. Riou himself was killed. The bomb-vessels took the station assigned to them, and threw some shells into the arsenal, but the gun-brigs notwithstanding the judicious and vigilant exertions of captain Rose, to whose command they were entrusted, could not, during the action, render the expected service, owing to the current. The boats however, of the ships which were not employed in the attack, were powerfully effective.

When the engagement had continued nearly four hours, the fire on both sides was considerably abated; the Danish vessels were reduced to a miserable condition; the commodore had again shifted his flag from the Holstein to the crown battery, which kept up a destructive fire on the ships within its reach, and against which the vessels under sir Hyde Parker were prevented from acting by the current. The Danes overpowered on all sides except that of the battery, confined their efforts to the preservation of two or three of the crippled ships, esteeming them rather as trophies of their honorable perseverance, than as objects of intrinsic value, while the residue remained in the power of the victors

When the first resisting force opposed to him was subdued, the generous conqueror, reflecting on the extensive calamity which must attend his next operation, retired to his cabin, and in brief, but expressive terms, announced that his instructions were to spare Denmark when no longer resisting; but, if the fire on her part was longer continued, he must be obliged to burn the floating batteries he had taken, without the possibility of saving the brave men who had defended them. This note, addressed" to the brother's of Englishmen, the Danes," was sent in an English boat with a flag of truce, along side the pricipal Danish vessel, whence it was forwarded by an officer of that country to the crown prince. The Danish battery kept up a heavy and incessant firing while this friendly message was unanswered, and lord Nelson patiently awaited the return which might be made to his humane proposition; the white flag continuing to fly from his main-top. Shortly afterwards, he had the satisfaction to find that the battery desisted, in consequence of orders from the crown prince, and two flags of truce were dispatched from shore to him and sir Hyde Parker, while unmolested possession was taken of the prizes.

To ascertain the exact motive of lord Nelson's letter, the Danish prince sent adjutant-general Ľudholm on board the admiral's ship, and the result of their conference was a second despatch, in which - his lordship declared, that, as he was actuated solely by humanity, he consented that hostilities should cease, and that the wounded should be taken on shore. He would take the prisoners out of the prizes and burn or carry off the vessels as he should think fit. The conqueror, at the same time, presented his humble duty to his royal highness, observing that he should consider this as the greatest victory which he had ever gained, if it might prove the cause of a happy reconciliation between his own most gracious sovereign and his majesty the king of Denmark.

A cessation of hostilities being now concluded, lord Nelson, anxious to secure the principal object of his enterprise, went

on shore, and repaired amidst the acclamations of the people, to the royal palace, called the Octagon; was introduced to Christian VII. and proposed the terms of a final arrangement. The king immediately agreed to the renunciation of the armed neutrality; and in a few days a convention for the cessation of arms was ratified by sir Hyde Parker.

The scene presented to the eye after the termination of the battle, was awfully interesting. The carnage on board the Danish vessels, crowded as they were with zealous adventurers of every class, had been dreadful, and medical attendance not being provided, the wounded had been left till many had bled to death. The exertions of Nelson to relieve the afflictions of his unfortunate enemies, did the highest credit to his humanity. The English boats were despatched for the conveyance of the wounded on shore; the hospitals were thronged with their numbers; females of every class were employed in preparing lint for the surgeons; and every mode of charitable relief adopted. Those who fell in battle were buried in the naval church-yard, and their funeral was attended by a solemn procession. Gold medals of honor, in commemoration of the event, were struck and delivered to the officers who deserved them; and the pulpit, the press, and the theatre, were equally active in promoting the laudable efforts of national benevolence, and in maintaining and exerting the public. spirit: nor was the following circumstance among those. which produced the least effect upon the people. A prame, called Nyeborg, of 20 guns, had towed another out of the action, to a certain distance, when she went down, and the, Nyeborg herself, as soon as she had reached the custom-house, sunk to her gunwale. The sight of the prame was dreadful in the extreme; nothing was left standing but the stump of her foremast; her shrouds were shattered; all her guns, except one, dismounted; her cabin stove in, and her decks covered with dead bodies and severed limbs. The spectators, shuddered with horror or wept with anguish; but curiosity y

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and sympathy soon received a more noble direction from the publication of a paper in these words, "Countrymen! repair to the custom-house! view the Nyeborg, and be convinced how a Danish ship must be disabled before a Danish seaman can persuade himself to retire from action !"

Lord Nelson was particularly struck with the gallantry of a young lieutenant, a stripling of seventeen, named Villamoes, who commanded a floating battery, which was in fact, a wretched raft, formed of a number of beams nailed together, with a flooring to support the guns, and with a breastwork full of port-holes. His lordship also visited the naval academy, and endeared himself even to those whom he had conquered, by the frankness of his praises, and by the donation of medals to be distributed among the most deserving of the midshipmen.

The loss of the Danes in killed and wounded has not been recorded. Seventeen of their vessels were taken, sunk, or destroyed in the action; but all those which had been captured, were burnt by the victor on the ensuing day, except the Holstein, which was then thirty years' old. The official return on the part of the British, was 254 killed, of whom 20 were officers, including captains Riou and Mosse. Nine hundred and forty-three were wounded, in which number were 48 officers. Of the merits of these brave men, the country was not unmindful. The merchants of London began, and all parts of the kingdom concurred in, a subscription, to alleviate the distress of the wounded, and to support the widows and families of the slain.

The subjoined were the stipulations of the armistice.

The Danish government on the one hand, and admiral sir Hyde Parker, commanderin-chief of his Britannic majesty's naval forces in the road of Copenhagen, on the other, being, from motives of humanity, equally anxious to put a stop to the effusion of blood, and to save the city of Copenhagen from the disastrous consequences which may attend a further prose

cution of hostilities against that city, have mutually agreed upon a military armistice, or suspension of arms.

His Danish majesty having for that purpose appointed major-general Ernest Frederic Walterstorff, chamberlain to his Danish majesty, and adjutant-general Hans Lindholm, his commissioners for agreeing about the terms of the said armistice; and admiral sir Hyde Parker, knight, having with the same view, duly authorised the right honorable Horatio lord Nelson, &c. and the honorable William Stewart, lieutenant-colonel in his Britannic majesty's service, &c. :-these said commissioners have met this day, and having exchanged their respective powers, have agreed upon the following terms :

Art. I. From the moment of the sig nature of this armistice, all hostilities shall immediately cease between the fleet under the command of adiniral sir Hyde Parker, and the city of Copenhagen; and all the armed ships and vessels of his Danish majesty in the road or harbor of that city, as likewise between the different islands and provinces of Denmark, Jutland included.

II. The armed ships and vessels belonging to his Danish majesty, shall remain in their present situation as to armament, equipment, and hostile position: and the treaty, commonly understood as the treaty of armed neutrality, shall, as far as relates to the co-operation of Denmark, be suspended while the armistice remains in force. On the other side, the armed ships and vessels under the command of admiral sir Hyde Parker, shall in no manner whatever molest the city of Copenhagen or his Danish majesty's armed ships and vessels on the coasts of the different islands and provinces of Denmark, Jutland included; and in order to avoid every thing which might otherwise create uneasiness or jealousy, admiral sir Hyde Parker shall not suffer any of the ships or vessels under his command to approach within gun-shot of the armed ships or forts of his Danish majesty in the road of Copenhagen; this restriction shall not, however, extend