Cindy Vallar's Blog - Posts Tagged "anglo-danish"

The Two Battles of Copenhagen 1801 and 1807: Britain and Denmark in the Napoleonic Wars by Gareth Glover

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A signal went up to break off the engagement, but Horatio Nelson was said to have brought his telescope up to his blind eye and claimed not to see his commander’s signal. This may be the only incident that readers are familiar with as regards these two battles. Many accounts of Nelson’s life mention the fight, but they don’t go into great depth and they often omit or gloss over what came before and after. They also recount the episode from a single perspective rather than including multiple sides of either conflict. Glover attempts to rectify this by showing the interconnecting threads in this period of history and how what transpired during the first battle impacted the second. He also shows the complexity of Anglo-Danish relations, as well as Denmark’s precarious situation as regards its neighbors and Napoleon’s aggressiveness.

During the Napoleonic Wars, Denmark managed to remain neutral despite its strategic location that provided ingress and egress to Baltic ports which supplied products vital to Britain’s shipbuilding industry. In 1799, the Russian tsar proposed that Denmark and other countries form a league of Armed Neutrality, wherein the members would fight to stay impartial. The Danes were set to be the “front line” of defense for this alliance, but they weren’t keen on being in this position. Britain saw the policy as a subtle shift and wished to safeguard their supply source since the Royal Navy was a key component in the fight against Napoleon’s territorial expansion.

To that end, a fleet was assembled, and Vice Admiral Sir Hyde Parker was placed in command of the Royal Navy’s Baltic Fleet. The problem with this proved twofold: Parker was sixty-one at the time and, being recently wed, was more interested in his eighteen-year-old wife than in preparing the fleet for departure. His second-in-command was a rising star, Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson, whose seamanship, daring, and bravery were never in question, but some thought him arrogant and his private life involved scandals. Although their working relationship seemed to jibe, Parker’s orders weren’t explicit enough. He was to take or destroy the Danish fleet, but what then? The other difficulty was that Nelson craved action, while Parker had doubts even after decisions were made and commands given.

On the flipside, the Danes’ purpose during this time was to further fortify their defenses and stall long enough for the fleets of Sweden and Russia to arrive. Although the Danish navy was well-equipped, they didn’t truly plan for it to engage in battle. After all, if they lost their ships and men, who would defend their city and country? Even the Crown Prince, Commodore Fischer, and Admiral Wleugel doubted they could win against the British, but they didn’t see they had any alternative.

The outcome of this first battle depends on which side it is viewed from, as Glover shows. Afterward, there was a brief respite in the war until the conflict was renewed in 1803. Although Denmark maintained a strict neutrality once again, the defeat of Russian forces at the Battle of Friedland (1807) left Denmark as one of only three countries on the Continent that was still trading with the British. Napoleon’s new tactic involved economic warfare, which put Denmark in a tenuous situation. The British had no intention of losing their trading partner, but the Crown Prince of Denmark refused to hand over his fleet. Another confrontation between Denmark and Britain was inevitable, and it would involve a joint operation between the Royal Navy and the Royal Army. This time, the principals would be Admiral Gambier, General Arthur Wellesley, and Danish General Peymann.

Divided into twenty-three chapters, the narrative includes black-and-white illustrations throughout with color artwork at the center. An overview is provided as is a brief recounting of what visitors will see if they go to Copenhagen today. Aside from footnotes, a bibliography, and an index, Glover provides nine appendices concerning the 1801 battle and twenty-seven for the 1807 siege of the city.

Glover’s goal in writing this history is to heal any breaches that still exist and to provide a better understanding as to why each side did what they did. He provides a clear understanding of before, during, and after each battle and incorporates eyewitness reports, such as that of a student watching the battle who found his view obscured from all the gun smoke, or the twelve-year-old who climbed a crane and reported to the crowd below what transpired, or the private who believed he could win the battle by himself. This book is for anyone who wants a clearer, well-rounded picture of what happened and why.


(This review originally appeared at Pirates & Privateers: http://www.cindyvallar.com/adultpirat...)



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