LI. 1807. 27. negotiation mark. rous to avoid, if possible, proceeding to that extremity, CHAP. and rather to gain the object in view by diplomatic arrangements than actual force. With this view they had sent Mr Jackson with the armament, who had resided Ineffectual as envoy of Great Britain for many years at the court of with DenBerlin, and was supposed to enjoy, in a very high degree, the confidence of the northern powers. As soon as he arrived off the Danish coast, Mr Jackson landed at Kiel, and proceeded to announce the purport of his instructions to Count Bernstorff, and requested an audience of the Prince-Royal. By the former he was received with the indignant vehemence natural to a patriotic minister, who saw, from what he conceived to be foreign injustice, a grievous misfortune impending over his country; by the latter, with the mild but courageous dignity which added lustre to a throne exposed to the storms of adversity. The instructions of the English envoy, however, were peremptory; and as the Prince-Royal positively refused to accede to the terms proposed, which were, that the fleet should be deposited with the British government in pledge, and under an obligation of restitution, till the conclusion of a general peace, he had no alternative but to declare that force would be employed. Upon this, the Prince-Royal, with praiseworthy resolution, declared his determination to share the dangers of his capital, and immediately set out for Copenhagen. He was allowed by the British cruisers to pass the Great Belt with all the officers of his staff, and was soon after followed to the capital by the British envoy; but having no powers to accede to an accommodation on the basis proposed, the negotiation broke off, and both sides prepared to decide the matter in dispute by the sword. At the same time, x. 222, 223. a proclamation was issued by the English commanders, 258, 261. declaring in precise terms the object of their hostility, 167, 173. disclaiming all idea of conquest or capture, but demanding 190, 191. the fleet in deposit till the conclusion of a general peace. 1 * * "Whereas the present treaties of peace, and the changes of government 1 Parl. Deb. Dum. xix. Thiers, viii. CHAP. LI. 1807. 28. penhagen. Action of Sir Arthur The British troops commenced their disembarkation without resistance on the 16th; and in three days the whole force was landed, and the investment of the town Siege of Co-completed. It then appeared that, however much the Danish government might have been inclined to accede to the summons of the combined Emperors, and unite their navy to the general maritime confederacy, they had at least no expectation of being so soon involved in hostilities on their own shores, and were totally unprepared for the formidable forces now arrayed by sea and land against them. Such had been the vigilance of the cruisers in the Great Belt, that no troops whatever had been ferried over from the adjacent shores; and no preparations had, on their arrival, been made in Zealand itself. The ramparts were unarmed, the fleet unequipped; and though great fermentation and the most honourable patriotic zeal prevailed in the capital, few regular troops were assembled within its walls, and little progress could in so short a time be made in the organisation of a volun Proclama and of territory acceded to, and by so many powers, have so far increased the influence of France on the Continent of Europe as to render it impossible for tion of Lord Denmark, even though it desires to be neutral, to preserve its neutrality, and Cathcart on landing in absolutely necessary for those who continue to resist the French aggression to Zealand. take measures to prevent the arms of a neutral power from being turned against them; in this view, his Majesty cannot regard the present position of Denmark with indifference, and he has therefore sent negotiators with ample powers to his Danish Majesty, to request, in the most amicable manner, such explanations as the circumstances require, and a concurrence in such measures as can alone give security against the further mischief which the French meditate through the acquisition of the Danish navy. The King, therefore, has judged it expedient to demand the temporary deposit of the Danish ships of the line in one of his Majesty's ports. The deposit seems to be just, and so indispensably necessary, under the relative situation of the neutral and belligerent powers, that his Majesty has further deemed it a duty to himself and to his people to support his demand by a powerful fleet, and by an army amply supplied with every necessary for the most active and determined enterprise. We come, therefore, to your shores, inhabitants of Zealand, not as enemies, but in self-defence, to prevent those who have so long disturbed the peace of Europe from compelling the force of your navy to be employed against us. We ask deposit-we have not looked to capture: So far from it, the most solemn pledge has been offered to your government, and it is hereby renewed, in the name and by the express commands of the King our master, that if our demand is acceded to, every ship belonging to the Danish navy shall, at the conclusion of a general peace, be restored to her, in the same condition and state of equipment as when received LI. 1807. teer force. The sudden calm, however, which ensued, CHAP. and prevented the ships from approaching the coast to land the heavy ordnance and siege equipage, retarded for several days the approaches, and afforded the Danes a breathing-time, of which they actively availed themselves, both to prepare for their defence and retard the operations of the besiegers. But this respite was of short duration, and by inspiring the inhabitants with fallacious hopes, in the end it only led to additional and lamentable calamities. The heavy artillery was at length landed, and brought up to the trenches; the assistance of the Aug. 19 sailors enabled the works to be prosecuted with great rapidity; and on the 1st September they were so far advanced as to have everything in readiness for the 1 Sir A. Welbombardment to commence. The place was then sum-lesley's Desmoned, and the same terms generously offered which had patch. Ann. before been rejected.* Meanwhile SIR ARTHUR WEL-703. Dum. LESLEY, who then began in high command that career in 176. Thiers, Europe which has rendered his name and country immor- 196. tal,' moved with ten thousand men against a body of and 21. Reg. 1807, xix. 171, viii. 193, under the protection of the British flag. It is in the power of your government, by a word, to sheath our swords, most reluctantly drawn against you; you will be treated on the footing of the most friendly powers; property of all sorts will be respected and preserved; the most severe discipline enforced; every article required paid for at a fair price: but if these offers are rejected, and the machinations of France render you deaf to the voice of reason and the call of friendship, the innocent blood that will be shed, and the horrors of a besieged and bombarded capital, must fall on your own heads, and those of your cruel advisers."-See Parl. Deb. x. 224. The Prince-Royal replied, "No example is Answer of to be found in history of so odious an aggression as that with which Denmark is the PrinceRoyal of menaced; more honour may now be expected from the pirates of Barbary than Denmark. the English government. You offer us your alliance! Do we not know what it is worth your allies, vainly expecting your succours for an entire year, have taught us what is the worth of English friendship."-See DUMAS, xix. 171. *The summons set forth :-"To convince the Danish government and the whole world of the reluctance with which his Majesty has recourse to arms, we the undersigned, at the moment when our troops are before your gates, and our batteries ready to open, renew to you the offer of the same advantageous terms, which we formerly proposed-viz. if you will consent to deliver up the Danish fleet, and to our carrying it away, it shall be held in deposit merely, and restored in as good a state as received, with all its equipments, as soon as the provisions of a general peace shall have removed the necessity which occasioned this demand. But if this offer is now rejected it cannot be repeated.—CATHCART, GAMBIER," Sept. 1, 1807. CHAP. 1807. 29. ment of gen. twelve thousand militia, supported by a few regular troops, which had assembled in the interior of the island at Kioje, and by a sudden attack, in which the 92d and 52d regiments distinguished themselves, dispersed them with the loss of several hundred killed and twelve hundred prisoners. The offer of accommodation being rejected, the bomBombard bardment began, and was continued with uncommon Copenha vigour, and with only a short interruption, for three days Sept. 2. and nights. The inhabitants sustained with heroic resolution the flaming tempest, and all classes were indefatigable in their endeavours to carry water to the quarters where the city had taken fire. But in spite of all their efforts the conflagration spread with frightful rapidity; and at length a great magazine of wood and the lofty steeple of the church of Our Lady took fire, and the flames, curling to a prodigious height up its wooden pinnacles, illuminated the whole heavens, and threw a lurid light over all the fleet and army of the besiegers.* With speechless anxiety the trembling citizens watched the path of the burning projectiles through the air; while the British soldiers and sailors from afar beheld with 1 Ann. Reg. admiration the heavens tracked by innumerable stars, Lord Cath which seemed to realise more than the fabled splendours of oriental fireworks. Before the third night eighteen hundred houses were consumed; whole streets were level with the ground; and fifteen hundred of the inhabitants had lost their lives.1 At length the obvious danger of the total destruction of the city by the progress of the flames overcame the firmness of General Peymann, to 1807, 263. cart's Des patch, ibid. 706, 707. Dum. xix. 175, 181. Jom. ii. 454, 455. Thiers, viii. 196, 197. * "Chi può dir come serpa e come cresca Già da più lati il foco? e come folto LI. whom the Prince-Royal had delegated his command: CHAP. and on the forenoon of the 5th, a flag of truce appeared at the British outposts to treat for a capitulation.* 1807. 30. which is equipped But the period of equal negotiation was past: the Danes had perilled all on the issue of the sword; and no Surrender other terms would be agreed to but the unconditional of the feet, surrender of the whole fleet, with all the artillery and and brought naval stores which the place contained. Hard as these to England. terms appeared, necessity left the Danes no alternative, and a capitulation was signed on these conditions two days afterwards, in virtue of which the British troops were immediately put in possession of the citadel, gates, and arsenal; and, by the united efforts of friends and foes, a stop was at length put to the progress of the conflagration, but not before it had consumed an eighth part of the city. By the terms of the capitulation, it had been stipulated that the English should evacuate the citadel of Copenhagen within six weeks, or a shorter time, if the fleet could be got ready before the expiry of that period. But such was the expedition with which the operations were conducted, and the activity displayed by both the naval and military departments, that long before the expiry of that period the fleet was equipped, beder the stores on board, and the evacuation completed. patch, Ann. Early in October, the British fleet and army returned to 698, 699. England, bringing with them their magnificent prize, 179, 180. consisting of eighteen ships of the line in excellent con- 198, 199. dition, fifteen frigates, six brigs,' and twenty-five gun "From the top of a tower," says a respectable eyewitness, “I beheld, in October 1807, the extent of the devastation. Whole streets were level with the ground; 1800 houses were destroyed; the principal church was in ruins; almost every house in the town bore some marks of violence; 1500 of the inhabitants had lost their lives, and a vast number were wounded. The Danes certainly defended themselves like men, and left to the English the poignant regret that the insatiable ambition of Buonaparte had converted this gallant people into our enemies."-BRENTON'S Naval History, ii. 177. + Including the cannon placed on the praams and floating batteries which were brought away, the artillery taken amounted to 3500 pieces. The prizemoney due to the troops engaged was estimated by Admiral Lord Gambier at £960,000.-See HARDENBERG, X. 42. bier's Des Reg. 1807, Dum. xix. Thiers, viii. |