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The Battle
On the face of it, the situation was quite similar to what Nelson had faced at the Battle of the Nile a few years earlier - the enemy was in a static line close to a shore. But this time, the line was heavily defended and prepared, and Nelson couldn't take his squadron up the inside of the line as he had done before. However, his strategy was fairly similar.
The plan was for the leading ship of the British line to anchor by the stern alongside the 5th closest enemy ship. The second British ship would sail past and anchor alongside the next enemy ship ahead, and so on, with each ship leapfrogging the one ahead of it.
The Edgar would take the Danish ship Jylland, the 5th closest. The Ardent was then to sail past the Edgar and take the Danish frigate Kronborg and a floating battery. Next would come the Glatton, which would sail ahead of the Ardent and anchor alongside the Danish flagship, the Dannebrog. The Isis was to take the 2nd in the line, followed by the Agamemnon and the frigate Desiree which would together take the Proevesteen. Then, the Bellona, Elephant, Ganges, Monarch, Defiance, Russell and Polyphemus would sail ahead and leapfrog each other to take their stations, firing at any ship they could as they passed.
Nelson anticipated that the first four Danish ships, having sustained fire from each passing British ship, would surrender early on. Then the Isis and Agamemnon would be free to sail further still up the line. By this point, they would be within range of the guns of the Trekroner fort, but the hope was that Parker's squadron would have arrived to support them from that end. If the guns of the Trekroner were subdued, the troops would attempt to take it. Finally, Captain Edward Riou of the Amazon was to command the frigates and smaller vessels at the harbour mouth.
At 8am on the 2nd April, Nelson spoke with the pilots who were to guide the squadron around the Middle Ground and into position alongside the Danish line. Despite Hardy's sounding the previous night, they weren't happy about the depth of the water, where the Middle Ground ended, or how deep the water next to the Danish ships was. Nelson didn't want to lost the fair wind which he needed to carry his ships into position and grew impatient with them, later writing,
"I experienced the misery of having the honour of our country entrusted to a set of pilots who had no other thought than to keep the ships clear of danger, and their own silly heads clear of shot."
But keeping the ships clear of danger was exactly what the pilots were expected to do, for a wrecked or grounded ship was no use to anyone.
At 9.45, Nelson signalled for his squadron to weigh in succession. Some of Parker's division weighed around the same time, but the wind and current were against them and they moved very slowly. They never made it to the battle in time to see any action.
It started well enough. At 11am, the Edgar anchored alongside the Jylland as planned, the Ardent successfully passed and anchored ahead, and the Glatton anchored neatly a cable's length from the Danish flagship, all opening fire as they did so.
But then things started going wrong. The Agamemnon couldn't get around the Middle Ground and got stuck, unable to move against the strong current, and too far away to deal any damage. As the Isis moved in to position, Nelson saw what had happened and signalled to the Polyphemus to take Agamemnon's place alongside the Proevesteen, behind Isis, rather than her assigned position ahead. The Desiree then, as intended, maneauvered to lay across the Proevesteen's bow, and the little frigate fired upon the 3-decker out of reach of her broadsides.
The Bellona passed Isis as intended and opened fire, but ran in to trouble. She'd kept too far to starboard and ran aground. For the rest of the battle she continued to fire, but was too far away to be effective.
Nelson's force was already down to 10 ships, though this was the number he'd believed he could win with. In the Elephant, he took the Bellona's place ahead of the Glatton, firing on the Dannebrog a cable's length away. As the Ganges passed, he hailed Captain Fremantle to anchor just ahead of the Elephant instead of going further up the line.
Smoke from the guns of the ships in action began to drift across the sea, heavy enough to obscure vision. The Russell, supposed to be behind the Monarch and Defiance, couldn't see properly and got ahead. Through the smoke, she saw the masts of the Bellona, presumed it to be a ship ahead, and headed towards it. And so she followed the Bellona onto the shoal and grounded. Like the Bellona, she could do nothing but fire at a range far too long to be effective.
The lieutenant who brought the news of the fate of the Russell and Bellona to Nelson must have also offered a pessimistic opinion on the progress of the battle, because he was reprimanded by Captain Foley, and Nelson later remarked; "I think at such a moment the delivery of anything like a desponding opinion, unasked, was highly reprehensible."
The Monarch and Defiance came up next, firing at ships as they passed. As the Monarch passed the Elephant, her captain, James Mosse, raised a cheer for Nelson. Monarch anchored alongside the 2-decker Danish ship, Sjaelland, and at 11.30am Defiance anchored ahead. Both ships were in range of the Trekroner fort, and both took heavy losses. The Defiance lost her main and mizzen masts and bowsprit almost straight away. Captain Mosse on the Monarch was killed, and his body was covered with a flag.
Now the smaller ships could move in to action. Captain Riou in the Amazon led the frigates up past the Defiance, and anchored in the place Polyphemus should have taken, firing at the fort. The Discovery and Explosion bomb vessels anchored near the Elephant and bombarded the dockyard as well as firing at Danish ships.
The battle didn't quite go according to plan. The Danish fought hard, well and courageously, and their floating batteries were tougher than ordinary ships. The Proevesteen and Valkyrien, at the head of the Danish line, fought longer than Nelson had anticipated, so their opponents, the Isis and Polyphemus, weren't able to move on as soon as he'd hoped.
The Danish captain Thura of the Indfadstratten was killed early in the battle, along with all of his officers being killed or wounded, except one lieutenant. The ship's colours were either struck or shot away, but the British didn't try to board because she was too close to a battery. So the lieutenant sent a boat to the Crown Prince, who sent an officer to take command of the ship. But that officer too was killed, so the lieutenant continued the ship's fire himself.
Still, a great British success was had when the Glatton managed to set the Dannebrog alight, forcing Commodore Fischer to abandon ship and shift his flag to the Holsteen. Captain Bertie of the Ardent sent a boat to rescue men who had jumped overboard to escape the flames. He managed to rescue around 23, but the Dannebrog blew up, killing around 200.
Admiral Hyde Parker watched the action. He couldn't see very much because the gunsmoke was thick and heavy and he was still four miles away. But he could see that three ships were grounded, and it seemed that the battle wasn't going well. So he made a decision that led to one of the most famous stories of Nelson.
Parker told captains William Dommett and Robert Otway that he was going to signal to Nelson to discontinue the action, but they disagreed with his decision. He intended for Nelson to use the signal to honourably retreat if he needed to, but that he could ignore it if he believed the battle was going in his favour. Otway got permission to go in a boat and tell Nelson that he had permission to ignore the signal if he so chose, but at 1.30pm, before Otway got to Nelson, Parker flew the signal.
Rear-Admiral Thomas Graves, Nelson's second in command and flying his flag in the Defiance, ahead of the Elephant, saw the signal first. He knew what Nelson would think of it, and while he was obliged to repeat it, he did so in such a way that he hoped it would be obscured from Nelson, and he did not act on it himself. Nelson only acknowledged it, but did not repeat nor obey it, keeping his own signal, his favourite 'close action' signal, flying.
According to Colonel Stewart's account, upon being told of the signal, Nelson said to the officer, "I told you to look out on the Danish Commodore and let me know when he surrendered. Keep your eye fixed on him." He continued to pace the quarter deck, as he always did during a battle, but on his next turn the lieutenant asked him whether he should repeat the signal. Nelson told him no, but acknowledge it. As the officer hurried away, Nelson called after him to ask if his own signal, for close action, was still hoisted, and being told that it was, added, "Mind you keep it so."
After Nelson began to walk again, Stewart noticed the stump of his right arm twitching, which those who knew him had come to recognise meant he was agitated. After a short while he said to Stewart, "Do you know what's shown on board of the Commander in Chief? Number 39." Stewart didn't know what that meant, so Nelson explained, "Why, to leave off action. Leave off action! Now damn me if I do." He turned to Foley and said archly, "You know, Foley, I have only one eye. I have a right to be blind sometimes." He took the eyeglass and held it up to his blind right eye. "I really do not see the signal!"
But just because Nelson and Graves could choose to ignore the signal, didn't mean that other captains wouldn't see it and act upon it. Captain Riou in the Amazon had no choice but to obey the signal. "What will Nelson think of us?" he despaired, knowing what Nelson was likely to think of a retreat. But as his ship turned, her vulnerable stern was exposed to the guns of the fort. Riou, sitting on a gun and shouting encouragement to his men, was injured in the head by a splinter. His clerk, standing beside him, was cut down, and then another shot killed several marines nearby. Riou cried, "Come then my boys, let us all die together!" Another shot cut him in two.
It so happened that by the time Parker sent his signal, the Danish fire began to ease up. At 2pm the Nyborg tried to take the Aggershuus in tow and retreat to the harbour, but sank before she got there. But the Hjaelperen did manage to escape. By 2.30pm, most of the Danish ships seemed to have stopped firing, although some shots were fired on some British boats that had been sent to board ships that had surrendered. The Elephant and Glatton reopened fire, and the Danish flagship blew up at 4.30pm.
Nelson knew that the Danish Crown Prince Frederik, who was ruling as regent during his father's illness, was watching the battle from the fort. To put an end to the battle and prevent more loss of life, he sent a message to him and the 'Brothers of all Englishmen', under a flag of truce. He requested that the Danes cease firing, but there was a veiled threat that if battle continued, he would destroy the prizes he'd already taken, without releasing the crews first. Messages sent like this during a battle were usually sealed with a wafer, as that was quicker, but Nelson ordered that this should be sealed with wax with the imprint of his coat of arms. Although the wax would take longer to dry, the Prince would not think that it had been sealed in a hurry and sent out of desperation. When the man who was sent to get the light was killed, Nelson just sent someone else in his place. The wax, he said, "told no tales".
Image: Nelson writing his message to the Danish Crown Prince
After all fire had ceased, Nelson wrote to the Prince Royal again, saying that his reason for sending the flag of truce was humanity. As such, he said, although he would take or burn the prizes, he would remove the prisoners from them and send the wounded Danes ashore for treatment. And he added that, if it led to 'a happy reconciliation and union between Britain and Denmark', then he would consider it 'the greatest victory' he had ever won.
