Footnotes

In between Nelson’s greatest triumphs – on the Nile and at Trafalgar – he also gained a third notable victory, at Copenhagen, which was and has remained somewhat overshadowed by the far weightier defeats of the main French battlefleets on the other two occasions.

In the spring of 1801, following Denmark’s decision to join the pro-French Russian-led ‘Armed Neutrality of the North’, a British fleet under the command of Admiral Sir Hyde Parker was sent to the Baltic. With Nelson as his second-in-command, Parker’s orders were to capture or destroy the Danish fleet lying off Copenhagen. His plan was sound but cautious so Nelson conceived a more daring strategy after discussion with his officers and, most particularly, his great friend and flag-captain Thomas Foley. Nelson had christened Foley and those other veterans of the Nile his ‘Band of Brothers’ and their personal loyalty to him was unflinching. The details of what was needed to secure victory were finalised and agreed at a meeting aboard Nelson’s flagship “Elephant” on the evening of 1st April [1801] and battle was joined the next morning shortly before 10 o’clock.

It began well but the Danes were in a very strong defensive position; British losses mounted alarmingly and, at about 1.00pm., Hyde Parker signalled the “Elephant” to break off the engagement. In one of the most celebrated gestures in the long history of the Royal Navy, Nelson placed his telescope to his blind eye, turned to Foley and said, “I really do not see the signal”. Despite the orders to the contrary, the furious action thus continued until, gradually, the British ships began to gain the upper hand. Eventually, with the Danish flagship “Dannebrog” ablaze and other enemy vessels falling silent or surrendering, Nelson seized the initiative and decided to offer the Danes a ceasefire in order to save further bloodshed. Under a white flag of truce, an open launch carried Nelson’s terms to the Danish Crown Prince and it is this little-known incident which Neumann has depicted here. In the event, the Danes accepted the ceasefire but not the wider terms of the truce, including their agreement to abandon the ‘Armed Neutrality’. It therefore fell to Nelson to employ his hitherto unused diplomatic skills in negotiating the end of hostilities which he did to wide acclaim. As far as the actual battle of Copenhagen was concerned however, it was a costly British victory, won only by Nelson’s dogged perseverance and the unwavering support of his officers which served to bind their destinies together ever more tightly.