1801 - Armistice with Denmark


 
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Naval History of Great Britain - Vol III
1801 British and Danish Fleets 80

Having taken some notice of the Danish accounts of this battle, we must not behave so disrespectfully as to neglect bestowing a word or two upon the English accounts. According to the misplaced "Note," which we formerly quoted from Admiral Ekins's work,* Lord Nelson attributed the grounding of the Bellona and Russel to his not having ordered his ships, in so intricate and shallow a navigation, to cut instead of to weigh. It is certainly the first time we ever heard that the Vice-admiral was in this respect to blame: but we are convinced that, of all other men, Lord Nelson was the most likely to acknowledge an error, if he thought he had committed one.

Although Admiral Ekins has not considered it necessary to give any account of the Copenhagen affair, another contemporary has entered into it with rather more than his usual conciseness. Captain Brenton has also given a " Plan of the battle;" but, as is often the case, the engraved and the letter-press descriptions do not correspond. One important instance will suffice. The Bellona and Russel are placed in the plan, within a ship's length or so of their actual stations; but the letter-press tells us, that those ships were "much exposed to the fire of the Crown batteries;" � which Crown batteries, as rightly laid down in the same plan, are to the northward of the northern extremity of the Danish line, or perhaps about two miles and a half from the nearest of the two grounded ships, the Bellona. The fact is, neither ship received or could receive a shot from the Trekroner, although they both received several from the Wagner and Provesteen; and a Danish 36-pound shot, from one of the batteries on Amag island, went through the centre of the Bellona's mainmast.

In almost all the published unofficial accounts, a mistatement also occurs respecting the Agamemnon. Lord Nelson in his letter says: "The Agamemnon could not weather the shoal of the middle and was obliged to anchor" � but Captain Brenton tells us, that "the Agamemnon grounded on the starboard quarter of the Bellona," and Mr. Southey (but who, by-the-by, is very poor authority in naval matters) declares that she was immovably aground. �

The night of the 2d of April was employed by the British in bringing out their shattered prizes, and in floating their grounded ships. By the morning of the 3d the whole of the latter, except the D�sir�e were got off. During the five days that the negotiation was pending, all the prizes, except the 60-gun ship Holstein, were set on fire and destroyed. The generality of these were not worth carrying away; but Sir Hyde's

* See vol. ii. p. 181.
� Brenton, vol. ii., p. 545.
� Ibid. p. 542.
� Southey's Life of Nelson, vol. ii., p. 118.

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