The plan was to renew the attack upon Denmark, as in 1801, but the operations were to be carried out in an even more thorough and ruthless manner.
Denmark had joined the new coalition against England, and Napoleon was at the bottom of it; but no declaration of war was made by England against Denmark, and that small kingdom, not suspecting any such design at that moment, was to see all the horrors of war suddenly let loose upon her. Her sole wrong, in the eyes of the British Cabinet, was the possession of a navy, still of some strength, which might be used by the coalition against England.
Denmark was, at the time, observing a strict neutrality, and, although forced to acquiesce in the condition of things consequent upon Napoleon’s occupation of northern Europe, had not joined in the Continental blockade. Mistrusting France even more than England, she had sent most of her army into Holstein, with a view to causing the French to respect her frontier. The best policy of England, under the circumstances, would have been to keep on terms with Denmark, and if there was any pressure to be exercised to make her take sides in the great events then transpiring, to leave the odium of such a measure upon Napoleon. But the British Cabinet resolved to secure the Danish fleet, at all hazards, and so put it out of the power of that nation or of Napoleon ever to use it against England.
To give color to their aggression upon the sovereign rights of Denmark, the British Cabinet alleged that they had knowledge of a stipulation in the Treaty of Tilsit, which brought Denmark fully into the Continental coalition; and, as we have said, the expedition was undertaken to carry off from Napoleon the Danish naval resources, and it was therefore said to be an act of legitimate defence on the part of England.
In the latter part of July, 1807, Admiral Gambier sailed from England, with twenty-five sail-of-the-line, forty frigates, and three hundred and seventy-seven transports, carrying 20,000 troops, commanded by General Cathcart. The latter was to be joined by seven or eight thousand more troops, returning from the siege of Stralsund. At this time almost all the Danish troops were in Holstein; and the English plan, a well conceived one, was to seize the Belts, with a portion of the fleet, intercept the passages and prevent the return of the Danish army to the relief of Copenhagen. Then a strong land force was to be landed near Copenhagen, and that city to be destroyed by bombardment, in case she should refuse to surrender.
The English fleet appeared in the Sound on the 3d of August; and Admiral Gambier at once despatched Commodore Keats, with a suitable force, to secure the Belts, and prevent all passage from the mainland to the Danish islands. The fleet then proceeded down the Sound, and anchored in Elsinore Road. The Admiral sent Commissioner Jackson to the Crown Prince, then acting as Regent of Denmark, to propose an alliance, offensive and defensive, with England. He was also to demand the surrender of Kronberg Castle to the English army, and the port of Copenhagen and the Danish fleet to the navy, protesting that they were only to be held until the return of general peace in Europe, and then to be loyally returned. These outrageous proposals were too much for the Crown Prince’s diplomatic reserve. “Never in history,” he cried out, “was seen so odious an attack as is contemplated against Denmark.” “We may expect more honorable ideas from the Barbary pirates than from the English government. You propose an alliance! We know what alliance with you means. We have seen your allies waiting a whole year, in vain, for promised assistance!”
The Commissioner said that England would pay, cash down, for any injuries which Denmark might receive in consequence of such an alliance. “And with what,” said the indignant Prince, “would you pay for our lost honor, if we acceded to so humiliating a proposition?” Upon receiving this answer Jackson withdrew, and hostilities at once began.
The garrison of Copenhagen consisted of about eight thousand men. There were some regular troops, but the most of the defenders were volunteers, students and citizens. Entrenchments and batteries were raised, and armed; hulks were moored in the passes, and others sunk, to prevent the English ships from coming in. The fleet, the main object of the attack, was sheltered in the inner basins of the dock-yard. But the Danish preparations were only intended to resist assault, and were powerless against bombardment.
The Prince Regent, having taken all precautions which circumstances permitted, committed the charge of the city and its defences to General Peyman, a brave and worthy soldier, with orders to resist to the last; and then hurried away into Holstein, to endeavor to find some means of bringing the Danish army to the rescue. At the same time General Castenskiod was ordered to assemble the military of Zealand. But these untrained levies could be of very little use against the veteran English troops, and the devoted city was left to the defence of General Peyman’s small force.
When Jackson returned to the British fleet the word was given, and a shocking scene of slaughter and destruction ensued. The troops debarked to the north of Copenhagen. Most of them were Hessians and other Germans in English employ. It was known that the city could not be carried by assault without fearful loss to the attacking party, so the English troops approached, threw up some works, but did not attempt a regular siege. A bombardment was the means resorted to; and by this dreadful means the city was to be burned and ruined, until the Danes submitted. It was now that Colonel Congreve made the first trial, in actual warfare, of the destructive rockets which bear his name.