By John Kleespies
On April 2, 1801, cannonballs from Danish floating batteries zizzed and geysered around British Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson’s nine ships of the line while his own men answered with thundering broadsides. At the head of Nelson’s flotilla, a contingent of frigates similarly fired upon Fort Trekrone, looming as its own man-made island at the entrance to Copenhagen harbor.
At that moment, Trekroner Sofort commanded 68 heavy cannons from within itself, as well as an additional 600 seaborne cannon from 18 floating batteries and seven ships of the line.
In short, Nelson’s handful of British warships were ridiculously disadvantaged … which he didn’t mind, as long as he was in charge.
Several months earlier, word arrived that Britain’s archnemesis Napoleon Bonaparte was wooing an alliance with Denmark. This threatened to cut off essential Danish ship-building supplies from Britain while simultaneously bolstering Napoleon’s navy.
Britain couldn’t afford to lose Denmark, so the British set its navy out to “encourage” Copenhagen to honor their previous treaties.
The Fighting Horatio Nelson
Now, with Nelson locked in combat, Admiral Sir Hyde Parker—overall Commander-in-Chief of the Baltic Fleet—waited farther offshore with eight more of Britain’s heaviest ships of the line. From there, Parker ostensibly commanded Nelson while also protecting his rear against enemy reinforcements.
At least that was the official line.
Sixty-one-year-old Parker floated up the ranks at a time when British naval commanders claimed “prize money” from the holds of captured enemy vessels: thus, Parker grew rich by ordering other men into battle and then taking a commander’s cut of their booty.
Now, while Britain was calling on Parker to lead His Majesty’s Fleet to victory at Copenhagen, Parker was making no secret of his preference to luxuriate back home with his newlywed, 18-year-old wife, rather than risking his neck on a warship.
In fact, the men under Parker’s command were more likely to refer to him as “Batter Pudding” than “the Admiral.”
In contrast to Parker, his second-in-command—42-year-old Horatio Nelson—captured little prize money through his career, though he’d led over a hundred battles ranging from land engagements to open-sea cannoning to shipboard swordfights. He fought shoulder-to-shoulder with his men, and any doubters were welcome to reference his missing right arm and blind right eye, each lost in separate battles.
Seamen gladly fought alongside Nelson, and Nelson loved to fight. The boldest measures are the safest, was his tactical ethos.
Nelson’s petitions for an immediate attack on Trekroner fell on deaf ears as Parker lingered for 12 days off Copenhagen. By the time Parker finally came around to granting Nelson a dozen ships of the line and eight frigates for battle, the fort had brought in plenty of reinforcements and removed its shallow marker buoys from the channel that Nelson needed to invade.
Nelson raced to Trekroner … and watched as three of his premier ships of the line ran aground in the newly unmarked waters. Nonetheless, he continued to position against Denmark’s wall of floating batteries and opened fire at a point-blank range of 200 yards.
For three hours, the British and Danish slugged it out.
From his vantage point, Nelson was pleased with their progress. However, through a spyglass’ view from five miles out to sea, it appeared that Britain was three ships down and stalemated.
Parker let fly with flag signal 39: break off action.
Turning a Blind Eye
Physically closest to Parker’s main fleet, the frigates saw the order first and immediately retreated— with Trekroner raking their sterns, killing a captain. However, Nelson’s ships of the line continued to hammer on their enemy, waiting on orders from their Vice-Admiral, rather than Batter Pudding.
Aboard the 74-gun Elephant, Nelson received word of Parker’s order to retreat.
Nelson straightened his uniform before asking the signal officer if the flag to engage in close combat was still flying from Elephant’s mast.
“Yes, sir.”
“Mind you keep it so,” Nelson replied, and then he raised a telescopic spyglass to his eye, seeking to confirm signal 39 from Parker’s flagship.
Except Nelson raised the spyglass to his blind right eye.
Nelson then turned to the Elephant’s captain and said, “You know … I really do not see the signal.”
With that, the British attack continued for another four hours, wherein Nelson decimated the Danish forces well enough to send a flag of truce ashore. Thatdeveloped into Nelson serving as the primary negotiator of Britain and Denmark’s armistice, thus codifying Denmark’s solidarity against Napoleon.
Parker returned home in disgrace and was immediately replaced by Nelson.
Legend of The First Battle of Copenhagen is still told by sailors and land lovers alike, whether they know it or not: nowadays, the phrase “turn a blind eye” is a direct reference to April 2, 1801, and the boldest-measures-are-the-safest leadership style of Horatio Nelson.
