rg on one side,
and that of Elsinore on the other, and on we sailed in front of the city
till we came to an anchor off the island of Arnak. Sir Hyde Parker
remained near the mouth of the channel with the heavier ships, so that
Lord Nelson had the lighter ones all to himself, while the brave Captain
Riou commanded the frigates. All the night was spent in preparing for
battle, and Captain Hardy was employed in sounding the channel, through
which we were to pass to the attack. He even reached in the darkness
close up to one of the Danish ships, and sounded round her. There was
the whole squadron anchored so close in with the Danish shore, that had
our enemies known the range they might have done us much mischief. Lord
Nelson spent the chief part of the night dictating orders to his clerks,
to send round to his captains to tell them what to do. At last the
morning broke, and, with a fair wind, the `Edgar' leading under a press
of sail, the fleet stood down the Danish line, and took up their
positions as arranged, the brave Captain Riou and his frigates being
opposed to the Crown Battery, at the farther end. With a groan, we who
once belonged to her saw the old `Agamemnon' take the ground on the
shoal I have spoken of; the `Bellona' and `Russel' touched also, but
sufficiently within range to take part in the battle. Soon after ten
the `Edgar' began the action, and one by one, as the other ships slipped
from their anchors, and following at intervals, took up their position,
they also commenced firing. The commander-in-chief; Sir Hyde Parker,
was away on our right, you'll understand, with the bigger ships, and
from the way the wind was he could not have come up to help us. Now,
along the whole line the action became general. Opposed to us there
were the forts and the `floating batteries' and the Danish ships of war,
all blazing away together; and many of them had furnaces for heating
red-hot shot, which several times nearly set our ships on fire. No men
ever fought better than the Danes, and several times when we had killed
or wounded all the defenders of a battery, their places were supplied by
fresh hands from the shore, who worked away at their guns as bravely as
the first, till they, poor fellows, were shot down. More than once the
ships of the enemy had hauled sown their flags, and when we were going
to take possession again opened fire on us. This enraged us, as you may
suppose; but we cut them up terribly, a