ly eleven of the line
for sea, and Denmark only seven or eight. It is highly doubtful whether
the three powers could have collected more than forty ships of the
line--and they would have been hastily manned, destitute of experience,
and without confidence. A rapid British attack would in any case
forestall the concentration of these heterogeneous squadrons. The
superior quality of the veteran British crews was more than enough to
counterbalance a mere superiority in numbers. The command of the British
fleet was given to Sir Hyde Parker, an amiable man of no energy and
little ability. He had Nelson with him as second in command--then a
junior admiral but without rival in capacity and in his hold on the
confidence of the fleet. Parker's orders were to give Denmark
twenty-four hours in which to withdraw from the coalition, and on her
refusal to destroy or neutralize her strength and then proceed against
the Russians before the breaking up of the ice allowed the ships at
Reval to join the squadron at Kronstadt.

On the 21st of March the British fleet, after a somewhat stormy passage,
was at the entrance to the Sound. Nicholas Vansittart, afterwards Lord
Bexley, the British diplomatic agent entrusted with the message to the
Danish government, was landed, and left for Copenhagen. On the 23rd he
returned with the refusal of the Danes. The British fleet then passed
the Danish fort at Cronenburg, unhurt by its distant fire, and without
being molested by the forts on the Swedish shore. Nelson urged immediate
attack, and recommended, as an alternative, that part of the British
fleet should watch the Danes while the remainder advanced up the Baltic
to prevent the junction of the Russian Reval squadron with the ships in
Kronstadt. Sir Hyde Parker was, however, unwilling to go up the Baltic
with the Danes unsubdued behind him, or to divide his force. It was
therefore resolved that an attack should be made on the Danish capital
with the whole fleet in two divisions. Copenhagen lies on the east side
of the island of Zealand; opposite it is the shoal known as the Middle
Ground. To the east of the Middle Ground is another shoal known as
Saltholm Flat, and there is a passage available for large ships between
them. The main fortification of Copenhagen was the powerful Trekroner
(Three Crown) battery at the northern end of the sea-front. Here the
Danes had placed their strongest ships. The southern part of the city
front was covered by hulk