292544030

y’

‘

■

' ‘

Short Ske t ch

- '

' \- v .■ -

- of

t h e E n g l i s h

i n r o a d

_i n S e a l a n d

1 8 0 7 i .

;

L O N D O N-

-W/waS in-' the lbeginning of July,

Whens a division of the English fleet, *Withotranspbrts, < that'Were said'

ttticarry landvforces for Rngetlj made

itSi -appearahce-ih the Sounds confe­

rences' between the commanders Were

held" about the Salutes to be taken and given 1 from/ the castle of Cron- burg, and the simple confident people ‘ni'T i * thought'

/

thought the Armada intended for

the British allies, and consequently

received the English with their won­

ted hospitality.

About the middle

of July a Danish Frigate, stationed

at St, Thomas, on:her;.way home,'

had heard, that. all (England was big

with .the. news, that-the; expedition!

gone;iand to go was intended against)

Copenhagen; the Belt and: the smal-J;

ler passages were filled with vessels t

of every descriptions, and tlie people!

began to become suspicious.

f .

*

Tli*

, ' The better informed classes could

however not lend an ear to the ru­

mours , and; would not admit the

possibility,,of real hostilities to be

undertaken against a nation, whose

government had steadily adhered to

the strictest neutrality, and had not

deviated since the eruption of the

revolution from the honest efforts

to preserve peace, against all temp­

tation and intimidation offered; it

was expected, that when ihe articles

of the treaty of Tilsit would be

known and Russia would have in­

vited

6

vited England to join in treating for a general”peace, all the-motives fo£ distrusting the ; sincerity ^ of little Denmark 'Would be laidnaside the people relying on; their bv?W honesty, and. British- honour, were 1 again quieted, . ' J ^ .

. In this, state of- srrspenGe came'

on the g of August, 'when- the arri**

val of Mr. Jachson at!:I£iel: Was re­

ported in the- metropolis. The con - i

versation,. offers and menaces of this

man trith the prince Royal in a>

harsh language are hriowm

His*

up- •

upbraidings originated either from ’ \ fraud or ignorance : they where in­

tended as a gross veil to cover be­

fore the british nation the heinous

atrocity ' already determined to be

carried into execution, Or Mr.-Jack-

son, acted as the blind instrument of

Ministers, that were ignorant of

Denmark’s situation, resources and

finances: Denmark should, a^s it was

pretended, stand" in secret correspon­

dence with trance , and' be about

arming its fleet ; but Denmark had •*r •*1 . ••> I( ;*1 V *** OX■ 1‘1 * r 3 £*O/ almost aE its .tana -Fo rces in Hol­

stein

stein, and nothing could be .mors

preposterous, than assembling an

army, where not only no foe, but

an Ally was the neighbour; Den-,

mark' is not enabled on any short

warning to gather on its extended

but thinly inhabited coast a suffici­

ent number of Seamen to man the

navigable part of the fleet; in win-.,

ter the people are registred; at any.

other Season they are scattered over

the Seas in marcantile employments

and■it was shown, that the metro­

polis, contained.no more Sailors, than were

— — . were required to work a 74. gurh 9 .

Ship in service; the Finances of Den­

mark could not even with the grea­

test and consequently notorious ef­

fort have been sufficient to fit out

the fleet for a warlike expedition,

and there is no surmise, that modern,

France did ev er pay any. subsidies,.

The absurdity of Mr. Jackson’s hy­

pothesis was evident, but he did,

conclude. it by the insulting demand

of tailing, into custody the Danish

fleet, or the menace of war.

The ;

most aggravating calamity may soo­ ner

-be faced', than' the infamy of a

ftatiori, aii'd ad^uated the government'

. aif well as'lhe people, 1

• i r i s ’trite, the Island of Serilarid,

the'object 6f the attach, was defence­

less, the passage over the Belt ift-”

t&rccpted, hardly- any regular troops

on the whole' Island,, and a question

whether the peasantry cbiild be ar­

med expeditiously, or officers gottoi

putl'in motion the unwieldy bdcfy.

The" town contained about <2360 Ma-

r \ *O*' v* • rmes , * and* i 660 regular^ V the first ' * r ^ J r s ' * *»•,. >r. r . .

11

to mouht the Seabattcries, -and the

others to act, as required/ with the?

help of the citizens, and the volun^

teers ariibunting to about: 4000 men.:

A single rdnipart' and ditcli surfoiih-

ded the town, mounted with a ;f ewr

6 pounders, arid no outworchs whaft*' ✓ ever defended the appfoach.:; : l f the-' \ fate of States could be decided*sfrith- metically,- it ,waa demonstrated, that" *

the town arid; its nuftietbusr inhabit

tants would, have suffered Iefs ftotrt'

a surrender, and would haVe’ aWofc’

d'cdi calamities' by suliihissidh'i1 trut?

’sub-.

12

submission is the greatest of all car

lamities; though in respect to those

calamities it was impossible to ad­

mit , that the English, who ;upon

landing on the 15 of August had

published a Manifesto, in which they,

declared their intention o f ; tailing,

into custody the fleet, would chuse,

the most aggravating, means to ob-;

tain it: for determined as the mini­

sters must have been since the endj

ofJune, why should they trifle, away j

their time, and lose six weeks in a ,

dull suspence ? —- - In all July the;

, • .

three-

• T . —- three - crown - battery, that defends 1 3

the port,' had hardly a gun mounted,

and the' guard, consisting of 44 mehj

■ would have been overcome by a few

boats, arid Without the lofs of a men;

the1portr,atrd:Sea* Arsenal being1com**

plete: defericelefs would^have been

carried the same momenta What sig*

riified 'delays in execution, ' when the

plan was /adopted? ;Was it wanton

cruelty ? Was it pusillariimity,' that-

‘ de'cliiied an open attach ? Even after*

landing,1 and ‘ when the approaches5

on the ' 29 of August Were but about*'

$00

,rdist£}*qe .frqm ^the. raift*

■ JifB?2rcJKll^T-l1?^. b?f*ja I,teach > *ha$ ]spp#ld .lniye; bje/en.qqmjijisflted,, $, fewv (houfxS 0 and hayo, •yajtionaUy

a|xclrpu&tary; rcpmpeUed- th9.commas

$e£ J: q .

W'pndpr. ? Jnstefd'r:o£:..^hicH'

^}tl$ defined .cruelty.,jp^fsp^ta. ^pr

\vqtbdrawing, : ,Jrom . -tlip ,;scenes of

misery; $rei$ 0 fdpeady.

,,$re-

i*dAlSu§t by; /thepriti^Jv, .and idij^

Intention rto bombard became iny^r .

*idM?bo^bis yvyas begun0oft. thp. ;pyer, 1

q£ tber5; Septesnibre \ and^pontimpedT

for*j&ree.gnpcpeding nigbtf, pypnj^itJti:,

r . ■

btlt

but shqyt jnt.epjgfjs ;ift day timgj and..^i^^cjirplentlejs qrpelty, .tfipt tnp|'e ^ » r;iQ?.oQ.^.f s}^eysfT fireballs und, r|icbe^ .yyerei ; intpvtjbj|

, tp-yvp } tips,. r.^nglpy^Sf; (- attaph

our bppsesj pn the^defencelefS; ag$&

^.ompn. an;dr pbijdre^

.behind

the , yyplLtjS^^ed-,{ trendies,$ f *: tbfr

English, ,suqeedpd to ^Ujqfi a, horriijo

4 ®S feg;>.^#^lj.9He °Efiknt > ..e^egan^. town , inhabited,by, ,$ne 5 ,pf- tb ew p ^

pacific .peoplp , has been, i^opyerjt^

into, the tnpsit sorroiy/i^}, ,»iQ:uiappg$ •

place, of Europe.; ajiay; Jth$ ,shnepJ$jv

,

of

of the innocent sufferers, and tlie

ptospeet of their mangled bodies

haunt for ever the worthless, that 'prepared this butcher - scene; for we

can not explicitly accuse y6u,rXea-

. t ders of the forces and instruriients . ,

Of blind and vicious' nimisters,ns

We know, that the thinking part of

the army1 could 'but- censure the ex­

pedition. * ; This butcher - scene was

ended by the surrender of the! fleetf

106 vefsels’ and boats of every de­

scription, and the naval stores, con­

tained in tlie Sea* Arsenalj but when

— — ■ the enemy, declared, that to take that , 1 7

fleet into custody was the aim of

the expedition, why; should the cdn-;

ditions not be hept, after we were

compelled to ^resignation? >-

r The bombarding :.of Copenhagen

destroyed two churches,., the cathe­

dral, and 306 mansion-houses ^‘ere:

burnt, 11200 houses damaged,' and,

goo j people ; most -women V, and;

children slain and wounded. The in*

cendiary instruments; employed in

this horrid conflagration, are said; to

l

he

18

b#:o£ Ai new invention.

Had they

been, used against an -old enemy of

th.% English •; nation., the inveterate.

bate. of,.old enmities -would have

pleaded for .the atrocious incendia­

ries. of Copenhagen y but since the

famous. .; defence I,of Valetta- against

Solymany.:wheh liberty and existence

wore at stah.es, nothing- in the' an­

nals of history has occurred so ;druel,-

and. still, the English-boast, that they

had; .in reserve a fire, to slich toj

thie ,d o dies and ' thus burn aliv 6'

the; people, that did nothing but de­

vil

'

fend

— — fend themselves, if the to\vnf:had i 9

not capitalized." ’ -

■

r ; , -:

:

After ^the capitulation the -Sea-

Arsenal and the doch - yard were

taken in. possession j the rapacity,

as principle o f English seamen, and

the precept of one Home Popham was

displayed in all its vigour; vessels

on the stocks, or those under' re­

pairs that could not he brought of,

*were destroyed; a pleasure - bdutj a

‘gift of his, british Majesty in for­

mes times, shared the same fate,

' 2 *

even

even the private property ' of the , i Carpenters were tahen: in ,short, no­

thing left of whatever description.

.The victualling of the town was in­

tercepted 3 the inhabitants of Copen­

hagen ,yy ere pinched in the first ne­

cessities by, the Securers in self-do- • ,Tr ’ . fence of their fleet. Frequent des­

cents were made on the coast or on

the .smaller Islands for' the purpose

pf robbing the inhabitants of their

cattle,' or for burning; and 'destro­

ying .the trading;,' .boats,: considered

only ..as , victuallers , of ,the i town V

the fire woods of the Island ofHes-

seloe, :were cut down and shipped

.of. ; All the vefsels of the confident

Danes were talien as in a trap, and

carried to England,* the place of new

doctrine,: where, no doubt , that

right in Self + preservation to rob

its of our property, will be exteh- ' ' - . v.x ded to the lieeping and dividing the

spoils. ‘ The environs of the town

have through circumstances, that at­

tend a siege, but especially through

the presence: of an army during six

weeks been laid waste; no forage

nor

nor greens whatever} no residence

but through a special protection has

escaped; the marhs of spoliation and

depredation* are every where; even

the tombs. o f our friends in the

church-yard have been forced open:

and all this was ostensibly done for

the possession of the* Danish' flee V ;thc value of. whifch the carpenters

in , England w il l ; affix, and under

the protection ; of an Apology of

the cabinet of St. James for tramp­

ling upon the sacred ties, of friend­

ly professions, and the right of

— — Nations, with no other intent, tliarf 23

seizing in . self - preservation,-; What

never was intended and -probably

never could be detrimental to the

British.

This is the short sketch of the

fraudulous aspect of the Brittish,

when they appeared in the Sound,

of their unmilitary conquest of the

fleet, and of their wicked 6;nduct,

that yet may be crowned by the

pickings of the Danish properties,

and

~ » and;;thus,. in fearing tlifc;mash-,,;lay; 2,4 ^

open the tendency of English’; polir

ticks.; r— j, an W .lv i

Cl*77 iDY'i'I

.'■•IT

h i i J - -j

’i W J l t

i

’j.'ii.rf

w'.t

Cl

r-•

&5

W h e n I sent you last the short sli'dtch of the Inroad of the Brittish Jn-Sealand, the facts of the few days before their departure and shipping; ’< dould hot be included. I then thought, "that the Officers 1 and Commanders coitlt not he accused implicitly; o£; the barbarous- execution of this* pro- % ten-

tended Politickal, and of course ex­

pected., moderate Step .in. respect to

■ Individuals; but I have been cruelly

undeceived; the Comanders not to

mention one Popham, but even the

old Admiral Gambier was present,

when these Canihnls." broke r dbWn

With: a *brutal yell -ef. tnuinplx otb^.

last 'Ship on> the Stocks, 'gru&hingandi:

knowing tb pieces a l l ' t i m b e r s ; :

they have therefore -either :surpcased,

.theirInstructions and.-must be called

tb ainouht.for what- they: did not

take into Custody j or the whole brit*

tish Nation, after sanctioning sucfy

misdemeanour, must ’ descend from

the ranck; of civilired Nations, and

declare: their Island ;a den for thie-

res. and robbers* as-besides: these au­

thorised crimen, the English and J Scotch oihciers Staff as well as Sub­ altern, have stole every ■ where^bed- ........ - / dings, furniture andlinnen. Their ves­

sels have been crowded with stolen

good and of every description; the

troops from Hanover must however

be excepted, who are so distinguished

from English as gentlemen from

n»>»

g g

..•««*

Bloch guards'; -but I, propose to 'lay open before -the- whole:r world,land By naming the wretches, .what Europe is ’ fo expect' front great •Britain^ ft- - :Copenhagen ' 20 ; Octobrist i‘ 8 oy*t

h ‘ ■

i ; / j il+h r t i a )'.

-rj-hjiHo do*'. *>*3

'*rhr*3 .an il.yir '«*: r

*

*. i ^ t l v v v i ; ) 7 i) u U ,- :r - n - t U i f ,{ V-n.? 7 .

- s o / . vi i s T * ' ^ ; r c J [ J */ {, ; : , s a : ’.i n f / i „z « q > : *>

, / ;77 • ’ID ..? %■)0 f\

0 7 ft 11 H f a i

IT - , 1 .- ^ j H v / b o h

, ^ r • ' ■ > \ ;? V ., >; ; j - v , o J b . h i i .c J. v . ') i

•,•- , : ■ £ • 'JftV - 1 * # ■ ’’ 7 5 "

V y - i

V • ■St

L " ■"■•'-• t; (

S■' i r i ■:*;* /

> * 4