Author:
'An Observer' [Second Battle of Copenhagen, 1807; Bombardment of Copenhagen; Royal Navy; Napoleonic Wars]
Publication details:
'London: Printed for J. Hatchard, Bookseller to Her Majesty, Opposite Albany, Piccadilly. 1808.' ['Brettell & Co. Printers, Marshall-Street, Golden-Square.']
Although ostensibly neutral, Denmark participated was participating in the Continental Blockade, and under heavy pressure from the French and their Russian allies to pledge its fleet to Napoleon. As a consequence a Royal Navy fleet, under Vice-Admiral James Saumarez, bombarded the Copenhagen for a period of days in August and September 1807. The controversial action succeeded in its aims: the Dano-Swedish fleet was seized, and the sea lanes of the Baltic and North Sea were secured for the use of the British merchant fleet.