Battle of Copenhagen 1807
Part of Napoleonic Wars
Copenhagen on fire, painted by Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg
Date 16 July–September 5, 1807 Location Copenhagen Result Decisive British victory
Combatants
United Kingdom	Denmark
Commanders
James Gambier	Ernst Peymann
Casualties
42 killed, 145 wounded, 24 missing[1]	5,000 soldiers and militia[1]

The Second Battle of Copenhagen, (16 August - 5 September 1807) was a British attack on the civilian population of Copenhagen in order to seize the Danish fleet. Combatants Allies: Austria[1] Portugal Prussia[1] Russia[2] Spain[3] Sweden United Kingdom[4] Ottoman Empire[5] French Empire Holland Kingdom of Italy Kingdom of Naples Duchy of Warsaw Bavaria[6] Saxony[7] Denmark [8] Commanders Archduke Charles Prince Schwarzenberg Karl Mack von Leiberich Gebhard von Blücher Karl... Image File history File links Copenhagen_on_fire_1807_by_CW_Eckersberg. ... Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg (January 2, 1783-July 22, 1853) was a Danish painter. ... July 16 is the 197th day (198th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 168 days remaining. ... September 5 is the 248th day of the year (249th in leap years). ... Year 1807 (MDCCCVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar). ... For other uses, see Copenhagen (disambiguation). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Denmark. ... Admiral John James Gambier (13 October 1756 New Providence, Bahamas- 19 April 1833 Iver,England) Governor of Newfoundland 1802 - 1804 In 1807, he took part in the Battle of Copenhagen (1807). ... Battle between the frigate HMS Tartar and Norwegian gunboats near Bergen in 1808 The Gunboat War (1807-1814) was the naval conflict between Denmark-Norway against the British navy during the Napoleonic Wars. ... Combatants United Kingdom of Great Britain Denmark-Norway Commanders Sir Hyde Parker Lord Nelson Olfert Fischer Steen Bille Strength Nelson: 12 ships of the line, 5 frigates, 7 bombs, 6 others Parker (reserve): 8 ships of the line Fischer: 7 ships of the line, 10 others Bille: 17 ships, 1... Battle of Zealand Point Conflict Napoleonic Wars Date 22 March 1807 Place Sejerø Result Decisive British victory Strategic background to the battle Naval tactical background British Battle Plan Jessens Battle Plan Battle Consequences See also British naval supremacy External links Danish military history account Categories: Military stubs | Naval battles... // Strategic background to the battle Naval tactical background Falsens Battle Plan British Battle Plan Battle Consequences See also British naval supremacy External links Sailing ships of the Royal Navy Norwegian naval account of the battle Categories: Historical stubs | Naval battles | Battles of the Napoleonic Wars | History of Britain | 1811... // Strategic background to the battle The British imposed a blockade on supply lines between Norway and Denmark during the Napoleonic War in the Skagerrak sound, except for Norwegian ships transporting lumber to Britain. ... August 16 is the 228th day of the year (229th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... September 5 is the 248th day of the year (249th in leap years). ... Year 1807 (MDCCCVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar). ... For other uses, see Copenhagen (disambiguation). ...

Denmark was a greater European power than today, possessing the province of Holstein (currently part of Germany) and all of Norway. At this time most of the Danish army under the Crown Prince was defending the southern border against possible attack from the French; thus the defence of Copenhagen was extremely limited. Holstein (Hol-shtayn) (Low German: Holsteen, Danish: Holsten, Latin and historical English: Holsatia) is the southern part of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany, between the rivers Elbe and Eider. ... King Frederick VI. King Frederick VI of Denmark and Norway (January 28, 1768 – December 3, 1839), reigned as King of Denmark from 1808 to 1839, and as king of Norway from 1808 to 1814. ...

The British government decided to seize the Danish fleet to avoid its ending up in the hands of Napoleon and attacked Copenhagen without any declaration of war. British troops commanded by General Wellesley defeated weak Danish forces near the town of Køge, south of Copenhagen. Within a few days, Copenhagen was completely encircled. The British offered to accept a surrender. Following the rejection of their proposal by the Danes, a British fleet under Admiral James Gambier bombarded the city from 2 September to 5 September 1807. On 7 September 1807, Danish General Peymann surrendered both the city and the fleet (18 battleships, one frigate, one pram, two ships, two ship-sloops, seven brig-sloops, two brigs, one schooner and 25 gunboats) to the overwhelming British and Hanoverian force under General Lord Cathcart. In addition, three 74-gun battleships on the stocks were broken up or destroyed, along with two of the aforementioned battleships, the frigate and the pram. For other uses, see Napoleon (disambiguation). ... Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS (c. ... Køge in Winter Køge is a municipality in east Denmark, in the county of Roskilde on the peninsula of Zealand. ... Admiral John James Gambier (13 October 1756 New Providence, Bahamas- 19 April 1833 Iver,England) Governor of Newfoundland 1802 - 1804 In 1807, he took part in the Battle of Copenhagen (1807). ... September 2 is the 245th day of the year (246th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... September 5 is the 248th day of the year (249th in leap years). ... Year 1807 (MDCCCVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar). ... September 7 is the 250th day of the year (251st in leap years). ... Year 1807 (MDCCCVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar). ... This article is about a battleship as a type of warship. ... For the bird, see Frigatebird. ... A pram or pramm was a ship, during the Napoleonic Wars that carried 10-20 guns on 1 gun deck. ... USS Constellation, a United States Navy sloop-of-war. ... USS Constellation, a United States Navy sloop-of-war. ... USS Constellation, a United States Navy sloop-of-war. ... Two-masted fishing schooner A schooner (IPA: ) is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts. ... A gunboat is literally a boat carrying one or more guns. ... The adjective Hanoverian is used to describe British monarchs of the House of Hanover things relating to the Duchy of Hanover things relating to Hanover, Germany and it is a horse breed, see Hanoverian (horse) ... William Schaw Cathcart, 1st Earl Cathcart (September 17, 1755 - June 16, 1843), English soldier and diplomatist, was born at Petersham, and educated at Eton. ...

The British fired 5,000 rounds into Copenhagen on the first night of bombardment, only 2,000 rounds into the city on the second night, and 7,000 rounds on the third night. More than 2,000 civilians were killed and 30% of the buildings were destroyed during the battle. The bombardment had included Congreve Rockets, which caused fires. On 21 October 1807, the British fleet left Copenhagen for England. The war continued up to 1814, when the Treaty of Kiel was signed. Congreve rocket from Congreves original work The Congreve Rocket was a British weapon designed by William Congreve in 1804. ... October 21 is the 294th day of the year (295th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 71 days remaining. ... Year 1807 (MDCCCVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar). ... Year 1814 (MDCCCXIV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ... The Treaty of Kiel, was a settlement between Sweden and Denmark-Norway on January 14, 1814, whereby the Danish king, a loser in the Napoleonic wars, ceded Norway to the king of Sweden, in return for the Swedish holdings in Pomerania. ...

Peymann was under orders to burn the Danish fleet from the Crown Prince as the Danish King at this time was not mentally stable. No one really knows why the fleet was not burned. After capture, one ex-Danish battleship, Neptuno, ran aground and was burnt on or near the island of Hven, and a storm sank 22 of the gunboats in the Kattegat. Of the battleships which reached England, only four — Christian VII 80, Dannemark 74, Norge 74 and Princess Carolina 74 — were taken into British service. Hven, or Ven, is a small Swedish island in the Öresund strait, between Scania and Zealand. ... The Baltic Sea The Kattegat (Danish), or Kattegatt (Swedish), is a bay of the North Sea and a continuation of the Skagerrak, bounded by Denmark and Sweden. ...

Footnotes

1. ^ ^{a b} Smith, D. p.254

References

• Smith, D. The Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data Book. Greenhill Books, 1998.

See also a new account of the British assault on Denmark in 1807 - 'Defying Napoleon. How Britain bombarded Copenhagen and seized the Danish Fleet in 1807' by Thomas Munch-Petersen (Sutton Publishing, 2007) Details available on http://www.copenhagen1807.info.

Historical Fiction

Author: Bernard Cornwell; Title: "Sharpe's Prey"- Richard Sharpe and the Expedition to Copenhagen, 1807