16 - Copenhagen and the Baltic Command, January–June 1801

Summary

In the first half of 1801, Nelson won another of his great victories, against the iDanes at the Battle of Copenhagen (2 April) and then went on to serve as commander-in-chief in the Baltic for two months. The battle, and the events immediately preceding it, have been extensively studied and, recently, new research in both the Danish and the British records has done much to increase our understanding of this most complex of Nelson's actions. However, hitherto, very little attention has been paid to the period following the battle when Nelson was commander-in-chief in the Baltic, and when he emerged, really for the first time, as a skilled administrator and diplomat, as well as a fighting admiral. New material now allows us to throw light on this relatively obscure period and, moreover, to look more closely at Nelson's command methods and to explore his personal feelings during the campaign.

The material relating to his command methods comes, first, from another of the important recent discoveries: Nelson's Order Book for January–October 1801. Like the 1798/9 book examined earlier (see p. 214), this is a key document for the understanding of Nelson as a commander since, unlike his formal official letters, these are urgent, direct orders, often to specific subordinates. They strikingly demonstrate Nelson's ability to combine attention to detail with inspirational exhortation. Additionally, Nelson's Sea Journal for the period has been located in the National Maritime Museum. A set of rough, hastily scribbled notes, it consists of short summaries of his activities, written up each evening. So it gives us a wonderfully immediate insight into Nelson's actions, and his related thoughts, as the campaign unfolded. Although it is too long for full transcription here, the section relating to the build-up to the Battle of Copenhagen, and its immediate aftermath, has been printed, to give an idea of its value as a primary source. There is the new ‘run’ of letters to Nelson's second in command, Rear Admiral Thomas Graves, printed earlier in the ‘leadership section, which give a sense of what it was like to work closely with Nelson (see pp. 57–59). Finally, and more formally, there are Nelson's official in-letters for the period he was commander-in-chief, now in the National Archive, a number of which, it would appear, Nicolas did not see.