Nelson: Britannia's God of War (40 page)
Read Nelson: Britannia's God of War Online
Authors: Andrew Lambert
On 20 April Colonel Stewart, who had been privy to much of the discussion, and all of the fighting, had arrived in London, taking with him the view of Parker’s conduct that was held on the quarter-deck of the
St
George
and the
Elephant
. The following day Parker was recalled because of his pusillanimous conduct, foolish handling of battle, and feeble negotiations. The Armistice was upheld, and Nelson was ordered to take command.
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St Vincent now had a better appreciation of the battle, and stressed to Nelson that he had ‘command of the Baltic Fleet, on the conduct of which the dearest interests of this Nation depend’. He must be ready for sudden changes in Russian policy, despite the death of Paul. He had commended Stewart to the King, but sent him back to the fleet as he would be ‘of great use to you, both in treating and fighting, if there should be again occasion’.
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The Earl’s explanation of his decision to the King was that:
On a consideration of all the circumstances that have occurred since Sir Hyde Parker was first entrusted with the command of the Baltic Fleet, and the difficulties which he has raised on every occasion, wherein a prompt and vigorous execution of his duty has been required, he is under great apprehension that your Majesty’s service will derive no advantage from Sir Hyde’s continuance in that command.
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This was not entirely honest. Parker’s real fault was that he did not comprehend war at the same level as his second in command, and lacked the political courage to act on his own judgement. Anyone going out with Nelson under their command was sure to lose their reputation. He would be given any credit, while they must explain a failure.
It had been Nelson’s comments – relayed by Stewart, who shared his view – that persuaded the ministers to remove Parker for dilatory proceedings. They may also have been aware that the new situation required a new leader. Having broken the back of the conspiracy the British now wanted to ram home their advantage, securing a full retraction from the Tsar, and for this mission a fleet under the international celebrity Nelson would be far more powerful than one commanded by an officer who had so obviously failed.
On 21 April Rear Admiral Totty joined the fleet off Bornholm with reinforcements. The following day a Russian messenger from Copenhagen informed Parker that the Tsar had opened negotiations with London, and expected him to refrain from any hostile action against League members. Parker returned to Kioge Bay to wait for
orders.
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Inevitably Nelson found the delays that followed the armistice soul-destroying. Even by 20 April, he was writing to Emma that he was desperate to go home, and reminiscing about ‘days of ease, and nights of pleasure’ on a voyage from Palermo the previous year.
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He also instructed Davison to tell Fanny that he wished to be left alone, threatening to live abroad for ever on his Sicilian estate.
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The fact that he had the time to deal with private affairs suggests he was losing focus: there appeared to be no further prospect of action, or of being able to reward his followers.
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Like Nelson after the Nile, Parker had burnt the captured ships, lacking the time and manpower to refit them while further service beckoned. St Vincent promised to pay handsomely for the one remaining ship and head money, but rejected the idea of a grant as ruinous.
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On 29 April, the Swedes sent a flag of truce. Sensing the campaign was over, Nelson requested permission to go home for his health. Parker, doubtless glad to see the back of his over-mighty subordinate, now there was no prospect of any further fighting, merely requested a surgeon’s report ‘for form’s sake’, and provided a passage in Graham Hamond’s frigate HMS
Blanche
.
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St Vincent, meanwhile, was troubled by the strategic situation. He called a Cabinet to the Admiralty on 4 May and requested they sign new orders for the fleet, as the current disposition would enable the Swedes to join the Russians at Revel.
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These were issued the following day. St Vincent approved Parker’s conciliatory attitude towards the Russians and the suspension of hostilities that had been agreed following discussions with the Russian Minister at Copenhagen; now Nelson was to place the fleet to prevent the Swedish and Russian fleets joining at Revel or Cronstadt. He should inform the Swedes that he would not attack them if they stayed at Carlscrona. However Britain would be at war with Denmark at the end of the armistice period, if the grounds of dispute were not resolved.
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The Admiralty was happy to press on, expecting the situation would ultimately return to the
sta
tus
quo
ante
: Britain already held the Swedish and Danish West Indian islands as a pledge for their future behaviour.
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On 4 May Parker learnt that his decision to suspend hostilities had been correct. But any satisfaction he took was short-lived; he was astonished by orders to resign the command to Nelson, who was to have sailed that day for the recovery of his health. Admiral Young reported that Parker received the decision ‘with strongly marked
indignity’: he complained not only about the insufficiency of his forces, but also that Nelson had disobeyed his orders – ignoring the reality that had Nelson withdrawn, he would have exposed his force ‘to certain destruction’, as Young acknowledged. Now Parker waited on Nelson to deliver his public orders and instructions. The following day he resigned his command, and took Nelson’s place on the
Blanche
. She ran aground passing through the Sound, and he was obliged to call on the Danes for assistance. It was a sorry end to a feeble command.
Although Nelson believed that the command had come too late, he was quick to assure the Admiralty that he would do the best that ‘my abilities and a most wretched state of health will allow’. He remained convinced that his health was failing, constantly asking to be relieved, though without making an official request.
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Stewart was convinced that Nelson’s ill health was due to chagrin, not sickness, and Nelson himself realised, as he told Emma, that he could not leave until the business was finished.
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He was anxious to do something decisive to show the Russians that Britain still had a fleet in the Baltic.
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He took the best of the seventy-fours to Revel, while the sixty-fours, ex-Indiamen, the flotilla and other odd packets remained to watch Carlscrona. Had the war continued he planned to attack the twelve Russian battleships lying alongside a wooden mole at Reval. Now the mission had changed, he was to keep the Swedes and Russians divided, until the peace was secure, and dressed up his coercive visit as a compliment to the Tsar. If the Russians were still hostile he was ready to act.
Arriving off Revel on 11 May, Nelson was disappointed to find the Russians had moved their squadron three days earlier – the more so as he could see no reason why his force could not have destroyed them where they lay. As he reported to his confidant Vansittart, and through him to Prime Minister Addington, the British should have been off to Revel on 2 April, when the annihilation of the Russians fleet would have brought Denmark and Sweden, if not Russia, to their senses. The problem had been getting Parker past the Kronborg, or through the Belt; he seemed to want to wait in the Kattegat and fight the enemy there, ‘a measure disgraceful to our country’.
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His report to St Vincent was more measured, though equally menacing. ‘We know the navigation, should circumstances call us here again.’ He had gathered a wealth of hydrographic intelligence and other sailing
information for this relatively unknown sea.
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Next time it would be a lot easier.
The Russian response to the threat posed by Nelson and his squadron was extraordinary. They had sawn their way through thick ice, at enormous cost, to get the ships out of Revel before the British arrived, and were equally anxious to keep Nelson away from St Petersburg and the naval fortress/arsenal at Cronstadt. The Russians were well aware of their inability to match the impetuous, irresistible Royal Navy. Many British officers had served in the fleet of Tsaritsa Catherine, because they were far superior in all-round naval skills to their Muscovite contemporaries, and offered the Russian Navy a short cut to competence. This dependence only reinforced the sense of inferiority felt now that the British officers had been sent away, and British ships were coming. The forts at Revel and Cronstadt were weak: they would not have lasted long in the face of a determined British attack, directed by Nelson.
The Russians affected to be upset by Nelson’s arrival, as a gesture open to ‘misconstructions … at a moment of infinite importance to the interests of both countries’.
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They asked him to leave the anchorage on 16 May. Well aware that the diplomatic discussions were in hand, he sent an emollient reply, hoisted anchor and stood down for Bornholm to rejoin Totty. As there was no chance of a battle and he had no desire ‘to die a natural death’,
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he made an official application to be relieved on 17 May.
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Despite the disappointment of missing the enemy, and the chance of battle, Nelson continued to be the thorough professional. Anxious to keep his force efficient, he made careful use of captured stores and local food to improve the condition of the fleet. His fleet management was based on the existing routines established by St Vincent, and employed the standing Channel fleet report forms and orders. This was not merely to flatter the Earl: St Vincent had taken maintenance and health care to a new level, the better to keep his ships at sea, in front of the enemy, and away from the temptations of port.
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As many of the Danish ships had been newly fitted out, he used their ropes to improve the rigging of several ships.
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Nelson now had twenty-two battleships, forty-six other craft and not a man sick: ‘a finer fleet never graced the ocean.’
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He would do all he could to keep it that way, at the lowest cost.
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He also worked on the intelligence picture. Fremantle reported on
the Russian fleet and forts at Cronstadt, having been allowed to walk around the dockyard. The twelve ships from Revel were in poor condition, and none had been completely rigged. Most of the fleet was dismantled. It was obvious that hasty efforts had been made to put Cronstadt in a state of defence: a new fort similar to the Danish Trekroner was under construction and the flotilla was fitting out.
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Stewart produced a plan of Revel Bay, which Nelson sent home to be lodged in the new Hydrographic Office, accompanied by his plan for an attack.
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It was still there fifty years later, when his plan was revived for the Crimean War.
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Returning westward, Nelson encountered Lord St Helen’s, the new Minister to St. Petersburg, at sea on 20 May. With becoming theatricality, he stressed his anxiety to be ready in case negotiations broke down, more to stiffen the arm of the envoy than from any belief that hostilities might resume. The Russian-speaking Lieutenant Thesiger and two luggers were sent with the envoy, to keep up communications.
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On 24 May Nelson rejoined Totty off Bornholm. The same day junior envoy Benjamin Garlike at St Petersburg reported the Russians would release the impounded merchant ships, and would also repair them. To preserve the Tsar’s dignity, this would be described as an act of justice, rather than a response to English demands. The embargo had been lifted immediately after Nelson left Revel on the 17 May. England and Russia would negotiate an end to any differences without third parties; Russia would then dictate terms to Prussia, Sweden and Denmark. Garlike was confident Russia would not expect England to ‘abandon any one of the principles of Maritime Law’.
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This would be a complete success for British policy. St Helen’s reached the Russian capital on 29 May. With the negotiations close to completion, Nelson suddenly found the Russian attitude friendly, but the invitation to St Petersburg came too late: he was already off Rostock, heading west.
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Back in London St Vincent had somewhat prematurely told the King that:
Lord Nelson, who is in the habit of complaining of ill-health – has, it appears, received considerable benefit from the additional responsibility which has recently been thrown on him, and will, Lord St Vincent has no doubt, be able to continue in the command.
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