King George III Authorizes Privateers in the Napoleonic Wars’ Conflict with Denmark
Because of its strategic location on the Baltic, during the Napoleonic Wars the small nation of Denmark got caught between the great warring powers of Britain and France. In December 1806, Denmark's independence looked increasingly under threat from France. The British tried to persuade Denmark to secretly ally with Britain, but to...
Because of its strategic location on the Baltic, during the Napoleonic Wars the small nation of Denmark got caught between the great warring powers of Britain and France. In December 1806, Denmark's independence looked increasingly under threat from France. The British tried to persuade Denmark to secretly ally with Britain, but to no avail. Before long reports of British diplomats and merchants in northern Europe made the British government feel uneasy, and by mid-July 1807 the British believed that the French intended to invade Denmark to use that nation against Britain. The British determined to act first and sent an army and part of the Royal Navy to Copenhagen at month's end. In a matter of days, both France and Britain were leaning on Denmark to declare war on the other, but the Danes insisted on maintaining their neutrality. The British fleet then bombarded the city, causing widespread death and destruction. On September 5 the Danes capitulated, surrendering their navy, and thus making sure it would not fall into French hands. In return the British undertook to leave Copenhagen within six weeks.
The British victory at Copenhagen did not end the war; in fact, it brought Denmark into the war on the side of France. The British then took the standard belligerent naval measure of the era, issuing letters of marque that authorized its ships and those of its allies to act as privateers and seize Danish ships and cargo, whether military or otherwise. In times of peace, this would be piracy.
Document Signed, London, November 5, 1807, to John Lord Eldon, High Chancellor of Great Britain, ordering him to affix the Great Seal of the United Kingdom to a commission empowering Admiral Alexander John Ball, Commissioner of the Island of Malta, to grant "Letters of Marque and Reprisal against the ships and goods belonging to the King of Denmark" or any of his subjects.
The war between Britain and Denmark continued until 1814. As for Ball, he was the first British Governor of Malta, and a popular one at that.

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