Bombardment of Copenhagen

16 August – 7 September 1807, Copenhagen, Denmark

British success; the Danish fleet surrendered

After the Treaty of Tilsit, Britain feared that Napoleon would seize neutral Denmark's fleet. When the Danes refused to hand it over for the rest of the war, Admiral Gambier's fleet landed an army under Lord Cathcart, with Sir Arthur Wellesley among its generals, and besieged Copenhagen. From 2 to 5 September the city was bombarded with mortars and Congreve rockets; a third of it burned and some 2,000 civilians were killed. The Danes surrendered on 7 September and handed over their fleet: 18 ships of the line, 11 frigates and many smaller ships. Those that could sail were taken to England. The attack drove Denmark into alliance with Napoleon, and the two countries fought a gunboat war in Danish waters until 1814.