NELSON | autograph letter signed, to Sir James Crauford, 1801

NELSON, HORATIO LORD

AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ("NELSON & BRONTE"), TO SIR JAMES CRAUFORD 

expressing his hopes for peace in the Baltic following his victory at the Battle of Copenhagen, but complaining about the recalcitrance of the Danes ("...In Denmark I am told there is an inveteracy ag[ains]t England beyond what I could conceive possible and even that the Prince [i.e. Crown Prince Frederick] talks ag[ains]t us in a very unhandsome manner..."), with an initialled postscript ("N&B") further complaining about the French influence on Denmark, 3 pages, 4to, HMS St George, Køge Bay, 8 and 17 June 1801 

HOPING FOR PEACE BUT READY FOR WAR, NELSON CONSIDERS THE POSITION IN THE BALTIC IN TYPICALLY BELLIGERENT TERMS JUST BEFORE HIS DEPARTURE FROM THE REGION. Nelson wrote this letter anchored in Køge Bay, south of Copenhagen, having just returned from a cruise across the Baltic that had taken his squadron to Reval (Tallinn), where the Russian fleet was anchored, and to Rostock. He was waiting for news of negotiations with the new Tsar, Alexander I, that would end the League of Armed Neutrality and bring his recall to Britain; his successor, Vice Admiral Pole, reached the fleet the day after this letter was sent. Nelson's correspondent, Sir James Crauford, was the British envoy to Lower Saxony.

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