The Copenhagen Captains’ Memorial

Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson’s immortal fame tends to overshadow the memory of those who served with him and this is particularly true of the men who commanded the ships that fought at the great battles at Aboukir Bay, Copenhagen and Trafalgar.

To commemorate the bicentenary of the latter in 2005 The 1805 Club located, recorded and, where necessary, conserved the graves and monuments of all those who commanded ships, or wore their flags at the battle. The results of The Trafalgar Captains Memorial Project were made as widely available as possible and were published in the remarkably successful The Trafalgar Captains: Their Lives and Memorials in 2005.

Following this achievement the Club’s Council turned its attention to the Battles of the Nile (1 August 1798) and Copenhagen (2 April 1801). The first stages of the Nile and Copenhagen Captains Project is now complete, thanks to a team of researchers and recorders – most of them members of the club, and we have located the site of the grave and/or monument of every Nile and Copenhagen senior officer. The project has encompassed 56 men, including some who fought at both battles.

The conservation stage of the project, involving many of the graves and monuments, is dependent on sufficient funds being raised to finance the necessary works and the Club is actively seeking sponsorship for this stage.

The Nile and Copenhagen Memorial Project is the Club’s most ambitious project to date and also features a splendid book, Nelson’s Captain: Their Lives and Memorials, to be published in 2015.