The shelling of Copenhagen on the night between Sep. 4 and 5, 1807.

During the 1700s, the Danish-Norwegian merchant fleet had become large and rather powerful, and in size only surpassed by the British fleet. Although Denmark tried to keep neutral in the wars subsequent to the French Revolution, Denmark was pulled into the growing conflict between the French-Russian alliance on one side and the English-Swedish alliance on the other. Denmark was not willing to give in to the English demands and kept on calling at ports in France and in French possessions. Twice this lead to an English attack, 1801 and 1807, and after the English shelling of Copenhagen in 1807—the worlds first bombardment of civilians—almost the entire Danish-Norwegian fleet was sieged.