1-page hand-written letter, signed "[Horatio Lord] Nelson & Bronte" and with 7 line autograph postscript signed by Nelson on the side, to Lieutenant William Archibold, Commander of the Eling. Signed and hand-written on board the St. George at sea, dated May 8, 1801, ordering Archibold to proceed to Kioge [Kjöge] Bay (near Copenhagen) and collect supplies for the Fleet before rejoining Nelson and his squadron "without a moment's loss of time." Measures 12¼x7¾".
Since the Battle of Copenhagen on April 2, 1801, Nelson had been cruising in the Baltic off the Danish coast keeping a wary eye on both the Swedes and the supposedly friendly Russians. On May 6 he himself had been in Kjöge Bay; on May 7 off Falsterholm; and by May 8 he was poised to sail for the Gulf of Finland, where (he explained to Evan Nepean of the Admiralty) "it is my intention to show myself...in such a manner as I trust will be taken as a compliment by the Emperor of Russia, and at the same time, with the precaution that...their Lordships may be perfectly at ease for the safety of the [Reval] Squadron, in spite of all the power of Russia" (Nicolas, IV, 358). His instructions in this letter to Archibold were to deliver an enclosed letter to the Agent Victualler at Kjöge Bay, then, "remain there 'till Saturday Noon, when you are to receive Mr. Booth Purser of the London, with fresh supplies &c for the Fleet (should there be any)...". The letter is endorsed in another hand "Order to Proceed to Kioge for Fresh Beef"; and Nelson's postscript in his own hand in the margin reads "Renezvous if Sail'd North end of Bornholm," the island to the south of Sweden off which he intended to leave a patrolling squadron of seven sail to the line while taking a superior, if largely unarmed, squadron of eleven sail of the line, a frigate and two sloops to Reval [now Tallinn], where he arrived on May 12.