On 18 May 1809, the 74-gun Third Rate HMS Standard, under Captain Askew Hollis, led in a squadron that also included the frigate Owen Glendower, and the vessels Avenger, Ranger, Rose, and Snipe.

Hollis, in his report, stated that Anholt was important in that it could furnish supplies of water to His Majesty's fleet, and afford a good anchorage to merchant vessels sailing to and from the Baltic.

[3] However, the principal objective of the mission was to restore the lighthouse on the island to its pre-war state to facilitate the movement of British men of war and merchantmen navigating the dangerous seas there.

[5] King Frederick VI of Denmark declared the recovery of Anholt to be the highest priority and gave orders in February 1810 for the collection of the necessary troops and gunboats, under the overall command of General Tellequist.

Winter ice and late storms hampered the expedition which set sail three times from Gjerrild Bay, just north of Grenå, without reaching Anholt.

Eventually, when British warships started to be seen, the window of opportunity had disappeared and General Tellequist gave the order to abandon the expedition for that year.

[6] Captain Nicolls, of the Royal Marines, the British governor on the island, had heard of the plans to recapture Anholt and deployed a gunboat, the Grinder, to scout the coast of Jutland whenever the weather was fair.

The Danes landed on the northern beach of Anholt early in the morning and marched towards Fort York, a bastion built in extension of the lighthouse and now manned by 380 British marines.

With raised sword, he led a charge by a small party of men towards the fort, but a British bullet ended his life and settled the battle.

On the way back, Tartar captured two Danish transports that it had passed while chasing the gunboats; one of them had 22 soldiers on board, with a considerable quantity of ammunition, shells, and the like, while the other contained provisions.

[11] Captain Joseph Baker of Tartar proposed taking his Danish prisoners to Randers and exchanging them for the officers and crew of Pandora, which had wrecked in February.