EGMONT-OP-ZEE AND COPENHAGEN
BROCK was soon to realize his dream of active service. Europe was in a
turmoil. Bonaparte’s ambition was insatiable, and unless effective
opposition was offered quickly, he was in a fair way to over-run the
Continent. England, under Pitt, was averse to participation in the
Continental wars, but the prime minister saw that to keep out meant real
danger. In 1798 Pitt agreed with Russia that an army should be sent to
Holland, which was at that time occupied by France under the name of the
Batavian Republic. The ultimate aim of the allies was to seize Northern
France, and thus hold Bonaparte in check. Of the 25,000 men which
England agreed to send, the 49th, Brock’s regiment, was a part.
In early August of 1799 the first detachment of this invading army,
10,000 men, left England, under command of Sir Ralph Abercromby. He was
to pave the way for the larger allied force under the Duke of York,
which would leave as soon as the advance guard had landed in Holland.
Brock took his men with Sir Ralph. The 49th was part of the brigade
commanded by Major-General John Moore, who, later, fell at Corunna in
Spain.
Nearly two hundred vessels were needed to convey Abercromby’s division.
Ships were different in those days from the great transports that have
carried our own Canadians to France. The expedition set off in fair
enough weather, but hardly had they set sail before they encountered
real opposition in the heavy seas and strong winds of the North Sea. It
was not till two weeks later, towards the end of August, that they were
able to anchor off the Dutch coast. While the army landed, the fleet
fired heavy volleys on the enemy’s position on the low sand hills which
fringed the shore. A few hours later the British occupied the Helder
Peninsula, though it cost them hours of stern fighting and the loss of a
thousand men.
The weather continued against the invaders. The British had no
protection from the heavy rains and bitter winds, and they could do
nothing but await reinforcements. Meanwhile they had several short and
sharp, but minor engagements. In a few days the Duke of York arrived
with the remainder of the British forces, about 7,000, and was joined
shortly afterwards by 10,000 Russians. Much time was taken up by the
landings and the adjusting of the forces, during which the enemy,
protected from the storms, made stronger his position. On September 19th
the Duke ordered an attack on Bergen, but the Russians, who were
impetuous and unused to military discipline, blundered badly, and the
attack failed.
On October 2nd a more determined attack was made upon Bergen, during
which Moore’s brigade led the advance along the sand to Egmont-op-Zee.
This was Brock’s first real battle. The enemy, concealed in the
sand-dunes, offered heavy opposition. The 49th, with the rest of the 4th
Brigade, were the advance guard for a column of 10,000 men under Sir
Ralph Abercromby, and moved along the low-lying coast line for five or
six miles before they were halted by what Brock described as gunfire
comparable to “a sea in a heavy storm.” General Moore ordered the 25th
and then the 79th to charge. The 49th came up on the left of the 79th,
and while they were held ready, Brock, disregarding personal safety,
rode out to view the position. He returned, and taking six companies,
which left Lieutenant-Colonel Sheaffe, his regimental second in command,
in charge of the other four, covering his left, cried “Charge!”
The men crashed forward, in sorry array from the point of view of order,
but with such daring and boldness that the enemy fled before them. This
was Brock’s first victory, and a real victory it was, though it cost him
over a hundred men and several officers. Brock, describing the action,
wrote to his home that “nothing could exceed the gallantry of my men in
the charge.” He himself had a narrow escape. He was looking over the
ground he had taken when a bullet struck him, and, says his brother
Savery, who was an aide to General Moore, and present, “the violence of
the blow was so great as to stun and dismount him, and his holsters were
also shot through.” Luckily he was wearing a thick muffler over his
cravat, and the bullet did not penetrate to his neck.
Savery Brock shared his brother’s indomitable courage. He was paymaster
to the 49th, but anxious to be in at the fighting. He disregarded his
brother’s instructions and was in the thick of it. “By the Lord Harry,
Master Savery,” said Brock, “did I not order you, unless you remained
with the general, to stay with your iron chest? Go back, sir,
immediately.” But Savery detected the pride as well as the rebuke in
Isaac’s tone and answered cheerfully: “Mind your regiment, Master Isaac!
You surely would not have me quit the field now?”
But though Abercromby’s column was successful at Egmont-op-Zee, the
operation against Bergen was a failure through the defeat of the other
columns. The allies retreated. They were in an unenviable position. A
winter campaign was out of the question, and food and supplies could be
had only from the ships at anchor, since Holland was so uncertain a
quantity. So the expedition fitted out at great expense and very hopeful
of success, ended in the shameful abandonment of Holland to the French.
The British returned to England, while the Russians wintered in the
Channel Islands. Brock learned much from Egmont-op-Zee, and if on the
whole the campaign was inglorious, his own part had been a worthy one
and the experience was invaluable.
Brock’s regiment on its return from Holland was quartered in Jersey,
where it remained until early in 1801. By this time Britain found
herself forced to fight a multiplicity of foes. Even Russia had gone
over to the enemy, whose forces daily grew larger and who were spending
time and money in preparation. The line-up looked unequal. On the one
side was Britain. On the other was France, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, and
Prussia. Denmark and Russia had a large fleet in the Baltic. If the
fleets of these two nations should combine with that of France, British
supremacy on the sea would be endangered. As long as she ruled the waves
she was safe from the schemings of Napoleon. Although war had not been
declared, a naval expedition against Denmark as the pivotal foe was
decided upon.
Meanwhile there was more trouble in Brock’s regiment. His second in
command, Lieutenant-Colonel Sheaffe was a brave soldier, but he laid too
much stress on the necessity for rigid and even harsh rule. The men were
sick of this unnecessarily stern disciplinarian who, unlike Brock, did
not temper justice with kindliness, and were daily growing more
resentful. On one occasion, when Brock returned after a temporary
absence, his men on parade cheered him wildly. He sensed in a moment the
situation. He knew that Sheaffe was needlessly autocratic, and he could
see that the men had grown more and more dissatisfied. Still the display
of rejoicing at his return was a flagrant breach of army discipline.
Unwillingly enough, he ordered his men to be confined to barracks for a
week. We can appreciate what it cost him, under these circumstances, to
be stern.
When the fleet was ready for action it was despatched to the Baltic
under the command of Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, with Nelson as second in
command. With the fleet went a land force under the command of Colonel
William Stewart, a fine soldierly man, who had the virtues of initiative
and action; Brock with the 49th accompanied Colonel Stewart, to whom he
stood next in seniority. When the expedition reached its destination it
was decided to attack Copenhagen at once with a portion of the fleet and
the land forces, all under the command of Lord Nelson.
Brock, who with a part of his regiment had his station on the _Ganges_,
had instructions to lead in the storming of the Trekoner batteries. The
attack, however, did not take place. The Danes offered such a spirited
resistance that the British infantry never got a chance to do their
part. In fact, they remained inactive through the engagement. They could
only wait and watch, quartered for the moment on the decks of British
vessels, and suffer heavy fusillade from the Danish batteries and ships.
The Danes pounded the British squadron hard. Brock, on the deck, had
several narrow escapes, while his brother Savery, again to be found
where the bullets were thickest, was firing a gun. Savery was
momentarily stunned by grape shot, and Isaac rushing to him, cried: “Ah,
poor Savery is dead.” But Savery was far from dead and proved it by
leaping to his feet with his usual nonchalant smile, and continued
behind his gun.
Towards the end of the battle, Brock, accompanied Captain Freemantle of
the _Ganges_ to the _Elephant_, Nelson’s flagship. He saw Nelson write
his celebrated message to the Crown Prince of Denmark, which ran, “Lord
Nelson has directions to spare Denmark, when no longer resisting; but if
the firing is continued on the part of Denmark, Lord Nelson will be
obliged to set on fire the floating batteries he has taken, without
having the power to save the brave Danes who have defended them.” The
Danes were compelled to bow to Nelson’s ultimatum, and surrender. Thus
the courage of Nelson had saved Britain from attack. The defeat of the
Danes, followed as it was by the death of the Czar of Russia, broke up
the coalition. Britain was no longer in danger.
Brock himself learned much from the Battle of the Baltic. He took heed
of Nelson’s wise and bold action in continuing the engagement in the
face of definite orders from Sir Hyde Parker to retire, and pigeon-holed
the occurrence in his mind. Eleven years later he himself was to take a
similarly bold and strong course when he sent his message to General
Hull commanding the American forces at Detroit, even though his
commander-in-chief had instructed him not to attack the enemy. But
Brock, after Copenhagen, knew that it sometimes paid to risk all and
say: “What men dare, I dare!”