Scene of embarkation for foreign service at Deal—A character—Force
and objects of the expedition—Arrival off Walcheren—Siege
and capture of Flushing—Disastrous sickness among the
troops—Evacuation of Walcheren, with the author's adventure on
the occasion—The return to England—Napoleon's situation at that
period.
In June 1809 we left Colchester with other corps, for the purpose of
embarkation; our route lay through Chelmsford, Gravesend, Maidstone, to
Shorncliff barracks (in Kent) placed on the summit of a hill extending
to the verge of the white cliffs overhanging the sea, and commanding a
clear view of the straits of Dover, and the opposite coast of France.
On the 16th of July we marched through Dover to Deal, where innumerable
boats lined the shore for the purpose of conveying troops to the
various ships anchored in the Downs for their reception. Large bodies
of soldiers were pouring into the town by all the roads to join the
vast armament about to rendez-vous at this point. Hurrying into the
boats, the hardy sailors pulled away: the beach and the bay were
covered with thousands of soldiers, intermixed with the fair daughters
of Albion, who had come from afar to witness this brilliant spectacle.
The army was in a fine state of discipline, and filled with enthusiasm,
while the ensigns of many naval victories floated in the breeze from
the mast heads of those men of war, that had for years swept the ocean,
opened the whole commerce of the world to this island, and filled the
coffers of England with almost inexhaustible resources.
We had no sooner arrived on board the York seventy four, commanded by
Captain Barton, than the usual bustle prevailed on such occasions,
which had in some measure subsided, when a large fat man in a small
boat was seen making towards the ship, dressed in light fawn-coloured
breeches, white cotton stockings and shoes, with a loose coat,
evidently of provincial cut. Coming alongside, he eagerly demanded
the number of the regiment on board, which proved to be the identical
one he was in search of; he then mounted the side of the ship with
breathless exertion, and attempted to bustle through the crowd of
soldiers huddled together. However, the butt ends of some firelocks
falling heavily near his toes, formed a sufficient hint to arrest
his progress, and he was much confounded at finding himself jostled
amongst such a concourse of troops for the first time in his life.
After waiting some time with intense anxiety, he at length succeeded
in clearing the way, crying out in accents of one whose patience had
been quite exhausted by hopelessness of redress, "Will any man in this
ship have the goodness to point out the Paymaster's berth? for really,
gentlemen, I have striven in vain to obtain an answer of the many
persons whom I have already addressed." A voice from the crowd replied,
"Why, there is no such thing,"—at which unwelcome intelligence the
countenance of the applicant underwent a painful transition from hope
to despair.
While at anchor in the Downs, the wind blew sufficiently strong to
cause the unpleasant motion of the ship which produces sea sickness,
and, being one of the junior officers, I was not so fortunate as the
Paymaster, who had secured a berth, for I wandered for three days into
different quarters of the ship, in a state unnecessary to describe
to those who have experienced the heaving of a ship at anchor. A
midshipman about my own age kindly offered to provide me with such
accommodation as the cock-pit afforded, which offer I thankfully
accepted, in hopes of at least getting into a quiet uninterrupted
corner. I had scarcely entered the hammock hung for my reception, when
I was assailed by quantities of cock chafers crawling over my face, and
under the blankets, (the ship having just returned from a cruise from
the West Indies.)
The prodigious armament consisted of thirty-five ships of the line;
two of fifty guns, three of forty-four guns; and one hundred and
ninety-seven sloops, bombs, and other armed small craft,—with an
army of thirty-nine thousand, two hundred and nineteen men, including
officers, all assembled in the Downs on the 27th of July, 1809. The
whole were under the command of Rear-Adm. Sir R. Strachan and Gen.
the Earl of Chatham, in conjunction. These Commanders sailed in the
Venerable at daylight, on the 28th of July, and arrived in the East
Kapelle roads, off the island of Walcheren on that evening; but, owing
to the boisterous state of the weather, and contrary winds, a landing
could not be effected on the Domburg beach. The other two divisions
of the fleet followed in succession from the Downs. The object of the
expedition was, to capture or destroy the enemy's ships, building at
Antwerp and Flushing, or afloat in the Scheldt; also the destruction
of the arsenals and dock-yards at Antwerp, Ternuese, and Flushing; to
reduce the island of Walcheren, and render, if possible, the Scheldt no
longer navigable for ships of war; with directions to the commanders,
should they not be able to effect all these objects, that after the
reduction of Walcheren, (which was to be kept possession of, and a
force left for its protection,) the remainder of the troops were to be
re-embarked, and to return to England.
The island of Walcheren is thirty-four miles in circumference,
including St. Jootsland, and is situated between the mouths of the East
and West Scheldt, inclosed by Cadzand on the south, South Beveland
and Wolfertsdyck on the east, and North Beveland on the north east.
Our division of the fleet sailed from the Downs at half-past ten
o'clock A. M. on the 30th, and came to anchor the next afternoon, in
the East-Kapelle roads off Walcheren, when we observed the mortar and
gun-vessels keeping up a heavy fire on the small town of Ter Veere,
whilst a small body of English troops were lying behind the sand-hills,
keeping watch on the road towards Middelburg, the capital of the
island. Part of the fleet had already entered the Veere Gat, and had
landed a large force, with three divisions of sailors (three hundred)
the day before, at half-past four in the afternoon, on the Bree-sand,
a little more than a mile west of Fort de Haak, the fire of which had
been previously silenced by the gun-boats and mortars. The peaceable
inhabitants sent a deputation from Middelburg to the head-quarters;
the army advanced the next day, the 1st of August, and took possession
of that place, drove the enemy into Flushing, and took from them some
field-pieces.
Gen. Sir John Hope landed his divisions in South Beveland the same day,
and took possession of Ter Goes, the capital of the island, which is
thirty-five miles long. The French fleet had retired beyond the chain
which was drawn across the Scheldt near Fort Lillo. On the 3d, a few
vessels were observed leaving Flushing; some boats were sent in chase;
the weather was fine, the wind S.S.W., and the flood tide nearly down,
which gave every hope of their effecting a safe return. The Raven
sloop of war went to their protection, when the enemy's vessels again
retreated into Flushing. The wind suddenly flew west in a squall, first
blowing hard and then baffling. The boats got safe off, but the fire
continued on the sloop for four hours without intermission, round shot
passing through her from the Breskens batteries, and grape dropping on
board from the ramparts of Flushing. She suffered severely in the hull,
masts, and rigging, and had two guns dismounted, the top-mast shot away
above the lower caps, the main-mast, bowsprit, and main-boom, rendered
unserviceable, the sails and rigging completely cut in pieces, and her
Commander, Capt. Hanchett, and eight men, wounded. Night coming on,
she grounded on the Ellboog; at daybreak two brigs were sent to her
assistance, and at seven she floated.
The enemy were very apprehensive lest our army should make an attempt
to pass the East Scheldt, near Zandvliet, opposite fort Bathz, which
they attacked on the 5th with twenty-eight gun-boats, but were driven
off by the batteries. The weather continued so bad until the 7th,
the wind blowing S.W. and S.S.W., that the sea blockade of Flushing
could not be accomplished, and the enemy continued to convey their
wounded soldiers to Cadzand, and also threw one thousand men across
the Scheldt, one mile and three-quarters, to reinforce the town. At
half-past five o'clock in the evening of the 7th the enemy made a
sortie on the right of the line from Flushing, but were repulsed and
pushed back at the point of the bayonet. While all these things were
going on, our regiment had been removed from the line-of-battle ship
into small craft, and anchored in the Sloe passage, between Walcheren
and South Beveland. On the morning of the 9th, ours, the light brigade,
composed of the second battalions of the 43rd, 52nd, and the Rifle
corps, part of Earl Rosslyn's division (two thousand and twenty-two
men) were under the command of Major Gen. Stewart. He considered,
from the nature of the service we were likely to be employed on, and
probably cut off from our baggage by dykes and rivers, that small black
knapsacks, with brown straps, would prove of essential service to the
officers: for these we had paid half-a-guinea each, previously to our
leaving England. However, subsequently, as he expected us to carry
them at brigade field-days, some little discussion arose on that head,
behind a wind-mill.
A day's salt pork and biscuit being served out, and all the officers
with their knapsacks strapped on their backs, we began our march;
the day was extremely sultry, without a breath of air; the road was
perfectly flat, as well as the whole face of the country, which was
intersected with ditches, covered with a thick ooze or vegetable
substance, and high dykes rising on each side of the way. The Paymaster
had joined the column, as the place of the greatest security. As
guns from the gun-boats were sounding at intervals, in front and
rear, we persuaded him that it was probable we might become engaged
without any previous warning, by a front, flank, or rear attack, which
information, added to the heat of the atmosphere, put him into such
a state of perspiration, that when we halted, a liquid stream of hot
water poured from his forehead, such as I have never before, nor since
beheld; added to which, his tailor had fitted his corpulent sides to a
nicety, although equal praise could not be bestowed on his hatter, who
had manufactured his cap so large, that it fell over his face like an
extinguisher, and the worst of it was, both his hands were occupied;
in his right he held his wig and drenched pocket-handkerchief, while
his left was in momentary request to disentangle his sabre from betwixt
his legs. "Well," said he, with a good-tempered smile, "if ever I
knew any thing like this!" and, notwithstanding his uncomfortable
plight, he cracked his jokes, and proved himself a man of more ready
wit, and possessing a greater fund of anecdote and humorous stories,
than any one I ever met with, so that he became a general favourite
throughout the regiment: but such a figure in a light infantry
jacket! such skirts, with pockets large enough to have stowed away
half the striplings of the corps! When the brigade was put in motion,
he remained in the middle of the way, as they passed him right and
left, and waited for the light waggons carrying our baggage; then
stowing himself comfortably away in one of them, he was brought to our
cantonments perfectly sick of campaigning.
As we passed along, we were much struck at the great cleanliness of
the cottages, and at the contented air of the well-dressed peasantry.
The females were decorated with silver or gold ornaments about their
persons, and many of them wore a plate of the same metal across their
foreheads. The little boys of five or six years old held pipes in their
mouths, smoking with all the gravity of men, and wore their hair long
behind, broad-brimmed hats, brown jackets, short breeches, shoes, and
silver buckles, precisely similar to the elders. We passed through
Ter-Goes, a fine old brick town, surrounded by earth ramparts and a wet
ditch; it opened its gates without making any resistance to Sir John
Hope's corps.
Continuing our march half a league farther on, we arrived at the clean
village of Cloting, containing a good church, and a handsome house in
the centre of it, which was the residence of the Burgomaster; we took
up our quarters in the different houses, and the men in the spacious
handsome barns, painted green, such as may be seen near gentlemen's
houses in England. Five companies of our regiment were detached to
another village. The humble dwellings of the peasantry bore an air of
comfort, and the abundantly supplied dairies, paved with well washed
tiles, presented a freshness seldom exhibited among the poorer classes
of other countries.—A considerable flotilla proceeded to Bathz,
where they arrived on the 11th; the enemy attacked the fort with two
frigates, one bearing a Vice Admiral's flag, thirty brigs, eight
luggers, one schooner, and fourteen gun boats; at the expiration of a
smart firing, they were beaten off, leaving six gun boats aground, five
being destroyed, and one brought in. In the afternoon of the same day,
Capt. Lord W. Stuart, commanding the Lavinia and nine other frigates,
availed himself of a light breeze from the westward, (notwithstanding
the tide was against the proceeding,) sailed up the west Scheldt, and
passed the batteries between Cadzand and Flushing; the ships were under
the enemy's fire for nearly two hours, without any material accident,
with the exception of a shell striking the L'Aigle, and falling through
her decks into the bread-room, where it exploded: one man was killed
and four wounded, and her stern frame much shattered. The Amethyst got
aground after passing Flushing.
On the 13th, the batteries before Flushing being completed, and some
frigates and bombs having taken their station, a fire was opened at
half past one P.M. from upwards of fifty pieces of heavy ordnance,
including mortars and howitzers, which was vigorously returned by the
enemy; an additional battery was finished during the night, of six
twenty-four-pounders, (worked by sailors,) and the whole continued
to play on the town; until late on the following day. At half-past
ten on the morning of the 14th, the following line of battle ships
(anchored in the Duerlo passage) got under weigh: the St. Domingo,
Blake, Repulse, Victorious, Denmark, Audacious, and Venerable,—and
ranged along the sea-front of the town, led in by Rear-Admiral Sir
R. Strachan; but before they had opened their fire, the wind came
more southerly, and the St. Domingo grounded inside the Dog-land; an
officer, not knowing her situation, passed inside of her, by which
means the Blake also grounded; the other ships were ordered to haul
off to anchor as at first intended. The Domingo was soon got off,
and the Blake became again afloat, and came to anchor with the rest
of the squadron; the ships continued to ply the enemy with a furious
cannonade until four in the afternoon, when the town presented a vast
conflagration, burning in all quarters. The firing having nearly
ceased from the ramparts, Gen. Monnet, the Governor was summoned
to surrender, but he having given an evasive answer, hostilities
recommenced and continued until two o'clock in the morning of the 15th,
when the enemy demanded a suspension of arms, and within an hour the
Governor surrendered the town, (when two detachments of the Royals
and 71st regiments took possession of its gates,) and the whole of
the garrison, prisoners of war, besides those already taken in the
different forts and islands of Walcheren, South Beveland, Shouwen,
Duivland, Brouwershaven, and Zierigkzee, with all the valuable stores
therein. The loss in killed, wounded, and missing of the British, during
the siege, was about seven hundred and twenty, including officers.
From this moment offensive operations seemed at an end: we were
surrounded with abundance, our days were occupied in the sports of
the field, our evenings passed at each others' quarters in idle and
pleasant conversation, pay was issued almost to the day that it was
due. Provisions of all descriptions were offered for sale at a very
low rate: tea, sugar, and coffee, were not half the price of the same
in England; wines, brandy, hollands, and liqueurs, might be purchased
for a mere trifle; and fat fowls or ducks for tenpence the pair. In
this land of plenty we were lulled into a fatal security, for, about
the 20th, the soldiers fell ill, staggered, and dropped in the ranks,
seized by dreadful fevers[10], and with such rapidity did this malady
extend, that in fourteen days, twelve thousand and eighty six soldiers
were in hospital on board ship, or sent to England; the deaths were
numerous, and sometimes sudden; convalescence hardly ever secure;
the disorders ultimately destroying the constitution, and causing
eventually the destruction of thousands in far distant climes.
The natives now became ill, and informed us that one-third of them
were confined to their beds every autumn until the frosty weather
set in, which checked the exhalations from the earth, and gave new
tone to their debilitated frames, and thereby stopped the progress
of the complaint. Independently of the records of the unhealthiness
of these islands, where every object depicts it in the most forcible
manner, the bottom of every canal that has communication with the sea
is thickly covered with an ooze, which, when the tide is out, emits a
most offensive effluvium; and every ditch that is filled with water, is
loaded with animal and vegetable substances. If persons living in these
islands from their infancy, who practise a cleanliness that cannot be
excelled, and live in good houses, cannot prevent the effects of the
climate, it may readily be supposed how much more a foreign army must
suffer. The inhabitants informed us, that in the preceding autumn, two
hundred French troops were quartered in the village, out of whom one
hundred and sixty had the fever, and seventy of them died.
Our landing had excited a great sensation in the north of France; so
much so, that numerous corps of the national guards marched to the
succour of Antwerp, only garrisoned when we first made our descent on
the coast with three thousand men, besides the eight thousand sailors
on board the fleet, that had retired up the Scheldt. Many of the
national guards suffered from the climate, and shortly returned to
their families with ruined constitutions.
The town of Flushing, after the siege, presented a deplorable
appearance, with many houses burnt down, and most of them unroofed,
and scarcely supplying sufficient covering for the sick soldiers, who
continued to increase so fast, that ten inhabitants to each regiment
were requested to assist as attendants in the hospitals; the medical
officers were extremely harrassed, numbers of them became incapable of
attending on their patients, being themselves seized by the same fatal
malady, so that, as the fever gained ground, the doctors diminished
in numbers. At one period, four hundred and ninety-eight soldiers
died in a fortnight in Walcheren, which place the Austrians were very
solicitous our troops should continue to occupy as long as any chance
remained for them against Napoleon, who was at this time in the very
heart of their empire.
Early in September, while at dinner, a sudden order reached us to move
towards the coast, when we instantly packed up and reached the beach
in two hours, where the troops began their embarkation. The captain of
the company, with agitated looks, ran towards me, and told me that, in
the hurry of moving off, he had left the whole of his company's books
in the corner of the room we had occupied, and that the commanding
officer had most positively refused him permission to fetch them. Under
these circumstances, and at his urgent entreaties, and promises to have
a boat in waiting on my return, I undertook the unpleasant excursion,
and, rapidly retracing my steps, I re-entered the village at a quick
pace, in little more than an hour; it appeared quite tranquil, as if
no foreigners had ever been amongst them. One or two natives only were
looking from their windows. A sudden thought now struck me that I might
be seized and made prisoner, which caused me much uneasiness; but yet
to decamp without accomplishing my object, was sorely against the
grain with me. While assailed by such conjectures, I entered the door
of the house that we had previously occupied, which I found open, and
saw the contented inmates enjoying a comfortable meal, nor did they
evince the least surprise at my reappearance. Without uttering a word,
and passing into the inner apartment, I seized the books, (the dinner
was still untouched on the table exactly as we had left it,) and with
hasty strides repassed the room where the family were seated, making
a slight inclination of the head: they half rose at seeing me loaded;
but not a syllable was exchanged between us. Some of the inhabitants
had now come out of their houses, and regarded me with suspicious
looks: I feigned indifference; but no sooner cleared the village,
than I started almost at speed, and had made great progress, when I
espied at a distance the light waggons and fat hollow-backed horses,
with flowing manes and tails, returning from the beach at a trot;
and, being aware that the soldiers were not very ceremonious on these
occasions, I was apprehensive the drivers of these vehicles might be
disposed to treat me in the same manner, or probably take me back as a
hostage. I therefore concealed myself behind a bank until they should
have passed by. Night soon came on, but I could descry the lights in
the ships' tops, and, in my hurry to follow their direction, I took
the wrong road, which led me into a field where it ended. However,
with the hope that a short way farther would enable me to reach the
beach, I darted onwards, and found a broad ditch impeding my farther
progress. It was in vain I ran up and down in search of a narrow part;
in almost a fit of desperation, I hurled the books across, one after
the other, tried my footing, retired some paces, and, at a run, sprang
across it with the greatest exertion, while a momentary joy gleamed
over my countenance, on mounting a bank, to find myself at the water's
edge. The lights were still stationary, but not a boat to be seen.
Owing to my great exertions and haste in passing over fourteen miles
of ground, I was in a profuse perspiration, which was soon succeeded
by a cold shivering, such as I imagined was the disorder incidental to
this swampy country. I feared that I should be left to perish before I
could reach the ship; a heavy dew fell, and I was almost perishing with
cold, having no other covering than my light infantry jacket, sash,
and pantaloons, without drawers or a waistcoat of any sort. Frequently
I was forced to run up and down to keep my blood in circulation,
and my teeth from chattering. In this manner, alternately sitting,
running, or casting my eye towards the lights, which, at times, and
in the exuberance of my fancy, I thought were receding, I passed the
dreary hours of the night. At daybreak, some sailors pulling in shore,
discovered my flying pocket handkerchief, and came to my relief, and,
after a considerable pull, we found the regiment on board the Ganges.
Then, giving my last dollar to the sailors for grog, I mounted the
side of the ship, and descended into the ward-room, where I found
the officers scattered about, and lying on a main-sail, that had
been spread out for their accommodation. Delivering the books to the
owner, I was fully determined never again to volunteer such a Quixotic
excursion. The officer assured me that all his endeavours to procure a
boat had been unavailing.
The next day two hundred sick soldiers and officers were removed on
board small craft to proceed to England, and, as I happened to be one
of those for detachment, we left the line-of-battle ship, went on board
a transport, and steered our course for the Downs, where we arrived in
two days, and cast anchor for forty-eight hours, then again got under
weigh, and buffeted about for four days more, between the Downs and
Harwich, where we landed our sick soldiers and officers. When we were
stepping on shore, a countryman, looking towards us, exclaimed, "There
goes the King's hard bargains."
The evening we landed, a fine healthy-looking young serjeant brought
me the orderly-book,—and, on visiting the hospital at ten o'clock
the next morning, I heard he had been dead one hour. So much for the
Walcheren malady! In fact, the most fatal battle could hardly have made
such havock in our ranks. Thus, in the short space of seven months,
the English coast had been inundated with sick soldiers and scattered
regiments from the Land's-end to Yarmouth. Walcheren was finally
evacuated in the end of December.
Napoleon had humbled his rivals, had ridden out the storm raised
against him, and repulsed all his enemies. Pope Pius the VIIth had
indeed thundered forth a spiritual excommunication against him and
his followers at the beginning of the Austrian campaign; but he had
unluckily fallen into the power of his temporal master, who, seated
in the saloon of the Palace of the Tuileries, was meditating new
conquests, and weaving silken cords for the Emperor of Austria's
daughter.
[Footnote 10: The sailors on board ship did not suffer much from the
malady.]