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 fevers¹⁰, 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.