The Life and Correspondence of Sir Isaac Brock, K.B. Sir Isaac Brock
continued to retreat, and their loss on this occasion was very considerable. Nothing could exceed the gallantry of the 25th, 49th, 79th, and 92d. For my own part, I had every reason to be satisfied with the conduct of both officers and men, and no commanding officer could be more handsomely supported than I was on that day, ever glorious to the 49th. Poor Archer brought his company to the attack in a most soldierlike manner; and even after he had received his mortal wound, he animated his men, calling on them to go on to victory, to glory; and no order could be more effectually obeyed: he is an irreparable loss to the service. I got knocked down soon after the enemy began to retreat, but never quitted the field, and returned to my duty in less than half an hour. Savery acted during the whole day as aide-de-camp either to Sir Ralph or Moore, and nothing could surpass his activity and gallantry. He had a horse shot under him, and had all this been in his line, he must have been particularly noticed, as he has become the astonishment of all who saw him. We remained that night and the following on the sand hills; you cannot conceive our wretched state, as it blew and rained nearly the whole time. Our men bore all this without grumbling, although they had nothing to eat but the biscuits they carried with them, which by this time were completely wet. We at length got into Egmont, and on the following day (5th) into Alkmaar, where we enjoyed ourselves amazingly. Alkmaar is a most delightful city; but the inhabitants are rank patriots, and none of the higher class remained to welcome our arrival. The following day another engagement ensued,[12] in consequence of the Russians advancing further than they were ordered to do: during this severe contest we were snugly in church. It is extraordinary that both parties were so beaten as to find a retreat necessary, as while we retreated to our old position, the enemy was also in full retreat. I shall say no more of the expedition to Holland, as what remains to be added, you will see fully detailed in the papers. I go to Norwich, where the regiment is quartered, this evening. Another expedition is talked of, under Lord Moira. Adieu."
In the battle of Egmont-op-Zee, seven pieces of cannon, a great number of tumbrils, and a few hundred prisoners, were taken, and the loss of the enemy was estimated as exceeding 4,000 men. Major-General Moore, in whose brigade was the 49th, although severely wounded through the thigh, continued in action for nearly two hours, until a second wound in the face obliged him to quit the field. In his dispatch relative to this battle, the Duke of York observed, that "under Divine Providence this signal victory obtained over the enemy, is to be attributed to the animating and persevering exertions which have at all times been the characteristics of the British soldier, and which on no occasion were ever more eminently displayed." The following extract from this dispatch, dated Alkmaar, 6th of October, will shew the part borne in the engagement by Sir Ralph Abercromby's division, in which was Major-General Moore's brigade.
"This was the last event which took place on the side of Bergen; and, as the close of the day was fast approaching, Colonel Macdonald with two battalions was sent to the support of General Sir Ralph Abercromby. The heights of the sand hills, surrounding Bergen for about three miles, remained crowned and possessed by about eleven British battalions. General Sir Ralph Abercromby had marched, according to the disposition, along the beach, with Major-General D'Oyley's, Major-General Moore's, and Major General Lord Cavan's brigades, the cavalry and horse artillery, (the reserve under Colonel Macdonald not having been able, owing to the great extent of the sand hills, to rejoin him, after turning to the left at Campe.) The main body of Sir Ralph Abercromby's column had proceeded, without meeting with much resistance, in the early part of the day, but was nevertheless much inconvenienced, and his troops harassed, by the necessity of detaching continually into the sand hills to his left, to cover that flank against the troops whom the enemy had placed in the sand hills. The admirable disposition, however, which he made of his troops, and their determined spirit and gallantry, enabled him to arrive within a mile of Egmont. Here he was seriously opposed by a very considerable corps of French infantry, which occupied Egmont-op-Zee, and the high sand hills in its front, and who had formed a very strong corps of cavalry and artillery to their left. The engagement was maintained during several hours with the greatest obstinacy; and in no instance were the abilities of a commander, or the heroic perseverance of troops in so difficult and trying a situation, more highly conspicuous. Animated by the example of General Sir Ralph Abercromby, and the generals and officers under him, the troops sustained every effort made upon them by an enemy then superior in numbers, and much favoured by the strength of his position. Late in the evening, the enemy's cavalry, having been defeated in an attempt which they made upon the British horse artillery on the beach, and having been charged by the cavalry under Colonel Lord Paget, was driven, with considerable loss, nearly to Egmont-op-Zee; his efforts then relaxed considerably on the right; and General Sir Ralph Abercromby, having soon after been joined by the reinforcements under Colonel Macdonald, took post upon the sand hills and the beach, within a very short distance of Egmont-op-Zee, where the troops lay upon their arms during the night."
In the battle of the 6th of October, in which the 49th was not engaged, the English and Russians, after gaining some advantage, were suddenly charged by the enemy's cavalry and separated, so that they could neither support each other nor retain the ground which they had gained. The allied armies were repulsed beyond Baccum, after having sustained a very severe loss; and as they were unable either to advance or to draw any resources from the country in their possession, their supplies were necessarily obtained from the fleet. The Duke of York, therefore, assembled a council of war, whose decision was, that the allied forces should fall back and wait the instructions of the British Government. As the season was so far advanced, as the approach of winter was daily making the navigation of the coast more dangerous, and as there was no time to effect diversions or to change the plan of operations, the Duke of York was ordered to evacuate the country. In the meanwhile, as the English and Russians concentrated themselves behind their entrenchments at the Zyp, the enemy pressed upon them, and the Duke of York sent a flag of truce to General Brune, proposing a capitulation on the basis of an armistice, or of the free embarkation of his army. This was agreed to at Alkmaar, on the 18th of October, and thus ended this memorable expedition, the most considerable that had been attempted in modern times up to that period. As the introduction of foreign troops into England was prohibited by the Bill of Rights, the Russians were sent to the islands of Jersey and Guernsey, the season not admitting of their return home. About 6,000 were quartered in the latter island, where a disease, contracted by exposure to the marshy grounds of Holland, carried off some hundreds, who were buried at the foot of the hill on which stands Vale Castle, and where their graves are still to be seen. Their conduct in Guernsey was at first peaceable and orderly;—the inhabitants were surprised at seeing them eat the grease from the cart wheels, and they were also excessively fond of ardent spirits; and, having plenty of money, they indulged in them freely, swallowing large draughts in a raw state. But in June, 1800, while the transports were in the roads to convey them to Russia, a soldier, who was robbing vegetables on a small farm, which had been frequently plundered by his comrades before, was fired at and wounded by the proprietor. This so exasperated the whole body, that fears were entertained of their revenging themselves on the inhabitants generally; and as the British garrison was very small, it required all the tact and conciliation of the lieutenant-governor, Sir Hew Dalrymple, to prevent an outbreak. The Russians embarked, but the guns at Castle Cornet were kept shotted to prevent their relanding.[13] The 49th, on the return of the expedition from Holland, after remaining a short time in England, was again quartered in Jersey, where the fine person and manly bearing of Lieut.-Colonel Brock are still favorably remembered. In return for the many attentions which he and his officers received in that island, he obtained an ensigncy in his own regiment for a young man resident there, whom he afterwards pushed forward in the service, and who died recently a major-general and a companion of the bath. Early in the year 1801, the 49th was embarked in the fleet destined for the Baltic, under Sir Hyde Parker; and Lieut.-Colonel Brock was second in command of the land forces at the memorable attack of Copenhagen, by Lord Nelson, on the 2d of April. He was appointed to lead the 49th in storming the principal of the Treckroner batteries, in conjunction with five hundred seamen, under Captain Fremantle,[14] of the Ganges, of 74 guns; but the protracted and heroic defence of the Danes rendering the attempt impracticable, Colonel Brock, during the hard-fought battle, remained on board the Ganges; and