54] 
several of them were meditating a 
retreat from the field of aétion, and 
total secession from the confederacy, 
by uniting with which they had 
sustained so many losses. Such was 
the description given by the French 
of their numerous exploits; and im- 
partiality requires it should be ac- 
knowledged, notwithstanding the 
odium they lie under, that the ac. 
count is not exaggerated. 
_ In the mean time, through the 
attivity of the French commanders 
in the seven provinces, and the co- 
operation of the ,inhabitants, the 
relics of the British troops, and those 
in their pay, were totally unable 
to make the least stand, during their 
difficult retreat from that inhospi- 
table country, where the hatred of 
the natives to the English was never 
concealed whenever they dared to 
manifest it, and where | occasions 
‘were industriously sought to shew it 
in the harshest manner. On reaching 
Deventer, the 27th of January, 
after one of the most fatiguing and 
distressful marches that ever was 
experienced by a retreating army, 
the British troops had expected the 
respite of a few days from their la- 
bours .and. sufferings... Such had 
been their courage and perseve- 
rance, in the midst of these arduous 
trials, that they had conveyed safely 
to the place aJ] the ammunition and ~ 
military stores, artillery and impie- 
ments of war of all descriptions, 
belonging to the army ; but they 
ceuld carry them no farther, The 
diminution of their strength, through 
the numbers that feil ill or died in 
this disastrous retreat, compelled 
them, from want of hands, to de- 
stroy immense quantities of these 
ariicles, to prevent their coming 
into the possession of the enemy, 
who pursued them so eagerly, that 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 1795. 
they were obliged to quit Deventer 
two days after their arrival, The 
French, to the amount of fifty 
thousand men, were advancing upon 
them with all possible speed, in or. 
der to cut off the communication 
between thé different corps, and 
thereby force them to surrender, 
But notwithstanding their vast su- 
periority, and the celerity of their 
motions, they were not able to in. 
terrupt the British troops, whose 
movements were so firm and steady, 
amidst incessant obstacles, as to 
surmount them every one, contrary 
to general expectation, . 
It was not, however, without 
heavy losses, that they overcame 
difficulties and  discouragements 
perpetually thrown in their way, 
either by the enemy or the elements. 
Most of their marches were. per~ 
formed through ice or snow, mud, 
or water, often up to their middle, 
Qn the tenth of February,. they 
crossed the Vecht, the river which 
divides in two parts the province 
of Overissei ; and, on the twelith, the 
river Ems at Rheine. They con. 
tinued retreating in this manner. till 
the twenty-fourth. On this day a 
body of the French army came up 
with them, and an engagement en- 
sued, in which, withan inconsider- 
able loss, the British troops display 
ed such firmness, that the enemy 
could make no effeétual impression 
upon them. Resuming their march, 
with little interruption, they arrived 
at lengthin the country of Bremen, 
about the close of March. Here 
they were joined by other divisions 
of the army. That which was un. 
der the command of lord Cathcart 
had to encounter even more than a 
common share of these difficulties ; 
the French kept continually on its 
rear, and hardly a day passed with- 
out 
