224 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



was placed under the orders of sir 

 Richard Strachan. 



Long before the expedition 

 sailed, the point of attack was 

 known, not only here, but even to 

 our enemies. It was afterwards de- 

 clared by the French government, 

 that so early as the month of April 

 the governor of Flushing had orders 

 to put that garrison in such a state 

 of defence as to resist the attack of 

 the English forces. 



On the 28th and 29th of July 

 the armament sailed in two divi- 

 sions. On the arrival of the arm)- 

 in the islands of Walcheren and 

 South Beveland, it was found that 

 the enemy was not disposed to 

 make any resistance except in 

 Flushing, which was invested on 

 the first of August. On the 13th 

 the batteries were completed ; and 

 the frigates and smaller vessels 

 having taken their respective sta- 

 tions, the bombardment immedi- 

 ately commenced. The town suf- 

 fered dreadfully, especially from 

 Congreve's rockets. On the 14-th 

 of August the line of battle ships 

 cannonaded the town for some 

 hours. The enemy's fire ceased. 

 On the 15th general Monnet, 

 who commanded the garrison of 

 Flushing, demanded a suspension 

 of arms which was succeeded by 

 the surrender of the town. The 

 garrison, amounting to about 6,000 

 men, were made prisoners of war.* 

 Though the attack on Flushing 

 was thus ultimately successful, it 

 had been impeded in its progress 

 by the want of skill and vigour on 

 the part of those who conducted 

 it. The batteries and trenches 

 were constructed one after another 

 without method or arrangement: 



Arr. Chkon 



all was anarch)'' and confusion ; 

 neither officers nor soldiers in the 

 engineer department knew their 

 situations. 



In consequence of this want of 

 arrangement in the distribution of 

 the working parties the works pro- 

 ceeded with extreme slowness. 

 Our troops were posted within i 

 range of the enemy's guns before ' 

 any of the stores necessary for 

 the attack were even landed, and 

 without the advantage of confining 

 him to his fortifications. The sol- 

 diers at work on the trendies were 

 generally without any sort of co- 

 vering party in their front, while 

 the enemy's advanced parties were 

 frequently on their flank. The 

 French picquets indeed were suf- 

 fered to remain in many places 

 within two musket shots of our 

 men during the whole of our ope- 

 rations ; so that a wooded and in- 

 closed country, which is generally 

 thought advantageous to the be- 

 siegers, proved a benefit to the 

 French, and a loss to the British. 

 The island of Cadsand, the only 

 place from whence the enemy 

 could receive supplies or reinforce- 

 ments, was left unoccupied ; and 

 as the smaller armed vessels had 

 not yet intercepted the com- 

 munication, advantage was soon 

 taken of the neglect, and on the 

 4;th, 5th, and 6th of August three 

 thousand men passed over from 

 Cadsand to Flushing. The dykes 

 had been cut, and the inunda- 

 tion had begun seriously to im- 

 pede the operations in the low 

 ground ; but the attack was car- 

 ried forward on to the flanks of 

 Flushing along the dykes. In the 

 mean time a very numerous French 



army 



pp. tSl, 501. 



