502 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



majesty's principal secretaries of 

 state, from lieutenant-general the 

 earl of Ciiatliam. dated head-quar- 

 ters, Ratz, Aui:.29, 1809. 



My lord — Major Bradford de- 

 livered to me your lordship's dis- 

 patch of the 21st instant, signifying 

 to me his majesty's commands that 

 I should convey to lieutenant-gene- 

 ral sir Eyre Coote, the general and 

 other officers and troops employed 

 before Flushing, and particularly to 

 those of the artillery and engineer 

 departments, his majesty's most 

 gracious approbation of their con- 

 duct ; and which I have obeyed 

 with the most entire satisfaction. 



I had the honour in my last dis- 

 patch of acquainting your lordship 

 with my intention of proceeding to 

 this place, and I should have been 

 most happy to have been enabled to 

 have announced to your lordship 

 the further progress of this arn)y. 

 Unfortunately, ho\vever,it becomes 

 my duty to state to your lordship 

 that, from the concurrent testimony 

 from so many quarters, as to leave 

 no doubt of the truth of the infor- 

 mation, the enemy appears to have 

 collected so formidable a force, as 

 to convince me that the period was 

 arrived, at wliich my instructions 

 would have directed me to with- 

 draw the army under my command, 

 even if engaged in actual operation. 



I had certainly understood on my 

 arrival at Walcheren, that the ene- 

 my were assembling in considerable 

 force on all points ; but I was un- 

 willing to give too much credit to 

 these reports, and I was determined 

 to persevere until I was satisfied, 

 upon the fullest information, that all 

 further attempts would be unavail- 

 able. 



From all our intelligence it ap- 

 pears, that the force of the enemy 



in this quarter, distributed between 

 the environs of Bergen-up-Zoom, 

 Breda, Lillo, and Antwerp, and 

 cantoned on the opposite codst, is 

 not less than tiiiriy-five thousand 

 men, and by some statements is 

 estimated higher. Though a land- 

 ing on the continent might, 1 have 

 no doubt, have been forced, yet as 

 the siege of Antwerp, the posses- 

 sion of which could alone have se- 

 cured to us any of the ulterior ob- 

 jects of the expedition, was by this 

 state of things rendered utterly im- 

 practicable, such a measure, if suc- 

 cessful, could have led to no solid 

 advantage ; and the retreat of the 

 army, which must at an early period 

 have been inevitable, would have 

 been exposed to much hazard. 



The utmost force (and that daily 

 decreasing) ihat 1 could have 

 brought into the field, after provid- 

 ing for the occupation of Walche- 

 ren and South Beveland, would have 

 amounted to about twenty-three 

 thousand infantry,and two thousand 

 cavalry. Your lordship must at 

 once see, even if the enemy's force 

 had been less numerous than repre- 

 sented, after the necessary detach- 

 ments to observe the garrisons of 

 Bergen-op-Zoom and Breda, and se- 

 curing our communications, how 

 very inadequate a force must have 

 remained for operations against Lil- 

 lo and Liefkenshoeik, and ultimate- 

 ly agains-t Antwerp; which town, so 

 far from being in the state which 

 had been reported, is, from very 

 correct accounts, represented to be 

 in a complete state of defence ; and 

 the enemy's ships had been brought 

 up and placed in security, under the 

 guns of the citadel. 



Under these circumstances, how- 

 ever mortifying to me to see the 

 progress arrested of an army, from 



whose 



