438 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1810. 



are said to have rendered it " so 

 clear and evident,'' were not such 

 as he was competent to appreciate. 

 Upon the second point, Why the 

 army was not sooner assembled at 

 Batz, to recommence further ope- 

 rations, the gallant admiral enters 

 into a long, and we think satisfac- 

 tory explanation. Hesays that the 

 original determination of landing 

 in Zoutland Bay was laid aside 

 while at Deal, and another plan 

 for landing on Domburgh Beach 

 adopted ; but in consequence of a 

 strong westerly wind, the landing 

 there was impossible, and it be- 

 came necessary to take shelter in 

 the Roompot and Veergat, where 

 the constant succession of gales 

 for many days made it impossible, 

 independently of other obstacles, 

 to recur to the original intention 

 of entering the western mouth of 

 the Scheldt. The disembarkation 

 was ultimately efi'ected. Sir 

 Richard then proceeds : *' When, 

 therefore, Lord Chatham con- 

 tends in his statement, that the 

 second point, namely, ' why the 

 army was not brought up sooner to 

 the destination from whence all 

 its operations were to commence, 

 is purely a naval consideration,' 

 his position is certainly true in 

 words, but as certainly incorrect 

 in its implied meaning. It is ob- 

 vious that the army might have 

 marched to Batz in the course of a 

 few days ; but it is also obvious 

 that it could not be conveyed on 

 board a fleet of 400 transports, be- 

 sides frigates, sloops, and flotilla, 

 through a very intricate channel, 

 withoutsomedelay. The difficulty 

 of conducting fuch a fleet at all 

 through the mazes of such a na- 

 vigation, can only be appreciated 

 by professional men ; it was very 

 greatly increased by an adverse 



wind blowing for some time with 

 such violence as to render the 

 expedient of warping (the only 

 means of proceeding) totally im- 

 practicable ; such obstacles to our 

 progress were only to be overcome 

 by great exertions and persever- 

 ance, by a considerable, but not, 

 as I trust, an unnecessary expen- 

 diture of labour and time." The 

 gallant admiral totally denies the 

 assertion that an agreement was 

 entered Into for a simultaneous 

 attack by sea and land upon Flush- 

 ing, for the purpose of avoiding 

 the delay of a regular siege : it w as 

 impossible, he says, for such an 

 agreement to have been made ; as 

 under the well-ascertained cir- 

 cumstances of the garrison, it was 

 too desperate an enterprize to be 

 entertained. He thinks, however 

 that if the plan he had suggested 

 had been adopted, namely, to land 

 the cavalry on South Beveland, and 

 select a limited number of trans- 

 ports — that a delay of only a few 

 days would have resulted from the 

 adverse accident which gave a dif- 

 ferent course to the direction of 

 our operations. The first part of 

 the flotilla which got through the 

 Slough were applied to the cut- 

 ting off the communication be- 

 tween Cadsand and Flushing. It 

 was not until the 7th of August 

 that the sea blockade of Flushing 

 could be established, owing to the 

 adverse winds ; and all the other 

 parts of the naval service were ex- 

 pedited as soon as the various dif- 

 ficulties could be overcome. Sir 

 Richard then concludes : " From 

 this period I considered myself 

 bound implicitly to accede to the 

 wishes of the commander-in-chief. 

 With himalone wasthere anoption 

 between a march of thirty-six 

 hours and a voyage of iudefinite 



