the prince of Orange. At the dissolution of the municipality, and the reinstatement of the old magistrates, the inhabitants surrounding the stadthouse expressed their joy by loud acclamations. A party of them at the same time cut down the tree of liberty, which they instantly burned. All this was done in the most quiet and regular manner. Meidenblick, Lemmer, and other towns observed the same conduct, and expressed the same dispositions with those of Enchuysen.

The British cause was farther strengthened and encouraged by a reinforcement of Russians, consisting of upwards of four thousand men, which landed at the Helder on the morning of the 26th of September, and immediately marched forward to join the main army.

The inclemency of the weather, the sole euse of suspended operation, having in some measure subsided, the British army was again put in motion, and on the morning of the 2nd of October an attack commenced on the whole of the enemy's line. A severe and obstinate action ensued, which lasted from six in the morning until the same hour at night. The right wing of the British army was commanded by sir Ralph Abercrombie the centre division by general Dundas, and the left wing by major-general Burrard: all of whom greatly distinguished themselves on this day by their cool courage and excellent conduct. The first impression was made on the adverse line by the right wing of our army; the next by the centre, and lastly, the left wing also overcame all resistance. The enemy being entirely defeated, retired in the night from the positions which they had occupied on the Lange Dyke, the Koe Dyke at Bergen, and on the extensive range of sand-hills between this last place and Egmont-op-Zee. According to some accounts, they not only destroyed the bridges, but burned all the villages in their retreat. They attempted to get into Alcmaer, but the inhabitants refused them entrance, and fired upon them, which obliged them to continue their retreat farther to the southward. On the night after the battle the British troops tay on their arms: and on the 3rd of Octo

The

ber, moved forward and occupied the positions of the Lange Dyke, Alcmaer, Bergen, Egmont-op-Hoof and Egmont-op-Zee. The enemy's force was computed to be about twenty-five thousand men, of which by far the greater part were French. duke of York, in the account he gives of the action of the 2nd of October, bestows warm and liberal praise on the whole army under his command. "Under the Divine Providence," says his royal highness," this signal victory obtained over the enemy is to be ascribed to the animated and persevering exertions which have been, at all times, the characteristics of the British soldier, and which, on no occasion, were ever more eminently displayed: nor has it often fallen to the lot of any general to have such just cause of acknowledgment for distinguished support. I cannot, in sufficient terms, express the obligations I owe to general sir Ralph Abercrombie and lieutenant-general, Dundas, for the able manner in which they conducted their respective columns; whose success is, in no small degree, to be attributed to their personal exertions and example: the former had two horses shot under him." Very distinguished praise is. also bestowed by his highness on colonel Macdonald, lord Paget, major-general. Coote, general sir James Pulteney, and many other officers.

The loss sustained by the enemy exceeded 4000 men killed, about three hundred prisoners, seven pieces of cannon, and a great many tumbrils. But the victory obtained by the British army was dearly purchased by the loss of about 2300 men.

The exhausted state of the troops, from, the difficulties and fatigues they had to encounter, prevented the British commander from taking that advantage of the enemy's retreat, which in any other country, and under any other circumstances, would have been the consequences of the operations of the 2nd of October.

The French general having with great prudence taken post at the narrow isthmus, above mentioned, between Beverwick and the Zuyder-Zee, the duke of York determined, if possible, to force him from thence, before he should have an opportunity of

strengthening by works the short and very defensible line which he occupied, and to oblige him still farther to retire before he could be joined by the reinforcements, which, he was informed, were upon their march. Preparatively, therefore, to a general and forward movement, he ordered the advanced posts which the army had taken up on the 3rd in front of Alcmaer, and the other places already mentioned, to be pushed forward, which was done, accordingly, on the 4th. At first little opposition was shewn, and the British succeeded in taking possession of the villages of Schermerhoorn, Archer, Sloot, Limmen, Baccum, and of a position on the sand-hills, near Wyck-op-Zee. The column, consisting of the Russian troops, under the command of major-general D'Essen, in endeavouring to gain a height in front of their intended advanced post at Baccum (which was material to the security of that point) was vigorously opposed by a strong body of the enemy, which obliged sir Ralph Abercrombie to move up for the support of that column with the reserve of his corps.

The enemy, on their part, advanced their whole force. The action became general along the whole line from Limmen to the sea, and was maintained on both sides until night, when the Batavian and French army retired, leaving the British in the field of battle. This conflict was as severe as any of those that had been fought since the arrival of our troops in Holland, and, in proportion to the numbers engaged, attended with as great a loss. Of the British 900 were killed or wounded, of the Russians not less than 1200. The loss of the enemy was also very great in the killed, wounded, and prisoners which fell into our hands to the number of 500. The post to which the British army directed its march directed its march was Haerlem. But intelligence was received from the prisoners taken in this action, that the enemy, who had been just reinforced by 6000 infantry, had strengthened the position of Beverwick, and thrown up very strong works in its rear: and, that they had stationed a large force at Purmirind, in an almost inaccessible position, covered by an inundated country; the debouchés VOL. I.

from which were strongly fortified, and in the hands of the enemy; and farther still, that, as our army advanced this corps was placed in our rear.

Intelligence being received of all these circumstances, the British commander: naturally paused. The obstacles enumerated might have been overcome by the persevering courage of the troops under his com mand, had not the state of the weather, the ruined condition of the roads, and the total want of the necessary supplies, arising from the above causes, presented additional difficulties, which deinanded the most serious consideration. The duke of York, therefore, having maturely weighed the circumstances in which the army under his command was placed, thought it adviseable, with the concurrence with the concurrence of general Abercrombie, and the lieutenant-generals of the army, to withdraw the troops from this advanced position to their former station at Schagenbrug: from whence, on the 9th of October, his royal highness dispatched his secretary, colonel Brownrig, to London, in order to give a circumstantial account of the state of affairs in Holland, and to receive his majesty's farther instructions.

The colonel soon returned to the army, with orders for its immediate evacuation from Holland. Transports were sent for this purpose, and works were thrown ap on the commanding heights of Keck-down, to cover the re-embarkation of our troops.

In the mean time the enemy harassed our line of defence at Schagenbrug, by daily though partial attacks; the most serious of which was that which was made by general Daendels in person. That general, on the 10th of October, attacked the right wing of the British forces upon an advanced post near Winckle, under the command of prince William of Gloucester, with 6000 men and six pieces of cannon, endeavouring to force this post by every exertion. To resist this formidable attack the prince had only 1200 men, and two pieces of cannon ;. yet he obliged the Dutch General to retreat, with the loss of 200 men killed, and one French general. But general Daendelsbeing almost immediately reinforced by 4000 Dutch troops, the prince of Gloucester

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was under the necessity of falling back to Cohorn. The loss of the' English in this action did not exceed three killed and about twelve wounded. The prince, during the action, had his horse shot under him; but he received no injury himself, though exposed to the greatest personal danger, under a heavy fire, being frequently in the front of the line, animating the exertions of his troops by his example.

The efforts of our naval force in the Zuyder-Zee, and on other parts of the Dutch coast were continued during these transactions on land with unabated activity. Many gun-boats, and several light ships of war, were taken from the enemy; and an attack on the 11th of October, on the town of Lemmer, was gallantly repulsed by the British sailors and marines under the command of captain Boorder, of the Wolverene bomb-ship. On the 17th of October, a suspension of arms was concluded between the captain-general of the Anglo-Russian army, and the generals Brune and Daendels. It was agreed that all prisoners should be given up on both sides, and that as the price of permission to the British troops to re-embark on board their transports without molestation, 8000 of the seamen, prisoners in England, whether French or Batavians, should obtain their liberty. The combined English and Russian army was to evacuate Holland before the end of November. No time was lost in the embarkation of the British and Russian troops, who were accompanied on their voyage to England by 2000 Dutch loyalists. The Russians were landed and quartered in Jersey and Guernsey.

The retreat of the army of the duke of York was followed by the evacuation of the Zuyder-Zee, by the fleet of admiral Mitchell and by the abandonment of the islets and of the port of Lemmer.

It would be impossible to recapitulate within the limits of a compendious narrative, the causes which retarded the union of the four English and Russian divisions, which had hindered the duke of York from profiting by the success of the first debarkation, so skilfully executed under the command of general Abercrombie.

It cannot be asserted that unforeseen misfortunes, or the inadvertencies of the allies were the only, or even the principal causes of general Brune's success. His plan of defence was judicious and able; and he had no occasion in the course of the campaign to change his first disposi tion, a circumstance which in defensive war, is the best proof of military skill. The excellence of his arrangements was evinced by the trivial nature of the advantages which the duke of York obtained from the battle of Bergen and Egmont-op-Zee. The dispositions before and after the action, the correspondence in the attacks, and the skilful manœuvres of generals Abercombie and Dundas, succeeded indeed against the most obstinate resistance recorded in history, and against the most serious and almost insurmountable obstacles, presented by the positions of the enemy and the nature of the ground.

Yet at the trivial distance of two leagues from the field of battle, a position parallel to the first and nearly impregnable, checked the progress of the victorious army. The French general already prepared to support the defences of his third line, attacked upon an extended front still more favorable to his manœuvres, obtained in his turn a decided advantage over an enemy reduced to the necessity of fighting, or of perishing for want of sustenance.

In this manner terminated a maritime expedition, the most considerable which had been attempted by any modern nation; and which was designed to be productive of the most important influence on the general aspect of the war, and the situation of Europe. The circumstance which above all others occasioned the misfortunes attending the expedition, was the apathy and the total indifference of the Dutch nation. The capture of the Russian general D'Hermann, whose abilities had obtained him the entire confidence of his troops, and the subsequent misunderstandings among the commanders were extremely unpropitious to the allied cause. As it too frequently happens in unsuccessful enterprises, the different parties interested expressed their chagrin by reciprocal charges of misconduct;

but the impartial inquirer will find, in the plan of the campaign, and the execution of the manœuvres, but little to condemn, while the skill and gallautry of the officers and the discipline and bravery of the

troops, deserve the warmest approbation, and put to shame the vulgar and malignant calumnies which avarice, envy, and malice have so actively and so successfully endeavoured to circulate.

ER

ROM a scene of warfare adjacent to the shores of England, and almost within the immediate observation of the parents, the wives and the orphans whom it reduced to penury, and despair, our attention is called to a distant theatre of hostility, still more destructive of the human race, and equally important in its results. The details of the second campaign in Egypt derive additional and peculiar interest from the character of him to whom its direction was committed: an individual whom even his dispassionate adversaries will acknowledge to have been endowed with splendid talents, and who was actuated by passions which animated him to their full exertion and display. Active, restless, and adventurous, his mind was always employed in the formation of some enterprise which might conduce to his own triumph, or the glory of the state. Thoughtful, penetrating, and inventive, he possessed an unrivalled power of rapid and decisive observation: he displayed an intuitive knowledge of human nature; and was equally distinguished by the fertility of his expedients, and the boldness of his designs. The atrocity of his character was not less remarkable than the vigor of his mind; nor was he restrained in the gratification of his rapacity or ambition, by any principles of religion or any feelings of humanity

He was now at the head of an army, which, with the marines and volunteers by whom it had been augmented, amounted to 50,000 men composed of the best troops of Europe, accustomed to victory; confident in their own prowess, and in the military skill and good conduct of their generals. To turn the fortune of war, to convince such men, that though their enthusiasm had led them to exhibit prodigies of valor, on the Po, the Adda, and the Adige, there were troops prepared to dispute with them the palm of victory, and capable of setting bounds to the enterprises of their leader, was reserved for the generals and the soldiers of England. If Buonaparte animated his men, by telling them that they would be distinguished among their countrymen, as having served in the army of Italy, higher honours must be awarded to their conquerors.

The situation of Buonaparte in Egypt after taking possession of Cairo, was such as required and displayed all the resources of his genius and address. He was surrounded with enemies, and being, by the late destruction of the French fleet, deprived of the protection and the succours on which he had relied, it was of the utmost importance that he should remain on terms of amity with the inhabitants of the country. He not only therefore issued proclamations similar to those which he had circulated