under Sir Ralph Abercromby, and that the army, amounting to
about 10,000 men, after beating the seas from the 8th to the
27th of August, effected a landing near the Helder; that the
enemy most unaccountably offered no opposition to our landing;
and that, after a well-contested fight of ten hours, he
retreated, and left us in quiet possession of the Heights,
extending the whole length of the Peninsula. The 4th Brigade,
under General Moore,[9] consisting of the Royals, 25th, 49th,
79th, and 92d, landed to the left, where the greatest
opposition was expected, as it was natural to suppose that so
essential an object as the Helder would be defended to the
last, but, to our utter astonishment, the enemy gave us no
annoyance; on the contrary, soon after the affair on the right
had terminated, he evacuated the town, which we took quiet
possession of the following morning, and with it the whole of
the fleet. The garrison, consisting of 1,600 men, could easily
have been intercepted had it not been for a large body of
cavalry and a number of cannon, which completely commanded a
plain of a mile and a half in breadth, necessary to be crossed
to get to them: as we had neither the one nor the other, it
would have been the height of folly to attempt it. The
regiments which distinguished themselves most on this occasion
were the 23d, 27th, and 55th. The evening of our landing, a
reinforcement of 5,000 men arrived, but could not disembark
until two days after, owing to the badness of the weather.
During all this time the troops lay exposed on the sand hills,
without the least shelter to cover them against the wind and
rain. At length the army moved forward eleven miles, and got
into cantonments along a canal extending the whole breadth of
the country, from the Zuyder sea on the one side to the main
ocean on the other, protected by an amazingly strong dyke,
running half a mile in front of the line. In this position we
remained unmolested until the 10th of September, on which day
the enemy made a most desperate attack in three columns, two on
the right and one on the centre of the line: he could not avoid
being beaten, as it was the most injudicious step imaginable,
and his loss was in proportion very great. The Guards, 20th,
and 40th, acted conspicuous parts in this affair. The 49th was