e a subsidy of L250,000 in bullion was despatched to Trieste,
and inquiries were set on foot as to the means of supplying such a
military expedition as Austria desired.[38] On March 22, Dundas, who had
only been a few days in office as commander-in-chief, reported that
15,000 men could not be spared from home service, and, in consequence,
no extensive preparations were made until the muster rolls in June
showed that 40,000 troops might safely be employed abroad. This
convinced the government that a large force could be sent without
interfering with home defence, as Castlereagh had long contended; and
throughout June and July the naval and military departments were busy in
preparing for what has since left a sinister memory as the Walcheren
expedition. Meanwhile, as if the passion of frittering away resources
were irresistible, a smaller force was despatched, as a kind of feint,
against the kingdom of Naples. It consisted of 15,000 British troops and
a body of Sicilians. Bailing from Palermo early in June it captured the
islands of Ischia and Procida and the castle of Scylla, and threw Naples
into consternation. But the attack was not pushed, and it was too late
to be of any assistance to the Austrians who had already been expelled
from the Italian peninsula. At last, in July, the treaty of peace with
Austria was signed and the great armament was ready to sail.

But Napoleon had not awaited the deliberations of British statesmen.
Hurrying back from Spain, he remained in Paris only long enough to
organise a campaign in South Germany, and left the capital to join his
armies on April 13. A week earlier, the Archduke Charles, having
remodelled the Austrian army, issued a proclamation affirming Austria to
be the champion of European liberty. On the 9th Austria declared war
against Bavaria, the ally of France, and her troops crossed the Inn. On
the 17th, when Napoleon arrived at Donauwoerth, he found the archduke in
occupation of Ratisbon. His presence turned the tide, and, after three
victories, he was once more on the road to Vienna. The most important of
these victories was that of Eckmuehl, and he regarded the manoeuvre by
which it was won as the finest in his military career. On May 13 the
French entered Vienna, but the Archduke Charles with an army of nearly
200,000 men was facing him on the left bank of the Danube. Napoleon's
army crossed and encountered the Austrians on the great plain between
Aspern and Essling. He was